Before You Start A War

Chapter Ten

After about two days, Harry and his remaining men were able to find their way back to their camp, using the map to navigate back to where there company is based. Thankfully, they haven't moved, and when they all walk up, a few men begin to panic and alarm the rest of the camp of intruders, but when Corporal Maddox comes out, wielding his rifle, he calls for celebration.

"How did you find your way back? Where were they keeping you?" One of Harry's friends, Liam, asks, as he's checking him over for wounds. Liam acts as the company's stationery medic, whereas there are other field medics that work during battle.

"Yeah, Harry, what happened to that map?" A man that was also captured with him questions.

Harry lies, "I lost it last night while we were resting. Some animal probably got it." Harry didn't actually lose it, he just doesn't want his company to start planning an attack on Niall's company. If there is a chance that Niall is still alive, he doesn't want him getting hurt in a battle, especially one provoked by Harry. Instead, he hid the map in the lower confines of his rucksack, covering it with the rest of his belongings, all of which were reinstated once he and the rest returned.

"That's too bad. Would be nice to take the enemy by surprise, eh?" The same man jokes, scratching at a bandage placed around his arm.

"I guess, but that map showed they were getting close to finding us. We should stay sharp."

The man nods and leaves the medic station. Harry was the last to be treated since he was brought into Corporal Maddox's quarters to explain what had happened, and seemingly had the most information since he was talking for several minutes, unlike many of the other men that were out in only a few seconds. Harry tried to remember the names of the men that died, but was only able to name off a few of them, so their families could be notified of their deaths.

A few days later, and everything had already returned to normal. He was reassigned a tent on the outskirts of the camp, with a man that he's never seen before, who was probably just added to the company. He was given daily tasks and field work, but whenever he had free time, he was always surrounded by men trying to get information out of him about where the enemies were.

Harry kind of led his men on a bit of an unknown trail, trying to confuse them, to make sure they couldn't trace back to the camp. He kept the map out of the eyes of the rest of his comrades throughout their entire journey, telling them he knew where he was going and that they didn't need to see it. Most of them were so famished that they just took his word for it, and allowed him to lead them astray. Hopefully, that means they are never to find the enemy's camp again.

However, the next morning, Harry is woken up by the sound of commotion in the main area. His tent-mate has already left, and Harry quickly scrambles to grab his weapons to join the fight. Though there are no gunshots, he isn't sure what to expect and would rather be ready to fight if need be.

When he gets out there, he notices a crowd circling around Corporal Maddox, who is trying to calm everyone down. It's then that Harry hears someone call out, "He's one of them! He's the one that kept us locked in that damned barn for weeks!"

Harry freezes. There's no way, absolutely no way they're talking about Niall. Maybe one of the men they saw in that camp were around trying to map out the area again, and he was caught.

"Kill him! He deserves to die for what he's done to us!" Another one yells out. Harry can hear the sound of a saber being pulled from its holster. He fights his way through the crowd, pushing people out of the way.

"Styles, is it true? Did he really torture you?" One of the newer soldiers asks, but Harry isn't listening. All he's focused on it getting to the front of the crowd so he can see clearly. He catches small glimpses through moving bodies and through the other soldiers' legs, but can only see someone's body on the ground, not even kicking or squirming, a rope around their ankles, and the point of the saber being pierced into the ground next to one of their legs. Harry pushes harder on the people in front of him.