An: if people are getting confused by the timeline rn...so am I. I am very very confused as to when I was trying to set each of the most recent chapters
It was another week until Jens heard any word of Peter.
The night when Peter had told him what was going on had been a blur and he hadn't been able to ask him any proper questions so he could actually understand what had happened.
When he woke up the next morning, he'd thought that Peter was probably just being dramatic and that he'd be fine. But then he realised he wasn't there at roll call. And he wasn't there at dinner. And he didn't return to sleep that night. Or the night after, or the night after.
He heard nothing. No one could tell him anything.
He begged Friedrich for information, but he'd been very steely with him recently and he wouldn't even try to learn anything about Peter for him.
So he just assumed Peter had been right, and that he was dead.
It was the most probable answer of the question he'd been asking anyone he laid eyes on for the last 3 days.
And then after a week, one of the younger boys in their block ran up to him during work. They were assisting the nearby block which had become known as 'the gypsy camp' where they were still making barracks and buildings to accommodate the rising numbers of prisoners. Their job was to carry materials back and forth from the trains that they came in on to the building sites. It was exhausting, arduous work but at least they'd get a break from carrying things on the walk back to the trains. It was at this time that the boy ran up to Jens, knowing the kapo would turn a blind eye to the interruption because of his special relationship with Jens.
"I saw your friend the other day," he said, walking alongside him, having to walk quickly to keep up with Jens's longer strides. "He's on the other side of the compound. They've got him working at 'Strafkompanie' my friend said. He's been working here longer than I have, so he knew what it was called, but I don't know what that means. What does that mean?"
Jens looked down at the boy who didn't look older than 16, maybe even 15. He asked too many questions.
"Strafkompanie is where they take prisoners to punish them," Jens explained. "The work is harder there, even harder than what we do. In the quarries a lot of the time. Deadly. And they execute most of the ones who work there eventually anyway."
So Peter was doomed, almost certainly. He wasn't coming back from there anytime soon, and even then, the odds of it were very low.
"Oh," the boy mumbled. "That doesn't sound good." He paused, looking down at the ground before perking up a bit more and running to catch up with Jens again. "So what's your name? Mine's is Tommy, and before you say it, no I'm not English. I'm actually from Dachau, the town, so it was pretty easy for them to get me here. But yeah, my mum heard that all the parents in the big cities were naming their children English names. She'd heard it was all the rage, so she named me the most British name in all of existence. She's not got a drop of English blood in her though, hadn't even met one I'd bet."
Jens listened to the kid ramble, grateful for the distraction from the pain that jolted up his back with every step. Friedrich had hurt him again the night before: slammed him against the wall when he wouldn't talk to him, then wrestled him to the floor, causing Jens to fall onto the back of the bed when he tried to fight Friedrich off.
It had happened every single night. He fought and struggled but it only seemed to urge Friedrich on more. He would get angry, but then he seemed to enjoy taking that anger out on Jens whenever he could. But He knew it was only so long though before he got bored and moved onto another younger, prettier and more complacent boy.
"So what's your name? You never told me," Tommy said, looking up at Jens with those big, curious eyes.
A smile tugged at the corner of Jens' mouth and he shook his head. "I couldn't get a word in edgeways. Jens. Jens Trilling."
"Tommy Deeken," Tommy replied, holding out his hand for Jens to shake.
"Yes, you already told me," Jens chuckled but he took the boys hand and shook it anyway.
"Yes but now I'm telling you my last name so that when we get out of this place, people can ask you which amazing and fantastic people you met and you can say 'oh, I met this marvellous boy called Tommy' and they'll say 'Tommy who? Jens Trilling, there are lots of Tommys in the world, that's not helpful at all' and then you can say back to them 'ah but he was Tommy Deeken of course' and then there'll be no confusion as to which Tommy you met here."
Jens smiled again and ruffled the kid's hair.
"Alright Tommy Deeken. I'll keep that in mind."
"So Jens Trilling, how do I get to be like you?"
"What?" Jens said, turning to look at Tommy, brow furrowed in confusion. "Be like me? How so?"
"The kapo. He feeds you. And he doesn't hurt you. Y'know, he kicked me in the back of the legs just a minute ago, and then he laughed when I fell."
Jens' heart sank and he averted his eyes. No. No way. He would not let this innocent child be anything like him.
"Well I'll ask him not to bother you on the way back," he muttered, avoiding Tommy's question.
"No, I want to be able to ask the kapo that myself. Not this kapo, because he's yours, but the one who lives in our barrack. He's different you see, so both of us could be friends with them."
"I don't know if friends is how I would put it, Tommy," Jens said warningly. "Do you know what I actually do for the kapo that means I get special treatment?"
"Yes," Tommy nodded. He paused and Jens saw him blush. "You...er, have sex with him, right?"
Jens stopped suddenly and pulled Tommy off to the side. "If you're too young to not be able to say sex without getting embarrassed, you're too young to be having it, with anyone. Full stop. Let alone with someone just to get some extra food!" He shook his head and crossed his arms. "No, I am not letting you whore yourself out to criminals like them."
"Criminals?" Tommy asked, his eyebrows raising. He seemed to completely ignore what Jens had said.
"Yes. The green triangles mean they're criminals, which is why they trust them to watch over us. I asked Friedrich about it the other day and he finally explained it to me."
"So What did he get done for?" Tommy asked with wide eyes. He seemed much too interested in Jens' words for his own good.
"Rape and murder," Jens said without batting an eyelid, hoping and praying he could scare Tommy off. "And I don't doubt that for a minute."
Tommy's jaw dropped and he stared at Jens in horror. "Did he..."
"Yep. See Tommy, you don't want this. It's not worth it. Besides, your kapo might not even be gay. It's just by chance that Friedrich is. If anyone found out he was, he'd be stripped of his duties and he'd be just like you and me. So don't go and try seduce your kapo or anything, because he probably will just kill you."
Tommy nodded slowly and Jens smiled, patting him on the back.
"Alright, good. Get back to work before Friedrich decides he's had enough of me bending the rules."
Tommy nodded again, more eagerly and ran off, walking backwards at first as he saluted and said, "goodbye Jens Trilling. See you around!"
Jens smiled and saluted back as Tommy ran to catch up with the rest of the younger kids from his barrack. He was very new then if he still had the energy to run. Jens shook his head and turned around, pinching the bridge of his nose. He tried to put his conversation with Tommy to the back of his mind but it still bothered him.
"Jens!"
He turned at the sound of his name and saw Friedrich beckoning him over. That was unusual. Friedrich never usually interacted with him during the day to avoid arousing any suspicions.
He walked over and as he got closer, he realised Friedrich was talking to a guard.
"They want to talk to you about something," Friedrich said, and Jens could tell by his tone that he was frightened. And angry.
The guard led them back to the registration building. Friedrich glared at Jens darkly the whole journey there. He thought he'd snitched, told everyone about what happened in the kapo's room every night.
Of course, confessing all that would lead to the execution of both of them, but Jens found himself wishing he actually had told a guard about what Friedrich was doing. He didn't care dying, and he would do anything to bring Friedrich down with him.
But he hadn't said anything, and he had no clue why him and Friedrich were being taken to the registration building.
The guard led them through the area where prisoners were taken and then through a door and into what looked like a big office building. There were about 50 prisoners sitting at desks with piles of paper and binders in front of them as they scribbled frantically.
"Why are we here?" Friedrich asked politely, looking around.
Jens smiled. He liked seeing Friedrich being put under pressure like this. It was nice to see him being reminded he was still just a prisoner like the rest of them.
"Just passing through," the guard said as he walked up to an officer standing at the back of the room, talking to one of the female prisoners. Jens noticed how he touched her arm lightly and the way she tried to hide the fact that she flinched automatically. He recognised that situation.
"Excuse me, Officer Fleck," the guard said, "Friedrich Haaner and Jens Trilling. Block 6. Group 1."
The man turned around to face them, dismissing the guard with a wave of his hand. The main thing Jens noticed was he had a pretty impressive moustache. But also a thin and wiry face with small beady eyes and a mouth pinched into a thin line that made him look strangely like a mouse. He looked to be about 50 but like stress had made him look older than he was. He was tall, taller than both Jens and Friedrich.
His gaze flickered between them and then he smiled and nodded to Friedrich. "That kapo," he addressed him, and then turned to Jens, "and his assistant."
"W-What?" Jens stuttered, taking a small step back closer.
Officer Fleck raised the swagger stick held in his left hand and pressed it into Jens' chest, pushing him back.
"Assistant. As I understand, you two have taken a different approach to the usual relationship held between the kapo of a group and the inmates he oversees."
Neither of them dared speak as Fleck looked at them. "Jens, is this true?"
Jens looked up at him and gulped. There was no point in denying it.
"Yes."
Fleck nodded then shrugged and smiled again. "I like it. I think it's a very effective way of operating. You've got the rest of the inmates to fear you, and then Jens can actually tell you what things are really like in there and be guaranteed your protection. He snitches on his friends in exchange for food and the promise that they can't hurt him. You get a more accurate depiction of any murmurings of escape or attempted uprisings."
The silence stretched after he finished talking as Jens and Friedrich exchanged a look then nodded. There had clearly been some kind of miscommunication.
"Y-yes. That's exactly what happens," Friedrich said, nodding definitely.
"Yes, well I felt like you could give me the best insight into a little issue we are having," he sighed, sitting down on the edge of the girl's desk. "There's been rumours of a planned uprising in your block. We've interrogated two inmates from your group but neither gave up any information regarding an uprising. One did however, tell me of your arrangement in great detail. He said he was a friend of yours, Jens. I'd suggest you keep this arrangement a secret to get the best results. Honesty from the people in your group is key to this working."
"Yes, of course, sir," he nodded. "Won't happen again."
"But anyway, this is just like how we would usually ask kapos for any information regarding their group that they deem relevant, except I wanted to hear it straight from the horses mouth. So Jens, any names you can give me about who started these plans? No one will know it was you, and you'll be rewarded for your honesty."
"No one is planning anything," Jens said confidently. "There has been no talk of rebellion. None of us get along enough to plan an uprising."
Fleck looked at him for a while and then nodded. "I trust this. These must just have been rumours. I've heard from other people of these divisions between the bent inmates so your story matches up. You may go- both of you."
Friedrich nodded respectfully and turned away but Jens didn't move.
"You said about a reward," he said, standing up tall and making eye contact with Fleck.
"For giving up names," Fleck corrected him.
"But there were no names to give!" Jens exclaimed angrily. "And you said, 'for your honesty'. You said you believed me, so I should get a reward."
Fleck held his stare for a long time and then sighed.
"Alright, Trilling. What do you want?"
"Release my friend from the Strafkompanie. Let him come back to block 6."
"And who is your friend?"
"Peter Printz. The one you tortured for information. I'd like him to be brought back to our group and for him to take up the clerical position he was offered last week."
Fleck considered for a short time and then nodded.
"Fine. Deal. I'll have him brought over later today. Count yourself grateful, Trilling. Such cheek might not go down so well with any other officer."
"Thank you, sir," Jens said, breathing a sigh of relief.
"You are dismissed, both of you. Go get back to work."