Disclaimer: I own nothing except original characters.
We happy, we few, we band of brothers.
D-Day + 2
Two days had passed since the landing in Normandy. Two days, sixteen dead, thirty-seven wounded, and companies scattered across Normandy. Everything was chaotic. People were running around trying to find the right company, many of who had lost their supplies in the jump. Makeshift aid stations were scattered through the rubble that was once a standing town.
"Easy Company, listen up!" Lieutenant Winters, who was now acting as Commanding Officer, yelled for the men to listen. "At 1600 we'll be taking the town of Carentan. First platoon will lead, followed by second, and third platoon on the left. The town is crawling with Krauts so you'll need to keep your eyes open!"
"Damn, why is it always Easy doing the hard shit?" Bill Guarnere muttered to his friend Joe Toye.
Toye lifted a finger to his mouth in a way to tell his friend to hush.
"Gonorrhea, shut the hell up." Donald Malarkey poked his head between the two.
"Haha, Sergeant Bullshit." Guarnere shot back whilst rolling his eyes.
Off to the side of Easy Company stood the two medics, Evie and Eugene. Evie leaned over to her fellow medic whispered, "I wonder how many casualties the other companies have."
Doc shrugged, crossing his arms. "I hope not many. We can't suffer anymore. We're already down two mortars." He sighed, slipping a cigarette between his lips and lighting it.
"Stressed again, Gene?" Evie raised a brow and rolled her eyes as Doc took a puff. She hated those things. She could never understand why a medic of all people would put try one.
"If you only you knew, Miss Evie." He pulled it out of his mouth, holding it between two fingers. "You know, Miss Evie, you never told me about your family."
Keeping her eyes fixated on Lieutenant Winters, she spoke, "I've got a mother, father, two brothers. Nothing special at all." Evelyn never enjoyed talking about her family. She would stiffen and respond in a monotonous voice. "What about you, Gene? What's yours like?"
Without bothering to correct her on his name, he tilted his head back and took another puff. "I don't got any. How old are your brothers, Miss Evie?"
When Eugene said that about his family, she could tell the mood had slightly shifted. "Please, Gene, just call me Evie." Evie offered the best smile she could at the moment. "They're quite young, six and eight. You know that age, not having a care in the world." She could here Eugene's soft laugh.
"Alright, men. Let's move out!" Winters finished his speech and the men began to line up.
As the men were lined up into two rows, George Luz, who was known as the joker, spoke up, "Now the thing to remember, boys... flies spread disease, so keep yours closed!" Everyone laughed at his imitation at General Maxwell Taylor.
"You got everything you need, Miss Evie?" Eugene pulled the cigarette from his mouth and stomped it out. "I've got a few extra morphine tubes I can spare." He pulled out three small tubes and handed them to her. "Got any bandages you can spare?"
Evie nodded and dug around her aid pack until she found what she was looking for. "Here." She exchanged the bandages for the morphine and put them into a small pouch.
"Now remember, it's gonna get busy real fast out there. You'll need to bandage them up and move 'em. But make sure you stay safe too." Eugene managed a small smile before walking out after the men.
Carentan, a beautiful French city, would have been more beautiful if it weren't for the Krauts scattered throughout.
"Private, go check it out." Lieutenant Winters whispered to Private Aarons, giving him a slight nudge forward. The Private did exactly what he was told and jogged to the front of the group. He knelt down on one knee and held a fist into the air, signaling for the rest of the group to wait. As he turned around to give the all clear, a bullet hit him in the side of the head, spraying his blood all over the ground. "Incoming fire! Out of the road!" All the men jumped from their current positions into the small ditches that ran along the roadside. "First platoon on me!" Winters yelled out at his men and began running into the town.
As medics, Eugene and Evie weren't allowed to carry any sort of weapon except a knife. They followed the men, bringing up the rear. Once inside the town, they were separated, along with the entire platoon. One group went left, one right, the rest scattered as they were hit with multiple mortars.
"Medic!" Someone belted out from a pile of rubble. Eugene immediately ran into the smoke and began to help the wounded.
"Where the hell did everyone go?" George Luz yelled over the roar of guns being fire.
Frank Perconte looked to his friend and shook his head. "I don't know!" He yelled back as they took cover behind a wall.
Evie had been separated from first platoon along with Darrell "Shifty" Powers. Both were taking cover behind a half destroyed wall.
"Shifty, second floor, two snipers and a mortar. You're gonna need to take them out." She looked to her fellow soldier.
"I've got it, Evie. Just stay down." Shifty quickly looked over the wall and fired two shots. Within moments, the two snipers were down, and in another second so was the mortar.
"Nice one, Shifty!" She smiled brightly at her friend. "C'mon, we gotta get a move on." She led Shifty into the street where just a block down, she could see two of their own, laying on the ground and withering in pain. "You go on, I've gotta down there. I'll be fine" She pushed her friend towards the other direction and ran towards the wounded men.
"What's your name, soldier?" Evie asked as she knelt down towards the one who seemed to be in m ore pain. "What's your name?" She repeated, putting her hand on the wound that was gushing blood.
"Blithe." The one who was laying, looking up at the sky stuttered out. "Albert Blithe."
"Well Blithe, can you reach into my bag and grab the small package labeled disinfectant, for me?" She asked as she put more pressure on the wound.
"I... I can't." Private Blithe shook his head. "I can't see."
"What the-" As she was about to finish her sentence, the building above them began to explode. "Cover your face, Blithe!" Evie yelled and threw her body over the man she was currently trying to help. As rubble began to cover their bodies, she could have sworn she heard the voice of an angel yelling out her name.
"Evie!" Eugene yelled as he watched the building cover the three of men. "Perconte! Luz! On me now!" He yelled and took off towards his friends. He slid on the ground as he reached the three and began to help them up.
"What the hell happened, Evie?" Eugene helped her off the now dead soldier and looked at her with worry in his eyes.
"I don't know... I don't know." She looked at her blood covered hands with confusion. "There was just so much blood."
Eugene's eyes widened when her hands. "Are... Is that..." He couldn't even finish his sentence.
Shaking her head, she softly brought a hand up to her forehead and felt warm liquid running down her cheek. "It's not mine. But we need to move Blithe. He can't see."
"Perconte, Luz. Help Blithe over there while I stitch up Miss Evie." Eugene ordered the soldiers and led Evie to the side behind a wall. "You did good today, Evie. You saved Blithe's life."
"One for one. That's how it worked today." She winced momentarily as Eugene did his best to stitch up her wound. "Blithe has hysterical blindness."
"How do you know that?" He looked at her curiously, cutting the thread.
Sitting expressionless, Evie looked out at the open field behind them. "Said he couldn't see."
"Oh." Eugene nodded slowly as he gently rubbed a thumb over the now stitched area. He smiled slightly and removed his thumb quickly. "Come on. We gotta regroup with the rest." He helped Evie to her feet and began to walk off towards a now secured building.
Evie lightly touched the area Eugene had rubbed his thumb over and smiled. "Hey, Doc. You called me Evie. Without the Miss."
"I suppose I did, Miss Evie." He laughed softly and shook his head, "By the way, you can call me Gene." He nodded and entered the first floor, leaving a smiling Evie outside.