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Kinch sat at the radio in case London sent them a message. Something was going on around camp and he wasn't sure what. Klink kept harassing their senior officer with constant meetings and Schultz had taken LeBeau out of camp earlier this evening for who knows why.
LeBeau and Newkirk had started to fight after returning to the barracks after roll call, so he was grateful to be able to retreat to the quieter, and warmer, tunnels. The radio made it familiar, quiet buzzing that signified the line was empty. Somewhere else in the tunnels, the boys in the machine shop, the first night shift, were getting back to work and a muffled, metallic clanging echoed through the halls.
He looked at the radio and debated changing the frequency to hear what was going on in Klink's office, but decided against it. Hogan would tell them if it was anything important. Kinch stood up and walked over to their little bookshelf.
He looked over his options, most of them he'd read a million and two times already, so he picked the one he only read a million and one times and sat back down at the radio station.
He had hardly cracked open the book when Carter poked his head in the room.
“Can I sit down here with you for a bit? They're fighting upstairs still,” Carter asked, now standing in the doorway, he seemed to be shivering a bit. Kinch didn't have to ask who ‘they’ were, he knew Carter meant Newkirk and LeBeau.
“They're still at it? Usually one of them would have stormed off into the tunnels by now. What are they going on about this time?” Kinch asked. Sighing, he put his book down, crossed his arms across his chest and turned in his chair to give Carter his full attention.
Carter shrugged and sat on the cot along the wall. Kinch had one put down here at some point so someone could always be near the radio in case of a message. Hardly anyone actually slept in it, but it was there all the same.
“Does it matter what they're fighting about? Boy, they're saying some rather mean things to each other and the Colonel isn't there to tell them to can it,” Carter flopped down on the cot, onto his back. He flipped over so he lay on his side facing Kinch, “What if they get so mad at each other that one of them requests to switch barracks?”
“Don't make up a story in your head that isn't true, you're just gonna upset yourself, they'll be fine,” Kinch glanced at the radio before looking back at Carter, “If you wanted, I could go up there and tell them to knock it off, I might not have the same authority as the Colonel, but…”
“No, it's alright,” Carter said, shaking his head. He looked back towards the door, “I should go see if they've quieted down,”
“You should try and get some sleep,” Kinch said, as he waved his hand in the general direction of the bed, offering Carter the cot for the night. Carter sat up and put his feet on the ground.
“Okay, I'm gonna go back up, night Kinch,” Carter said, completely missing Kinch's invitation to sleep in the radio room. He got up and left. Kinch was alone with his thoughts again, the radio static and the machine shop were the only other noises. His mind drifted back to his earlier thoughts, what did Klink want with the Colonel tonight?
He debated listening into Klink's office, but he didn't want to betray Hogan's trust. Hogan will tell them if it's anything they need to know or worry about. But, what if Klink's doing something bad and the Colonel won't tell them… His thoughts trailed off.
Okay, maybe just a quick listen into Klink's office. He flicked the switch on the sound board and waited. Nothing. He stood up, confused and checked to make sure that everything was in working order. Everything looked correct. Did the line get cut?
Kinch got up and double checked all the equipment in the radio room and followed the line as far as he could without leaving the tunnels. He'd have to check the rest tomorrow, it'd be suspicious if he left the barracks at this time of night.
The line had to be cut, unless… they weren't in Klink's office, but where else would they be? He leaned in closer to the speaker, the quiet static didn't tell him if the line was good or not. He hoped that if they were in the other room, maybe he could hear something, anything from them? He held his breath.
“Hogaaannnnnn!” It was quiet and muffled and sounded like an annoyed Klink. Kinch sighed in relief, the line was still good. He listened a bit longer but didn't hear anything else. Kinch decided that if Hogan was annoying Klink, everything was okay. Probably. Maybe? Hopefully. It was okay. Because it had to be.
He turned off the line, leaving the channel open for potential calls from London. He grabbed his book, kicked back his legs and began to read.
It didn't take long for him to be disrupted again. An annoyed LeBeau followed by an angry Newkirk stormed into the radio room.
“Tell him to leave me be!” LeBeau shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at Newkirk. If they were going to him to break up the fight…
“Is the Colonel not back yet?” Kinch asked. He received no answer, the two began fighting again.
"I'm not the one goin’ galavanting around town with a bleeding kraut!” Newkirk yelled right back, LeBeau rolled his eyes a bit. Kinch assumed they'd been going in this loop for a while.
“We went grocery shopping!” LeBeau curled his hands into fists, Kinch sat forward, ready to break up any potential fights. How Hogan dealt with this was beyond him, “Do you like good food? I guess you Brits don't know anything about-”
“Why'd he take you this time then, huh?” Newkirk interrupted, “He's always just brought back the bloody things you ask for!”
LeBeau started shouting in French, Newkirk shouted right back. Kinch put his head down on the table. He hoped the Colonel would be back soon. He glanced at the radio again and sighed.
“Alright, that's enough you two,” Kinch said, pushing himself up and out of his chair. They both kept shouting, not hearing him. Kinch could see why Carter was upset earlier, if this was what they were doing upstairs. He huffed, annoyed.
“I don't need you telling me what I can and can't do! I'm a grown adult!”
“You act like a child, I'm gonna treat you like one, you already look the part!”
“Can you two stop and listen?” Kinch asked again, louder this time.
“Make one more comment about my height, I dare you”
“Awwwwwww, is someone sensitive about it?”
“You-”
“THATS ENOUGH!” Kinch slammed his hands down on the table, like he'd seen the officers back at home do to intimidate unruly non-coms, scaring them into silence. He hoped they would shut up and let him take control of the situation.
To his surprise, they both quieted and looked at him. LeBeau was still fuming and Newkirk looked ready to throw a punch in a moment's notice, but they were quiet. Kinch sighed and sat back down.
“LeBeau is a grown man, he can take care of himself. The Colonel's fine with it, he organized for him to go have an evening on the town. Why are we fighting?” Kinch asked, his voice calm now, trying to get them to listen.
“I don't like that kraut hanging around him,” Newkirk admitted, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. It seemed like he'd calmed down a bit. LeBeau glared at Newkirk.
“Don't make me make you two apologize to each other like children,” Kinch warned. LeBeau sighed and looked at the ground, face softening.
“I appreciate your concern, but I'm an adult and can make choices for myself,” LeBeau was quiet for a second, then he turned towards Kinch, “Sorry for causing a ruckus,”
Newkirk huffed at that. LeBeau elbowed him and shot him a look, Newkirk sighed, “Yeah, I'm sorry too,”
“Maybe go apologize to Carter too, he was really upset about it earlier,” Kinch picked his book back up, ready to be done with this whole ordeal.
“Yeah, you're probably right,” Newkirk said. They both looked kinda guilty. Newkirk was worrying at the collar of his sweater with his fingers. He turned towards LeBeau and sighed, "I'm sorry for yelling at you too,”
“It's alright, Mon ami, I'm sorry too,” LeBeau said, turning towards the door, “Let's go up and check on Carter, yeah?”
“Yeah,”
With that they left the radio room. Kinch put his head down. How the Colonel deals with this kinda stuff every day, he didn't know. He was just glad it was over. He kicked back his legs again and resumed reading his book.
Thankfully, the rest of his shift was quiet. No messages from London or the underground. About halfway through the night, Sergeant Baker came and relieved him of his post.
He struck the mechanism that opened up the tunnel entrance and climbed the ladder to their barracks. It was several degrees colder up there, Kinch shivered. He closed the false bed and sat on his bunk, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.
He heard some of the other prisoners rousing slightly at the noise, but none of them paid him any mind. They were all used to people coming and going during all hours of the night by now.
Kinch, as quickly and quietly as he could manage, got ready for bed. He was about to turn in for the night when he noticed his top bunk, where Carter normally slept, was empty. He looked around, confused.
First things first, start looking in the most likely of places. He checked Newkirk and LeBeau's bunk. Nope, just the two of them. He peeked out the door. Nope, Carter was not outside. He continued to the other side of the barracks then back tracked checking all of the beds. Nope, the usual bunks held their usual people.
Carter had been upset earlier, but it had been resolved, hadn't it? It was probably best to tell the Colonel that one of their men was missing.
He crept over to the office door and opened it, slid in and shut the door behind him. It was much darker in the Colonel's office, he carefully felt his way to the bunk.
“Colonel, wake up,” he whispered to the top bunk.
“Kinch? Word from London?” Hogan asked, his voice raspy and dry likely from just waking up. He cleared his throat. Kinch could hear the man shift, probably sitting up.
“Nothing from London. Sir, Carter isn't in his bunk, he was upset earlier and now I don't know where he is,” Kinch was starting to get nervous. It wasn't like Carter to just leave without telling anyone.
“Eh? Isn't he in my bottom bunk? That's where I saw him last,” Hogan said, still half asleep. Kinch peered through the darkness at the bottom bunk. Sure enough, he could make out a human shaped blob in the darkness. Kinch breathed a sigh of relief.
“He's there,” Kinch said to no one in particular. Hogan responded anyway.
“Thats good. You should get some sleep, who knows what tomorrow is gonna have for us,” He could hear the smile in Hogan's voice. Hogan shifted again, most likely laying back down.
“You're right, night Colonel,” Kinch said, turning back towards the door.
“Night Kinch,” Hogan said, rolling over to go back to sleep. Kinch left the room and closed the door as quietly as he could. He crept back to his bed and laid on his back.
Today was a day and he was ready for it to be done. He rubbed his face with both of his hands and sighed, staring at the bunk above him. Strange stuff was happening around camp and Kinch wasnt sure what to do about it. But, the Colonel and LeBeau were safely back in their bunks, so he wouldn't stress on it tonight. After a bit, he flipped over, laying face down and hoped that tomorrow would be a quiet day.
He snorted at that thought. Quiet? Here? One could only dream. He closed his eyes and wished instead that roll call was further away then it really was.