I do not own Band Of Brothers. This is based on the characters from the Mini-Series, not the real men on Easy Company.

September 1943

The next morning the 5000+ men of the 506 lined the docks, waiting to board the Samaria which would be taking us across the Atlantic to Europe.

It took the entire day for everyone to get aboard and settled, setting us back a day in our travels.

We all found out really quickly that the ship was not built to hold 5000 people, more like 1000. There was almost no space to move around.

George held on tightly to my hand as we pushed through the sea of men who were up on deck, trying to make our way over to the rail. Our lifejackets were making it even more difficult to move.

Claustrophobia was setting in and I found it extremely difficult to breathe as he pulled me along since I was below most of the men.

We finally made it to the rail, just in time to see the Statue of Liberty as we passed by it, the sun was beginning to set.

George lit up a cigarette and stayed silent beside me, leaning over the rail and placing his hand over mine on the railing.

I wondered if this would be the last time that I would ever see home, a morbid thought, but a rational one considering where we were going. I imagined that he was probably wondering the same thing.

I said a prayer as we all watched New York disappear behind us in silence. George and I stayed out there by the rail staring out at the sea until it was dark.


The Samaria was absolutely disgusting. The stench was simply awful and it was only our fourth day aboard.

It was hot, sticky and cramped below decks and not much better up on deck either. But at least up on deck there was some fresh air if you could manage to make it over to the railing. I seriously considered sleeping up there some nights.

Fresh water was severely rationed and all of us were pretty dehydrated at this point.

You couldn't even drink the water from the showers because they ran cold salt water.

We had to sleep in our clothes and some men had to share bunks since there were not enough to go around, forcing them to alternate, some sleeping in the hallways or out on the deck every other night.

Thankfully, I was one of the lucky few who was assigned my own bunk, which I felt bad about, because I would have been completely fine sharing with my brother, but nonetheless, they decided that I should get my own bunk.

I couldn't wait to get off this damn ship, there was nothing to do but wander the decks all day, staring out at the sea and waiting for the next mealtime.

George occupied himself by gambling and playing cards with Muck, Bill, Malarkey and some of the other men and I usually just sat and watched, trying to pass the time.

"Ah ya shit head" George swore as Bill gathered his $100 from the pool of bets in front of him.

They had been playing the same game over and over again for the past three hours and betting the exact same money each time. Needless to say, I was extremely bored of watching them at this point.

"I'm going to go for a walk up on deck, anyone care to join me?" I asked the table of men who were playing. All of them shook their heads at me, too focused on winning their money back.

"I'll join ya" I heard Gene say, I hadn't even noticed him sitting all alone at the table behind us.

He followed me over towards the stairs, cursing under his breath.

"Can't take another fuckin minute of this stench" he added, leading the way up the slippery steps to the deck.

I laughed at him, it wasn't like Gene to curse so he must have been pretty tired of it.

We walked in silence towards the front of the ship for a couple of minutes. I tucked my hair down in my jacket, trying to avoid the catcalls from the other companies that I had become accustomed to since boarding the ship.

"This is officially a floating hell" I said, breaking the silence.

We had finally found a clear spot to sit against the rail near the front of the ship. Most of the men stayed towards the back of the ship since sitting at the front usually involved getting sprayed with sea water, which I didn't mind at this point if it meant getting away from that stink.

Gene nodded in agreement, resting his head against the railing behind us and sighing. We sat in silence for a couple of minutes, just enjoying the fresh air.

"So what's up with you and Joe?" Gene asked out of the blue, surprising me.

"What do you mean?" I asked, feeling uncomfortable because I was being put on the spot.

"Ya know what I mean Liz" he replied, laughing. "I saw da way you two were lookin at each other the other night at dinner" he added, raising his eyebrows and looking at me.

"We're just friends, just like you and I Gene" I replied, avoiding looking at him.

"Friends ya…but not like you and I" he said.

"It's alright you don't have to tell me if ya don't want to" he added. "But I'm here if ya do want to talk."

Gene was such a genuinely sweet guy, his voice was almost therapeutic and he always made me feel comfortable and at ease when we were together. He reminded me so much of my big brother Joseph, always looking out for other people's feelings.

He also had this way of seeing right through people, there was no hiding anything from him, and right now, he was seeing right through me.

So I decided to tell him, to let it all out, all of my feelings about Joe. I had come to trust Eugene and could easily call him my best friend in the company. And I figured that my best friend should probably know something like this.

He listened attentively, nodding when appropriate and laughing at some of the stories I told him about Joe and I.

"I don't know Gene, I don't know what to do" I sighed, leaning back against the railing.

"Well I think you should tell him what you just told me" he replied.

"I can't do that" I said, shaking my head. "We're going to war not to prom" I added, smiling slightly.

"Ya can't choose when ya fall in love Elizabeth, but you can choose what you do about it" he replied.

"And I agree that war isn't the best time for something like this, but war also can take people from ya in the blink of an eye, and havin regrets will make it all the more terrible to deal with" he added, turning to look at me. "You gotta live in the moment, cause you don't know how many more you're gonna have from here on out."

He was right. I didn't know how long I had. None of us did.

"You're gonna have to tell him, sooner or later or you'll go crazy" he said softly. "And trust me, he feels the same way about you. I've seen it in his face."

"Thank you Gene" I smiled, giving his hand a squeeze as we stood up to go to dinner.

"I'm glad you know now, though I am pretty sure my brother has a good idea how I feel… I could never actually come out and tell him about it" I added.

"I'm sure George would be supportive of ya Liz, he loves ya, I'm sure he'd be fine as long as you're happy." Gene replied as we walked along the deck.

I wondered if what he said was true, did Joe really feel the same way? Or was he just a nice guy? Did he really treat me different than the other men treated me? And would my brother really be open to the idea considering what happened with James? I had a lot to consider before I made any kind of rash decision.

"So what about you, anyone special back home?" I asked Gene as we walked back.

"Yeah… there is someone" he replied, looking embarrassed.

"What's her name?" I asked.

"Vera" he replied, his face lighting up when he said her name.

"Well, she's one lucky girl Eugene" I replied, smiling at him.

He blushed and looked down at his feet.

"No, I'm the lucky one" he replied, smiling again.

I made a mental note to ask him to tell me more about Vera someday as we descended the stairs leading to the mess hall.

"And Joe's gonna be one lucky guy one day" he whispered, opening the door to the mess hall for me, smirking and gesturing me to go first.

I shook my head at him as he opened the door and we made our way over to where the slop was being served.

I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders now that I had told Gene how I felt about Joe.

But could I manage to tell Joe how I felt about him? The thought made me a bit nauseous as I imagined him laughing and rejecting me. I had always been self-conscious and the thought of putting all of my feelings out there didn't seem promising to me.

I shook the mental image I was getting and looked down at the disgusting plate of goo I had been handed, sniffing it reluctantly.

I heard my brother oinking at his plate of food from a couple of tables away, telling Lipton that it was like the slop pigs ate on our farm back home. Lipton pushed his plate further away from him and made a face.

I laughed and Gene and I made our way over to sit with them, trying not to think about what was in the slop they had given us.


"Hey girly you need a warm bunk to sleep in tonight?" a soldier reeking of Whiskey asked me, grabbing my arm as I tried to make my way through the crowded bunks back to the Easy Company men.

I had lost sight of Malarkey and Muck who had walked too far ahead of me for me to catch up to them. They were too caught up in their conversation about naked native girls and flamingos to notice that I had fallen behind.

"I'm not interested" I replied, trying to sound as polite as possible.

"That's not what he asked sweetheart" another man commented from the other side of me, blowing smoke in my face.

"You're real pretty" the original creep said, getting close enough to me to sniff my hair.

I started to panic, feeling completely helpless as I knew none of the men around me and they were all pretty drunk.

I tried my best to pull myself from the man's grasp, telling him again that I was not interested, but he held onto me.

"Hey fellas we have a problem here?" George asked, suddenly appearing behind me, on his way back from the mess hall.

"Get lost buddy, this broad is taken" the man commented, looking down at George.

"This BROAD happens to be my baby sister so back the fuck off" George said angrily, pulling me away by the hand and right out of the man's grasp.

I looked back to see the man wide-eyed and watching us leave. I really hoped he wasn't watching to see where I was sleeping.

Thank God for my brother, I thought to myself as he pulled me along through the crowd.

The catcalling from all of the other companies in the 506 made me extremely uncomfortable and several men made fairly degrading remarks as George and I made our way back to where Easy was sleeping.

"Look at that fine piece of ass" one man remarked, whistling at me as we passed.

"What's she doing with that guy?" another asked, blatantly insulting George.

We both just ignored them, knowing that most of them were probably too drunk to even realize how disgusting and rude they were being.

We finally made it back to the area that all of the Easy Company men were staying and I felt instantly at ease amongst my men, letting out the breath I had been holding in.

"Fucking Idiots" George muttered to himself, lighting a cigarette as I hopped up on my bed.

"You okay Lizzie?" he asked, leaning against my bunk.

"Yeah I'm good, I just… it just reminded me of the way James…" I said, my voice shaking.

"Its okay" George replied. "They won't dare venture down this way, not with wild Bill Guarnere down here" he added, smirking.

"My bunk is way up there but I'll keep an eye out too" he added, giving me a kiss on the head.

"Love you" I whispered to him, still feeling nervous even though I knew it was irrational.

"Love you too kiddo, get some sleep" he replied, reluctantly walking over to sit with Muck and Joe.

I sat on my bunk, opening my medical manual and trying to get my mind off of the feeling of the man's grip on my arm. I rubbed my arm where his hand had been.

"Heard someone needs a body guard" Joe laughed, startling me and climbing up to the bunk I was sitting on. I was second up from the bottom.

George had clearly told him what happened.

"Yeah, some of these guys are kind of feisty" I replied, shooting him a small smile. "I don't really feel comfortable sleeping with all of them around, I mean what if… if one of them tries something?" I added.

"They wouldn't fucking dare" he replied, shaking his head.

"I'll just stay up and watch just in case" I said, yawning and propping myself up on my cot.

He shot me a sympathetic look, lighting up a cigarette. "You just look so tired Liz"

"Mmmpph I'm alright" I mumbled, trying to keep my eyes open.

"Will ya just lay down and go to sleep?" Joe laughed, patting the cot. "I'll be right here, I promise I won't let anyone near ya Liz" he added.

"I'll sit here for now and wake ya up when I'm leaving" he said, placing his hand on my leg.

I trusted him and knew that he wouldn't let anybody touch me. In fact, I knew that none of the men on the bunks around me would let anyone from any of the other companies come even relatively close to me, but something about Joe sitting on my cot made me feel safer than before and I allowed myself to slip into a deep sleep, his hand still resting on my leg.


I felt the cot shift from beneath me, like someone had jumped off of it.

My eyes snapped open and I noticed that Joe was no longer with me on my bunk.

"I'M A JEW" I heard Joe exclaim from below me, sounding really pissed off.

I sat up to see him in Bill's face, Bill clearly posturing as well.

"Congratulations… Now get your nose out of my face" Bill replied, pushing Joe backwards.

Joe regained his balance, lunging at Bill and punching him in the face.

Bill threw the second punch and they began fist fighting in the narrow aisle between the bunks. Great. How mature.

I hopped down of my bunk, pushing through the growing crowd of men to where Toye and Muck were trying to pull Joe and Bill apart.

"LIZ NO!" I heard George shout from a bunk high above us, not wanting me to put myself in danger.

I ignored him, pushing some of the men aside and trying to get at Joe.

"JOE!" I yelled, grabbing the sleeve of his jacket and pulling him towards me. "STOP IT!"

He spun around to face me. Toye had managed to finally hold Bill back and sit him down on his bunk.

Joe still looked mad, really mad, and his face was swollen from Bill's punches, blood trickling out of the split in his lip.

His face softened when he realized that it was me and I loosened my grip on his sleeves. seeing him calm down.

"Come here Joe, I'll get you cleaned up" I said, pulling him over to an empty bunk far away from where Bill and the others were.

I grabbed my satchel from my previous bunk on the way over and sat him down on the cot, pulling some supplies out.

"I'm real sorry Liz" Joe said quietly, seeing the look of discontent on my face as I was rifling through my satchel.

"He just made a rude comment about Jews and it just really gets to me, ya know?" he continued, trying to explain himself. "He was being a racist prick and I…"

"Joe, it's alright, you don't have to explain yourself to me" I cut him off, smiling at him. "I just don't like seeing you like this" I added, gesturing to his swollen face.

"Ah it's nothing" he replied "I've had a lot worse than this done to me trust me" he added, cringing as I touched a swollen part of his face with my fingers.

"This is going to bruise pretty badly" I said, turning his head with my hands to make sure that he didn't have any neck injuries.

I moved back to his face to inspect his split lip which was bleeding pretty badly, I dug through my bag, finding my cotton balls and an iodine swab. I was in full-blown nurse mode at this point.

I pressed the cotton ball to his lip, dabbing the blood and trying to be as gentle as possible.

I looked up to see Joe staring right at me as I was cleaning his lip. Tilting his head slightly to the left and studying me.

I finished up and started packing my things back into my satchel, turning red from the way he was gazing at me.

I felt Joe shift beside me, moving closer before reaching out and tucking a piece of my long hair behind my ear.

"Thanks Liz" he said. "Feels a lot better now."

"Glad I could help" I replied, my face flushing as I glanced up at him and smiled.

"Tell ya what, you take this bunk here and I'll take the one across from you" he said. "That way I can keep an eye out for ya still" he added.

"Thank you Joe" I replied, smiling at him. "Try not to roll over on your face during the night" I added, smiling to myself.

"Will do" he laughed, plopping down on the bunk across from mine and poking at one of the tender spots on his face.

I pulled back the army blanket from my bunk and got under, trying to get as comfortable as possible in the smoke filled, humid room.

"Night Liz" I heard Joe say across from me, shifting in his bunk.

"Goodnight Joe" I replied turning over to look at him, he was laying on his side watching me.

"What are you doing Liebgott? I told you not to roll on your face" I laughed. "Disobeying your nurse's orders won't get you too far." I added, trying to look serious.

"Just admiring the view Luz" he replied, making me blush again as he rolled over onto his back.