Hey guys! I've still been thinking about this story, just a lot has happened. I got a job, my driver's license, and these past few months I've been really angry and just plain sad. So I figured I'd try to throw some of these not-so-good feelings and make some decent writing. And holy shit Essie was such a damn Mary Sue.

~Chapter 4: Mortal Sin~

"Dixie, no, go away. Just a little longer." Esther mumbled into a pillow, the sharp tips of down feathers poking into her cheek. She expected Dixie to sit on the small of her back and start messing with her hair. But small hands did not meet her tangles, and with the abrupt sounds of boots on new pine floors, Esther was broken from her slumber.

"C'mon Essie! Let's go, you gotta get up," men's rattling voices chorused.

"Where did that come from?" Her voice croaked as she sat up on her elbows to rub her face.

"Where did what come from?" Luz asked, drawing his laces tightly against his shins.

"What you guy's called me…"

"I came up with it, Essie… Do you like it?" Shifty added in his sweet drawl, and gave a timid smile.

"It's alright," she swallowed her small excitement at gaining a new name. Her whole life, nothing but Esther was yelled at her. She felt her hair sticking to her neck which was salty with sweat and itchy and red from the dried soap. Growing uneasy with the amount of movement around her, she whipped back the miserable wool covers and stiff sheets. Her bare and blistered feet were immediately met with splinters as they hit the floor. She winced and brought her face to her hands to hide the pained expression.

Now standing, Esther looked out to window to find it steadily raining. Puddles in the walkways were quickly growing. Her heavy breath formed a wide circle of steam on the thin window pane, but she could still make out Winters walking briskly towards their barrack. There was a darkening garrison cap on his head of thick fiery hair, he seemed undaunted by the amount of rain falling on his shoulders, but it seemed as though he was one to carry much on his shoulders.

The pine bar on the door was lifted from outside, and a damp Winters marched in, removing his cap and gave it an almost theatrical twist. A few drops fell to the unstained floor, and air blew out of everybody's noses in amusement.

"Morning, men. Looks like it will be a light day." As he spoke, Essie noticed the new shimmering bars placed on his lapels. "Lunch in the mess hall at noon, and tactical training indoors at 1400. Medics, you'll have classes at 0900." He spoke in short sentences, only saying what he needed to.

He gave a quick nod and turned around the open the door where water was soaking through. Though heavy rain drops pounded against the panes, Esther's eyes followed him as he walked again briskly towards the mess hall.

Still in her crispy PT uniform, Esther began making her bed the way she had back home. She kept to herself, listening to the men interact in-between thoughts. Just as she was about to place the heavy pillow on the blankets in a final gesture, she felt a massive form move gently behind her.

"Miss, you've got to tuck in the sheets at the top, too." Bull's massive moved forward, a cigar wedged between his knuckles. In an attempt to help her, he spread a few ashes across the wool blanket but Esther paid no mind to it. "And pull it tight as hell. That damn Sobel will slap a coin against there and if the thing doesn't bounce, you're in for a world of hurt."

Essie, with a face flushed deep red, nervously yanked on the covers once more. "Thanks, Bull. I didn't know."

"I just couldn't stand to watch Sobel bitch at you this early." He gave a small grin as he popped the cigar back into his teeth. "Please, go rinse off back there. Sobel won't be in here for a few more minutes. Trust me, if he was, I wouldn't be smoking this."

Essie gave his a thankful smile, and gathered up her uniform from her footlocker to take to the shower. Evidently their interaction had drawn the attention of the men, and in embarrassment Essie dashed into the small safety of the shower.

It was a wave of relief as Esther clawed away at the dried streaks of soap lining her skin. Though she trusted Bull, she knew if Sobel caught her in this shower it would surely be a ticket back home. In her heart she would almost like to be caught by Sobel, then shortly finding herself laughing in the car with her father. But though she was naïve, Esther was determined to be a successful poster child and continue to overstep the boundaries women were faced with.

Finally rinsed with completion, she drew the olive drab uniform over her legs and arms. It was still an unusual feeling to be wearing something other than a dress, but she appreciated the mobility of trousers. Due to the fact the pant legs were huge, it wasn't too different than a dress. After quickly lacing up her boots, she ran her thumbs underneath a pair of new suspenders. Unable to even begin to get the massive knots out of her thick hair, Esther simply wound it up into an even larger knot and slapped on an unworn garrison cap.

She drew in a breath of air smelling of men and pine, and stepped back out into the main long room of the barrack. Skip Muck and Penkala were sitting respectively on a cot, dealing cards and talking shit about Sobel. If anything, Sobel was an excellent source of conversation.

Keeping her eyes down, she plodded down the aisle to her cot. Her feet were swimming in her boots. Just for safe measure, Esther yanked on the end of the sheets and blanket so they were free of any texture.

"So, where did you say you were from again?" A red headed man looked up from polishing the trigger keeper of his rifle. It was Donald Malarkey.

"Nebraska, a small town," she answered quickly, feeling the room ease into silence as she spoke.

He nodded and gave her a pitiful smile, "How's you feet? Doc Roe could wrap them up, I'm sure. Best damn medic…"

His words drifted off in her mind as she remembered Malarkey and Bill Guarnere had seen her blistered and raw feet the night before. They stung throughout the night, the dry soap settling painfully in the open wounds.

Before she could reply, a dark haired man with a fine complexion was on his knees already working at her laces. Startled, she nearly kicked his boney hands away but kept her composure regardless.

"Sorry, miss. I'm Eugene Roe, I'm second platoons medic. May I have a look at yo feet?" He spoke in a strange accent, one Esther had never heard in person. It dripped in voodoo and Cajun spice and was quite pleasant to the ear.

She swallowed, feeling her face grow hot. To reassure herself, she joked, "Do I have a choice?"

One side of his mouth slightly curved. Kindly he replied, "Not really, a soldier idn't a soldier without feet."

At once, with a silent agreement, Eugene began taking off her boots that she had just put on moments before. "No, I can do it. Really, I'm fine."

Holding out a quiet hand to warn his to move, Esther pulled off her boots. Her brow furrowed in a wince, but she swallowed the whimper on her tongue. The fibers to her socks had stuck to the wet open wounds. Red sores were present on the pads of her toes, the back of her heels and around even boney part of her feet.

Guarnere angrily stepped closer, "Well, shit. They use her like this and don't even give her a pair of boots that fit. I'm going to bitch."

Nervous that somebody was beginning to baby her, she waved him off, "No, sir- I'll just put on both pairs of my socks next time we run."

He spun in a circle to look at the door as if Sobel was about to walk in. With fight in his voice, he spoke again. "And then the bastard will bitch at you because you won't have a clean pair. Shit…"

"Hey, really it's okay. This gauze will help, I'll be fine!" Esther was fully aware of the large and helpful amount of gauze that Doc Roe was wrapping around her feet. "See, my feet have already grown two sizes!" She gave an uneasy chuckle, trying to douse the rising in the room. "Please don't pay me any mind, guys. We'll just all get in trouble."

"We shouldn't be worried about a dictatorship like this, fellas," Bill spat. Esther sighed, realizing quickly that it was Bill's pure nature to not be brought down after getting worked up.

She watched as Eugene carefully tied the knots around her ankles as if he had done it a hundred times, "Keep them clean, we don' need an infection before we've even gone to war."

Doc Roe patted her cot before standing and left her to put on her boots for the second time that morning. Guarnere continued his ranting, and the men gave nods and offered some vocals in agreement.

Smiling as if he had heard the same speech a hundred times, Carwood Lipton stood and tapped the small black watch fastened to his wrist. "Nearly noon, boys. Let's head to the mess hall now, and try to beat Dog Company," he gave a sly smile, but did not reveal his teeth.

The men once again snorted in amusement. Some pulled their olive button ups over their plain white undershirts, while others adjusted their garrison caps. For good measure, as they piled out and met the heavy rain, Esther tugged on her blankets one last time and followed quietly behind them.

B.o.B.

"This ain't spaghetti, its just Army noodles with ketchup." Frank Perconte complained with a mouthful of the slop.

Guarnere sat his plate down on the long table. He still hadn't cooled down, "You ain't gotta eat it."

"Oh c'mon Gonorrhea, as a fellow Italian you should know that calling this crap spaghetti is a mortal sin."

Hoobler reached behind himself to steal Frank's plate, "Hey, I'll eat it for you."

Perconte elbowed him away, an orange noodle escaping from his mouth. Esther gave a small smile in amusement and Talbert noticed and smiled back at her. She once again felt her face grow hot and she continued to shovel through the halfway decent meal. She found herself most comfortable with Grant, Talbert and Shifty, though she was still anxious around them.

For once she was feeling somewhat content. She was finally rinsed clean with a full stomach, the pounding rain had eased and she was surrounded by rowdy but friendly and amusing men. Her peaceful train of thought was disrupted by the obnoxious sound of a whistle screech bouncing off the walls.

Sobel stormed through, his nose high with an appearance of satisfaction. "Lessons have been cancelled; Easy Company is running up Currahee! Move! Move!" he yelled, and gave a piercing glance to Esther, with a look of hope to see her disappointment. But she refused to give him the satisfaction and instead wriggled her feet to the front of her boots and mingled into the sea of seething men into the remaining drizzle.

When he didn't get the reaction he wanted from her, he yelled, "Three miles up, three miles down! Hi-ho Silver!"

Once up against the mountain, Esther felt a wave of nausea sweep through her. Sobel continuing to boom, 'MOVE, MOVE, MOVE' directly into their ears didn't help. She forced herself to pick up each foot in the rhythm of her breathing. Though he men around her continued to spew the hardly ingested orange spaghetti, Esther tried desperately to keep her meal down.

"You're a washout, Private Hoobler! You should pack up those ears and go home!" Hoobler wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and continued to run. Esther's heart sank for him; he really seemed like a sweetheart.

After making his rounds from Hoobler to Gordon, Sobel rounded on Esther. He practically pressed his sweating upper lip into her ear and began screaming. "I don't know what the Army was thinking, throwing a piece of hillbilly trash like you in my company. I bet your father smuggled you in with a keg of moonshine to keep you company! You're going to get yourself killed, Private Fussilade!"

The last part stung, because she actually thought it might happen. With her eyes down, she looked over at Talbert's hands for any source of comfort. She found his knuckles white and his fingernails digging into his palms. Still refusing to give Sobel the satisfaction of replying, she plowed forward and passed him, despite the gnawing pain in her feet.

With Sobel behind her, she felt his dark eyes searing into her back. Sweat mingling with the still dampness of her hair, Esther plowed forward. Her only source of encouragement was that she was going to get her JumpWings next week, and there wasn't anything Sobel could do to harm the Army's poster female. With the thought of this, she made a toothy grin and looked back to meet his eyes, just in pure spite of him.

Pretty plain chapter, sorry! And if anybody feels the desire to give me shit about Esther being a woman in the Army in WW2, just get the hell out now. I don't know what you're doing on FF if you can't accept some writing freedom.

Thanks for reading to the good folks, though!