Mallory

Two days later, I was seriously almost regretting our decision to jump. For the past two days, we were obliged to trudge around with heavy packs on, and were even forced to practice jumping with said loads of misery. That is how we ended up in Aldbourne's small pub with aching shoulders and tired eyes. We were about ready to pass out, but decided it wouldn't do to let the men see us in such a state, lest they change their minds about allowing us to jump.

Violet and I were sitting at a table near some of the men who were playing a game of darts, whilst Faye was at another table talking animatedly about literature with David Webster. We both had a pint in our hands, and were watching with much entertainment the dart game. Buck and Luz were losing quite spectacularly, but I noticed that the lieutenant was throwing every dart with his left hand. A slow smile spread over my face as I realized what the sneaky monkeys were doing.

When the first gamble of the night was offered, I had to cover my mouth with my sleeve to hide my grin. Luz saw me out of the corner of his eye and winked at me, and it was all I could do not to laugh.

"So, the first person to hit the bulls-eye?"

"Yeah, one shot, one shot."

Buck looked at Luz with a face so innocent even I almost believed it.

"One shot? Why not? Make it two. Two packs."

The price was quickly agreed on, and the smugness oozing off of their opponents made my grin even wider.

Buck had raised his hand to throw, and was sighting the target, when Luz suddenly spoke, radiating innocence.

"Lieutenant, uh, are you gonna shoot lefty all night?"

Buck lowered his arm and looked back at Luz as Joe Toye scowled and muttered, "Hey, come on!"

Somehow, Luz kept a straight face as he said, "Just curious, cause he's right handed."

Buck turned back to the board with a small smile.

"George." He raised his hand to throw again. "What would I do without George Luz?" He threw; Bulls-eye.

"Boop!"

"Oooh!"

"Goodness gracious!"

Buck held out his hand to Toye. "Two packs, gentlemen."

"Come on, I know you got 'em. Pay up."

By then, Violet and I were laughing so hard we had to cover our mouths and turn away.

"Hey y'all," a voice cried over the din of the pub. "Listen up. I've got some announcement to make." He reached back and pulled another man into our line of sight. "This here's Carwood Lipton."

From behind us, Malarkey called out, "He's already married, Smokey," causing us all to laugh.

"This here's Carwood Lipton, the new Easy Company first Sergeant."

The men cheered and clapped for him as Smokey continued. "As befitting his position, he says he has to make an announcement."

Lip stepped forward and cleared his throat, smile dropping off his face.

"Well," he said, and I could already feel my good mood slipping away.

Uh-oh. Something's up...

"I hate to break the mood here boys, but, uh, we're moving out again."

He turned and swiftly exited with a frown, as all of the men's smiles disappeared. Some looked at each other, while others just downed their pints, resigned.

My stomach dropped to my feet, and when I looked at Violet, I knew she was thinking the same thing.

This is it. There's no going back.

Slowly, the men began to clear out of the pub to head back to their billets. Faye parted with Webster and met back up with us as we made our way to the little cottage that we were quartered in. We didn't have to say anything; the silence spoke more than enough.

The next day, we found ourselves shuffling into the back of a large tent where our COs were going over our next operation: Market Garden. Violet and Faye looked at each other, knowing full-well that this particular operation was doomed from the start. Violet shook her head at Faye when she jerked her head up at the COs. She understood her meaning and looked away, biting her lip. She knew Violet was right, but she didn't like it any more than we did.

We couldn't possibly tell anyone that the operation wasn't going to be successful. We would alter the flow of history (more than we already had, of course). God only knows how it would turn out.

Milling around outside, Faye, Violet, and I were checking our gear before the jump. My heart fluttered awkwardly in my chest as I slid my M-1 out of its case. Doc Roe and Joe were with us, making sure we had all of our gear in place. Suddenly, a jeep horn sounded behind us, and we turned to investigate the noise. All of the men around us nudged each other and stared at the jeep, smiles fading from their faces. The man sitting in the passenger seat frowned out at the men, and I instantly knew who it was.

"Sobel," Joe muttered from behind me.

My lips quirked up into a smile when Violet whispered loudly, "Heigh-ho silver!"

Joe and Roe snorted.

"That makes him sound like a goddamn pirate," Faye grumbled. We all hated Sobel as much as the rest of the men, having watched Band of Brothers so many times. I covered my mouth to hide my smile, and turned back to Violet, who was grinning as well.

"Yarr," she growled, curling her finger into a hook and squinting her right eye, making me giggle.

A few minutes later, we saw Pirate Captain Sobel giving Malarkey some trouble, and rolled our eyes. "That's him, alright."

We chuckled and turned back to our gear. My aid-kit was slung securely over my shoulder and Roe helped me with my M-1, securing it across my chest. With our packs on our backs, we all made our way over to the plane we were to be flying in. After being given a once-over by one of the senior officers, we were ushered into the plane. Once inside, I turned to offer my hand to Faye as she attempted to clamber up. After she was in, I chanced one last look out the door and caught sight of a familiar face turned in my direction.

Lieutenant Nixon's eyes met my own, causing me to blush. Offering me a smile, he gave a small salute and continued down the line of soldiers. Faye peered over my shoulder and smirked.

"Come on, honey. Stop ogling the nice, married, lieutenant and sit down."

I stuck my tongue out at her but let her pull me away from the door. Over the next half hour, we were joined by three replacements we didn't know, Bull Randleman, James Miller, Frank Perconte, and Joe Toye. My stomach twisted into an insane knot when the plane started taxiing along the runway. Soon, we were in the air, and on our way to Holland.

We flew throughout the night. Faye had somehow managed to fall asleep on my shoulder (she must've had ear plugs or something), and Violet and I were just staring blankly at the opposite side of the plane. When the sun began to rise, it was announced that we closing in on our DZ. I nudged Faye awake, and helped her stand up.

We hooked our chute pulls to the line running along the roof of the plane and checked the gear of the person in front of us. From down the line, I heard, "Ten okay," "Nine okay," "Eight okay," and so on until Violet clapped my shoulder and shouted in my ear, "Two okay."

I checked Bull's gear and patted his arm.

"One okay," I yelled over the noise of the plane.

Bull moved forward to stand in the door, and looked at the lights next to him. When it turned green, he jumped, soon dropping out of sight. My heart thundered in my chest as I stepped up to the door. The light blared green, filling my vision, and before I could even think about what I was doing, I ordered my legs to propel me into the expanse of blue. The wind roared past my ears, drowning out all thought, and around me I could see the hundreds of other green parachutes floating slowly to the ground like deranged jellyfish.

The ground loomed ever closer, and I had to yank on the side of the chute to avoid landing on Bull. My feet lightly touched the ground, and I rolled onto my back to avoid breaking anything. Disengaging my chute, I crawled out from under the clinging green fabric, only to be landed on by Violet.

"Oof," I huffed as all of my air left me.

"Oops," Violet said innocently. "Sorry about that."

"Yeah right," I wheezed as she rolled off of me and stood up.

She threw off her chute and kicked it away before adjusting her gear and slinging her rifle over her shoulder.

"Come on, babycakes" she said, offering a hand to pull me up. "Let's go kick ass and take names."