Disclaimer: I do not own Band of Brothers or anything to do with it. I do, however, own the OC and the plot.
Plot: As Easy Company get dropped behind enemy lines, Richard Winters stumbles upon a young boy who is trapped in a house-for one whole night-that is surrounded by hostile Germans. Making conversation with the boy, he tries his best to keep them alive long enough to see the sun rise once more.
A/N: I am very aware that the men of Easy Company were real men, and that the things they did were very real, but this is just something that popped into my head. It could very well have happened to any soldier at any point in time, and I mean no offense. Thank you, and please enjoy.
Richard Winter runs through the streets of the town that they had been dropped into, trying to get away from the rein of bullets that has been following him for the past street. He kicks open the door to a house, and walks in, rifle at ready. As he does, he feels the barrel of a gun press into the flesh of his back, and he freezes. Just as soon as it happened, the gun disappears and the door closes. Turning slowly around, Winters can see the form of a young boy in American military uniform.
"What's your company, soldier?" The boy looks at him with wide eyes, and pulls him to the ground as a grenade flies through a window, exploding in the next room. Winters looks up at the boy from under the dust of the rubble, and he can see the boy sitting on the floor, his back against the wall, and piece of wood protruding from his chest. Quickly maneuvering to a crouching position, Winters places a hand on the boys chest, while with the other hand he pulls out the piece of wood, earning a muffled scream from the boy. He takes out a small white packet and opens it, sprinkling white powder on the wound. He then takes a cloth from his pocket, and presses it to the wound hard, trying to stop as much of the bleeding as possible. Winters looks the young boy in the eyes, and nods his head slowly.
"What company are you from?" he repeats his earlier question, and the boy coughs, the cough sounding very watery.
"Fox Company, sir." Winters nods his head, and he takes the boys hand, pressing it on the cloth; replacing his own hand. He then looks at the boy's chest to see his name.
"Sergeant White, what is your first name?" the boy looks at him, eyes unfocused, and his skin paling.
"Bobby, sir. My name is Bobby." Winter nods his head, then stands up, getting his rifle at ready. He fixes his helmet, and looks around the house.
"Well, Bobby, I'm going to get something. I'll be right back." Before he can get an answer from the boy, he leaves the room and heads upstairs. Keeping his rifle pointed everywhere he looks, Winters makes his way into a small bedroom. In it is a man lying on his bed, with a gunshot to his head. Winters walks around the bed, and slowly open the closet, rifle pointed and at ready. He takes out a white bed sheet form the cupboard, staining it with the blood and dirt on his hands. Taking the bed sheet, he makes his way back down the stairs, and falls to the floor as he hears a bomb go off; causing the house to shake. Crawling over to Sergeant White, he drags himself to his knees, placing his rifle beside him. Ripping the bed sheet into small but long strips, he starts to wrap the Sergeant's wounds. As soon as he is done, he takes up his rifle and sits down beside him. The Sergeant looks at him, and then looks down; ashamed.
"Sir, I lied about my age to get here…" Winters looks at him, nodding his head thoughtfully.
"So I've gathered. Why are you telling me this now?" the Sergeant looks up at him, a slow flush creeping up to his cheeks.
"I want to go home…" he tears up, and looks down at his bloodied hands. Winter nods his head, understanding, and crosses his arms tightly across his chest, trying to get warm. He nods his head once more, this time in a firm manner.
"I'll make sure you get home, Bobby. I promise you." Bobby nods his head, and closes his eyes. A small tear falls from the corner of his eye as he tries to get comfortable.
"Sir, would you mind getting me a smoke out of my pocket?" Winters nods his head in acknowledgment, and then takes a pack of Camel cigarettes out of the boy's pocket. Taking one out of the pack, he gives it to him, then lights it. As he goes to put it back, the boy tells him he can have one, to which he politely declines.
"I don't smoke." The boy laughs for a moment, then coughs, wincing. He draws in a shaky breath, inhaling as much of his cigarette as he can with one breath. The boy tells Winters about his hometown in Louisiana, and Winters in turn tells him about how he grew up. The sun goes down as the two of them talk, and everything grows quiet outside.
"Our companies are probably sitting and eating warm food by now…" the boy states, and Winters nods his acknowledgment. The two of them find themselves falling asleep, but Winters wakes up every now and again as he hears guns being fired randomly. This goes on until the sun rises, and Winters wakes up to a cold morning. He looks at the boy, who is still sleeping, and gets up to stretch. He takes his rifle with him as he finds the washroom, and takes a few moments in there. As he gets out, he can hear more gunfire about. Hearing that it is getting closer, Winters aims his rifle at the door of the house, and it opens a crack. Before he can fire, a whistle sounds through the door, and Winters puts his rifle down. He whistles back, and the door opens all the way to reveal three men from his company; Nixon, Bull, and Lipton. As they all pat him on the back, he bends down and looks at the boy.
"Hey, Bobby, wake up. It's about time you go home." The boy doesn't answer him, so Winters places a hand on his neck, just to recoil at the coldness of the skin. Bobby's skin is so cold that it actually burnt Winter's hand. That was when he realized that the boy was dead. Sighing deeply, Winters takes hold of Bobby's dog tags, and rips them off, sticking them into his pocket. He stands up, and he follows his fellow soldiers out into the war zone; back to being behind enemy lines.
Review, please! How do you like it? Did I make Winters okay?
~ xoxo, Ryuu