Chapter 10

Normandy, France

6thJune 1944

Ouch. That is all I thought as I woke up, feeling sore and groggy. I blinked quickly, trying to focus my eyes to what is happening around me. I supress a moan of pain as I suddenly remember that I am in enemy territory. My vision soon focuses' as I attempt to move, pushing the heavy weight of what appears to be someone's leg bag off my head. I got knocked out by someone's stupid leg bag.

I take a slow, quick peek just over the long grass that is concealing me. I can't see anything and it's hard to hear anything as the last of the planes fly over noisily. I can't have been out very long then. I quickly pat down my body, feeling for my equipment that is thankfully still there except for my leg bag, that probably knocked some other poor guy out like a domino effect.

I slowly start to advance through the long grass towards a line of trees that look like a path to a road or at least a footpath. I need to get my bearings I thought to myself as I tried to make out a landmark or sign. I quietly walked past a paratrooper's body who looked to have been dead before he even hit the ground, with scores of blood soaking up his khaki uniform. I hadn't walked far before hearing noises coming up ahead. I crouched behind a tree as I attempted to distinguish whether the noise is coming from a friend or foe. The noise edges closer to my position and I recognise it to be talking, loud talking. Germans. No American could possibly be that stupid when in enemy territory.

I wait until they get close enough, so that they are almost on top of me before I plunge my knife into the first soldiers throat, I then proceed to slash the second soldiers throat and take the third hostage with him in front of me. The final soldier lets loose a spray of fire from his MP40, hitting his buddy that I've taken hostage, the gun fire did not last long as his gun soon jams. I drop the now dead soldier to the ground before pulling my Tokarev out and aiming at the final soldier who is desperately trying to get his gun to work, I coldly look him in the eye before pulling the trigger.

I quickly set off in the opposite direction the Germans came from, not in the mood to run into any more patrols. The slowly drying blood that now stains my uniform has attracted the flies that annoy me instantly. I continue on foot through the humid French countryside, It was a beautiful place excluding the bodies and fallen C-47 aircraft's that littered the fields. Every time I saw a dead body, I had to see that it was not someone from my company, that it was not Dick or Nixon or Speirs or least of all… Joe.

Joe P.O.V

My landing was crazy. I ended up landing with a small group of guys from my company including Buck. We instantly were engaged in a fire fight with an anti-aircraft crew before killing them all and moving on, towards our rally point. We got there at sun up and were sorely disappointed at what we found. There was no one else there from Easy. We quickly reported to the officer in charge, and found that a good 98% of the company were unaccounted for and my heart clenched at the guys and Ana that hadn't arrived. Buck quickly tried to reassure us that the rest of the guys and Ana are fine and they just need more time to get here since we were dropped all over the god damn place by our inexperienced pilots. We were resting against a stone wall, while watching and waiting for our guys to show. Slowly more soldiers started to trickle in, none from ours yet. However we were soon reunited by a group led by Winters. Buck seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as his friend and superior started to take charge, relieving Buck of the duty. In Winters group was Bill, Popeye, Toye, Lipton and a few other faces that were not too familiar to me. I quickly greet the guys with smiles, just happy to see more familiar faces and I gathered hope inside that Ana and the rest of the guys will be okay.

"Anyone seen Ana?" I immediately asked the group, even though I knew the answer. The boys shook their heads and shared concerned looks.

"Naa, She'll be fine though, toughest broad I've ever known." Bill replied in a gruff voice before storming off. I frowned at Bill's retreating back in confusion, wondering why he appeared to be so angry.

"What took a bite out of his ass?" I asked snarkily as Bill disappeared among a large group of soldiers. More and more were trickling in.

"Found out his brother got it in Monte-Cassino, right before we jumped." Toye replied while lighting the smoke between his teeth. I looked back at Bill in sympathy before a heavy hand fell on my shoulder, I slowly turned round to find familiar emerald eyes staring back.

"Liebgott." Spiers greeted gruffly, while puffing away on a cigarette.

"Lieutenant Spiers." I greeted back with a nod of respect. The rest of my buddies immediately left with a greeting to him which he acknowledged with a nod.

"Have you seen Ana?" Speirs asked while looking around, appearing to look unfazed by everything going on around him. Men were being brought in on stretchers while crying out in pain and yet Speirs looked like he always did, serious and collected.

"No, she isn't here yet, Lieutenant Winters and Buck are over there though." I replied, trying to keep the worry out of my voice and face. Spiers nodded thoughtfully and his face tightened fractionally before storming off towards where I pointed Winters and Buck to be. I soon joined the rest of the guys by a waist height stone wall as I watched Spiers approach Winters and Buck before storming down the road from where the entrance of the camp was.

"What was that about?" Toye asked curiously, in a low voice so only I could hear, he watched Spiers as closely as I was.

"He's looking for Ana." I replied shortly as he disappeared from my sight and I slowly lowered my eyes to the ground as I fumbled around for another cigarette. Not five minutes later did Malarkey run over to sit with us. Malarkey was pale and shaky as he fumbled to get his water canteen to his lips. We all looked over at him in bewilderment, as we have never seen him in shock before.

"What's up with you?" I asked sceptically as he continued to fumble with his canteen while following Spiers with cautious eyes as he walked past our group.

"He killed them all." Malarkey mumbled in shock. I shared a look with Toye before prodding Malarkey.

"Killed who?" I asked, needing more clarification.

"The German prisoners up the road, he just… Swung up his Thompson and…" Malarkey replied in a daze, as if he was dreaming.

"Jesus Christ." Toye said before leaning back to rest against the wall, assessing Speirs with his eyes. I looked at Speirs, who had his back to us and was talking to another officer from his company, calm as could be. It probably made him feel better about Ana missing. How I wish that I could go out and kill some Krauts just because the thought of them hurting Ana in any way was too much to bear.

"They are saying that Meehan's plane went down." Popeye said in greeting when he joined the rest of the men, who were laying down.

"Who's saying that?" I asked absentmindedly as I fiddled with a loose bit of cotton on my jacket.

"The officers, if it's true then Winters is our new commanding officer," Popeye replied while situating himself down on the grass with the rest of us.

"Ana was on Meehan's plane." Popeye added quietly while staring off into the distance. I paled at hearing that. I didn't know what plane Ana was on, things were chaos leading up to the jump and I never got the chance to see who's stick she was with.

"Are you sure?" I asked sharply while looking to see if Popeye was in any way teasing. But his face remained serious as he nodded reluctantly.

"She'll be fine," Bill said, breaking the 2-minute silence around us as we thought of Ana going down with the plane.

"She's a tough broad, the toughest one I know besides my ma." Bill continued, trying to reassure us but not doing a good enough job to convince us as his face remained stormy, it's been that way since we got to France.

"Easy company, over to the barn." Winter's suddenly ordered, breaking us all out of our thoughts of our lost comrades. We all stood up and made our way to the barn, ready to receive our next orders.

Ana P.O.V

For the twelfth time today, I wacked a mosquito off my neck- where they were attracted by my sweat and dried blood. I trudged myself through the French countryside in the humid heat that I dislike so much. I'm more of a Winter person, enjoying the cold weather to hunt. Since I left the Germans dead bodies, I have been desperately trying to avoid any more German patrols and slowly make my way to our rallying point, I think of the men who are already there and may need my help. It's slow going, trying to avoid enemy soldiers while also trying to keep heading in the right direction- dodging the flooded fields that the Germans ruined to confuse our sense of direction as I go. The guns that echoed from Utah beach, to signal the invasion by sea, was hours ago. I'm hoping to be at our rallying point by night but it's difficult to navigate in the darkness even though it is easier to move than when it is light out.

I finally reach our rally point just after darkness covered the land. I'm soon pointed to the aid station as my appearance of being covered in blood would scare even the most battle-hardened soldier but I shrug them off and continue to ask about the whereabouts of Easy company. I'm soon directed to a troop truck with light and smoke coming from the roof that conveniently has a hole cut out from. I smirk at the boy's resourcefulness and quickly duck under the tarp, scaring the living daylights out of them.

"Evening." I greeted as I smell the most repulsive odour coming from within the truck.

"Jesus Malarkey is that you again?" I asked while pulling a disgusted face as I glared at the common culprit.

"Sure is doll, It's good to see ya Ana." Toye was the first to greet me, breaking out of his shock quicker than the rest of the men, who continued to gape at me as if I was an alien.

"Ana, Jesus Christ! What happened to you?" Bill said from opposite my seat, staring at the blood in horror.

"Dropped in Normandy, just like the rest of you, the bloods' not mine." I said with a smirk as I stole the canteen out of Bill's hand and took a gulp of what I could only describe as heaven, having run out of my ration packs hours ago and now I was a seriously hungry girl.

"You gave us a scare, we thought your plane went down." Buck said while looking at my face with those pale blue eyes of his, trying to figure out what happened.

"It did go down, I got out, the rest didn't." I replied, displaying no emotion in my voice as I experienced a flashback to when I watched the plane burst into flames. The boys looked at me in astonishment and sadness as they realised they lost a lot of great men to a lucky hit by flak.

"Well I better check in with Winters, know where he is?" I asked while semi standing up in the truck, signalling the end of my visit.

"Down there, a little way probably." Lipton helpfully answered while finishing off his dinner. I nodded my thanks and handed Bill back his canteen- now half empty.

"Nice of you to grace us with your presence princess." Bill said in parting as I jumped down from the tailgate of the truck.

"Well you know me Bill; have to leave you guys hanging a little." I replied with a wink before covering the tailgate up, blocking the light from escaping the truck. I listened as the boys laughed; I smiled as I walked away- happy that they survived today and I could only hope that they survive the next day too.

I walked down past some unused army trucks as I followed Lipton's helpful directions as to Winters whereabouts. I soon found him leaning against a parked jeep, looking out to a town not so far away in the distance. It was being bombed and the sky was lit up in red and orange as the town burned.

"Rough day?" I inquired quietly as I made my presence known. Winters didn't even blink as he turned his body to face mine.

"I lost a man under my command today." Winters said in a daze like voice. I nodded sympathetically and chose to let him carry on but he stopped talking. I hid my fear as I thought of Joe, who I have yet to see alive and well.

"Dick, as cold as it sounds, you are going to lose a lot more men under your command." I replied while thinking about the men lost on my plane.

"You're right, does it get any easier?" Dick asked, looking at me for guidance and advice, knowing that I am the only one who can give it to him. I shook my head in denial.

"No, but you learn to live with it. You will always have a dull ache in your chest for the ones that you couldn't save but you will learn to live with it." I said while looking at Winter's with a weak smile as I remember the souls lost in Stalingrad and Moscow. Dick nodded in understanding while looking out again to the burning town.

"You are supposed to be dead." Winter's said, while not looking at me. Dick has seemed to have broken out of his mourning mood and finally has been brought back to the present. I let a small smile reach my face.

"Mmm that is the general consensus, isn't it?" I teased with a smirk, pleased with my sudden resurrection that shocked everyone.

"Meehan?" Dick asked questioningly. I shook my head and sighed in reluctance as I realise that I'm going be telling this story for a long time to come.

"There will be no more boys from my plane showing up." I explained in a quiet voice, trying not to wake the dead. Dick nodded in understanding.

"It's good to see you Ana." Dick said with the first smile I've seen today. He soon walked away, leaving me to my thoughts.

"It's good to see you too." I said quietly, doubting that Dick even heard me. I simply stood there for a few minutes, looking over to the burning town in deep thought.

It wasn't till the next day, that I found Joe. I found the boys in the same truck, cooking themselves some breakfast- eggs and bacon by the look and smell of it. Probably stolen from one of the houses nearby.

"Hey! Look who came to join us." Bill announced loudly while helping to pull me into the back of the truck and I instantly met the familiar brown eyes that I knew too well. They widened in shock and then relief. I frowned as I thought back to when everyone thought I was dead, even Joe apparently.

"Ana, when did you get here?" Joe greeted, trying to hide his affection and need to reach out and touch me.

"Late last night." I replied while filling my canteen up with eggs and small pieces of bacon. Mouth-watering at the best breakfast we've had in a long time.

"Yeah, scared us to death, turned up covered in blood and started stealing our food." Malarkey cheekily exclaimed around a mouthful of egg. I stuck my tongue out at him, childishly while the others chuckled at our banter.

"Yeah, we were thinking about giving you a nickname: The unkillable Captain." Bill said extravagantly while starting to munch on his own food. I glared at the guys, not liking the nickname at all.

"No." I said instantly, shutting down their dreams.

"Why? Your brother has Sparky! Unless you want us to call you Sparkette?" Bill moaned at my crushing of his dreams.

"Sparky?" I questioned, it was the first time I ever heard Ron with a nickname.

"Yeah, because he's ya know…" Malarkey tried to explain while forgetting his words at my raised eyebrow, only just realising who he is talking to.

"He's a real ray of sunshine that's what he is; you hear what he did to a group of German prisoners?" Bill asked, unafraid of talking to me about my brother unlike Malarkey.

"No, what?" I asked, trying not to show how concerned I was.

"Massacred them, apparently he just swung up his Thompson and let loose." Bill said in awe and intimidation. I immediately schooled my features, not betraying how scared I was. My worst fear was coming true, Ron loosing himself to war. I caught Joe's eye briefly, looking concerned at my reaction. Joe was the only one who knew my fears of Ron changing after seeing war.

"No, he didn't. And don't tell anyone else that he did." I harshly replied, locking cold eyes with everyone in the truck.

"Ana…" Bill started to say gently but I wasn't listening, I needed to protect my brother and the only way I knew how was to intimidate everyone that knew.

"You saw and heard nothing about a massacre of German soldiers, do you understand me?" I clarified while looking them all in the eye, with frightening coldness. A chorus of 'Yes Captain' passed around before I jumped out the back of the tailgate and stormed off, looking for my complete idiot of a brother.

"Fuck, she's scary sometimes; I think I wet my pants." I heard Malarkey say before I got out of hearing range of the truck.

I found a few soldiers in Dog Company, loitering outside the aid station and demanded them to tell me where their Lieutenant is, still reeling from what my brother had done. They soon pointed him out to me across the yard and I stomped over as quickly as I could; wanting answers that only he could give me. I surprised him when I slid up beside him as he enjoyed a puff of the cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth.

"Surprised to see me?" I asked neutrally as I watched the score of men walk past, refusing to look at him- knowing my anger may get the best of me if I did.

"Yes, I heard you were dead." Ron said casually while only I could pick up the slight break in his voice when he said the word 'dead'.

"Lucky escape, I heard that you have not been behaving." I replied quickly, while making sure that no-one was paying any special attention to our conversation.

"Depends on what you have heard." Ron said, playing a game that was slowly losing my patience.

"Stop messing with me," I said, looking Ron in the eye for the first time since before D-Day. My eyes surely showing my anger and displeasure.

"I've heard rumours of you massacring a group of German prisoners." I spat out in a whisper, trying to keep this conversation as quiet as possible.

"Just Rumours." Ron brushed off coolly. My anger flared at his disregard at what he had done. I wasn't bothered about the lives of the now deceased German soldiers, I was more worried about this being heard by Sink with horrible consequences.

"And what if the wrong person heard these 'Rumours'" I said with a bite in my voice.

"They won't, don't worry about it." Ron said firmly.

"Lucky for you, I quashed them in my company instantly. There will not be a next time, will there Ronald?" I asked, in a more demanding tone than an actual question. Using Ron's full name always pisses him off.

"No." He simply said through clenched teeth, as if it pained him not to start an argument with me right here and now. And knowing him, it probably did pain him a lot.

"Good, do not keep anything from me, secrets are not becoming of you." I said with a twist of my heel as I began to walk away.

"Secrets are not becoming of you too, little sister- nice radio you had in your room by the way." Ron said, getting the last word in. I paused in my steps for a moment in terror before quickly continuing on my way, searching for a spot to recollect my thoughts. He could not know, could he? He can't know. I shook my head as I marched away, too far in my own thoughts to see the boys staring at me as I walked past them- not even sparing them a glance.

We soon moved out to a different town. More and more men were joining us, except for George, Talbert, Shifty and Smokey- who remained missing. It is now D-Day +7 and we have yet to take our main objective, Carentan, because of the lack of strength in men and the regroup of the whole division.

We were now lounging in the sun of a square in one of the last villages before Carentan. The fact that we are still missing a few key members worried us all- although we all chose not to show it.

Joe and I have not had a single private moment since we found each other. The boys are always crowding us; I am in many meetings with Sink and the other officers of the 506th- we have encountered stronger German resistance than first anticipated.

"Hey look who's decided to turn up!" I heard shouted over the crowd of Easy company that loitered around the quiet French village that we took a day ago with little resistance from the Germans. In my mind that could only mean that they were building up a strong force somewhere further to stop our advance, most likely Carentan- a strategic town that's important to both sides. I sat up at the shout and decided to get up and investigate who has turned up- hoping it's my missing friends.

I pushed through the crowd of heavily supplied paratroopers to the middle and immediately grinned at the familiar smirk that greeted me.

"Mrs Luz!" George exclaimed, his face was still darkened from the camo paint we put on a few days ago but was now accompanied with dirt from the woodland. I laughed and put my hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze to show my happiness at seeing him. A downfall of being an officer- not being able to hug him like any other enlisted can.

"It's good to see you doll." George replied, understanding the gesture and appreciating it all the same. I looked beyond him to see Talbert, Shifty, Smokey and a blonde man that looked familiar but I couldn't recall his name- they were all being greeted as well.

"It's good to see you too, George." I replied softly, trying to convey how happy I was without saying it. I've always had trouble with conveying my actual emotions.

George and I joined the rest of the men and I greeted the newcomers with smiles and 'good to see you'

"I knew you guys would make it, I helped train you, didn't I?" I said after being reassured that they were all ok.

"Yes, you did, Captain- and you did a good job of it!" Talbert replied with a pleased smile and a cheeky wink. I laughed and watched as the men suddenly started getting on to the topic of what loot they have collected. I soon found out later that the small group dropped straight into a firefight and joined up with some guys from the 501st to fight their way back to us- that made me even prouder. Their loyalty to the company and their skill truly made me blessed to serve with them.

"Let's go! First platoon," I heard Welsh shout over the crowded courtyard of soldiers. He then took a swig from his canteen that was clearly not water as he winced. I suppressed a sigh in exasperation as I walked up to him with a questioning eyebrow raised.

"Easy's moving out! On your feet!" He ignored me and continued to get the men moving towards our position.

"Listen up! It'll be dark soon, I want light and noise discipline from here on! No talking, no smoking and no playing grab fanny with the man in front on you Luz!" Welsh demanded as the men were still putting their heavy gear on. I looked at them all Cooley- hoping they will realise the importance of what Harry is saying.

"Or Woman." Harry added with an amused smirk. The men grinned up at me, George especially with a mischievous smirk. Now that we are going to be entering enemy territory I will not be lenient on any of them that still believed war was a game.

"We are going to be advancing through enemy territory and if anyone even thinks to pull a prank on anyone and compromises our position- will be going home in a body bag!" I sternly advised while locking my emerald eyes that had grown cold onto anyone that looked up at me. The soldiers immediately straightened up while wiping the grins off their faces. No more mucking around kids, this is it.

"Where are we headed?" A blonde soldier I didn't know the name of asked.

"We're taking Carentan." Welsh replied with a serious look that made me appreciate how much of a good platoon leader he is.

"That sounds like fun." The soldier replied sarcastically. I narrowed my eyes at his attitude.

"It's the only place that armour from Omaha and Utah beach can link up and head inland, until we take Carentan they're stuck on the sand," I explained before Welsh could. Carentan was an important town to both sides and if we wanted to advance more inland- we needed it.

"General Taylor's sending the whole Division." I added, trying to be reassuring.

George scoffed and smirked "Remember boys, give me 3 days and 3 nights and a lot of fighting and you will be relieved." He said in an accurate voice of General Taylor. The boys smiled at the company clown- even Harry had a smirk on his face.

"Lieutenant, Lieutenant I'll take point." Hoobler volunteered while walking to the front of the company. I smiled, knowing he was still on the hunt for a luger. I clapped him on the back as he reached Harry and me.

"Corporal Hoobler will be lead scout, Blithe glad you could join us." Welsh said, noticing that he was addressing the blonde man that accompanied Talbert's group earlier today. I nodded in greeting to him.

"First platoon, fall in behind Fox company, you people from Second and Third platoon follow us, shake a leg." Welsh commanded as they began to move out.

"And remember just because you are not at the front of the advance means you can slack off- stay alert." I drilled into them before walking up to the front with Hoobler, walking side by side with him. Hoobler shot a strange look at me but didn't comment. We continued like that for a few hours- occasionally losing Fox company which was starting to annoy me. Welsh tried to persuade me to drop back from the front but I dismissed him- I was back in my natural habitat, it was like I never stopped. War was a part of me now and I don't think the automatic movements would ever be forgotten from memory as long as I live.

We had to stop for the third time when Fox company was lost again and Hoobler and Blithe were sent by Harry to reconnect with the company. I was chewing a sweet as Dick and Nixon made their way up from the middle of the formation.

"Why have we stopped?" Dick demanded, anxious energy built up over the last few days of advancement. A lot of the men had it, it was the anticipation of what was to come- a natural human response. I used to get it when I was an inexperienced soldier- it goes away in time. I learned to mentally forget about what is to come and to focus on the present- a much more efficient way of dealing with nerves.

"We lost F Company." I replied calmly while watching the darkness in suspicion.

"This is about officers crapping out on their training," Dick said while looking at his watch again. "Come on, let's get this show on the road." Dick continued unhappily.

"It's fine, we'll get there," Trying to calm the nerves of the officers- even Welsh was feeling the anxiousness in the air. "I'm going to take a man and scout ahead- see what opposition we are looking at in the town." I announced while looking around the darkness.

"Do you think that's wise?" Dick asked, concerned.

"This is what I do Dick, we'll be fine." I reassured him with a smile. Nixon and Welsh didn't say anything but smirked at Dick's mother worrying.

"Ok but be careful." Dick relented with a sigh- the worry lines still visible in the near darkness. I nodded in acknowledgement before I moved down the line to where the soldier I had in mind was.

"Bill," I nodded at him to follow me a little way away from Toye and Luz. "I need you to accompany me to scout Carentan." I explained once we couldn't be overheard by the rest. Bill nodded automatically and made to move before my hand on his arm stopped him.

"Before we go, I need to know that you can do this without putting your need for vengeance first but the company." I demanded while staring him down.

"Are you questioning my loyalty?" Bill angrily replied. I shook my head automatically.

"No, I'm just saying that I know what it's like to lose a loved one to the Germans and I know how the feeling can feel overwhelming but I need you to regain control and do this with the best interests of Easy in mind and not your brother's justice." I explained, calming Bill down instantly. He nodded in understanding.

"Ok, I can do that." He replied after a minute. I nodded satisfied and walked back towards Dick, Nix and Welsh.

"Why'd you pick me to accompany you?" Bill asked quietly on the walk back to the front.

"Because I know every single soldier- I taught you remember? You are light on your feet and good at hand to hand combat encase we encounter trouble." I replied instantly before we reached the officers.

"I'm taking Sergeant Guarnere with me. No rifles, no packs full of extra weight we won't need encase we need to get away fast." I explained in greeting as I handed them my stuff.

"No Rifles?" Nix asked sceptically.

"We are not going to start a firefight, if we encounter trouble we'll use our knife or pistols- it's easier to manoeuvre without the rifles, trust me," I explained, experience seeping through my voice. "That ok with you, Sergeant?" I asked Bill in my authoritative voice.

"Yes Ma'am." He answered immediately while shedding his extra weight and handing it to a nearby Perconte to carry.

"Ok, no more talking- hand gestures only." I commanded and gave a parting smile to the 3 officers watching. Bill nodded in understanding.

"Be careful Ana." Dick implored before I nodded and walked ahead into the darkness, Bill on my heels.

Okay Chapter 10! Sorry for the long wait, my inspiration was lost for a while but I am hopefully going to get back into the swing of things and on dishing out more chapters soon! Hope you enjoy this one!