You stay quiet for a bit after ranting, waiting for Ludwig to reply. Ludwig looks at you sadly for a while. He opens his mouth as if to speak, but then closes it again.

“What do you have to say now, Ludwig? What?!”

“I’m…sorry. (y/n)” He whispers.

Before you could react however, he quickly moves to the side of the cot and places his hand over your mouth.

He kneels down next to the cot, and whispers in your ear.

“Ich liebe dich, (y/n)” he whispers, before kissing you softly on the cheek.

He leaves after that, sliding the door shut behind him.

You lay there, wondering what the hell just happened.

“Well. There goes sleep.” You say to yourself, literally just before you fall asleep from exhaustion.

When you wake up 8 hours later, you find that the obnoxious heart monitor and IV is gone, and there is a small meal next to your cot.

“HOLY CRAP. FOOD!” You fall out of the cot, much like you fell out of bed only a few days before.

“Heheh… ow.”

You then inhale the food, noticing how hungry you have been.

Gilbert comes up behind you after opening the cell door without you noticing.

“Vell it looks like you’re much better!” He says, startling you. You reply by chucking the plate of food at his face.

His red eyes burn with rage again, and you stand up to your full height without much effort. It appears as though you aren’t as injured as you thought, though both wrists are still in bandages.

“Yes, and you care WHY? You’re just going to beat the tar out of me again.” You say with a slight smirk on your face as he brushes the food off himself.

“I care, because it’ll make it that much better when you’re screaming the next time.” He says, advancing towards you.

“You saying that makes it that much better when I do this.” You say cheerfully, just as you kick him in the crotch. He falls down, groaning.

“And I know all about that diary you kept your whole life! Peace!”

You then kick him in the head, knocking the albino unconscious. You book it out of the cell door, only to run into a brick wall.

After falling on your butt, you realize that the brick wall is actually Ludwig. A very, very, hurried looking Ludwig.

“Sup…?” You ask a bit nervously.

Ludwig looks at you surprised, but then shakes his head and helps you up.

“I honestly don’t care how you escaped. Ve just have to get out of here, NOW.” He says, dragging you behind him at a quick pace.

“Ludwig… what’s going on…?”

“I’ll tell you later.” He says, putting a pair of handcuffs on your wrists as an afterthought. “Keep your head down. You can take them off later.”

You do as he says, noticing that he’s leading you through a frenzy of running soldiers rushing through the main building of the compound, shouting to one another as they pass. One soldier pauses to observe why Ludwig is dragging you. You make sure to keep your head down, especially now that people are taking notice of you and Ludwig.

After guiding you through the chaos of the main buildings, you arrive at a garage, filled with parked vehicles. It’s distinctly quieter here than it was in the main buildings. Scratch that. It’s dead silent save for your footsteps. You’re the only ones in there. There’s an exit near the back, leading to the exit gate to the compound.

Ludwig tosses a bag you never noticed until now into a Jeep close to the exit, and helps you into the passenger’s seat. He then climbs into the driver’s seat on the opposite side, and starts the Jeep with keys he takes from his pocket.

He then drives through the exit to the compound, and speeds down the dirt trail away from the compound.

“Okay, seriously what’s going on, Ludwig?” You ask over the sound of the Jeep’s engine.
“Zhe Russians are attacking. Ve had another building vith prisoners, closer to zhe entrance. Not a good idea, I know. But I digress. Zhe Russian’s only freed those who are from zheir own army, and killed zhe rest of zhem. I don’t know vhat zhey’re trying to accomplish, but I couldn’t… I couldn’t let zhat happen to you.”

A small blush tints your cheeks when he says that. You look away, looking out the window before being absorbed in your thoughts. “Okay… I guess they’re just trying to maintain their place in the war. They’re not on either side, they’re just on their own. They’re too active in the war to be neutral, so I guess it’s a three-way war?” You say, not even directing it towards Ludwig at that point.

“So where are we headed?”

Ludwig keeps his eyes on the road as he takes a right at a fork. “Ve’re just getting avay for now. Zhere’s a small town a few hours avay. Ve can get supplies zhere.”

“Wait, so you’re actually saying that you have no clue where we’re going? You can’t be serious. And why did you leave Gil?”

Ludwig gives you a sidelong glance before looking back at the dirt road. “Ja, I’m serious actually. I have no real plan. And does it bother you zhat I didn’t bring Gilbert?” He asks you, a small smile playing at his lips.

“Oh OF COURSE! It’s just going to kill me without having Gil’s bright attitude with us.” You say, sarcasm dripping heavily from your words.

The hint of a smile on his face grows into a full grin. “Vell, I’m sad to say zhat mein bruder can take care of himself. Even if he vas incapacitated vhen ve left. How’d you manage zhat, by zhe vay?”

A devilish grin spreads over your face. “Oh you know… I chucked my plate of crappy food at his face, kicked him in the crotch, and then kicked him in the head. Let’s just call it a small amount of payback for a few days ago.”

Ludwig laughs a bit to himself, and then a though occurs to him. He reaches with one hand to grab the bag from the back seat, and rummages through it until he produces the weapons that were confiscated from you when you were first captured. He tosses your weapons belt into your lap before returning back to the road.

“I managed to get zhose during all zhe havoc. I zhought zhey vould be useful once your hands are healed.” He says, just as a bullet flies through the windshield, creating a quarter-sized hole.

“Oh, fantastic.” You mumble.