"Again," Aldo shouted. Hirschberg threw an apple into the air, and then Omar threw one, followed by Zimmerman.
Josie raised her rifle and, in secession, shot the first one with accuracy, missed the second, and hit the third. Apple chunks landed somewhere between Josie and the four men in the meadow they were resting in.
Aldo sighed and shook his head, "Again, Josie." Everyone repeated the process. They had been at this for nearly two hours now. Josie had to improve her shooting skills.
She didn't like everyone else watching her from the edge of the woods. It made her nervous; but the more she shot, the less nervous she became.
She only hit two apples this time as well. She grunted with anger. "Fuck the apples!" She screamed. It was the first time she had abandoned her feminine demeanor. She heard them laughing. "Two out of three is good enough for me, Aldo! I can't hit all three!"
Aldo crossed the distance between them very quickly. Josie suddenly regretted her outburst.
When he was near enough only to be heard by her, he said, "First of all, Laroche, I am your Lieutenant."
Josie tried to look him in the eye, "Oui, sir. I'm sorry."
Aldo went on, "Secondly, two outta three ain't good enough for anyone." He turned to the men and shouted, "Utivich! Is two outta three good enough for you?"
Utivich shifted his weight, "Three out of three, or nothing, sir!"
Aldo turned back to Josie, "When it's just you and three krauts in lone alley, and you're seconds away from meetin' your maker, will shooting two out of three be good enough for you, Miss Josie?"
Josie thought back to the night she had stabbed the officer. There were three Nazis that had come into the alley after he screamed. If the Basterds had missed just one, Josie would surely be dead. Finally she sighed and met Aldo's eyes. "No, sir. Three out of three …or nothing, sir."
As Aldo turned to walk back over to the apple throwers, he shouted, "Again!"
A cozy fire was ablaze in the center of the huddled tents. Aldo had ordered Josie to keep watch tonight. Nearly every man had volunteered to keep her company, but she refused. She could handle things; hell, she had no choice.
Josie was surprised that the dancing flames weren't luring her into the arms of sleep as she watched them. How long had she been sitting here? Three hours maybe, or more. Even the smallest noises were amplified in the night.
A rustling sound came from behind Josie. At first she froze, but she pushed aside the small amount of fear that she felt. The girl whipped around, drew her pistol, and aimed in the general direction of the sound.
She heard a familiar chuckle, "Hey, it's just me." Donny was climbing out of his tent, rather noisily. He came and sat by Josie next to the fire.
"Can't get to sleep?" She asked without looking at him.
Donny's hair, tousled from his sleeping bag, hung in his face. "I could if I tried. I just thought I'd come check on you."
Josie smiled to herself, "I'm fine. I told you I didn't need any company."
Donny laughed again, "Yeah? And we've all told you that we're not used to having a… lady around. Let alone a real looker like you."
Josie was thankful for the lack of lighting as she felt her face flush. She was suddenly aware of each strand of her hair, each muscle, how her clothes hung on her frame. She untucked the strand of dark brown hair that was behind her ear; maybe it would cover her blush a little more.
Donny had been waiting for some sort of reply from the girl. When none came he nudged her with his elbow, "Hey, what's the matter? I gave you a compliment. Let's see a fucking smile of something."
Josie laughed and then exaggerated her smile when she looked up at Donny. "Happy?"
Donny rolled his eyes, but his grin was playful as always, "Oh, now you're sarcastic, too? Just swell."
Josie nudged Donny back, but ended up with her head on his shoulder. He didn't bother to move her. Donny was about to pick up the conversation again, but he could hear Aldo tossing around in his tent.
For a long time, they sat and watched the fire in a silence that lingered between awkward and comfortable. Finally Josie fell asleep with her head cradled between Donny's neck and shoulder.
He smirked to himself, his fondness of this young girl growing daily, "I guess I'll have to take over keeping watch."
Kind of brief. Sorry about that :/
