Before You Start A War

Chapter Nineteen

After a few more moments of Niall regaining his strength, the two make their way to the makeshift eating area. A long line for breakfast has already formed, and Niall and Harry take their place at the very back. Niall looks over the camp, not having had much time to actually learn the layout of where he will be staying for however long they are here, and can feel the glares of his now-comrades on him. They don't even try to hide their hatred for him. While Niall is looking around, Harry is looking at Niall. He looks him over, since bruises and cuts should have already formed on the areas he was hurt during roll-call. Most of his attacks were aimed at areas beneath his clothes, so Harry isn't able to judge his injuries properly, but he can see a few red splotches on his arms where he collided with the ground.

They make their way through the line quickly, with Harry having to place Niall in front of him to stop people from trying to surpass him. Once they arrive at the counter, the kitchen aides eye up Niall first before moving onto Harry, handing him a warm bowl of hardtack and a cup of coffee. Harry's eyebrows furrow, "Niall's a soldier now."

"Maybe to you." The kitchen aide tells him before moving on to the person in line behind Harry. Niall looks up at Harry and shrugs, already seeming to have accepted his unfair treatment. As Niall starts to walk away, Harry catches him by the arm.

Niall shakes him off, "We can't force it, Harry. If they don't want to feed me, that's their choice."

"But the corporal should have told them about you being in our company now."

"I'm sure he did," Niall pauses, looking back at the line, which Harry and Niall are now holding up. "but these men are allowed to have their own opinions on what they deem fair."

"No one can believe this is fair." Harry glares behind him when a comrade shoulders him to move along.

Niall shakes his head, "C'mon, we're holding them up." He grabs Harry's arm and pulls him outside the line before anyone says anything. He doesn't need to deal with more hate than he already does.

"Go find a seat. I need to have some words with them." Harry gives Niall his platter and tells him to go on his way.

"Harry--"

"Go, Niall. I won't cause a scene, I just need to talk to them." Harry demands. Niall sighs and turns away, searching for a seat far from any other soldiers.

Harry turns back to the counter where another soldier is being served with a smile. The aide that helped Harry feed Niall when he was trapped in the cellar is having a conversation with someone else further down the line. Harry waits a moment until the man walks away before approaching him.

"Hey, Styles. Been served yet?" He asks.

"Yeah, Dev, I have. But my friend wasn't. Niall?"

Dev quirks an eyebrow, "The enemy?"

"He's not the enemy anymore, remember? Maddox reinstated him as a soldier. He should be fed just like the rest of us."

"Sorry, Harry, but we didn't receive any orders from Corporal about preparing extra breakfast. I could try to rustle up something for him, but for all I know, he's just getting lunch like he used to."

"You mean to tell me, you all never make extra food?" Harry questions sarcastically.

"We do, but unless we're given orders, we don't give it out to the soldiers. No seconds, no special treatment, nothing. Food is already sparse, we don't need to be wasting it, even when he know some people go hungry." Dev explains quietly.

"Can't you try to get me something for now, please? He's a soldier now, just like the rest of us. He deserved to be fed like us."

Dev shakes his head, "I can't, Harry. If I get caught, they'll have my balls. But here," Dev walks off and grabs an empty bowl and a cup of water. "if you're willing, you can split your breakfast with him into this, and he can have this water. It's all I can do for now."