The 4 Soldiers (Les 4 soldats)

THE 4 SOLDIERS

The war began when few rich people remained.

All the rest were poor.

The army fought for the rich.

With nothing left to lose, the poor formed their own militias.

I was living with my parents when the fighting began.

They were killed early on, trying to protect me.

I stayed in the house, alone in my room...

with them.

All alone, for several days...

before joining a battalion.

We fought often.

We would win, we would lose, without really knowing why.

Hurry up, damn it! We're going to miss the party!

Come on, move it!

The war had become a habit. It seemed unlikely to change...

up until...

Up until I met Mateo.

Let's take the house.

Look at this!

This guy's messed up!

Mateo was everything that I'm not.

And it was at that exact moment

that I began to wonder if that was why I had followed him.

Come on!

And I still wonder.

This is really cool, you'll see. And it's not complicated.

Things were all right here, once.

They had gas and electricity.

And nice floors!

These are some high-end products.

Luxury.

This is where they must have had their hot meals.

Hello!

Hello!

You guys look comfortable here.

So that's what I smelled earlier!

I was right to come here...

Maybe they'll give me some. They just might!

That's some good grub!

Do you have anything to smoke?

Take this.

- What's your name? - Big Max.

- Big Mac! - No!

Not like the burger, like Maximilian.

But Big Max is better than Maximilian,

because Maximilian is a little...

- A little... - A little gay?

Yeah, good night.

Good night.

The room was nothing like my old room at my parents,

and yet it felt very familiar.

Painful memories came back to haunt me.

Thankfully, there was another room.

Good night, boys!

By forcing me to sleep there,

Max made me relive my parents death once and for all,

and see them again, before the war,

when they were alive and well.

You're not eating?

Do you want to stay with us?

Fear came back in an instant, but it was different than before.

For the first time since...

For the first time, I wasn't only afraid for myself.

By midwinter, we were losing more often.

We had to retreat to the countryside.

The battalion's morale sank...

but ours stayed strong.

It was easier together.

Hello, everyone.

The Committee has decided that it's time to recruit.

For now, the orders are to wait.

That's it.

Your unit leaders will let you know when the situation changes.

See you later.

Hang in there!

"Hang in there!"

What does it look like we're doing?

It'd be so cool if they stationed us here!

- Really? - Shit, yeah!

With all the material out here, we could finally build a real cabin!

What?

We're going to build a cabin with a truck for a living room!

And a car for a kitchen!

And the bedroom will be a...

What kind of car will the bedroom be, Max?

- What kind of car? - The bedroom...

All right, everybody, we're setting up camp here.

Where did that big slacker go?

We'll never finish before nightfall. Not if it's just the two of us.

We need to find help, or else we're in deep shit.

- Oh yeah? - Yeah.

Pretty much everyone has grouped off already.

The guy with the dreads over there, that's Kevin, right?

- Do you know him? - Yeah. He's a great shot.

I've never heard anyone complain about him.

- Have you seen Max? - No.

Check it out!

It's not a car, but could we use it as a bedroom?

Yeah! Not bad, Max!

Do you think there's enough room for him too?

There's room for two of him!

When we finished building the cabin, all we could think of was Kevin.

But we weren't worried. Not at all.

There had to be four of us, and he was the fourth.

Hello, my love! Happy birthday!

I have a little present for you.

Not bad, eh?

- You want it, don't you? - Yeah!

- Yeah! - Too bad. It's mine!

I'm the one who found it!

When the four of us went to bed that night, I thought:

"This is it. I'm done with being alone."

I told myself...

Rather, I told my parents:

"Don't worry about me, I have friends, now."

It was a long, cold winter,

but our cabin held up, and so did we.

We were together all the time.

Not once did we get on each other's nerves.

Not once were we bored.

Don't you think you should save that gas?

- What is it? - It smells.

- Like what? - Like water.

The pond was like a gift that the war had given us.

We accepted it without feeling guilty,

because we deserved it.

I had never felt time pass the way it did that day.

I thanked the pond for appearing to us.

This isn't going to work.

That pond is ours. No one else can find it.

Let's not carve out a trail. We'll split up, OK?

Max, go that way.

Dominique, Kevin...

I'm going this way.

- Whose turn is it? - Mine!

Hang on, let's give Kevin a chance. You want it, Kevin?

- No. - He doesn't want it. It's mine!

Wait! Why don't you want it?

Do you have a problem with girls, Kevin?

Maybe he just doesn't like girls.

Maybe he's never...

Good night.

Good night, guys.

You like that, eh, big guy?

Unlike Kev!

Come with me.

Where are you going?

Go back to sleep, it's all right.

I had a dream.

What kind of dream?

I dreamed about Kevin.

I dreamed that he slit my throat.

He slit your throat?

- How... - Jesus, he slit my throat!

With a knife! It's not complicated!

Do you need me to paint a picture? He slit my throat!

- Where did it happen? - In the cabin.

Two slashes in a row, from behind.

Kevin isn't...

He couldn't do that.

Well, in my dream...

Had he stayed a minute longer, I'd have known what to say to him.

Or maybe not.

OK, kids! It's requisition day!

It's your turn! Move it, if you want to eat at noon.

Come on, get dressed. Let's go!

I'll wait for you outside! Hurry up!

Come on, Big Max. Wake up.

He was scared last night. It didn't show.

It was probably better that the others didn't know.

I was sort of proud to be the only one to know about his nightmare.

- What? - Nothing.

That's it, lard-ass!

That's it! Right, Big Max?

This way, lard-ass!

Over here!

Come on, my dear lard-ass! Move!

Where are you, lard-ass?

Yo, Dominique! Over here!

Yeah! You OK?

It's going to feel like you're swimming, but you're in no danger.

Go!

- You all right? - Yeah!

You OK?

You're really good! OK, again!

- No, no! - Yeah!

Move your arms!

And just like that,

the pond became part of our cabin, like another room;

the main room, actually,

where the war didn't exist,

and where we could enjoy what was developing between us.

Mateo...

Let's just say it's my turn, OK?

Is this what you want? Have fun!

Hello, my love! Happy birthday!

I have a little present for you.

She'd never do that again if she could see you now, Big Max!

I'll trade you a joint for it.