Ally the Enemy

The Kind General

  Max ran through the woods away from the German camp, pushing past bushes, not caring about those branches that snagged at him or the few that scratched his face. 

He finally stopped and leaned against a tree, crying. "Warum wusste ich ein Teil dieses Krieges sein? Why did I have to be a part of this war?" He sniffled, then slid down to the ground, hugging his knees. 

"Ich wollte nie jemanden verletzen....I never wanted to hurt anyone..." He barely made out through his timid and pained voice. 

A sudden crashing in the brush behind him made him spin around to see two men step forward, a British man with the General insignia on his uniform and a French man matching the stripes, with two French soldiers behind them. 

Max's eyes widened, and he tried to scoot back but hit another tree. "Bitte! Bitte tu mir nicht weh!" He cried in fear, and the British General glanced to the French, then back down at Max inquisitively. 

He crouched down in front of Max, who shrank back. He raised his eyebrow. "What is a child like you doing in a war zone, let alone as a soldier?" He asked, and Max stared at him for a moment, surprised at the non-threatening aura of the man. 

He hesitated, then turned his head away. "I...I did not want to be a soldier..." He said quietly, and the General's eyebrow rose. 

"You can speak English." He observed bluntly, and Max nodded slightly. 

"Ja..." 

The kind British man met the young boy's eyes curiously. "What did you mean, you did not want to be a soldier?" He wondered, and Max looked to the side, then back at the man crouched before him. 

"In my home, in Dresden, they recruited anyone they could. I just happened to be one of the many men they picked, although I was by far the youngest. Why they chose me, I still do not know....But...I don't like this war. I don't want to hurt anyone!" He told, and the British General gently put his hand on the boy's shoulder as the three behind him exchanged glances. 

He met Max's eyes with a kind smile. "I'm Aaron Reynolds. What's your name?" He asked, and Max bit his lip, then sighed. 

"Mein name is Maxwell Schindler." He answered, then one of the French soldier's dark blue eyes widened. 

He leaned over to the other. "Wasn't one of the Germans we encountered named Schindler?" He asked quietly, and the other's eyes grew wide, and they both looked down at Max with sudden realization. 

The first stepped forward a bit. "Maxwell, were you shot by a British soldier two days ago?" He asked, and the two Generals turned to look at him with the utmost confusion. 

The French General raised his eyebrow. "Tristan, what are you talking about?" He asked, but Tristan kept his gaze on the young boy, whose eyes were wide and his mouth hung open. 

"How...how did you know that?" He asked, quickly glancing down at the slightly reddened bandage on his stomach. 

Tristan and the other soldier exchanged a worried glance. 

"So it is him..." The second muttered, and Tristan crouched next to Aaron. 

"Max, do you know a William Barnes? He was there when-" 

Max's eyes suddenly grew excited, and he nodded quickly. 

"Yes, I know him! I know Will! And his friend, Marshall! Will saved me, then we were at camp with Weitz and Hecke and Marshall was talking and he was upset, and I was hurt and not really understanding but Will tried to talk to Marshall, but Marshall went off to the edge of the campsite, then Hecke and Weitz and Will talked by the campfire, then I fell asleep. Then the next morning, Marshall was gone, and Will and Weitz went to find him, then Hecke helped me and we started to follow them when we ran into another British and French patrol. They were also looking for Will! We then all kept looking, then found them in our camp, and our lieutenant was hurting them, and he had shot Marshall, and my general showed up and I didn't want him to hurt them so I had my gun at him, then he shot Weitz, then Will grabbed him and he said shoot him, then..." 

Max's voice stopped, and his face turned to sorrow as tears pricked at his eyes. 

The four soldiers all stared at him with wide eyes as they learned what had happened. 

Reynolds held Max's shoulder still. "Slow down, Max. What happened then?" He asked calmly, and Max wiped his eyes, sniffling. 

"I...I...I shot him,....but also....also Will..." He choked out, then started crying again. Reynolds' eyes widened, and he sighed. 

He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around the young boy, who immediately fell into his shoulder and gripped his jacket tight, sobbing. Aaron held Max close, then looked up at the French General, who shook his head. 

Tristan and the other soldier met eyes, then looked back down at Max. Reynolds pulled back, then found Max's gaze. 

"Max, I need you to take us back to your camp. We need to help Will. Can you do that?" He asked gently, and Max nodded, wiping his nose on his sleeve. 

"Ja...I will bring you." He agreed. Aaron lifted Max to his feet, then pointed to the other three. 

"These are my fellow soldiers, Gabriel Lefeuvre, Tristan Brochard, and Milo Michaux. William is the best soldier we have." He stated, and Max nodded, then smiled slightly. 

"He is my best friend..." He murmured quietly. Max started to lead the four soldiers towards his camp, all the while telling them more in detail about what happened. Reynolds and Lefeuvre met wide eyes as they heard about what happened at the German encampment. 

Lefeuvre shook his head. "I guess that the German General was as insane as they say." He remarked, and Reynolds sighed. 

"Yeah, and my boys got caught right in the middle of his schemes." He muttered. 

Max then pointed ahead of them. "It is not much further." He said, and as they walked, his thoughts began to trace back to Will and Reichman...the shot... 

Max stopped, then fell to his knees, hanging his head. Trauma ran through his body like a shock as all that he could see was the bloody shot in Will's chest. His breath shook, and Tristan bent down next to him. 

He picked him up and let Max wrap his arms around his shoulders. Standing up with the young boy on his back, he gently carried Max, whose tears had begun to fall again. 

Reynolds looked ahead, and he lead them on towards the camp.