Timeless

Chapter 26

A/N: A double update bc popular demand left me realizing that this would be a much WORSE cliffhanger to leave you all on. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. Oops? You did this to yourselves lol 

It didn't necessarily bring Kathryn Egan much ease or comfort of mind being in the camp with her brother and Buck. It didn't help her trying to sleep at night sharing a tiny bed-space with Inez—who she found out was absolutely a slight cuddler. For a long time, the two women had just stared at each other and Inez just looked absolutely terrified to even close her eyes.

"Are you sure that we're safe with them?" Inez's voice barely sounded above a whisper.

Kathryn wished more than anything that she could tell her that yes, this was safe. That as long as they stayed with the men of the 100th, then they would be fine. That they could get through this. But Kathryn couldn't guarantee that. She couldn't guarantee anything.

Inez's hands were shaking as she stared at Kathryn, waiting for a response. Kathryn just grabbed her hand gently. "Yes." The words just felt hollow in her throat, made her feel as though she were a liar now as well as a whore.

"Does it still hurt?" Inez's voice was even softer than before.

Kathryn nearly began crying at the question. Because the truth of the matter is that Kathryn Egan had borne the roughest of the pains and had endured the gunshot wound to the shoulder. And every breath was agony. Her feet were covered in cuts that she couldn't show anyone and her thighs still ached and burned with pains. The burns themselves itched and demanded to be clawed at, but she did not do that. She just lay there, perfectly still, face passive and trying to cling to normalcy.

"No," Kathryn whispered out the word quietly. "I'm trying to forget it. You should too."

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Kathryn really shouldn't have been surprised by the jobs that she and the nurses had been assigned. She supposed that it really didn't matter to the Krauts whether she was a licensed doctor or not—she was still a woman. And a woman's job didn't tend to differ much between the Allies or the Axis Powers at this point.

They had been split up. Three of them were doing laundry and three of them were cooking. After some debate with her brother, Kathryn had agreed that they did, in fact, need some sort of protection. All of them were aware of the horrors of war and the fact that a lot of these men hadn't seen women in a long time.

So here she was, with DeMarco and Brady lurking at the edge of where she, Beatrice, and Maggie were working on scrubbing the clothing clean. Beyond them, there were more men in the yard. But they stayed close enough to intervene if needed. She wasn't sure if this was going to make them more of a target or if it was going to just help the situation that was already at hand.

For a moment, after it had all been decided, Kathryn had wondered why neither her brother or Buck had volunteered. But then it had occurred to her that they were leaders within the camp. They were most certainly involved in any sort of escape attempt or plans for such a thing—and that meant that they would need to work her and the nurses into their calculations.

It was a small reprieve from feeling her brother's gaze burning into her or the silent wondering of Buck Cleven. She didn't have answers for either of them and she had nothing to say that would actually make anyone feel better.

The soap she was scrubbing with was a pathetic-looking thing and rough. And the water was all so cold and somewhat dirty anyways, she wondered how the Nazi's ever expected her and the others to get them clean. Then again, it was entirely possible that they were never meant to be cleaned. It was just a job to fill their days. Just something to occupy their time and keep the men focused on them, like they were pieces of meat.