A/N: Hey all. I hope you're still reading and following this...Life has been super crazy and it's only going to get busier and crazier with each passing month. I am truly sorry that my updates are so few and far between, and I really hope to be spending some time working on my stories. Just, please, stick with me. I love hearing from all of you.

With that said, thank you queenie and lipamo for your reviews. I'm happy to hear that you're enjoying the story so far.

Here's the next chapter before a random curveball. Enjoy!


The trek to our overlook seemed to take forever. It didn't help that the man leading us seemed to be getting lost. It was Nixon who finally took control of the group and got us to where we needed to be. Once we arrived to our position, we could see everything around Carentan and the neighboring fields. We sat upon the hilltop watching as Easy, Fox, and Dog Companies marched through the fields to their positions.

As I sat there, I thought I was feeling sprinkles of rain, but it was so sporadic that I chalked it up to bugs flying about in the long grass. The moment it became more frequent, I realized that we were due for a pretty nasty storm.

Nixon handed me a spare raincoat which I took without hesitation. Instead of actually wearing the coat, I used it over me and my camera and started to take photographs of the men as they marched towards the hedgerows. I managed to snag a photo with all three Companies marching. I just hoped the photo would turn out with all the rain and the darkening light from the clouds.

As I lowered the camera from my face, I watched as some men started running while others were falling to the ground. The moment we heard the gunfire up on our hilltop, we knew that the counterattack had begun.

The rain pelted us as we sat there on our hill, huddled under our raincoats. Lightning lit the sky up while the thunder roared around us. I was thankful that the wind wasn't as bad as it could have been, but it was still early enough to change. There was nothing to do but wait...and I hated waiting.

Nixon sat next to me in the wet weeds and asked over the weather, "How are you holding up?"

I shivered as I met his gaze. "I'm okay."

He asked, "Who ever thought that this was the weather we'd get?"

I chuckled but said nothing. I could tell that Nixon was trying to make me feel more at ease while we were stuck on this hill, but I felt out of place. I knew that the officers didn't want me here, just like several of the men on the line...part of me didn't care, but there was this overwhelming feeling like maybe they were right. Perhaps I bit off more than I could chew and it was impacting all of those around me.

"You're thinking awfully hard about something," Nixon pointed out.

I glanced back at him. "I was just thinking about why I'm here."

"Yeah, why are you here?" he asked.

I replied, "I wanted to show people back home what war was really like."

"You know they film the battles to show people," he started to say.

I nodded. "I also know that they only show you half of a story. I wanted to show people that there was more to it than happy soldiers sipping coffee."

Nixon laughed. "Fair enough."

I asked, "At what point am I going to be on the lines with Easy?"

He looked at me, almost stunned by my question. "I'm not sure."

"You seemed surprised that I'd ask that," I said.

He shrugged. "Not many people would be itching to get on the front lines, in the middle of the battle for a picture."

I smirked. "When you word it like that..."

"Don't rush it. Rushing gets you killed. Just be patient and be thankful you're up this high. You'll be down there with them soon enough. We don't want to find out that we killed a field photographer for...What paper did you say you worked for?" he asked.

"The Times," I answered.

"Right. If you got killed, the headlines would probably be unfavorable for us because we'd be blamed in your death," Nixon stated.

I thought about what he was saying. It made sense. They were being cautious to protect themselves...not just me. It wasn't until this conversation with Nixon that I fully understood why they were doing what they were doing, and I felt incredibly selfish for trying to get on the front lines.

Nixon asked, "Why did you decide to become a field photographer anyways? You could have become a nurse or something a little more safe."

I was reminded of Roe when he asked that question. "I've got terrible people skills to be a nurse."

Nixon laughed. "I guess that is a required skill to have when dealing with wounded."

I smiled at him, thankful that he got my joke. "Seriously though, my father was hurt in a factory and I guess I have this fear of the same thing happening to me. I'm the only one who can provide for my family now, and it seemed like the right thing to do at the time."

"And now?"

"Now...well. I'm still here," I replied with a sigh.

"Aren't we all?" Nixon asked in agreement.

The storm had lifted during the early morning hours. The smell of the wet grass was heavenly to wake up to, but when I remembered where I was, I was hit with a twinge of anxiety.

I sat up and looked over at the officers. They were looking down the hill at the lines, talking amongst themselves. They didn't seem concerned yet, so I had assumed that the battle hadn't started yet.

I saw a canteen lowered down to me. Glancing up, I met the smiling eyes of Nixon. I took his canteen from his out stretched arm. "Thanks."

He sat next to me as I took a big swig. The moment the liquid hit my tongue, I had no choice but to choke down the alcohol that was burning my throat. I coughed loudly a few times, which caused the other officers to glance over at us. With a raspy voice, I squawked, "Went down the wrong pipe."

When the officers turned back to whatever it was they were doing before my near choking experience, I asked, "How about some water?"

Nixon smirked. "Sorry. I thought that was my water." He reached into his bag and produced another canteen. After smelling and confirming that it was water, he handed it to me. "Water."

"Thanks." I took more than just a swig this time as I tried to soothe my raw throat from the Vat 69 that was in the last canteen. I handed it back to him. "What happens when you run out?"

I chose my words carefully because I didn't want him to get into trouble on account of me. He probably didn't mean to hand me his stash, but that didn't stop the accident from happening.

He replied, "I have ways."

I rolled my eyes at him. "I'm sure you do."

Nixon never had a chance to retort because the ground shook beneath us followed by the echoes of explosions from below.

All the officers, including Nixon had lowered themselves to the ground and pulled out their binoculars to watch the scene below unfold. I pulled out my camera and started to take pictures of the attack. There wasn't much to see, at least there wasn't until the tanks started to level the hedgerows our men were occupying.

It was only after a few minutes did we see an entire Company retreat.

Nixon swore under his breath. "There goes our left flank."

It didn't dawn on me until after the men were out of harms way that I had stopped taking pictures. I was too focused on the terrible fact that Easy Company was getting left behind. They weren't falling back when everyone else was. I could feel myself shaking with fear, just thinking about how they might not make it out of this one.

When one of the other officers announced, "Here comes the Armored!"

Nixon elbowed me. "Cavalry's here. You can rest easy now."

Even seeing the Armored Division swoop in to help them out, it didn't make me relax in the slightest. I watched from above as they were able to push the enemy back, but I worried what it was like for the men down in the hedgerows while the trees were being blown up all around them.

When it was all over, I sat up next to Nixon. Nixon muttered, "Here we go..."

I turned to see one of the commanding officers from the unit who retreated during the attack slowly making his approach. The moment Strayer's eyes landed on the man, you could tell that there was going to be hell to pay.

"What the hell do you think you were doing, soldier? Who gave the order to retreat?" Strayer began yelling at the man.

I looked at Nixon who just motioned for me to follow him. I asked as we were getting further from the argument, "Where are we going?"

"I figured we could head down there and lend a hand," Nixon stated as we began the trek down the hill towards the line.

As we got further from our overlook, the less we could hear Strayer yelling at the men. Once completely out of earshot, Nixon released a chuckle. "You know, you think he was taking it personally, what with being up above the battle and all - safe and out of the way."

I smiled, but didn't say anything. I didn't know him or Strayer all that well to be giving my two cents worth, even if it was all in fun. When we arrived to the hedgerow, my smirk had completely disappeared from my face. Trees were obliterated. The ground was smoking from the impact of the rounds shot out by the tanks. Men were groaning in pain, while some smoked cigarettes and packed up their things in preparation of moving onwards.

Nixon waved across the field to Winters and Speirs. My eyes fell upon Roe who was busy at work, bandaging up a fellow soldier who got caught in the crossfire. Instead of following Nixon, I headed over to Roe. He never saw my approach. "Hey."

He quickly glanced up at me, before returning to the task at hand. "Hey yourself."

"That was a hell of a battle from up there...and judging by the looks of things down here, I can't even believe that you guys stuck around," I said. It was after I spoke that I realized that I sounded like a moron. I suddenly wished I could take back my words.

Roe nodded. "Yeah. Hell of a fight. Mind giving me a hand with this?"

I bent down next to him and waited for instructions. He handed me the wrappings he was using to secure the bandage to the wounded man's leg. I started to wrap it around until I ran out. Roe removed his hand from within the wrappings and started tying it up.

"Thanks."

"Welcome..." I muttered. I felt awkward. He was so focused in what he was doing, that I probably shouldn't be taking it personally, but there was a part of me that felt like he was angry with me for being up on top of the hill. Maybe I was reading too much into this.

Roe looked over his right shoulder and shouted to two men standing about. "Hey! He's ready to go!"

The men meandered over, lifting the wounded man up, and carried him away. Roe stood up, wiping his hands on his thighs to remove what blood was lingering behind. I asked, "Are you okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Another day." He shrugged at me.

I glanced down at my feet and when I raised my head, he had walked away from me to continue checking other men. I stood there watching him leave. It was after he began working on another wounded soldier that I pulled my camera out and started taking pictures of the hedgerow and the damage the tanks had caused. I took pictures of the men after the battle, some of whom were excited to still be alive, while others were arguing over who killed more Germans.

I shifted my attention back to Roe as he treated men. I began taking numerous pictures of him as he worked. It was at this moment, I saw how much he cared for those around him. It was almost as if he felt their pain as he touched them. I had never in my life witnessed love of another human life until I watched Roe through my viewfinder.

My camera clicked, letting me know that I had used my film up and that I would need to replace the spent roll within it. I knelt down and began digging through my pack for an unused canister. I counted how many I had. There were three unused canisters left. I hoped that my boss back in New York would keep true to his word and send me more as soon as possible. I was beginning to feel that the most important parts of my mission here was coming up and I didn't want to miss anything.

The days after that battle in the hedgerow, we waited for orders on where to go. When we were told of a possible outpost within nearby forestry, a small band of soldiers were ordered to take it out while the rest of Easy Company, myself included, waited outside as reinforcements should they need it.

The forest itself was quiet. There was the occasional sound of birds singing and squirrels at play, but for a forest, there wasn't much happening in way of sounds. I whispered to Roe who sat next to me on the ground, "How long do you think we'll be waiting?"

Roe shrugged. "As long as it takes, I suspect."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Are you sure you're okay?"

He met my eyes with his dark ones. "Fine. Why do you keep asking me that?"

"Because you've been really distant lately...at least with me. Did I do something wrong?" I asked.

He shook his head, but I could tell he was afraid to tell me something. Maybe he didn't want to tell me in front of the men. I let loose a sigh and nodded, dropping the questions. This was the reason that I didn't want to assume there was anything between us. He was giving me a cold shoulder, and I didn't understand why. Sometimes, I felt like the men were more hormonal that me at times.

Roe whispered, "It's just been a rough few days."

"I get that, I do. But you have to talk to me..."

He looked at me again, so I added, "Well, you don't have to talk to me, but it'd be nice if you did talk to me."

He smiled. "Some of the men-"

"They need a medic! Roe! Go! Now!" Winters shouted at him.

Roe didn't hesitate. He jumped to his feet and took off. It happened so fast that I blinked and he was gone.

The moment the order for a medic had come to us, the men started muttering amongst themselves about who might have been the unfortunate one to get hit. They began speculating how badly it was.

The chatter ceased the moment a Private from Colonel Sink's men approached Winters and said, "You're pulling out. You're being taken off the line."

Winters glared at the kid in disbelief. He nodded and replied, "Understood." He sighed and ordered a couple of men to follow him as he headed into the woods to tell the rest of the men that they were moving out.

Had that order come a couple minutes sooner, I wondered if the wounded man that Roe was attending to now would be fine...quite possibly even alive if he were dead. I wondered how hard this would hit Roe.

We sat there in silence for the next few minutes until Winters came back with a few more men than he had left with. He ordered everyone to start heading back. I glanced over my shoulder into the woods behind us and hoped to spy Roe as we left.