Those who have looked at my profile recently would have seen that I warned that I had a few busy busy weeks coming up, hence no updates on the story. Stuff like moving, exams, assignments (ick!) and then I went away on holiday. So thanks for the patience and I hope you enjoy the newest instalment!

Reviews are, as always, very much appreciated.

Chapter 7: Cracks Begin to Appear

Eindhoven, September 17th 1944

Out of the corner of his eye Sergeant Clarke became aware of a situation developing between Winters and Saz. Not wanting to draw any more attention to it out of respect for Sarah, he turned away and struck up a conversation with a few of the Easy boys in the hopes that they would not notice.

"Wasn't exactly planning on that welcome today," he said as he threw a lighter over to Bull, who was busy checking every pocket in a fruitless attempt to find his own.

With reflexes as quick as lightning, Bull caught the lighter and grinned at Roo. "Cheers."

"What does that mean for you troopers?" Johnny said. "It ain't like you fellas have had a lot to do."

"It's unclear at this point. Obviously what happened today wasn't anticipated, which would mean that intelligence got it wrong. This would mean that we still have a role to play. What form that would take, I haven't a clue." He looked and noticed an odd look forming on Johnny's face, as he stared into the distance. Damn, he's noticed Saz and Winters. He quickly glanced at Bull, who at that point at least, was concentrating more on lighting his cigar than the heated conversation taking place behind him.

"A recce or two wouldn't go astray," Bull piped up, cigar protruding out of the side of his mouth.

"True, I guess in the morning Lieutenant Price will let us all know what the next step is."

"That's if she isn't otherwise engaged." Bull motioned into the distance, behind Roo.

Roo cringed. He didn't want to look. The respect he had for Saz told him that he shouldn't, and every ounce of his being wanted to protect her from the prying eyes of the men, but he knew it was too late for that. What he needed to do now, was to find out what was happening. And to do that, he needed to turn, and face what was going on behind him.

He saw Saz and Winters standing nose to nose. Bar the obvious hissing, anyone would have looked and thought they were about to fall into each other's arms in a mad heap of passion. Of course, he knew that that wasn't exactly far from the truth.

While Saz would insist that the near miss (or kiss, as he would prefer to put it) with Winters was the result of her drunken ways, he knew her better than that. For all of the bravado she served up; for all of the jokes; he knew it was just a mask. Because he had seen what was under it. And for her to have come that close to kissing Winters, it meant that she trusted him. Trusting him meant that at some point she had unmasked herself.

Unfortunately that also meant that no matter how much he wanted to go over there and smash the man right on the nose for even thinking about touching her, it would be a rookie move. Because he knew Saz.

He watched as she took a step closer to Winters, almost feeling the heat from her rage despite standing 10 yards from her. And then, almost as quickly as it started, she had turned on her heel and stormed away, leaving a very angry Captain Winters in her dust. He wanted to follow her, but he knew better than that. He pitied any man that got in her way tonight.

When she had cooled off though, he knew he had to talk to her. And not just about tonight, but about the last few months. Ever since her brother had died, the change in her had been so slight, but it was enough for him to notice. Lieutenant Hera Parihe, the epitome of how strong Maori women were supposed to be, was slowly falling apart.

East of Nuenen, 19th September 1944

Sarah hadn't slept very well the last couple of nights. She had instead opted to spend one night thinking of creative ways to destroy Captain Winters. The next night she was still fired up, and so she spent it planning the trooper's movements. Luckily she had already been briefed before her run-in with Captain Winters a couple of nights earlier.

For the most part, the Operation had gone smoothly thus far. There had been some flak on the way in, but it was a lot less concentrated that what intelligence had originally indicated. This had raised suspicion amongst the men, and definitely with herself.

As the whole Operation was still under British Command, they were being sent north east towards a small town called Nuenen. Because of the suspicion, the troopers had been sent ahead of Easy Company that morning to do a recce of the outlying areas of the town.

It was a quiet, breezy day. But the quiet was unsettling. They troopers had moved in from the east, slowly making their way through the fields. During the whole morning they had found it difficult to track any movements around the town simply because of the fact that it was clear that there had been many. And some were fresh. That was dangerous.

Sarah had sent Mouse and his fireteam ahead of the rest of the troopers some time earlier, as she had been concerned that if there were German units ahead that such a large group of them would catch their attention. She left a trooper on sentry and returned to the rest of the men.

She was peering at her map when Roo came up beside her. "The sentry has spotted Mouse and his fireteam heading back to our location."

She nodded and continued looking at the map. "What are you looking for?" Roo asked her.

"I'm just attempting to calculate in my head what the best route would be to link back up with Easy. We're a bit exposed here: case in point the fact that Johnson was able to spot Mouse heading back to our location."

"Good point. I'm glad you're in charge."

She snorted. "Only because you're ability to make decisions is non-existent." She looked up and grinned at him. "But seriously, I think Easy probably isn't too far away from us." She glanced in the direction of a small bend in the distance. "In fact, I'd put money on the fact that in a few minutes they'll be rounding that corner."

"Only a foolish man would take up that bet."

She folded the map and put it in her pocket. "Roo, can you liaise with Westley and get a report on his communications with Easy about the tracks we've found? In the meantime I'm going to hear Mouse's report," she nodded east towards the incoming troopers, "about the results of his recce."

Picking up her rifle, she moved out of the core of the troopers and found cover just behind the sentry on the side of the banks of the road. She noticed that Easy Company was now heading in on the road to the South. She raised her eyebrows at Roo and grinned.

When Mouse arrived, she sent his fireteam to join the rest of the troopers. "What's the situation?"

"There sure as hell ain't young boys and old men in that town. We couldn't get too close because there are a number of them holed up in the buildings. They're concentrated in the buildings on the north west side of the town. Strong likelihood of armoured vehicles, there are fresh tracks leading right into the town."

She looked to the South and noticed that Easy and the British had stopped. "Fuck." In a rush she grabbed her rifle and kept low, moving as fast as she could towards Roo and the Signaller, Westley. "Report from Lieutenant Price: German Infantry in the town, unknown number, situated in buildings to the north west, exercise extreme caution." She patted Westley on the back and turned to Roo.

"Roo, take your section and link up with Easy."

She turned to the men and signalled to them. Keep low. Hold position.

A shot echoed through the air and she saw someone fall in distance. Shouting. Easy dispersed quickly. Above her she heard the roar of German armour coming past. Shit, too late.

She signalled again. Keep low. The tanks took their shot. Miss. She heard the second shot. It connected.

"Contact! Fire at will!"

While the troopers cleared the east path into town, she watched the movements of Easy Company and quickly assessed the situation. The men were advancing to the north, and taking up positions on the south side of town. The tanks would have to advance into the town from the east. The troopers needed to protect that path.

They moved swiftly to the east, taking out stray German's along the way. They took up position behind a church. "Keep low."

Sarah slid down the wall of the church and covertly looked around the corner. There, she saw Johnny and Heffron heading towards the British, who were now a distance away from them. Johnny spotted her and a brief look of surprise crossed his face. She turned back to the troopers. "Fireteam alpha, form up and follow me. The rest of you provide covering fire until we're clear, and then you're under Mouse."

She grabbed her rifle, knelt, and swung the barrel of the weapon around the corner. With short, sharp movements, she quickly assessed their route. Clear. She swung her rifle on her shoulder, and motioned forward. She ran quickly and could hear the footsteps of the men behind her as they travelled up the road, ducking in and out of clearings.

Eventually they found themselves directly opposite Johnny and Heffron, who had just finished liaising with the British armoured units. A look of exasperation was plastered all over Johnny's face. She cocked her head at him in a questioning manner. His hand signals spelt it out pretty clearly. The morons were walking into an ambush willingly.

Fuck.

She signalled to her men. Follow me. They needed to link back with Easy because this was going to get very bad, very quickly. They moved stealthily down the street, using the tanks as a source of cover. At the next opportune moment she led the men down the side of a building, ensuring their cover was kept. It was here that they met Guarnere and second platoon.

"The Bri—"

Before she could say anything else a sound loud enough to splinter her bones into pieces struck. A sudden burst of heat. The trap had been sprung.

"Fall back!" Shouts filled the air. She turned and motioned to her troopers, and they moved quickly, covering the rear of the retreat. She was following suit when an explosion sounded and she found herself in the air.

She landed straight on her back, and it took the wind out of her. She struggled to take a breath. Hhuccm. Hhuuuucm. Her head pounded. No time for this, Price. Get up. Hauling herself up she saw that she had narrowly missed being flattened by the side of a building which had been hit by a shell from the Germans. She could see that she was now stuck, and the only way out was to reveal herself on the main road. That would make her a prime target.

Son of a bitch.

In a couple of minutes at most the area would be crawling with German's. She didn't have long. She edged herself toward the corner of the now half-destroyed building and saw no clear routes. She was trapped.

Think Price, think! She looked down and saw her grenades dangling off her. The next thought she had was possibly one of the most audacious she had ever had in her military career. But, it just might work.

Roo and the rest of the section had made it back to the trucks quickly. But there was no Sarah. He turned and caught Captain Winters' eye, but then saw further in the distance a small group of troopers retreating in behind an Easy platoon. It took him two seconds to see that the familiar shape of Saz wasn't among them.

Rearming himself with his rifle, he launched forward towards them. As he passed Captain Winters, he heard, "Where is Lieutenant Price?"

He quickly answered. "I'm about to find out."

He advanced forward and kept low. He saw Luz coming towards him. "Where's Lieutenant Price?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing. Her fireteam is behind you."

Luz spun around. "Goddamn. You, where is your Lieutenant?"

A trooper answered, "She was behind us, but there was an explosion, and half the building came down." The trooper pointed from where they came from. "We couldn't see her. We needed to cover the retreat of second platoon."

Fuck. Those morons don't have a slice of heroism in them.

"Get on the fucking truck."

"What are you doing?" Luz said to Roo.

"I'm getting Lieutenant Price." He sprinted forward, dodging the retreating Easy Company. He was well aware of the stares he was getting from them all, but he didn't care. Even if it meant identifying the damn body, he had to go back for her.

He reached the buildings within a minute. He could thank the adrenalin for that. To the east he spotted the building the trooper had pointed towards. It was decimated. Would she have survived? As he was about to make a move towards the building, he spotted Lieutenant Price through the rubble. She was moving very slowly, but her rifle was slung over her shoulder. What the hell is she doing?

Looking slightly to the right of her, he saw that her most direct route towards him and Easy was also crawling with German infantry who were using an armoured vehicle as cover. He looked back at her. There was a grenade in her hand. Her arm moved. It was released. It exploded right by the tank, alerting the German's to her presence. What the hell is she doing?!

When he looked back to her position, she was gone. And then he saw another explosion, before she appeared out of the dust and was sprinting straight towards him. He swung the barrel of his gun towards her position and gave covering fire. One. Two. Three. Hurry Saz, I can't keep this up for much longer. Four.

She was almost to him. "Run!" She yelled. He moved in behind her, running on her heels. They climbed up the bank to the road, but she stumbled as she got to the top. He heard her grunt in pain and fall to her knees. With no time to waste, he put his arm under her shoulder and hauled her up to her feet. With him supporting her, they attempted to slowly make their way towards the trucks.

Looking up he saw Captain Winters coming towards them. Saying nothing, Winters put his arm around Saz's back, and placed her arm over his shoulders. Between Roo and Winters, they made up the rest of the ground quickly, putting Saz on the back of a truck. He put pressure on the wound on her leg as the truck began to pull away. Looking back, he nodded at Winters.

He turned back to Sarah, who was unconscious. He checked her pulse. Normal. Stroking her hair, he frowned. Saz, what on earth were you thinking?

Thanks for reading! Constructive feedback is most appreciated.