So ... I'm not entirely sure how this chapter is going to go??

We'll just have to find out together.

Enjoy! :)

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Jack walks all night. He only stops occasionally. But for the most part, he just keeps going.

Where exactly he's going, he doesn't know. He just knows that he'll get there soon.

At this point, not much matters.

All his friends, scattered across Europe. He has no way to get to them, to contact them.

So he must find the next best thing.

Surely if Race could make it to Italy by walking, Jack can walk out of Germany too, right?

Only one way to find out.

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For the past couple weeks, David has been back in England. True, some pilots have had a few solo missions now and then, but for now, they are greatly unneeded in the battle on the Western Front, much to David's relief. As well as to David's guilt. He has a gut feeling that at least some of them are out there right now, fighting for their lives. Fighting for their lives, while he's sitting here talking to Sardinia, drinking tea. 

Before coming to England, David didn't have a taste for tea. Now, spending time to drink tea just helps in the attempt to keep him sane.

He can't wait for something important to happen. Anything. Whether they're called back out to the Western Front, or that the war has ended and/or they can all go home, a major victory has happened, something.

He's getting restless without action.

Now, he has a different gut feeling. A feeling that something is going to happen soon.

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The only sustenance Jack has had in the past ... however long it's been, has been a few berries, and considering he's not dead, he thinks it's safe to assume that they weren't poisonous. There's a river, so he was able to drink water. He's still just so, so famished, parched, and tired.

He doesn't know how much longer he can carry on.

But he must.

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There's tension and anticipation in the air. Mush and Spot and the others can feel it. 

They can't exactly put their finger on it. No one can; but they have all come to the same conclusion: this war is going to end soon.

True, that is probably more fantasy than fact. But at this point, they don't care. As long as they can think of something to make them just a little bit happier, that's all they need. As long as they can see a light at the end of the tunnel.

The third phase is going to end soon, Mush and Spot just know it.

And then maybe, just maybe, the fighting will end.

They can't wait.

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Do all forests in Europe look the same? Or will I miraculously know when I leave the country?

Jack, of course, has no sense of direction right now. He could be walking further into the heart of Germany for all he knows; as much as he dreads that thought. He hopes that that's not true.

At least this part of the forest still has a river, still has berries (that Jack learned by tasting aren't poisonous), and can give him shelter--from the wind, from the rain, from the cold, from being found out.

Yes, Jack can take a break here.

It can't be a long one.

Jack won't let it be a long one.

That's all I've ever really good for anyway, isn't it? Running away?

He sits in silence with that thought clouding his mind like a bad fog. Unfortunately for him, there's no one here to dissuade him of that notion. And as long as he's alone, no one will.

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Race, Antonio, and Ermal stick together in this prison camp. They only have each other, really. In these long days, they tell each other stories. Stories from their memories, stories of their past, stories of their lives before and after the war started. They exchange little bits of culture. Ermal tells them about Albania. Race tells them about the songs he remembers his grandparents singing to him. Antonio tells them about all the countries he's seen because he ended up in the war.

They tell each other so many big details and little details, as if making a quilt out of these scraps of knowledge. Maybe when it's complete, it will be the most beautiful quilt any of them have ever seen. 

But this quilt is one that is not made to be finished. It is made to forever be in progress. They will continue to weave new stories into this quilt; whatever stories have yet to be told, whatever stories don't yet exist for them to weave in.

In times like this, they all need to remember what keeps them going. Even in this dire situation, they need to look for their reasons to carry on. Race wants to see his family of friends again. Antonio wants to travel the world, absorbing cultures from everywhere. Ermal wants to spread knowledge and ideas for all those who have no way to access more information.

With these thoughts to fill their heads at night, they keep on hoping for a brighter future.

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Jack has no clue where he is in Europe.

It all looks the same to him.

Somehow, it's been two days since he commented on how it was Race's birthday the day before. Two days ago he escaped.

He feels bad about leaving Kid Griffo and Chick Tucker behind, but they didn't want to take the risk, and Jack can respect that.

It's just that his lover is still outside the camp that drove him to leave.

I'm glad that they got to reunite, Jack thinks. Every day it was palpable that Kid Griffo missed his lover.

Just like Jack misses his lover..

He thinks of David as he keeps walking.

He has no clue how long he has been walking, nor in which direction he has been walking. He just knows that he's still on this blasted continent. He could have wandered into another country for all he knows, but it all looks the same to him.

He blinks his eyes wearily. He can't fall asleep. True, he's in no immediate danger, but he can't just stop here. He has to make it somewhere, anywhere.

He can't make it.

He collapses, and everything goes dark.

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Well. That was a way to end the chapter.

Don't worry, the next chapter is going to be much more interesting.

I hope you all found Race's perspective poetic instead of insane haha. My brain at T-15 minutes to 1:00 am decided that prose was needed haha.

I added a quick Mush and Spot perspective because I felt bad for leaving them out.

Alas, I'm back to keep scraping by with barely 1000 word chapters. I think the next one is going to be different. Actually, I know it's going to be different.

What will happen, you ask? Well, you're just going to have to read and find out.

Please, no homophobia, profanities, hate etc in the comment section at all times.

Best,

~Your Beloved Author (who hopes that some day, everyone will be okay)