Hello again, my dear readers! :)

For all who enjoyed Jess's story so far, I have news: my exams are coming near, so I might not update as fast as before.

But, don't worry - I won't give up on this story :) I'll just add new chapters at a bit slower pace. I'll do my best to do it regularly.

So, that's all from me. Enjoy the new chapter :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Band of Brothers. This is purely of entertainment. It is based on the HBO miniseries and no disrespect is meant towards the real men of Easy Company.

Chapter Ten: Does Anyone Hear Me?

Time was running out fast. However, the sound of gunfire didn't seem to stop.

In fact, as dawn came and painted the sky into red, it became louder than ever. When something detonated in the distance, Joe and I crouched behind a plane wreck. That was when the earth shook under our feet.

With a serious look in his eyes, Joe peered behind our cover. And then he said:

"Looks like they've come."

I lifted my head. "Who?"

"The Seaborne. The landings have begun."

That made me swallow. I had no idea what to say. Actually, I didn't even know what to think. I had never been hiding behind a plane wreck, while an invasion was happening on a beach, just a few miles behind my back. But, one thing was certain – I was scared like never before. Maybe the next step I make would be my last.

Both Joe and I jumped when Eugene patted our backs.

"We better move", he whispered, "Someone might see us."

I quickly got up and ran with them. We soon passed the smashed tail of the plane and came to the nose. Unfortunately, that part was even worse. It was turned into a heap of metal, which lay in the grass.

"Bloody hell!" I kicked a chunk of the plane, which rolled over the ground.

Joe was struggling not to snigger. I glanced at him sideways. "What?"

"Nothing." He shuffled his feet and looked at the plane. "There's no hope here, huh?"

I could only sigh and nod. "Aye. Let's get going."

Turning around, I dashed across the field. Joe and Gene kept up with me and left the crashed C-47 behind.

That was the fourth wreck that we had found. Luck hadn't smiled at us... well, not yet. All the planes we found were so damaged, that their radios were useless. In one case, the radio was particularly useless, because it had been melted – along with the half of the control board.

Slowly, but surely, the scavenging had led us out of the forest and into a vast field. Instead of avoiding low branches and fallen trees, we were now treading through short, yellowish grass.

I made a few more steps, when Eugene muttered: "We're runnin' outta time, Jess."

"Well, we can't do anything better than this!", I spat.

"I know. But..."

A series of bangs cut off the rest of his words. I instantly froze. Even though I had been just a few hours here, I could already recognize a German weapon when I heard one.

Joe glanced at both of us. "Pick up the pace! Come on!"

Speeding up, he ran in front of us. A moment later, Eugene and I went after him. But, after just a few steps, bullets zipped through the grass.

I gasped when they dug holes in the ground, just inches from my feet. All of a sudden, Joe pushed me aside, making me almost totter, and shouted:

"RUN!"

I dashed after Eugene, searching for cover. But, after some time, I glanced over my shoulder. Joe had fired at the Germans, who had appeared from the taller grass. But, they quickly hit the ground, escaping Joe's bullets.

"Liebgott, come on!", I shouted.

Swearing out loud, he sprinted after Gene and me. One by one, we jumped over a wooden fence and continued running, as gunfire echoed behind us.

My heart almost burst out of my mouth, but I couldn't stop. Especially not now. Lurching as much as possible to avoid the rounds, I went for the nearby hedge.

I would have reached it, if it wasn't for the ditch.

Unfortunately, I saw it just before I had fallen into it.

My landing was swift and hard – rock hard. I groaned when my shoulder hit the bottom of the ditch. Eugene fell down a second later, while his canteen rattled on his hip. Luckily for him, he had landed on something soft.

And that was me.

"Jesus Christ!" When I felt the medic's full weight on me, I instantly forgot about my shoulder. "Eugene, get off me!"

All of a sudden, Gene's hand fell over my mouth. And then he leaned over me. He had such a look on his face, that I instantly froze. He didn't say anything, but he slowly moved his lips, forming the words: Be quiet.

Before I could even blink, some sort of rustle came from above. That was when the voices followed. Both Joe and Eugene looked up, with faces paler than ghosts.

The Germans were standing just a few away from the ditch. I couldn't see them, but I could hear them.

Nobody dared to move. I hardly dared to breathe. We just lay on the dusty bottom, completely still – Joe on his back, with his rifle at the ready, and Gene on top of me. The silence around us became so dense, that my heartbeats seemed incredibly loud. I closed my eyes for a second and hoped that the men above wouldn't hear me.

But, then something moved. When I opened my eyes again, I saw a silhouette, standing on the sheer edge of the ditch.

Sweat begun trickling down my back. I wanted to move, but Eugene was holding me too tight. His doe eyes were begging me not to make a sound. All I could do was stay where I was, look in the sky above me – and pray like anything that we stay alive.

The tall German made a few steps along the edge. With every step he made, I clenched my fists harder and harder.

I thought that things couldn't get worse than this. But, then that man stopped. He was now standing right above Gene and me. My fingernails dug into my palms so much that they burnt in pain. Don't look down, please, don't look down...

Eugene didn't move an inch. Looking over his shoulder, I silently watched the man on the edge. He was just standing there, motionless, and gazing at something in the distance. And then, after an eternity – or maybe a couple of minutes – he moved.

He lifted his rifle, turned around and disappeared.

As his steps begun fading, Eugene and I looked at each other in disbelief.

Not making a single noise, we just listened to what was going on. Another rustle soon followed, when another bloke walked away and muttered something in German. He seemed almost disappointed. Anyway, he kept walking further and further, until his steps faded away, too.

Except for the gunfire in the distance, everything was silent. And then Eugene rolled over and lay next to me. His worried eyes soon met mine.

"You okay?", he asked under his voice.

"When we see a ditch next time, you'll jump there first."

He frowned a bit. "I can't promise ya that."

Somewhere beside us, Joe shuffled to his feet. "Jeez, that was close!" He spat out dirt and looked at us. "I ain't gonna do this no more. We're becomin' movin' targets here!"

"We can't run away now!" I turned to my side and slowly sat up. "Not until we find a radio that works, for a change."

"You mean, 'til someone takes out all three of us."

I frowned at him. "Are you always this cynical?"

Eugene gently tapped my shoulder. "Jess..."

"I ain't cynical!", Joe spat, "I just want to stay in one fuckin' piece. Is that too much to ask, you crazy bitch?"

My cheeks burnt in anger. Before Joe said anything else, I grabbed his collar and pulled him so close, that I could feel his breath on my face.

"What did you say, Liebgott?", I asked in a lowest possible voice.

"Ummm... Jess..." Gene patted me again.

Joe gave me a glare worth of a nightmare. However, I didn't even wince. I had become fed up with him.

"I said..."

"Jessica!"

"What?" Still holding Joe, I turned around.

Although Eugene's hand was still on my shoulder, he wasn't looking at me. His gaze was fixed on something on our right, while his lips were a bit parted. Wondering what it was, I turned in that direction.

That was when I saw another plane wreck.

A huge greenish C-47 was lying just a hundred meters away. Unlike the other planes we had found, this one still had its windscreen intact.

Eugene glanced at me with a small smirk. "Wanna check this one, too?"

XXX

The plane didn't look so bad in the distance. But, at close, it was a disaster.

Its tail was broken in half, while its nose was covered in ash and mud. The left wing had a few holes in it and it was almost detached from the plane.

"A plane from hell." Joe grinned as he watched the C-47. "Nice."

Lifting his rifle, he climbed through the hole, where the door had once been. As soon as I climbed after him, I looked around.

There was nobody inside, including the pilots. One of the metal benches, where the men had once sat, was now cracked in two. Dawn was trickling through the gap, filling the airplane in almost eerie red light.

Although Eugene and Joe were beside me, that sight sent shivers down my spine. This place was so silent that it scared me.

"I hope this place ain't haunted", Joe muttered under his breath.

"Shut up, please."

Swallowing a little, I went towards the cockpit. And then I spotted the radio. It was covered in a bit of dirt, but it was in one piece.

Hope soon begun flickering inside me. If that thing could work, with any luck...

I quickly knelt beside one of the seats and pushed a couple of switches. But, when I pressed one button, a dozen sparks burst out of the contraption.

"Shit!" I jumped back and hit my head on a seat. "OW!"

"Jess, be careful!" Gene shouted behind me.

Joe sat on the floor next to me. "Do ya know how to use it at all?"

I scoffed, rubbing my sore head. "I'm a pilot. That's the part of my job, remember?"

A smirk appeared on his dirty face. But, all of a sudden, his mouth fell open. He stared at me almost in shock.

"You dropped us in the wrong zone?"

I pretended that I didn't hear him. But, that was enough for him. He slapped his hand over his forehead and muttered:

"Holy shit..."

Trying to ignore him somehow, I sat in the pilot's seat. Nervously biting my lip again, I leaned forwards and slowly moved a switch to one side.

And then we waited. Gene knelt beside me, gazing at the control board. However, nothing happened. The radio was as silent as the rest of the plane. Eventually, I sighed in disappointment. I added another wreck to my mental list.

That was when the radio buzzed to life.

Eugene, Joe and I looked at it, with our eyes wide open. Some sort of hissing sound came from the radio. It was the static.

I couldn't believe what was happening. That bloody thing works!

"Come on, Jess", Gene rushed me, "Find Luz."

I nodded and tried to find the right frequency. I switched to one of them, took the earpiece and said:

"Hello? This is Prichard, Easy Company. Does anyone hear me? Over."

I waited for a few more second. But, there was no answer. I moved to the next frequency and did the same. Again, there were no results. The only sound was the constant rustle in the background. Quietly sighing, I continued working, repeating the same words over and over again:

"This is Prichard, Easy Company. George, can you hear me? Over."

Unfortunately, there was no such luck. The only things I heard was static, or worse – complete silence. I hoped from the bottom of my heart that I would get in touch with Winters and the others before they walked into an ambush.

"Maybe George is dead", Joe muttered under his breath.

"Shut it, Liebgott." I kept gazing at the radio.

"Or maybe they're all dead."

I bit my lip harder than ever. I didn't dare to believe that. I reached for the radio again, when a strange sound came from outside. It seemed almost like a short click.

"Jess, get down! GET DOWN!"

Gene suddenly grabbed me and pulled me out of the seat. We both fell on the floor of the cockpit – just when hell broke loose.

Bullets tore through the side of the plane as if it was out of paper. They whizzed through the other side, piercing huge, gaping holes. Joe swore under his breath and hit the ground. Meanwhile, Eugene leaned over me, protecting me from the debris that flew on all sides of the plane.

"Shit! They found us!"

Grabbing his rifle, Joe got up from the floor. He pushed the barrel through a broken window and returned fire. Meanwhile, Gene shouted in my ear:

"We have ta run for it!"

"No!"

I got free from his hold and tried to reach the radio again. But, Gene grabbed my other arm and pulled me away from the control board.

"Let me go!" I tried to shake him off me. "We have to warn them!"

"You're gonna get yourself killed! Now, come on!"

I shook my head. With the help of my free hand, I grabbed the pilot's seat and pulled myself closer. As soon as I reached the radio, I shouted from the top of my voice, trying to be louder than the bullets above me:

"EASY COMPANY, FOR GOODNESS SAKE, RESPOND! WINTERS? GEORGE? ANYONE?!"

I screamed when a bullet zipped past my ear. And then I heard a crack somewhere behind me. I turned around, just in time to see Joe being hit in the head by a German. He fell on the floor, dropping his weapon.

"Jess, get out, now!"

Tightening his grip, Eugene almost yanked me out of the cockpit. But, we didn't make another step, because the fire ceased. Another German soon strutted in the plane, with a gun in his hand.

I saw so scared that I felt my stomach churning. As I was looking right and left, searching for a way out of here, the radio behind me buzzed again.

But, this time, I didn't hear static.

"Jess?" A too familiar voice came out of the radio. "Jess, is that you? Over."

My heart leapt straight through the roof. Eugene turned around, with his mouth almost half-open.

"BILL!" I dashed back to the control board. As one of the Germans ran after me, I clutched the pilot's seat with my trembling hands. "Bill, listen! Change route...!"

Three loud bangs echoed through the plane, making me lurch. The German shot the radio three times, making it silent.

Completely speechless, I just stood there, staring in front of me. The radio was gone.

And so was my last chance for warning Bill.

To be continued...

In the meantime, I would really appreciate if you review ;)