the forming of brothers

the aftermath

Present-day a week since the capture

"Hey, Mark where are going to live? If you go back to Germany they will kill you. if you want to you can come back to America with us. I am sure that we can find some space on the transport boat for you." offered James kind of quietly. He was sitting propped up on pillows on the regulation cot they called beds shirtless and sporting multiple large bandages across his back and chest. James had trouble getting up and putting a shirt on or taking it off. He was still recovering from a fever caused by his wounds getting infected. Mark also was still recovering from his own torture, his friends found out after a medical eval that Mark was suffering from malnourishment and dehydration as well as lots of large whip marks that ran up and down his back and sides. The base medic weighed mark and said that he had lost so much weight that he had a possibility of dying, as mark only weighed forty-nine pounds less than a bag of chicken feed. When he weighed about 190 which was average weight, Mark had lost 141 pounds during his time in the German POW camp. Mark, worried for his friend and the closest thing to a brother he would ever have, had quite literally spent all of his time with James taking care of him even though he was on base in the medical facility. The only time he cared for himself was after Josh yelled at him after finding the young German passed out on the floor. After that Mark started to take care of himself more but josh and Connor still had to help too as the German had no idea how to help himself heal. Mark spent a lot of his time with James even after he got out of the medical building. Sometimes Josh, Jason, and Conner would hang out with them too, but it was mostly just Mark and James.

"Really you would do all of that for me, a pawn, a tool that is meant to be thrown away?" asked Mark. He could not believe that someone actually cared enough to offer him a place. Then again he and James had been through a lot together so he should have expected it but it still was a shock. "Of course. Do you really think I would let you stay here and be killed? Heck no you are one of my best friends I would never leave you here to be brutally murdered," shocked James replied to his friend. "Mark you are my brother, ok. All of squad E are brothers, but you are my brother, when I saved you that day, I knew deep down that you and I would become brothers in all but blood, ok." James said sitting up despite the pain so he could wrap his arms around his younger (by a few months) squad mates, his friend, best friend, his brother. At that moment the other three members of squad E came in they had heard a little of what Mark had said the three walked over and joined to make a group hug. Scarred to think about what their brother had gone through before James rescued Mark. The five men sat and just talked telling each other everything. Mark - after some (a lot) prompting from Jason- told his friends about what the higher-ranking German officers did to the frontline soldiers who rebelled against the reason for the war. Mark told his friends everything the Germans did to him, he even- again after encouragement from Jason-showed his friends the scars that covered his upper body from his time in the German army. Mark still had a lot of healing ahead of him, recovering from the trauma inflicted upon him by the generals he worked under, but Mark has some of the greatest people in the world to help him. Jason sat next to Mark the whole time with his hand resting on Mark's shoulder supporting his friend