Limits [BoyXBoy] [UNFINISHED/CANCELLED]

.:13:.

I should have been happy, but the feeling of relief of finally finding what I had been looking for for such a long time was overshadowed by the dread of not having Kellin with me.

"You're alive?" Exclaimed Stephen, grabbing at my arms as if to check that I was not just an apparition.

"Yes and so is Kellin, but 'e's in trouble and we have to 'elp 'im," I said urgently, shaking out of his grasp.

"He's alive? Oh my god, he's alive!" Stephen beamed at me, it must have been a relief with Kellin being one of his closest friends. "Why is he in trouble? What happened?" The boy began walking me further the way I was going before. I was spotting more familiar faces around, and they saw me too, but only watched on with flabbergasted expressions. They had probably all thought that I was dead and, honestly, I felt quite insulted - did they seriously think that I would let myself be killed so easily?

"These German soldiers chased us and they managed to get 'im. They stuffed 'im in a car with a bunch of other people and drove off."

Stephen did not reply to that. He just carried on walking, but more urgently if anything. This seemed to be a safe area, as everyone was freely walking around with confidence. I wondered what they had been up to all that time we were gone, although it probably was not as interesting as what happened to Kellin and I.

The sight of Colonel Kowaliwicz had never made me so happy before and the sight of me had probably never surprised him so much before.

"Fuentes, is that you or am I finally starting to see ghosts?" He said, breaking away from a different conversation he had been having.

"It's me, sir. Been lookin' for you for weeks now," I cracked a pained smile. "Kellin Quinn is alive too, but 'e's in deep trouble and needs our 'elp."

"What's going on?" Asked the Colonel and I proceeded to retell what happened once again, with Stephen listening intently over my shoulder one more time. Contemplative expressions dawned on their faces, before they turned into pity.

"No wonder they took him away if you're parading around dressed like that," the Colonel said, motioning to my shirt and specifically to the Star which rested against my chest. What was wrong with it? Did he have a problem with Jewish people? "Stephen get him some new clothes. That way he might just about have a chance of not getting killed."

Briskly, Stephen rushed away from the scene, leaving me alone with Colonel Kowalewicz. I opened my mouth to speak but, to my surprise, the man began dismissively walking in the direction of a nearby car. My eyebrows knitted together and I followed behind, wondering what he was doing, when he simply reached into a bag which lay next to the vehicle. He pulled out a piece of bread and nonchalantly chewed on it, while my jaw fell to the floor.

The Colonel looked up, realising that I had followed him, and raised his eyebrows, "Anything you need?"

If possible, my mouth fell open even more. "Yes!" I exclaimed, then added a 'sir' at the end once noticing the glare he gave me. "We need to save Kellin, 'e needs us."

The man before me sighed deeply, before dropping the food back into the bag and approaching me. "Look, kid, I know that you two have probably been through a lot but, once they catch someone, they ain't letting go. They must have taken him to a concentration camp, if they did not kill him on the spot, and there is practically no way of getting out of there alive. I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do."

I stared at the man blankly for a few moments, but refused to let his words get to me. There was still hope for Kellin and I would do anything in my power to get him back to safety. He had never given up on me, so there was no way that I would give up on him. That boy was worth much more than that.

"Where's the nearest concentration camp?" I asked loudly so that Colonel Kowalewicz could hear, as he had started walking away from me again.

The man sharply twisted around, a warning look in his eyes. "You are not going there to find him. There's no point in risking your life, when he might already be dead."

"I will go, even if I 'ave to go alone. I know 'e's alive and I'm gonna get 'im back to safety. There's nothin' you can do to stop me, Kellin is like family to me," I announced boldly, surprised by that fact that I was talking back to my superior. This kind of behaviour could have gotten me exectuced, but nearly two months of having to only rely on yourself and one other person could really thicken one's skin. "I'm clearly not going to get any help from you, but can I at least get that change of clothes and preferably a gun too?"

The man before me glared at me sternly. He had an angry, yet thoughtful look in his eyes, whilst mine must have shined with bright hope. Finally, his expression softened and he sighed, readjusting his sleeves.

"Fine. You'll get new clothes and a weapon, but you're going alone. You are probably going to die and I won't let you drag other men down with you. Also, you have one day, as we're moving along tomorrow."

That was exactly what happened. A now-miserable Stephen picked out a uniform, just like the one I had before, for me. He was very let down by the fact that he was not permitted to go with me, as Kellin had been his best friend, but it was not wise to push the Colonel even more - he already seemed to be near breaking point.

A gun, slightly different to the one from before, was given to me and no time was wasted in telling me how to get to this so called concentration camp. In addition, I received some extremely valuable information, which the men had all learnt along the way as well.

I set off as quickly as I could, hoping to get there on foot in a couple of hours. It did not bother me, as I was now used to walking for so long. The sense of urgency which had subsided due to being surrounded by so much relieving familiarity was now returning and stronger than ever. My legs broke into desperate run, trying to get there and save Kellin as quickly as possible. The idea that it may be too late or that I would not be able to get him out was haunting, and only pushed me to go faster.

At first I thought it was the stamina which I had built up from walking so much, when I was not even getting tired from sprinting through the alleyways, but I realised that I had been going at it for an awfully long time. Another force was pushing me to get there as fast as possible: my love for Kellin and wanting to assure his safety.

It took what felt like an eternity for me to distance myself from the civilisation and I was spat out in a wooded area. This must have been close, as the last concentration camp we found was in an isolated area in the middle of a desolate field. Seeing as this one was close enough to a town, they would have wanted a forest in between so that it would be hard to spot.

I tore my way through the leaves and branches, tightly clutching my gun in case I saw anyone. It was very easy to get lost in an area like this, so I hoped that I was going in the right direction.

After a few minutes of this, which felt much too long, the trees finally began thinning out. I rushed forwards, pushing through, until sunlight was streaming down onto my face and I was greeted with a fence. It reached up, standing at maybe three times my height and, behind it, was a sea of miserable faces.