Throughout It All

32 | Not What We Wanted | November 2, 1918

I did mention that things are going to happen in this chapter, right?

Enjoy! :)

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"Was yesterday your birthday, Race?" Jack asks suddenly.

"...What?"

"Well, I've been in here since the fourth. That was twenty eight days ago. So today is November 2nd. Meaning yesterday was November 1st."

"Oh." A beat. "Huh. I guess it really was my birthday."

"Happy birthday!" Antonio exclaims beside him.

Race smiles. "Grazie, bambino."

He gets a happy birthday! from Kid Griffo and Chick Tucker as well.

"Thanks, guys. I mean it."

True, he would rather not have spent his birthday in a prison camp, but he really had no say in it. And he didn't start his birthday in a prison camp either, even if he had forgotten it was his birthday.

"Guess I'm thirty five now," Race marvels wryly. "That's something."

"You're old." Antonio smiles childishly beside him.

Race looks at him and ruffles his hair fondly. "And you're young. Practically a child."

"I've been an adult for years now!"

"So why are you acting like a child?"

"I am not acting like a-"

Race just raises his eyebrows, as if to say See? His point has just been proven.

Antonio sighs. "Okay, you're right."

"I'm not calling it a bad thing, though," Race puts in quickly. "I know you've grown up. But it's okay to still be a kid at heart."

I know I am, Race thinks. Sometimes it still feels like I'm a newsie, just barely sixteen, with everything that I ever wanted, ever needed.

Those days are so far away, though.

As much as Jack loves the sibling banter, though, he can tell that something is changing. He sits up a little, getting more alert.

Race notices. "What is it, Jack?"

Jack says nothing. But he watches the German officers walking around, getting ready to do something.

Then, they all stand in a line. The first one barks out an order, and then down the line they go in several different languages, so everyone would know what is happening.

Their accents are thick and the English isn't the best, but they still hear what the officers are saying.

Some of the prisoners are going to be taken away to a different camp.

Of course. There's not enough space here. It'll be easier with less people in here. So they're sending away soldiers, and they're organizing by division/regiment. 

The 332nd Infantry Regiment is called.

The 77th Division is not.

"No," Race chokes out in alarm. He turns to Jack. "Jack, I can't leave you again."

Jack swallows, clenching his fists. "I don't want you to leave either."

Race wraps his arms around Jack. "Jack, I can't lose you. Not again."

Jack hugs back tightly. "You won't. I'll still be with you."

"How?"

"Because you'll have me in your memories and in your heart, just like you'll be in mine. And we will find each other again. We did it once, we can do it again."