The next morning a bell sounded and out of my tired eyes I saw all
the men who had been in there at night wake up and stumble about
while putting jackets on. I lifted my arms up from around Frank and
Alex, who must have moved closer sometime in the night, and rubbed
my eyes.

"Wake up you bastard," I mumbled as I pushed Frank off of me and
sat up straight. I rolled my head to the side and it cracked, but didn't
help get any of the kinks out of my neck.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Frank sit up and push himself
into a standing position, reaching blindly for his jacket. I looked over at
Alex and shook his shoulders until his eyes opened. He didn't say
anything but instead blinked a few times, either trying to make the
world disappear or maybe he was just trying to focus in on the tent.
Whatever it was, he gave a loud sigh and rolled over and pushed himself
to his feet.

Frank held out a hand for me and I grabbed it and was pulled up to
my feet by the shorter man. He handed me my jacket without a word
and we waited patiently for Alex before leaving the tent. We weren't
the last ones, some of the bigger men were struggling to get up off of
the ground, or some of their jackets and other parts of their uniforms
had gone missing sometime in the night, probably someone deciding to
mess with them.

The sun was barely over the horizon as we exited the tent and
already people were hustling about. There was a line outside of the
food tent and we made our way over, standing behind two men who
were talking to each other about how 'it's ridiculous we can't go


charging the North'. I guess they were into all the bloodshed of the war.
They probably joined willingly and weren't taken hostage like me.

"It's weird not seeing you jump around like the monkey you are," I
said to Frank, who only shrugged. "Usually you're making breakfast or
pulling me out of bed, or trying to frantically find a supposedly
important document that you say is too important for my eyes."

"I guess I see no reason, my life is doomed." The line moved
forward and we all took a big step forward, a line growing behind us.
We didn't talk to anyone or listen in on any conversations, instead
staying in our own little worlds.

"Don't say things like that," I said, and then paused. "Wait a damn
minute. I'm being the optimistic one, something is wrong here."

Frank chuckled and nodded, turning around in his spot in line in
front of us, seeing as we were closer than a moment ago. I let Alex go in
front of me, pushing him forward. He seemed so shy and timid of
everything, it made me want to watch out for him. It was like a
motherly instinct which was strange considering I was most definitely
male but I was always more caring than my mother.

"You haven't said anything yet," I said to Alex, who shrugged and
acted like he was ignoring me. I frowned but didn't say anything. I was
usually quiet but I felt like I needed to take charge, even over just two
other people since I was the oldest. I didn't pry him for any answers;
instead I just shuffled behind him in line until we got our food.

Frank lead us over to a little table that was set up and we sat
keeping our heads down as we ate what seemed to be cold porridge.

"What do we have here?" I looked up to see the source of the
voice, which happened to be a man who couldn't be much older than
me and appeared to be smaller than me too. He looked smug and had
three other men around him, who had a similar body structure. "Some
little boys at our table."


"We'll move," I said, grabbing for my bowl before Frank grabbed
my wrist.

"Why don't you go find another table?" Frank asked his tone
serious. I looked over at him and he was glaring up at the man who
spoke, with determination written over his face.

"Why don't you make me?" the man asked and Frank stood up, and
the group laughed. "He's so short!"

Frank attacked the main man with a small cry, and they both went
tumbling down. I stood up along with Alex and peered over the table at
the two of them. Frank was on top and appeared to be biting on the
other's arm. The three other men stood and watched until their leader
yelled at them to help and that’s when I ran around the table and did
my best to pull them off of Frank. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Alex
helping with what little strength he seemed to have. He pulled at the
blond one's hair and he wailed and turned to punch Alex right in the
face.

I successfully got the brown haired one that attacked Frank off and
pushed him behind me, while the other brown haired one helped their
leader up.

Frank tried lunging at the man again and I grabbed him by his hair,
pulling him back to me. Alex was on the ground and one of the attackers
kicked him furiously a few times before they left, laughing.

"You'll pay for this, boy," was the last thing they said before they
disappeared.

I turned to Frank who was fuming. "Don't do that!" I hissed,
"They’re better trained than us, you arse."

"I don't care!" Frank hissed back, "I'd rather die now than later."

I turned my back to him and turned my attention to Alex who was
on the ground, nursing his cheek where he was punched earlier. I pulled


his hand away and it was starting to swell. I glared back at Frank and he
helped me lift Alex to his feet.

"How do you take care of a swollen cheek?" Frank asked as we sat
Alex down on a chair at the table again.

"I'll heal," Alex mumbled and I looked towards him. "I've gotten in
fights; I'm not exactly the most well liked person around. I'd get bruised
up a bit all the time growing up. This isn't even close to the worst I've
ever experienced, not even the slightest bit close." Alex put his hand
back up to his cheek, and I saw him flinch a little at the touch. I was a
little skeptical but Alex shook his head. "Trust me, I'll be fine in a weeks’
time."

"What about your sides? It looked like they kicked you pretty
hard..."

"Nothing I haven't dealt with before, now will you please stop
being my mother?" Alex asked, sounding annoyed. I stepped back and
let him stand up on his own. I grabbed our bowls and we walked back to
the food tent and dropped them off. The cook glared at us but didn't say
anything.

We stepped out of the way and watched the bustle of the camp.
We had nowhere to go so we sat and watched the others with a duty. A
few moments later someone approached us and I recognized the blond
hair sticking out from under the cap and the group of four behind him.

"You three caused these gentlemen some hardships this morning?"
the blond, General Bryar, said. The four men snickered behind him and I
had sudden flashbacks to primary school when one would tattle on
another.

"Only after they confronted us," Frank said and I stepped behind
him, just a little and hopefully it went unnoticed. This Bryar guy wasn't
one I looked forward to messing with since he seemed like he could take
me down easily.


"Did you or did you not attack first?" Bryar asked, glaring hardly at
Frank who didn't answer. "We do not tolerate violence among one
another here, Mister Iero - and yes, I do know you. Private Armstrong
told me to be wary of you after yesterday's incident. It'd be wise of you
to stop drawing so much attention to yourself." Bryar turned to face the
other four men, "Don't you have duties to attend to?" I guess he gave
them one of his death glares because they all went, walking faster than
a casual speed.

"So what's our punishment?" Frank asked, his eyes never leaving
Bryar.

"You, Mister Iero, will be put in the guardhouse until this time
tomorrow, then will start training. You two will be placed on kitchen
duty for a week, mostly since weapons for you haven't come in yet..."
Bryar trailed off and I felt like we were getting off easy.

"What? Why separate punishments?" Frank objected, stepping a
bit closer to Bryar as if he was challenging him. I tried pulling him back,
but he ripped his arm out of my grasp. Why was he flying off the handle
today?

"This is their first violation, whereas you've already had one within
twenty four hours of arriving. Besides, why would I put the three of you
in a room together for a day? It wouldn't be much punishment, now
would it?"

Frank grumbled about it 'not being fair and Bryar just laughed. "If
life was fair, would you even be here, Mister Iero? Now come along
before I make it a week. You two, wait here until I get back, or else
you'll share a more severe punishment than what I'm giving."

Bryar and Frank left, heading off behind one of the bigger tents. I
turned to Alex who looked a little pale.

"Is it me or did it seem like he was being too nice?" he whispered.
"I mean, he had us kidnapped and brought us here against our will, and


all he's getting is a day in solitary and we're getting a week of kitchen?
He seems more like the guy who would call for a public display of
punishment."

"I think that too...Wait, didn't the cook say last night something
about moving? Maybe Bryar didn't want to hurt us so we could walk
and not have to be carried or whatever?" I suggested.

"Or I think you're not worth the effort of physical punishment," a
voice said and I jumped, seeing Bryar a few feet away. "Or maybe I think
McCracken deserved it, acting like the baby he is and running to me
every time someone hurts his pathetic feelings? And it's General Bryar,
nothing more and nothing less."

That last statement confused me more than anything, but I tried
not to dwell too much on it.

"Don't try to guess my motives because you'll hardly ever be right,
now come along, I have more important things to do than deal with
petty fights." Bryar - General Bryar - walked towards the little kitchen
tent and we were met instantly with the annoyed tone of the cook.
"Jacky, these men will be in your care for the week as punishment for
fighting between soldiers."

"Fine, I'm sure I can find work for them. I'm sure after this week
they'll never misbehave again," the cook, Jacky, said, with a little
sarcasm to his tone. Bryar didn't say anything, instead left. I saw Jacky
flip him off behind his back, frowning fiercely before turning to us.
"You're one of those new boys right?" I nodded and he chuckled.
"What'd you do?"

"Sat at the wrong table and our friend attacked..." I said, looking
around the small space.

"Oh, I bet that was Bert and his crew, they always act like that,
thinking the world revolves around them," Jacky grumbled and as he
talked I realized he had a bit of an accent mixed with his words. "They're


a bunch of stupid asses, always demanding better than everyone. If I
had my way, I'd shoot them. Or poison them, but I might get executed
for that and I don't particularly have a death wish. Now are you going to
sit there or are you going to tell me your names?"

"Mikey Way," I said, "and Alex..."

"Alex Gaskarth," he finished, glaring at me. "I can introduce myself,
I'm not a baby."

"Well then, welcome to my crew for the wee, or more, depending
on...Hey, weren't there three of you?" Jacky moved to where a small
washing basin was set up in a corner, stacks of dishes around it. He
reached a hand in and inspected the bowl before throwing it back in.

"Yeah, well he's in the guardhouse for the day," I answered.

"A day for him and a week for you? Did you two injure the other
party horribly to be stuck with me?"

"I just pulled my friend, Frank, off and Alex took most of the
beating...Frank just threw the first punch," I shrugged, shifting uneasily
on my feet.

Jacky looked off in thought for a moment, "Makes no sense, but I
chose not to understand the reasoning of General Bryar. Now, you, tall
one, get over here and wash these dishes. I hope you, mister 'I can
introduce myself' can help with the cooking outside without burning
anything. Move it, we don't have much time."