Chapter 1: Curhahee

"You people are at the position of attention!" The sharp yell led to everyone quickly snapping into position. Donald Malarkey managed to give a quick reassuring smile to O'Carroll who was standing behind him before Lt. Sobel walked by. It had been only seven days, but Sobel's chickenshit had already brought the company together in its hatred towards him. It was bad enough that already they were starting to feel like a family and O'Carroll was the baby sister.

She was born in Eugene, Oregon under the name of Bridget O'Carroll. As it was during the time, she was expected to grow up and be exactly like her mother; a housewife in every sense of the word. Bridget wanted more than that, though. She refused to be stuck with that life simply because she was a woman.

From a guy in town, Bridget heard about the paratroopers. You had to be in top physical condition, which she was considering on her spare time she ran, so that wouldn't stop her. Her only problem was that she had no balls. Literally. Women weren't allowed in the military outside of clerical work and nurses and things of that nature. Bridget knew the importance of these jobs, but she wanted to do more.

It wasn't too difficult; living in a small town many who knew Bridget and how that she didn't fit in with the life set in front of her, were willing to help. So, she cut off all of her hair and had the doctor forge her papers. In no time, she was on her to basic training as Patrick O'Carroll, taking her brother's name, a 4-F who was an alcoholic that didn't even want to go to fight in the first place.

Donald Malarkey was the man in the bunk next to hers. Both being from Oregon, the two bonded instantly and became fast friends. Unavoidably, he was the first person who learned her secret and he swore to not tell a soul. It was at least five days before Bridget told anyone else and it was then quick to spread through the rest of Easy Company so that almost everyone knew; except the commissioned officers because if Sobel ever found out... Bridget knew that the consequences would be nothing good.

Bridget could feel her shirt sticking to her back, and even though she didn't regret her decision to do this, the sweltering heat of Toccoa, Georgia made days like this miserable. And now here was Sobel was walking around, making it even worse. He was doing a daily inspection, examining everyone, trying to find the smallest of infractions to take away weekend passes for. He spotted his first victim and stopped in front of Frank Perconte. Perconte's infraction? Creases on the bottom of his trousers, apparently he had been blousing them like a paratrooper, which they weren't yet. Next was George Luz, another one of the men that Bridget considered a friend. Somehow, he had dirt in his gun even though Bridget knew for a fact he didn't. Along with Malarky, they had just spent the last hour or so cleaning their guns and inspecting them for the other. For Carwood Lipton, his infraction was a single loose thread on his chevrons. These were the kinds of chickenshit things Sobel would pick out and punish someone for. Normally, she wouldn't have let this kind of thing stand, Bridget had often been known for her quick temper. In this situation however, she knew it was better to just bite her tongue and say nothing. She was risking her life to be here so she could travel across whichever ocean and risk her life further, no sense in tempting fate by drawing attention to herself.

Malarkey was his next victim. Bridget watched with concern as she could see her friend take a deep breath, preparing himself for what was coming.

"Name?" Sobel barked as he searched the man for some infraction.

"Malarkey, Donald G. sir!"

"Malarkey? Malarkey's slang for bullshit, isn't it?" Sobel asked as he took Don's gun from him.

"Yessir!" The private responded without hesitation. Don knew better than to talk back to Sobel and besides, Malarkey really was slang for bullshit.

"Rust on the butt plate hinge spring, Private Bullshit; revoked." O'Carroll's jaw twitched. Speaking of malarkey... Perhaps Sobel noticed the subtle look, because his next stop was right in front of Bridget. Her expression turned into a cold glare as she stared him down. "Name?"

"O'Carroll, Patrick." Bridget tilted her head slightly and added with a bitter tone, "Sir." He yanked the gun from her hands and examined it. Sobel took the clip out, looked inside for a brief moment and then replaced it, returning her glare.

"Well O'Carroll, Patrick, there is dirt inside here; pass revoked." As he began to walk away, Bridget spoke up despite her better judgment.

"Permission to speak sir." He turned around, facing her again as did almost everyone else in the company. In the week they had been there, not one person had dared to speak up before.

"Denied. And your weekend passes for the next month are revoked for speaking out of turn during inspection." He turned to walk away when Bridget spoke up yet again.

"If I may, sir, it is not probable for there to be any dirt in or on my gun considering I have cleaned it ten times this morning including once just before coming here." Sobel stormed back towards O'Carroll, getting right in her face. She didn't flinch or let any fear show though her heart felt as though it was beating like a drum.

"Want to repeat that, soldier?" He snarled, spit hitting Bridget's face and as tempting as it was, she refrained from reaching up to wipe it away.

"I said, sir, that it was not probable for there to be dirt anywhere on this gun having cleaned it multiple times just this morning. And if I was to look at it now, I am positive I would find nothing, sir." He took a deep breath, rage showing in every feature of his face. Bridget was terrified, now she had done it. Seven days in and she had already ruined her chances to stay in the paratroopers. There was no way he wasn't going to kick her out after this. They stayed like that for almost a minute, though it felt like so much longer to Bridget, until his eyes shifted past her to someone standing nearby. Sobel suddenly grabbed her gun and inspected it once again. He looked once more back toward the barracks.

"You're right, soldier." As Sobel's gaze returned to Bridget, his hatred had somehow increased ten-fold. He forced the gun back into her arms. "Your month's weekend passes are no longer revoked." She sucked in a deep breath as he stalked away towards Joseph Liebgott, someone he would undoubtedly take his frustration out on. Bridget's knees went weak and she could barely stand. She was sure she had gone too far right then and there. With a quick glance behind her, she saw what Sobel had been looking at. Standing there watching Sobel's every move, was Colonel Sink. It seemed as though Sobel didn't want Col. Sink to jump in while he was wrong.

When Sobel began addressing the entire company, her attention snapped forward once again. In his hand was a bayonet he held it up for all of them to see.

"I wouldn't take this rusty piece of shit to war and I will not take you to war in your condition." He threw the blade to the ground so it could dig into the grass. "Now, thanks to these men and their infractions, every man in the company who had a weekend pass, has lost it." Sobel paused just long enough to sneer at O'Carroll and Bridget knew that this was a grudge that was going to last long past today. "Change into your PT gear, we're running Curhahee." Bridget groaned slightly as out Lt., Richard Winters, told the men to fall out. Running Curhahee always took a toll on her, more than it did the others. As they jogged back toward the barracks, Bridget suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked quickly to see Malarkey jogging next to her.

"Well, the shit really almost hit the fan there, Bridget. Couldn't keep your mouth shut for ten minutes?" He laughed as we slowed to a walk to enter the barracks.

"Patrick, you have to call me Patrick. Can't risk a commanding officer hear my name." She huffed loudly, how many times would she have to tell these boys she could die if she was found out? "The only reason he didn't drop me right then and there was because Sink was watching. And in the end, he still got my weekend pass, damn bastard." She scoffed unhappily as she quickly began to change. At this point, all of the guys already had their backs turned towards her as she changed in the corner by her bed, right where no one outside could see her. This was a habit they had already fallen into the moment they found out. Before then, Bridget had done her best to change shirts without anyone noticing. Bridget quickly finished changing and sat down on her bunk to put her boots back on. She couldn't help but to cringe slightly from the length of the hair on her legs. Despite not wanting to be forced into a traditional role for a women, she had always still embraced her femininity. Yet here, she was not allowed the pleasures of being a women, not even something as simple as shaving her legs. "The worst part is that now he absolutely hates me and that isn't going away anytime soon." She lightly touched Malarkey's arm so that he knew she was finished dressing.

Malarkey laughed as he sat down next to her. "Don't worry, he hates us all." And at that, shouts of 'Ain't that the truth' and laughter filled the room. "See? Now come on, Princess, we have a mountain to run."

"Call me that again and I will kill you." Despite her words, there was the slightest smile on Bridget's face. While she protested, she actually didn't mind the nickname all that much.

"Whoa-o-o now. Save that anger for Jerry." Donald chuckled as he place a hand on Bridget's shoulder. "The Krauts deserve it more, don't you think?"

"That they do." Bridget nodded in agreement. "Thinking they could take over the world. We'll show them." She smiled softly as Malarkey gave her shoulder a final squeeze before moving his hand away from her. At that moment, George Luz came up to and sat on the bed in front of the two friends.

"Princess, this guy ain't bothering you is he?" Luz smirked and finished tying his own boots.

"No but you are." Bridget shook her head. "I'm telling you, you guys keep calling me Princess and Sobel is going to figure out I'm a woman."

"You my friend are paranoid. Soldiers give nicknames like Princess all the time. He'll think it's just because of your delicate features." Luz winked. "Also, you are giving Sobel far too much credit, I'm thinking."

"If you put yourself in my sho-" Luz cut Bridget off before she could finish the complaint.

"No, listen, you have it down pat. Nobody's gonna suspect you're a woman. No make-up, short hair, unshaven legs..."

"Shut up, Luz."

"I didn't even believe it until I saw the cloth holding her-"

"Malarkey! Shut up!" Bridget's face was now a bright shade of red from anger and embarrassment. Fortunately for the two men, it was then that Carwood Lipton entered the room to get the men up and going.

E Company jogged past a group of taunting Company D men and headed towards Curhahee.

As they ran up the mountain, Malarkey constantly glanced at O'Carroll. He knew the run was a little rougher on her than most of the others and he couldn't help but worry. It was in his nature and while it annoyed her slightly, she also appreciated it. She was strong, but the run was three miles up and three miles back down in a total of 50 minutes. Not an easy run, but for O'Carroll, having Malarkey there made it easier. His breathing helped her keep hers regulated and his whispered words of encouragement pushed her harder. On this particular run, Sobel was running next to the group she was in, unnerving for Bridget considering what had just occurred. Suddenly Warren 'Skip' Muck, one of Marlark's friends, stepped in a ditch and twisted his ankle. Malarky and Bridget were quick to reach for him and so Sobel had his chance to yell at her.

"Do not help that man! Do not help him. We do not stop." Sobel ran further ahead before yelling what the men had started to joke was his mating call; "High-Ho Silver!" The moment he wasn't looking at them, O'Carroll and Malark both moved to help Muck.

"You can run with us today, we won't let you hurt that ankle anymore." Don spoke softly to the other man. Muck nodded as he tried to hide the pain that came with each limping stride he made. Bridget glanced up just in time to see Sobel take his usual shortcut to the top and a swell of anger filled up within her. How was it that Muck had to suffer while he got the easy way out?

They continued up the mountain, but now that they were practically carrying Muck between the two of them, O'Carroll was beginning to have trouble keeping her breathing steady. Despite Malarkey being there, her own training hadn't prepared her for something like this. As they slowly neared the top, Bridget could see Winters encouraging some of the other men before he started the run down. It wasn't too long before he was running towards the trio. He took one look at Bridget and Malarkey on either side of Skip, holding him up, and he saw O'Carroll struggling.

When Winters reached them, he gently moved Bridget out of the way, "Let me in here O'Carroll." He took her place of holding up Muck and the group continued running towards the top with their new companion. With renewed vigor, it wasn't too long before they reached the top. Winters being there seemed to inspire them to go faster.

"Lt. Winters, I see you're back." Sobel sneered a little and Winters only let out a deep breath and a nod as the four of them touched the marker. Bridget looked up briefly to see Sobel was not glaring at her, but rather Winters. She let a smile escape. It seemed as though she wasn't the only one Sobel absolutely hated. They turned and went back down the mountain.

Marches, night marches, and even more marches. Discussion of how Sobel hated Easy Company was even reaching the ears of Winters. He doesn't hate Easy Company; just the individuals. By now, O'Carroll had often had latrine duty since she had stood up to him, even just for the smallest of infractions. He hated the individuals of Easy Company but he loathed her. It was another night march and Bridget spotted Pat Christenson taking another sip of his water.

"Damn it, Christenson," she muttered to him. "You know we were ordered to not drink from our canteens! Sobel is going to have your ass for this."

"I know, I know." Pat groaned in return. "But this machine gun is really fucking heavy, alright?" Bridget held her hand out toward him, gesturing for the canteen.

"Let me see that thing, Pat." He handed the canteen over to her.

"You can drink as much as you want since I've already drank too much from it. Just remember to give it back." Unscrewing the top, O'Carroll slung her gun over her shoulder and then took out her own canteen. She quickly unscrewed the second canteen and with a steady hand poured some of her water into his. Christenson looked from her hands up to her face and back to her hands, surprise and confusion on his face.

"Wh- What? Why?"

"Now, hopefully, he won't notice, and if he does, he'll send me too since we have the same amount. You wouldn't have to go alone. You'll need someone to stop your stupid ass from drinking." She handed him back his canteen and put her own away. "Try not to drink anymore, we're almost done." Bridget unslung her gun and held it to her shoulder again.

"Damn it O'Carroll," She heard Malarkey whisper in her other ear. "Sobel doesn't need a reason to punish you more, you shouldn't have done that." Bridget glanced back at Christenson.

"I had to." She turned back to Malarkey and smiled. "I'll be fine, no worries." Past Malarky, she could see Winters marching nearby, watching everything that had just happened.

"Pour 'em." The sound of water beating against the ground filled the air. Sobel looked around and zeroed in on the two canteens that had stopped pouring. He was there in a flash.

"Who is this? Christenson. And O'Carroll, why am I not surprised." He looked at her with disgust. "Why is there no water in your canteens? You drank from your canteen didn't you?" Christenson tried to speak up.

"Sir, I-"

"Lt. Winters!" Sobel shouted in Bridget's face.

"Yes sir."

"Were these men ordered not to drink from their canteens during the Friday night march?"

"They were, sir."

"Privates Christenson and O'Carroll you have disobeyed a direct order. You will fill your canteens and are to repeat all 12 miles of the march immediately." For a brief moment, a smirk filled Sobel's face as he stared down at Bridget. She ground her teeth together before speaking.

"Yes sir."

"Fall out!" Christenson and O'Carroll walked to the spicket to fill their canteens. Bridget glanced over to see Sobel talking to Winters before he would let the company go. She filled her canteen and then gulped the water down. Christenson looked at her and then did the same. Silently the two refilled their canteens once more and then started off.

It was ten minutes into the march before either of them said a word."Thank you." Pat looked over at Bridget.

"No need to thank me, you still have to do the march again." She groaned and shifted the weight of her gun. Tomorrow was going to be awful after 24 miles of marching in the middle of the night.

"But now I'm not alone, so thank you." There was silence again."Malarkey looked like he wanted to kill me." Christenson laughed as he relaxed his grip on the machine gun. No one was watching them now, they could relax a little.

"Yeah... he can be a little overprotective sometimes." Bridget laughed and wiped some of the sweat from her face.

"Yeah just a little." He chuckled again. "A lot of us are, for you." Bridget's face turned a bright shade of red, masked by the darkness.

"I can take care of myself."

"Oh trust me, we know. It's just," he paused, attempting to find the right words in order to not offend her further. "You're like a sister to us, is what I mean. A brother is always protective of his sister, even if she could kick his ass." She smiled, knowing it was meant to be a compliment of sorts. "Malarkey though, man is he over the top protective." Bridget shifted a little. That was something she had noticed as well, but had chosen to ignore.

"It's just in his nature." She shrugged as much as the gun would allow her to. "He's like that about his friends."

"If you say so."

"I do." They were silent the rest of the march.

"What on earth were you thinking, Bridget?" It was nearly morning now that she had finished the march and Don had stayed awake the entire time only to start scolding her the moment she walked back into the barracks. That was the last thing she needed right now. All she wanted to do was sleep.

"Malark..." She was hoping to stop him from waking up anyone else, but she could already see them stirring.

"You weren't! You and all of your damn compassion. We're in the military now, you can't just do things like that."

"Malarkey..." The other men in the barracks were now sitting up in their beds to look at the two of them.

"How could you do something like that? You know Sobel already hates you, why would you give him a reason to punish you?"

"Donald, shut the fuck up!" Bridget finally snapped and he stopped, stunned. Everybody dropped down again, pretending to be asleep; but Bridget knew they were listening and at that moment , she couldn't care less. "I knew what I was doing. I'm not a baby, dammit!"

"I'm just trying to make sure nothing happens to you."

"Something is bound to happen to me, Don, I mean we are going to war for Chrissake!" O'Carroll scoffed as she quickly began changing into her sleeping clothes, hoping that she would still get at least get an hour of sleep after ending this argument. Don averted his eyes quickly, a gesture that only served to irritate her further at the moment. "If I were a man, you wouldn't be acting like this! So stop thinking of me as some girl you need to protect!"

"I don't think of you as a girl..."

"Bullshit."

"I think of you as a woman, one who could kick my ass." He muttered softly.

"Well, stop." She turned and got into her bed. "I am a soldier just like you and if you thinking of me as a woman is stopping you from treating me like that, then don't think of me as a woman." Bridget turned her back to him, not sure she would actually be able to sleep now.

"I'm not sure I can..." He said, even softer than before as he climbed into his own bed. She didn't acknowledge it however, she had enough with fighting for now.

After the night of the march, things had been different between Malarkey and O'Carroll. She was colder towards him, not willing to let it all go so easily. She spent more time with Luz and Bill Guarnere on her weekends off instead of Don and when they were around each other, there was enough tension that it made everyone else uneasy. Despite her stubbornness though, Bridget truly missed her friend. It had been weeks now and she wasn't sure she couldn't handle more of Sobel's bullshit without a best friend to bitch about it to. It was that revelation that lead her to warm back up and accept his apology that had been in the form of finally not treating her as though she was a porcelain doll. And so, to the relief of just about everyone, the two were friends again.

Training, more training, jumping from fake planes, obstacle courses, crawling under barbed wire in trenches filled with pig guts. Easy Company went through it all. Bridget found herself in more pain than ever before but she was also faster and stronger. And she was making an impact on the others. Word spread about how she had tried to help Christenson during the night march and other men began going out of their way to support their comrades. Like when Gordon had to run Curhahee, three others chose to go with him. They didn't have to, but now Gordon didn't have to do the run alone. The family bond was growing stronger.

At one point, much to the disbelief and despair of everyone, Sobel got promoted to Captain. Winters had been promoted as well, something that everyone found acceptable except for Sobel. So, as was his way, he punished all of us for it. Sobel went through a random inspection of the barracks and Bridget had thanked God that anything that could have given her away was well hidden. One of these boys had even thrown a Titter magazine in her footlocker for in case this ever happened. Sure, it was contraband, but it would do wonders on throwing off any suspicions of her. The best part, as Bridget had heard told from a man lurking outside of the barracks, as part of the inspection, Sobel found a can of peaches. He asked officers Winters and Lewis what it was.

"A can of peaches." Nixon had replied.

"Wrong." Said Sobel and he went on to say that it was actually United States property. News of that incident spread quickly. The next day when Sobel stepped out of his quarters he found a tall stack of Peach cans with a note saying:

No matter what you say, they are still peaches.

O'Carroll knew that Luz had something to do with that, in fact, she may have had a hand in setting it all up, but to anyone who asked, she denied it. Of course, as a response everyone's weekend passes were revoked, but it had been well worth it to see the look on his face. And then there was the spaghetti. No one in their right mind would say that it was actual spaghetti, but it was still better than what the mess hall usually had to serve. In addition to that, Easy Company was told that they would have the afternoon off so everyone was were packing it down, feeling happier and better than they had in a while. That was until Sobel came in yelling that once again, they were running Curhahee. All of the food that they had been stuffing down, was now being thrown back up as they ran up the mountain. No one was happy, no one was feeling good. This was Sobel's revenge. And Winters knew that. In no time, he was there to support the company as he always was. He was the only officer that Easy could truly look up to at that time. He started the company singing and there was a renewal of energy from all of the men. Sobel just stared, unable to comprehend how Winters had come out on top once again.

To become a true certified paratrooper, the soldiers had to do five plane jumps. When she had first signed up for the paratroopers, Bridget had been thrilled by the idea of jumping out of a plane, but now that she was on the plane for the first jump, She was nothing less than terrified. So many things could go wrong. Her chute could not deploy or, worse, she could chicken out at the door and get sent home. All of this training would mean nothing. Malark sensed that and put his hand on hers, rubbing it with his thumb inconspicuously.

"You got this, Bridget." He said just loud enough for her to hear him. She nodded as they stood up, hooking their lines to the wire. They ran a quick equipment check and soon they got the green light. One after another the people in front of her jumped out of the plane. Soon, she was standing at the door. There was no turning back now.

"Go!" Their instructor shouted in her ear over the roaring wind and so she jumped out the door.

Bridget felt as though she was flying and it was the most amazing feeling she had ever felt. It was freeing and the adrenaline pumping through her veins left her with a giddy feeling. She let out a whoop as she floated toward the ground. She rolled as she landed, as they had been taught, and quickly rolled up her chute. She looked around for Malarkey and ran over to where he was now landing.

"We did it!" Bridget cheered as she climbed under the chute that Malarkey was having difficulty getting out of. With the adrenaline still rushing through her she threw her arms around him in a hug before he had a chance to speak. Surprise showed on his face as his cheeks flushed red. Still, he hugged her back and they stayed like that for a moment longer before pulling apart and crawling out from under the chute. Their hearts still hammering in their chests, but no longer just because of the jump.

Alcohol was everywhere and Bridget was doing her best to avoid it all. It wouldn't be a celebration if she was found out. And it was indeed a celebration. They were paratroopers now. No longer would they have to run Curhahee if they didn't want to. Basic training was over. On the downside, Sobel would still be Easy's commanding officer, but nobody wanted to think about that tonight.

Luz carried a beer over to her from the bar. "One drink won't kill you." He said as he put it in front of O'Carroll. "I can be your designated sober person to make sure nothing happens so, drink." So much for avoiding alcohol, but he was right. One drink wouldn't hurt. Although judging by the other beer in his hand, she was not going to trust him as her sober person.

"Thanks." She took a sip of the beer, savoring it.

"And try not to look so depressed, alright?" He reached over as though to dust off her new chevrons. "At this rate you could command Sobel, Sergeant. Congrats on your promotion."

"Thanks. Wouldn't that be great though?" Bridget finally laughed and smiled at him. "Make that bastard run Curhahee full gear because he looked at me wrong."

"That would be a great thing to see. But... on the downside, I kind of hate that I have to salute you."

"You'll get over it."

"Probably. Enjoy yourself now."

"Will do." And how could she not? Toccoa had been where she had found her family, but more than anything, she was ready to leave and actually get to fighting the war she had signed up for.