After a few moments, Greg said “Rolf was right… I killed him… I didn’t have to… Who’s going to take over the platoon now?”

“Don’t w-worry about that right now. Just take some d-deep breaths and try to calm down, everything’s g-gonna—”

Greg shot up, throwing Rob’s arm off his back. His eyes were wide, full of tears, his fists balled at his sides, his posture stiff. “What the hell do you mean calm down? I KILLED A MAN! I killed Lieutenant Kaplan! I’ve tried so hard to help everything go smoothly, and this is what happens! Now everything’s going to go to hell! We’re going to lose the war... Maybe I should have let him kill you two!”

Rolf stepped forward. “Kaplan was useless, we’re not going to lose just because ya killed—”

Greg turned to Rolf. “You’re one to talk, you sack of shit! What have you done to help us? Huh? What have you done to help us win this war? Kaplan was right, you know. You’re the one that’s useless. If it was you, instead of Barry and Rob, I would’ve let him kill you without a second thought!”

Rolf took another step forward, pointing at Greg. “I’m not the one on trial here. Ya killed him. You. I’m not goin’ to let a murderer insult me!”

Schmidt began to speak when Rolf raised his bloody fists. Greg’s eyes went wide with rage, and he prepared to fight back.

“BOTH OF YOU SHUT THE H-HELL UP,” Rob shouted, stepping forward to try and get between Greg and Rolf.

Greg turned, punching Rob in the face. “I NEED TO SHUT UP? ME? I SAVED YOUR LIFE! YOU SHOULD BE THANKING ME!”

Rob fell backwards onto the tavern floor, clutching his nose.

“That’s it,” Rolf said. He swung at Greg’s chin, but Greg dodged. Rolf’s eyes went wide; he was used to hitting his targets. Taking advantage of Rolf’s surprise, Greg tackled him into the puddle of Kaplan’s blood, knocking the wind out of him. Greg straddled Rolf’s chest, raising his fists, while Rolf covered his face with his arms.

“I tried so God damn hard!” Greg said between blows. “I tried so hard, and still nothing went right! Where the hell did I go wrong? What did I do?”

Behind them, Rob stood up shakily, blood seeping between the fingers held to his face. “S-Stop it,” he croaked through his bloodied hand. “Greg, p-please…”

Greg’s blows slowed. “Tell me what I did wrong! I can fix this!” Greg began to cry. “Please! Please…”

Schmidt tried to talk again, but his voice caught in his throat. His mind raced as he tried to think of what to say. He knew how Greg felt, he knew how infuriating it was for everything to fall apart around him, but he couldn’t think of anything to say to help.

Greg’s fists remained balled, though he had stopped attacking Rolf. Tears flowed freely down his face. “Kaplan was useless anyways! I can take over his position! I’m sure I’ll be a better leader than him... I was the one that found the Bean in the field, me! I can still fix this!”

The tavern was silent. Rob stood, blood dripping from his nose. Rolf lay on his back, his forearms red where Greg had attacked him. Schmidt stood, his arms at his side, trying to think of something to say to help Greg.

Greg got up, glancing around the room. He took a few steps before stopping, his shoulders heaving as he sobbed into his hands. He fell to his knees, mumbling something to himself between sobs.

Slowly, Marvin walked over to Greg. He stood over Greg for a moment before squatting down next to him, placing a hand on his back. Greg weakly attempted to shake Marvin’s hand off before giving up, continuing to sob. “I can fix this…” Greg repeated as Marvin comforted him.

“Yes,” Marvin replied.

“But I don’t know how…”

“We can figure that out later.”

“I just wanted everything to go smoothly…”

Marvin stayed silent.

“Everything I’ve done was to make up for Kaplan’s mistakes…”

Rolf began to stir on the floor behind Greg and Marvin.

“No… I’ve been trying to make up for my mistakes, too.” He laughed weakly. “You know, I didn't care about this job before. I used to slack off a lot, but then the Beans attacked, and…”

Greg, his head still in his hands, didn’t notice as Rob carefully made his way towards Rolf.

“I realized how useless Kaplan was. I realized that no one else was going to step up, so I had to do it myself. I realized I had to change…”

Rolf began to get to his feet, met by Rob who gave him a sharp look. Rolf glanced between Greg and Marvin on the floor of the tavern and Rob, then scoffed. He turned around to continue inspecting Kaplan’s corpse.

“And it worked. That’s the part that scared me. I wasn’t used to things working…”

Rob looked at Schmidt, his eyes full of concern. Schmidt smiled half heartedly, partly to show Rob that he was okay, and partly because Rob looked comical, blood pouring from the hand covering his face.

“We found that Bean in the field, and we brought it to Stuttgart. We gained the respect of Kaplan and Bösch and Krüger, but it didn’t feel like I had earned it…”

Schmidt tried to sort through his thoughts but was unsuccessful. He would have to do that later, after things calmed down. He hoped that would be soon.

“All we did was find that Bean. It was everyone else that put in the work. The researchers in Stuttgart found the weaknesses, not us. Bösch and Krüger planned everything out, not us. All we did was find it…”

Rob took his hand away from his face, wiping the blood on his shirt. He touched his nose, which was at an awkward angle, and winced.

“And then Kaplan started becoming a better leader. He started making actual changes to his platoon. And all I was left with was an empty feeling in my chest. The weight was off my shoulders, but I didn’t want to go back to the person I used to be. I didn’t want to go back to the person I was, but I couldn’t keep pretending to be someone I wasn’t… I had no idea what I was supposed to do, so I kept pretending…”

Rolf scoffed from next to Kaplan’s corpse.

“He didn’t deserve to die… I didn’t have any right to kill him…”

The tavern was silent.

“Well…” Marvin said.

“Well what?”

“Kaplan was…”

“Were ya too busy freakin’ out earlier to listen?” Rolf sighed. “Kaplan had beans inside of him, but no growth, which means that the beans can infect people without any way for us to tell.”

“Kaplan... had beans inside of him...?” Greg asked.

“What the hell do ya think I just said?”

“And the beans can infect people without us being able to know…?”

“Don’t make me repeat myself—”

“Rolf, come on!” Rob shouted, his voice nasally due to his broken nose.

Rolf threw up his arms. “He was the one that swung on me! He swung on ya too, it looks like yar nose is broken now because of—”

“Oh shut up, man, I’m perfectly fine! He wasn’t exactly in the best mindset when he punched us, I think he’s calm enough to realize that he shouldn’t have attacked us, but that’s not the point! The beans have infiltrated the Army. We have to find out why and how, and how to stop it!”

“Oh, yeah, ya make it sound so easy. Do you think we’ll be done by dinner?”

“Rolf, you’re really not helpin’,” Rob said.

Greg and Marvin stood up. Greg looked dazed as he wiped the tears from his face with bruised hands. Marvin looked at Greg, then turned to Rob and Rolf. Marvin said, “We should head to Stuttgart. Now. Schmidt said he would be able to tell if Bösch had been infected by the beans. If he isn’t, then he can help us create a plan on how to move forward. I’m assuming Bösch trusts Schmidt, and Bösch is high enough in the Army to set the plan in motion.”

“And what if he doesn’t hear us out? We can’t really explain what happened without mentionin’ that we killed Kaplan. What if he just hangs us and calls it a day?” Rolf asked.

“What’s with your fixation on hanging?” Rob asked.

“Bösch wouldn’t do that,” Schmidt said. “He’s not an idiot. He’ll hear us out. He got us out of Dijon when the Beans attacked. He can get us out of this, too.”

Rolf scoffed. “Remind me, how many people died in Dijon again?”

“That’s not the point,” Rob said. “Stuttgart is our best chance to warn the military. We still don’t even know how many people are infected, but however many it is, it can’t be good.”

“I agree,” Greg said. “We should make our way to Stuttgart. And I’m sorry for attacking you, Rob... Rolf…”

“It’s alright,” Rob replied.

“Whatever,” Rolf muttered. “But what if things go to hell in Stuttgart, too? What’re—”

“Oh my God!” Rob shouted. “We’re going to Stuttgart. You can come with us, or you can stay here. We don’t care. Honestly, I’d prefer it if you stayed here, but you’re just as involved as we are, so it’s your choice, I guess!”

Rolf was silent for a moment. “Fine.”

“Barry?” Rob asked. “You coming?”

Schmidt paused. “Of course.”

“You okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“Then that’s that,” Rob said after a moment before leaving the tavern. Marvin followed, then Greg behind him. Rolf shook his head, taking one last look at Kaplan’s corpse before leaving.

Schmidt took a deep breath and left the tavern for the last time.