Copyright 7/14 by Kirby's Cowgirl
This is fan fic and I am not being compensated in any way, no copyright infringement intended
Supply
Billy Nelson wiped the tears from his face angrily. His feet hurt so bad he thought he was going to puke. He didn't know why Kirby had to be so damn mean. Now Littlejohn was going to be in trouble with the Sarge, and it was all his fault. He stumbled, caught himself on the side of the building, and stepped inside.
"I need some socks and a pair of boots, please." he said to the Sergeant sitting at the desk.
The Sergeant ignored the requisitions form that Saunders had given him, and rubbed his fingers together, smirking at Billy.
"I don't understand." The man thought he had money to pay him?Billy was horrified.
"Money, kid. Boots are twenty bucks. I can let you have a pair of socks for whatever you've got in your pocket." the man grinned in his face.
"I don't have any money." Billy choked out.
"Well, get out of here, then. You think I'm runnin' a charity?"
Billy started to back out the door. He wasn't a coward, but he wasn't a fool either. The man was almost as big as Littlejohn. He was going to have to tattle tale to the Sarge. If he didn't get a new pair of boots - Well, he would really like to watch when that man tried to tell Saunders that he'd have to pay for his equipment.
There was a little private moving around in the stack of boxes in the back, and he put his finger to his lips, motioning Billy to be quiet. "Good for you." Billy thought. "If I had the guts and I could walk, I'd go help myself to what I needed too."
About a half a second later, his brain processed that it was not a small man he was looking at, but a woman. She had a Luger in her hand, and she kicked the Sergeant's
chair out from under him.
"What the hell?" the man came up with a roar, and the woman smiled at him. It scared Billy half to death. He had never seen a look like that on anybody's face before. That woman was going to kill the Supply Sergeant. He took a half step backwards.
"Please make me shoot you."
She had a Luger. She was a Kraut. If she'd been holding a gun on the Sarge, Lieutenant Hanley, Caje, Littlejohn, Doc, or even the new man McCall, Billy would have dived over the desk after her, whether he got shot or not. But he wasn't getting killed for this man, who was a thief at best. And he would have just tried to stay out of the line of fire if she'd been threatening to shoot Kirby, or the other replacement, Davidson. He didn't like either one of them.
She glanced at Billy, and he raised his hands. "Please don't shoot me, ma'am." he stammered.
"Oh, sweetie, we're on the same side. He's the Kraut." she glared at the Sergeant, stuck her little finger in her mouth, and blasted a whistle that hurt Billy's ears.
A Corporal burst thru the door, eyeing Billy carefully.
"He's okay." the woman said, "He was a good distraction. " She waggled a finger toward the back, and the Corporal headed that way.
"SHIT!" When the man re-emerged, Billy wondered if he was going to murder the Sergeant with his bare hands. The man was tall and lanky like Lieutenant Hanley, but he moved and acted like Caje. Billy was glad the man wasn't angry with him.
Saunders sighed as he emerged from the CP. He had been waiting for over thirty minutes while Hanley was on the radio. He'd already threatened Kirby with some major brig time this morning. The BAR man was in a particularly vile mood and he'd been picking on Nelson unmercifully. Littlejohn was ready to murder Kirby and Nelson had been almost in tears. Of his two new recruits that he'd gotten a week ago, he'd pegged Davidson for a troublemaker, but McCall seemed to be a good steady soldier that any Sergeant would be glad to have in his squad. He wished Hanley would find him a half dozen more like McCall and today was one of the days he'd like to boot Kirby to the moon.
"Where's Billy?" he asked Littlejohn. Then he saw Kirby's face. "What the hell happened to you?"
"I walked into a wall." Kirby said. His lip was split and the entire left side of his face was starting to purple.
"Yeah!" Davidson said, laughing, "A wall named Little -" he broke off and Saunders looked to see who had punched him. Figured it had to be McCall, and gave the man an icy stare. McCall just shrugged.
Saunders sighed. Sometimes he felt like he was refereeing a bunch of grade school kids. Well, the giant and the BAR man appeared to have settled it between themselves. He'd already threatened Kirby with the brig, so - Now all he had to worry about was McCall kicking Davidson's ass. Then he saw the look on Doc's face, and corrected himself. Doc and McCall kicking Davidson's ass. Whatever had gone on while he was waiting on Hanley had angered Doc too. It really was not a good idea to make the medic mad.
"I'll go get Billy." Littlejohn said.
"We'll pick him up on the way out." Saunders said, wondering why it had taken the kid so long to get a pair of boots.
"Caje, Brockmeyer said this letter showed up today with some dispatches."
"Thanks, Sarge." Caje said, ripping into the envelope from his Grandmother.
Something was going on outside the Supply building. Billy was sitting on the ground, and a small private was holding a gun on the supply sergeant. A tall, lanky Corporal was ripping open a rifle box.
"She ain't a Kraut, McCall!" Kirby yelled, half a second before Saunders bellowed, "HOLD YOUR FIRE!"
Davidson, not paying attention, squeezed off a round. Only Littlejohn grabbing the barrel of his rifle and shoving it up and away kept anybody from being hit. The bullet came dangerously close to Caje, who hit the ground instinctively.
"DAVIDSON!" Saunders bellowed. He shook his head. Every time he was ready to murder Kirby, the cocky little Irishman came thru. The BAR man had accessed the situation correctly and taken charge. He and McCall were holding weapons on the Sergeant.
Davidson was too stupid to know how close to dying he had come. If he had shot the woman, that tall lanky Corporal would have ripped him in half before Saunders could have stopped him. And Saunders wasn't even sure if he would have tried. If he'd shot Caje - it would have been a toss up between Kirby shooting him and Saunders strangling him with his bare hands.
Caje shook off Doc's offer of help, and clambered unsteadily to his feet, shoving his letter in his jacket. He'd hit the ground hard and his face was bleeding. Saunders figured he'd have a pretty nice shiner in the morning.
"You ok, Billy?" Doc asked and started toward him, only to stop at Saunders outstretched hand.
"Care for a Mauser, Saunders?" the tall lanky Corporal asked. He shot the Supply Sergeant such a look of contempt that the man started to crawl away.
"Thank you, Kirby." The little brunette said. "I'm glad you finally got off latrine duty."
Kirby never took his eyes off the man he was guarding but he nodded politely to her. "Nice to see you, ma'am. I'm glad you're still alive." The look on his face said that he hadn't meant to say that, and the woman visibly flinched.
"You get your boots, Billy?" Saunders asked.
"No, he didn't." the brunette said. "The jackass tried to make him pay for them." She kicked the Supply Sergeant.
"Sally." The tall lanky corporal said reprovingly.
"Well you said I could play."
Billy looked on in horrified fascination. He had no idea where the knife in her hand had come from. She still had the Luger in her right hand, and she was flipping the knife and effortlessly catching it in her left. He had no doubt that she would carve that Sergeant up like a turkey and not think twice about it. He wondered if the Corporal was going to let her kill the man.
She shot a look at the Corporal that Billy had seen his Mom use on his Dad, when she wanted something right now, and he said, "Take your boots off, kid."
Billy shook his head.
"Take your boots off Billy." Saunders said.
Billy shook his head again.
"Billy, take your boots off NOW." Saunders said in a tone that normally had the entire squad scurrying. The kid had never disobeyed an order. What in the hell was wrong with him?
Billy shook his head again, and Doc quickly inserted himself between them. "Billy." He said quietly.
"I'm not a crybaby." Nelson said, swiping at his face.
"Nobody said you were." Saunders said. Doc shot a look at Kirby, and then he understood.
"Sorry, kid." Kirby said, still watching the prisoner.
"I'm not a kid!" Nelson burst out.
"Yeah you are. You should be at home playin' ball or goin' to school or somethin' and not over here in this damn mess."
Saunders shot a look at Kirby wondering what in the hell was going on with the BAR man, then realized it was the woman. Someone really young that they both knew was dead. He hadn't thought Kirby had a conscience, but evidently he did.
"Billy -" Saunders started, but Doc cut him off.
"He's bled so much he can't get 'em off." The medic was furious. "They're gonna have to soak 'em off at the aid station."
The brunette shot the Corporal another look, and he simply grabbed Billy's shoulders and gestured for Doc to get his legs, and they put him in the jeep.
"Thank you for all your help, private." She said, and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. Billy turned purple. Doc grinned as he climbed in the back .
The Corporal shrugged, looked at Saunders, and said, "Please don't let her kill my prisoner before I get back." And he climbed in the driver's seat and roared off to the aid station.
"Ma'am, I'd appreciate it if you'd step away and let my men guard your prisoner." Saunders said politely, wondering what in the hell he was going to do if she just flat shot the man.
"Not a problem, Sergeant." The knife disappeared somewhere in her jacket, and she kept the Luger trained on the man as she carefully backed away, never getting in Kirby's line of fire.
"Thank you." Saunders said, trying to keep the relief out of his voice. He hoped thathis tall lanky friend, who had been a Lieutenant the last time he'd seen him in Africa, would hurry up. Whatever was going on here, he had enough trouble nursemaiding his own squad.
It seemed like an hour, but was really only a few minutes before the jeep came roaring back. "Billy's going to have to stay awhile, Sarge." Doc said, worriedly watching for his reaction.
Saunders just nodded. There was no point in being mad at the kid.
"Thanks for your help, Saunders." The driver said.
"Anytime." Saunders said. "Move out." He told the squad, noticing that Kirby watched to see that the prisoner realized he was still being guarded before he stepped off. Kirby, Littlejohn, and McCall all nodded politely to the lady as they passed her. Doc was still trying to get Caje to let him look at his face, which he knew was a lost cause.
They had been walking maybe half an hour when Davidson said, "Hey, Kirby, how's that little brunette in bed? " Then, "Ooomph…." As if the air had gotten knocked out of him.
Saunders knew before he turned around that Kirby had hit him with the BAR.
"Dammit, Davidson, watch where you're going!" Littlejohn snarled. He had the recruit by the collar, holding him off the ground. The look he got from Saunders had him letting go, but not too gently, and Davidson nearly fell.
"Davidson, get in front of me where I can watch you." Saunders said. As the recruit started by, "The men in my squad treat all women as ladies. Is that UNDERSTOOD?" the look he gave the kid let him know that IT HAD BETTER BE.
Davidson, eyes wide as saucers, struggling for breath, managed to nod.
"I don't want to hear another word out of you the rest of the day unless you spot a Kraut." Saunders warned, gesturing the kid in front of him. He thought he heard a snicker, looked back to see Kirby and Littlejohn grinning at each other. Just another day in paradise.