Easy was starting to shape-up well as it grew in numbers.

The barracks were now up and liveable. The men were very happy to be living inside something stable and waterproof. They had new beds, fresh sheets and pillows. In the centre of the barrack was a tiny coal fire for the winter, the barrack was nice and spacious too. They were warm and they took good care of the place. Noelle spent most of her time cleaning. She'd iron out her uniform at the end of every day and clean her boots.

2nd Platoon were given a Platoon leader as well, Lieutenant Winters.

He was tall, very athletic looking and a good guy.

Winters was patient and earned their respect from day one. He never screamed at them like Sobel and he was always fair. However, that didn't stop Sobel from being an ass. He'd still revoke their weekend passes, make them do the obstacle course over and over again until it was perfect and every morning, they'd have to run up a mountain, named Currahee. It was three-miles up, the slope was steep, and the terrain was rough on their feet. But you had to keep going, despite the pain, or else you'd be out.

Noelle was still only talking to Lipton mostly.

She'd sometimes speak with Penkala, if he was alone.

It wasn't that they didn't like her, they just didn't want to get close to her.

"She'll die out there".

They'd say. Which, just from looking and hearing her, was probably true.

Noelle didn't expect to survive this war, she just needed the money, a roof over her head and food. God, and didn't she just love the food here. She'd eat anything handed to her, didn't matter what was in it, the kid was starving. Noelle was that kind of skinny which Sobel constantly pointed out. If he wasn't yelling at her for having large teeth or perhaps being a bit behind, it was her weight. Everything went right back to her weight.

And to punish her for things she couldn't control, Sobel would make her dig holes.

Noelle was always out back digging holes.

Once the holes were completed, Sobel would fill them back up.

"Where are your holes, Private?! Do them again!"

It was a never-ending circle.

Noelle didn't struggle so much with the physical, not anymore.

She could run up that mountain, get over those monkey bars and keep up with the men.

But reading and writing, that brought her down.

Lectures were a constant struggle for her.

She couldn't read a map, she couldn't work a compass and she couldn't do the maths. Noelle was set to fail. It was degrading for her. Noelle did feel angry at herself, she felt stupid because most of the men, even if they did leave school, most of them were doing really well with lectures. They knew a lot of tactics, they knew how to read a map and their future in this Company was set in stone.

The officers were very indifferent about Noelle.

However, when they started to learn about weapons and radios, Noelle hit the spot.

They were all given a rifle one week into training. It was an M-1 rifle, Sobel told them to keep it with them at all time, even when they slept. They had to know this rifle inside and out. So, you'd take it apart, put it back together again, over fifty times during the night. And the weapons training didn't stop at that. They learned how to use bayonets, pistols, knives, grenades, machine-guns, mortars and bazookas. They'd go out into the field after learning about the weapon that morning and fire it out.

Noelle loved firing out the heavy guns.

Every Friday night, they'd do a twelve-mile march.

Sobel had added on five-miles each week. It was a horrible march. No breaks, no talking, no smoking, no water. Guys were falling asleep while standing, it was a nightmare. But you had to keep going, or you'd get kicked out. The guys who washed-out, they were built for this, strong, fast and muscular. Noelle often wondered why she hadn't been given the boot yet. And when those guys left, new guys came in. One of them being Donald Malarkey.

For some reason, Noelle immediately liked him.

Though, the same couldn't have been said for Malarkey.

When he arrived, she walked right over to him.

"Hello".

Malarkey was with Muck and Penkala.

The three of them were sitting on a bed, Muck was showing him a picture of his girl form back home, Faye Tanner. And they were having a lovely conversation, until Noelle interrupted them. She reminded them of that little sister, the one you didn't want around your friends. They all knew she wasn't eighteen and they all hated that. But, at least Lipton and Penkala were still being nice to her.

"What do you want?"

Noelle frowned, she wasn't expecting Penkala to say that.

Malarkey looked at her, "I didn't think kids were allowed to join the army".

It wasn't a nice feeling, Noelle decided.

And she didn't want their pity.

"Nice 'te have 'ye on board". Noelle mumbled.

She left them alone, wondering back towards her bed.

Noelle didn't know why she was so drawn to Malarkey. There was just something about him that she liked. But she didn't know what and she might never know, if they all continued to push her away.

"Wait". Malarkey soon called after her.

She turned around, looking up at him.

"You – uh – you 'wanna see the picture of Skip's girl?"

Well, it wasn't something she was interested in.

"Awright".

Muck was a nice guy, really funny. Everyone liked him. He was from Tonawanda. Noelle didn't know where that was, she never asked, not wanting to sound stupid again.

"It's in Erie County, right by the Niagara Falls". He told her, "Canada".

"That in America?"

But of course, Muck tried to explain where he lived to her.

And it didn't go well, not at first.

The three of them pulled an amused face.

"Canada?" Penkala asked her.

Noelle nodded, "eh – aye. That in America?"

"No". Muck said with a grin, "and don't let the others hear you say that, alright?"

She gave a nod, "awright".

"I was born in Astoria, Oregon". Malarkey told her, "then, I moved to Warrenton, across Young Bays. Lived with my Gran".

"Your Gran?" Noelle asked him quietly, looking up at him curiously.

"Yeah, my Gran". He confirmed, "now, Astoria, that's in Oregon. Warrenton's right across the bay from Astoria".

"A lived near waters too". Noelle told him lightly, "lived by the River Forth, in a wee village called Hillend. We had a forest 'swell. Was nice".

"Yeah? You go fishing?"

Noelle nodded, "aye, used 'te go fishing".

Malarkey smiled, "yeah, me too".

Muck cleared his throat, "if anyone's interested, I went fishing as well".

"Yeah? Catch something big?" Penkala grinned, "like a boot?"

"Way smaller". He said, "more like a sock".

Noelle gave him a toothy grin, "that's way tiny".

"It is". Muck agreed, "almost as tiny as you, Nelly".

Her nose twitched at the name.

Muck shrugged, "Noelle, it's a long name. 'Gotta shorten it".

Malarkey looked back at Noelle, "it's a shame other girls didn't enlist".

"Yeah, wonder why?" Muck smirked, "they probably all went for the regular, or the navy".

"Probably". Penkala agreed, "you've 'gotta be tough to be here, that's for sure".

"A don't care". Noelle shrugged, "am still here".

"You are, huh?" Malarkey said, "must feel pretty good, Nelly".

"It's 'awright". She mumbled.

Noelle picked up the photo of Faye Tanner.

She was very pretty. Probably the prettiest girl she had ever seen.

In the picture, she was smiling, arms wrapped around Muck tightly.

Noelle smiled a little, "she's bonnie, Skip".

Muck grinned brightly, "ah – thank you, Nelly".

Her being accepted into this Company wasn't set in stone.

They might have started to like her, but she had a lot to prove.

Most of the time, Noelle was alone on her cot, writing in her notepad, or cleaning.

Other times, Malarkey, Penkala or Muck would call her over for a talk.

One night, everyone was heading to post PX for a beer.

Noelle wanted to go, they told her to stay behind.

"You won't like it". Malarkey told her, "everyone gets into fights and gets drunk".

It was a little disheartening when that happened. Noelle had worked hard all week, just to prove that she could keep up and that she might do okay out in combat. She had already proven herself physically, they knew she could handle the weapons, but she had ways to go. Noelle wasn't a terrible person, they all thought she was, "okay", but okay was never good enough.

"Jimmy,

It's okay. Some of them don't like me much and some do. Am okay. Just doing what I have to. I think I will make friends one day, just not right now. Food is good. Very tastie tastey it's good. We sleep in huts now, they are made from wood. It smells like wood still. We have a fire, like the one at our house. It is-"

"hello?"

Noelle looked away from her notepad and towards the door.

"Oh, hey". It was Martin, from 1st Platoon. "Bill around?"

She shook her head, "PX".

"You're – uh – they left you here?"

Noelle looked back at her notepad, "a wouldn't like it".

Clearing his throat, Martin nodded.

That was a lie. He could see right through it.

"You 'wanna come over and see for yourself?"

"How'd 'ye mean?"

Martin's lips twitched, "come to PX?"

Noelle sighed quietly, shaking her head. "Nah – best not".

"I think you should go". He pried, "come on, it'll be fine".

It wasn't fine, not at the start.

Upon entering the barrack, nobody noticed anything at first. But then Martin led her over towards Guarnere and Toye, who weren't happy about seeing her there.

"You brought the kid, Johnny?" Guarnere hissed, "why?"

Martin shrugged, "you all fucking left her, that's why".

"Jesus Christ – hey, you ever had a beer, kid?"

Noelle shook her head, "nut".

Toye took placed a bottle of beer into her hands, "start now".

She looked down at the bottle for a few moments before finally taking a sip.

It was bitter, it tasted horrible.

Noelle pulled a face, showing this disgust and making them laugh.

Still, the second sip wasn't as bad. Noelle figured she had tasted worse.

It was a very busy place, guys were singing, picking fights with one another.

A few punches were being thrown, nothing Noelle wasn't used to. She had seen it all. In fact, Noelle had even given a few punches here and there back home. So, she wasn't fazed by the rowdiness, not in the slightest. Noelle didn't know what the guys thought of her, but they obviously thought she couldn't handle a night in the post PX.

Toye was a big guy, probably the toughest looking guy in Easy.

He was from Pittsburgh, both parents were Irish. He looked like he'd snap you in half, just from looking at you. He was a man of few words, much like Noelle, they didn't have the best education history. Which was probably why they hadn't spoken to each other yet.

Guarnere was from South Philadelphia. He was the guy you went to for help. Guarnere helped a lot of guys and observed the ones at a higher rank from him. That's why he got promoted to Corporal pretty quickly, because he already had the traits of a great leader.

And Martin, he was a good guy too. He was smart, could get out of anything. He'd beg borrow and steal to get what he wanted. They called him the Scrounger. Martin was married to a girl named Pat, they got married in August on a weekend pass. Guarnere was his best man.

Lipton and Perconte were both married too, only they got married before Toccoa.

Everyone in Easy were different. But they all shared two things in common.

They hated Sobel.

And they wanted those jump wings.

Noelle finished off her first ever beer.

Toye gave her another one.

"You drink like the Irish".

Noelle pulled a face, "am Scottish".

He chuckled. "Yeah, you are".

She was pulled away by Malarkey, who led her towards the back of the barrack.

The radio was on, Muck and Penkala were gathered around, listening in.

"Glenn Miller's on, Malark". Muck told him.

The four of them were soon sitting on the ground, backs pressed up against the wall. Noelle had never heard of this man before, she hadn't listened to much of any music. This was all very new and interesting for her, much like when she received her uniform, boots with no holes and clothes which were fresh and clean. Noelle decided she liked music.

Malarkey and Muck surely loved music, she could tell.

Both theirs eyes lit up like stars. And it made her smile, just by watching them. She remembered when Jimmy had that same look, after bringing home two pounds from his work. He bought them potatoes, beef and some vegetables. They ate like kings that night.

Lipton was standing with Grant, another good guy from 2nd Platoon. Grant was good in the sense that he looked after everyone, much like Lipton. A few of the guys were a bit lazy when it came to inspections, Grant always made sure they were on top of things. While Lipton would often get on at Noelle for not picking up a sock.

"What's her story, Lip?" Grant asked him.

"She worked in the mines". He told him, "met her on the train over here. Coughed up a storm".

"Jesus". He whispered.

"Yeah".

Grant looked back at her, "she ain't eighteen".

Lipton shook his head, "no, she's definitely lying about her age".

He shrugged, "so, we don't say anything".

"No, we don't".

They were getting sorted out into squads now.

Each Platoon was broken down into three twelve-man rifle squads, with a machine-gunner and an assistant machine-gunner to each rifle squad, plus a six-man mortar squad to operate the Platoons 60mm mortar.

Muck, Malarkey, Guarnere, Penkala, Ed Sabo and Brad Freeman made up a mortar squad.

Noelle was a little gutted she wouldn't be with them.

But she was tiny, there was no way in hell she could carry a mortar around.

Some guys were picked for communications, Bain and Luz were picked for radiomen.

Noelle was apart of a rifle squad. Which was fine by her. Anything more complicated would have been too much for her. She wasn't the brightest of the bunch, but Noelle was fine with that. So long as she could shoot her rifle, they wouldn't have any problems. She was in 1st rifle squad with Toye, Popeye, Grant, Carson, McClung, Harris 'Salty', Burr Smith 'Smitty', Sal Bellino, John Sheehy and a few others, all led by Lipton, who was soon promoted to squad Sargent. And Diel was their Platoon Sargent now.

Like most rifle-men, Noelle was very close with her weapon.

She treated it like a tiny kitten, was always very careful with it.

When they weren't doing physical training or lectures, Noelle was cleaning her rifle and taking it apart. No one had to tell her what to do, Diel surely didn't. Before a Sargent could ask her, Noelle was always putting her rifle back together, it's how she managed to stay out of trouble, as far as the Sargent's were concerned. Sobel, well, he was a different kettle of fish. You couldn't do anything right, everything was wrong according to him.

One day, he made her dig up thirty holes because her foot was in the wrong position when standing at attention. It wasn't in the wrong position at all, she later found out by Malarkey, Sobel just needed an excuse to punish someone. And like most cases, he picked her. It was either Noelle or Alley. Jim Alley had a lot of energy, like a firecracker. Sobel didn't like his fiery energy. Noelle and Alley were always the ones digging holes or doing extra duties together. And by the end of each day, no matter how exhausted she looked, Noelle went straight to her rifle.

Being in the barracks at night was always relaxing.

The guys would put on the radio, play cards, craps and dice.

They'd gamble, smoke and talk.

With the smaller lights on, they'd stay up for hours.

Noelle liked night time in the barracks, where everyone would talk about home. She'd sit and listen quietly, while she cleaned her rifle. Muck would often relive the tale of him swimming across the Niagara. It was a very riveting tale. He always told it very well. And he'd like to point out that he swam the river at night. Malarkey said;

"going out over the Columbia river bar makes swimming the Niagara look like kiddy stuff".

"We'll do it". Muck told him, "but remember, I swam the Niagara at night".

Malarkey laughed, "yeah?"

"You'd bet, Malark".

"What about you, Nelly?" Malarkey asked her, "you done anything stupid?"

She nodded, "sure".

They both waited for an answer, which didn't come.

Muck grinned, "care to elaborate, Nelly?"

Noelle looked up from her rifle, frown on her face.

Malarkey cleared his throat, "what stupid stuff have you done, Nelly?"

"Right – eh – well, when 'a worked in the pits-"

"mine?" Penkala raised an eyebrow, "you worked in the coal mines?"

Noelle nodded, carefully setting her rifle down.

"Jesus". Malarkey whispered, "what did you do down there, Nelly?"

"A went through wee tunnels, got all the coal". She said, "and then 'a had 'te put them in this sack, went 'round 'ma neck and then 'a had 'te crawl backwords, to get to the others with the cart".

Muck lit up a cigarette, "you left school to work?"

Noelle nodded, "aye – was eleven".

Malarkey frowned a little.

That must have been tough. He had to work at a young age but at least he still got to attend school. It explained a lot about Noelle, it was sad they had judged her so harshly upon meeting her, Noelle couldn't help the way she was. It wasn't her fault she missed out on so much education.

"How come 'ye lived with your Gran?"

Noelle asked Malarkey this, so very softly.

And, with as much curiosity as his kid sister.

"Well". He cleared his throat, "dad's business went bankrupt. My younger brother Bob and little sister Molly, they went off to live with my parents in a replacement cabin, we lost the house. I have an older brother John, he lives in Southern California – and yeah, that's still in America, Nelly".

Muck and Penkala grinned at that last part.

Noelle bit down on her lips for a few moments, processing this.

"Are 'ye poor?"

Malarkey shook his head, "not compared to most guys here, no".

She sighed, "your dad must hate that, eh?"

He cleared his throat, "yeah – little bit".

Noelle might be slow on most things but seeing that look cross Malarkey's eyes, she didn't miss it. She had seen it in herself a few times. She had seen it in Jimmy's eyes, and it worried it to see it in Malarkey. Looks were often hard to reach, especially if they vanished quickly. Though, once you've seen that look, you never forget it. The burdened pain look.

So, Malarkey's dad was going to be a touchy subject.

Noelle figured she'd avoid it.

"You know, Joe left school at fifteen and worked in the mines". Malarkey said to her.

Noelle looked over at Toye, who was playing craps with some of the guys.

"Bit like you, huh?" Penkala commented lightly.

"A don't think he went in the tunnels, Penk".

The three of them smiled at that.

"No, Nelly". Malarkey said, "I don't think he'd fit".

Noelle turned back to look at the three of them, "Sobel don't like how skinny I 'um".

"You got a medical condition?" Muck asked.

"Me? No". Noelle said, waving her hand. "Am just a wee skinny malinky".

Malarkey huffed out an amused laugh, "a what?"

She picked up her rifle, "a skinny malinky". Noelle repeated, "just 'no got big feet".

"Nelly, what the hell are you-"

"skinny malikny longlegs, big banana feet. Went to the pictures but could'ny find a seat. When the pictures started, skinny malinky farted. Skinny malinky longlegs big banana feet".

Noelle brought out a rag, resuming cleaning her rifle.

The three of them stared at her for a few moments, before they started to laugh.

"You're fucking crazy, kid". Malarkey said.

"Bat-shit, crazy". Penkala added.

"Man, you Scottish people have the weirdest poems". Muck said.

Noelle nodded slowly, "aye, we do".

They were beginning to see a different side of Noelle.

Perhaps a funnier side.

Though, maybe she wasn't meaning to be funny.