"It's wizard".
"Kid, that phrase is driving me mad-"
"Joe, it glows in the dark!"
"You're getting excited about tape, Nelly". Jackson set her a stiff smile. "But it is pretty cool".
Toye looked his squad, "you've got everything?"
"Aye – just need to put on our chutes". Noelle informed him.
It was very strange. They were all in the hangers, gathering their chutes and preparing to walk out towards their planes. The emotions were extremely mixed. Nerves, excited, adrenaline, those were the common emotions each guy felt. Guarnere was still fuming, he just wanted to get in their and start knocking down as many Krauts as he could.
There were twenty guys to each stick.
Noelle's plane was number 70 and their pilot was Donald LePard.
Once their chutes were on, they all synchronised their watches and soon were boarded onto trucks, taking them towards their planes. This was when a bundle of nerves started to set in for Noelle. She took in a deep breath, trying to focus on the objectives they had to complete when they landed.
If you land.
She could have hit herself.
That was no way to think, not when they were about to board a plane!
Once at the plane, Winters went around everyone, making sure they had all the equipment they needed. When they were checked-off, given a rough schedule for take-off and when they were set to jump, soon came the hard part – getting onto the plane. It took four guys to get the mortars on-board. Noelle only need two, one at the back pushing her up and another at the opening, pulling her on-board. And sitting down, though slightly tight, was a relief.
Roe then came around, handing out two anti-sickness tablets each.
One to be taken now, the next in half an hour.
Noelle didn't question it, she took it.
Jackson pulled a face, "we do this all the time".
"Just take it". She whispered to him.
"Bottoms-up".
Twenty minutes of sitting around and waiting, Noelle started to feel funny.
She yawned softly into her hands.
God, she was tired.
Noelle managed to grab a quick nap during the day, no one slept well the night before.
But this was like she was in the process of being knocked-out.
"Jesus – I feel loopy". Jackson mumbled, eyes half-closed.
"Same". Noelle said back to him. "What time is it?"
"Nelly, I can't open my eyes to see".
Sighing softly, she rolled up her sleeve. "Oh, 'a think it's like eleven? Is that hand eleven". She then nudged Grant's side, "is that hand at eleven?"
Blinking a few times, he looked down at her watch. "Just reaching eleven, Nelly".
"'A was close". Noelle mumbled, rolling her sleeve back down. "'A reckon that was close".
Jackson huffed out the tiniest of chuckles, "yeah".
She rubbed her eyes, letting out another yawn. "What's the song?"
"Hm?" He barely made a noise of acknowledgement.
Noelle clicked her fingers, "'ye know…that song".
"There's a lot of songs". Grant said, eyes closing. "You have to narrow it down".
"That one Joe sings".
Jackson huffed, "oh, yeah". He said, "I'll be seeing you".
"Don't get him started". Malarkey mumbled, from next to Jackson. "We'll be hearing it for the duration of this journey".
Noelle placed her head on Jackson's arm, "'a wouldn't even be mad or that". She said, "'a wouldn't even say shut it. 'A'd be well chuffed 'te hear it".
There was a moment of silence.
"Who sings it though?"
"Billie Holiday". Malarkey replied.
Noelle smiled, eyes closing.
"She's an angel".
…
Her eyes opened and they were in the air.
Noelle, like others, had missed the take-off.
Rubbing her eyes, she pulled herself off from Jackson's arm. The plane jolted, just a little, while they passed through a tiny bit of turbulence. Nothing they weren't used to, anyway. The opening was wide open, a cool breeze entered the plane, while some men smoked. Others had one cigarette in their hands, keeping it until they were ten minutes away from their jump. She noticed a few guys praying, others were staring out, looking at nothing in particular. Noelle looked up, Grant was still asleep, Jackson was smoking. Smiling a little, she nudged his arm.
Jackson looked down at her, giving her a tight smile back.
It was strange, Noelle was more nervous before they boarded the plane. She didn't feel nervous at all, not for the moment, because it felt like a normal training jump.
"Have you seen outside?!" Jackson asked, yelling over the loud engines.
Noelle shook her head.
"Get on your knees, turn and look out the window!"
Her small frame came in handy, while she quickly sat on her knees and turned her back to the row of ten guys across from her, to look out of the window. She could see thousands of ships below, sailing across the English Channel. They were heading towards Utah and Omaha beach. It was amazing, you already knew how big this invasion was going to be but seeing all those ships, that just made Noelle realise this wasn't a training jump – God, they were heading off to war.
Noelle turned back around and sat normally again.
Jackson leaned down towards her, "well?!"
"Crazy!"
"Yup – pretty 'wizard', huh?!"
Noelle's lips twitched.
Jackson was proud of that one.
Malarkey leaned forwards, wanting to check-up on her.
Their eyes met, she gave him the thumbs up.
Smiling a little, he gave her the same gesture back.
Noelle leaned back against the side of the plane, double-checking she was all harnessed up and safe. Winters had checked everyone, he even made sure they were comfortable and gave some guys pep-talks on how safe they were. Noelle trusted him but honestly, she didn't really want to jump out of this plane with no parachute. Granted, she had her reserve chute, but Noelle really didn't like the thought of her panicking in the air, trying to pull out her reserve.
There was a hand on her arm, she looked up.
"Okay?!"
Noelle nodded, "yes, sir!"
Winters gave her a tiny smile, "it's all safe, trooper!"
"I know, sir!" She replied, "'a was being stupid!"
He could have chuckled, "no, Nelly! You were being careful!"
Noelle smiled, "thanks, sir!"
Nodding, he released her arm and got back up.
They were lucky to have Winters, who could spot a nervous trooper from a mile off.
Seeing those ships, it did put her on edge.
But Winters made her feel better. And Jackson, who handed her a stick of gum.
They headed east across France's Cherbourg Peninsula and straight for Sainte-Marie-Eglise.
And then, all hell broke loose.
Search lights were rolling around the clouds, looking for one of their eighty-one planes in the sky. Tracer bullets from anti-aircraft and machine guns zinged through the darkness, pinging against planes and breaking through. On the ground were blazes of fires, from planes that had already been shot down.
Scary enough, they didn't know that the plane was going around two-hundred miles an hour. And they were dropping and dipping, jolting, further towards the ground. The plan was to fly at fifteen hundred feet, drop at six hundred but currently, they were reaching three hundred feet.
It was a very tense and terrifying moment.
Everyone just wanted to get off, figuring they'd be safer out of the damn plane. Which was true, if you stayed up here any longer, you'd get shot down eventually. And Noelle sat back on her knees, turning to look out of the window. She could see one plane, which just blew up into flames.
Those men.
Her gut twisted, she quickly turned back around on her seat, shuddering.
At long last, the red light turned one.
Winters called for everyone to get ready, stand up and hook up from the front.
Now, they just had to wait for that green light to turn on.
Grant was in front of her, Jackson was behind.
They didn't know where they were, but they weren't close to the drop zone, that was for sure.
The plane dipped down again, Noelle almost fell forwards.
She grabbed a hold of Grant, while Jackson pulled her shoulder.
Outside, it sounded like death was just patiently waiting for them.
But it didn't seem to matter, they just wanted off this plane!
They were ready, they had sounded off the equipment check.
And then, the green light turned on.
"Let's go!" Winters yelled, before he jumped out.
It could have been ten seconds, Noelle didn't know but soon, she was jumped right out of that plane. It was extremely fast; her leg bag was pulled right off her. And the few seconds before her chute opened, was horrendous. They were far too close to the ground. When it did open, she looked around her, trying to find a safe spot to land. The wind had picked up, just for a moment and she swerved towards the right. Noelle shook her head; nope, that was close to a fire.
She someone managed to take control and moved away from the fire.
Noelle landed, with a tiny thud.
She got rid of her chute, Mae West vest and reserve chute first.
Before placing on her helmet and grabbing her rifle.
Noelle had landed in a muddy path, near a tree-line. She had no idea where she was, but she did know, that no one had landed beside her, not yet, anyway. And figuring this path wouldn't be such a good place to gathering her bearings, Noelle moved into the trees.
She sat there for a few moments, trying to work out what the hell she was going to do next.
So, Noelle had landed alone, away from the drop zone.
It was dark, the rain was light and there was a small breeze.
Not that the weather mattered much, Noelle just didn't know what else to look for.
"A sign, you numpty".
Noelle could have slapped herself, of course, she had look for a sign.
Only, she wouldn't find one in the forest.
Taking in a few deep breaths, trying to steady her beating heart, Noelle got up.
She started walking near the edge of the tree-line, where she could still see the path. If there was to be a road or town sign, then she'd see it. Noelle was half crouched, though she probably didn't need to do that, she was pretty small compared to what the German's were probably expecting but still, Noelle had to be careful. It was funny how training just kicked right it, like a kick up the arse. She wasn't scared, not in the slightest, Noelle was just pumped up with this adrenaline, which kept the fear away. Though, it did make her feel a little queasy.
Every so often, she'd hear the German guns and machine-guns, firing out.
Noelle was happy to state, it wasn't near her for the time being.
So, when her eyes caught sight of movement to her left, Noelle was quick to squat down.
Rubbing her lips together, she brought out her cricket.
She had no idea if these guys were American or German and from the looks of it, there were three of them. With her other hand, she prepared herself to grab her rifle and drop the damn cricket if it turned out they were German. The three figures continued to move between the trees, heading towards the path, which was just down the slope from her.
Click-click.
The figures stopped, she dropped her cricket and took her rifle.
Noelle positioned her rifle, ready to fire.
Click-click.
One of them responded.
Noelle slowly got onto her feet.
Man, it was so tense.
What if one of the Germans had a cricket and was tricking her?
But in order to know that, she'd need the password.
"Flash". Noelle challenged, voice remarkably calm.
And then came, "thunder".
Dropping her rifle, Noelle picked up her cricket and walked over to them.
The three figures were walking towards her too.
It turned out to be Winters, Lipton and Hall.
Noelle was happy to see them and surprised to see Hall.
"Hello, sir". She whispered.
"Evening, trooper". Winters responded.
"Alright, Nelly?" Lipton asked.
Noelle nodded, "yeah, fine". She then smiled a little at Hall, "hey, John".
He smiled back, "Nelly".
"Sir? Are we headed east now?" Noelle asked Winters.
"Yeah, Lipton spotted a sign, we're in Sainte-Marie-Eglise".
Her eyebrow raised a little, "wow…".
Winters clapped her shoulder, "we've got a lot of walking ahead of us".
"There's a path down there, sir". Noelle told him quietly.
"Lead the way, Nelly".
She didn't even think about it, Noelle just did it.
Being a lead scout, that was new.
Back in training, Noelle tended to stay well clear of being a lead scout. For obvious reasons, of course, she figured she'd be terrible at it. But being a lead scout now, it didn't feel that bad in fact, Noelle didn't feel much of anything.
She soon found a tiny embankment, leading up towards a bridge and rail tracks.
However, voices came with that.
"Yeah? How would you know?" Someone hissed.
Noelle held up her hand and crouched down, Winters ran over to her.
"Because I studied the sand tables, alright?"
That was Toye.
Winters gave them a nod.
"Flash". He called, while they got up the embankment.
"Thunder!"
"Lieutenant, is that you?" Guarnere was there as well.
Noelle got up next, happy to see them, especially Malarkey.
She walked straight over to him, "hey".
"Hi". He whispered, with a smile. "Nice night, huh?"
Noelle snorted, "aye, it's 'awright".
Popeye was among the small group too.
So far, they had Winters, Lipton, Guarnere, Toye, Malarkey, Popeye and Noelle from Easy and Hall from Able Company. That was it. The rest were probably scattered across this area, trying to find everyone else. Noelle wondered about Muck and Penkala, she hoped they had found guys from their Platoon and were okay.
"Is everybody okay?" Guarnere asked them.
"Guarnere". Winters approached him.
"Sir?"
"You and Hall upfront".
He pulled a face, "who the hell is Hall?"
Noelle smiled a little, looking up at Malarkey.
He shook his head with a smirk, "oh, he's been a joy to be around".
"Aye?" She mumbled, "fast ride, eh?"
"The plane?"
Nodding, Noelle and Malarkey soon started to move with the rest.
"I found Bill and Joe pretty quick, Popeye popped 'outta a bush".
"'A found Lieutenant Winters, Carwood and John". She said, "'a was in this tree-line".
"You're lucky you didn't get tied up in a tree". He mumbled.
A smiled played on her lips, "like what happened with you in Mackall?"
He chuckled quietly, "shut up, Nelly".
They all walked down the rail road in silence.
Hall and Guarnere were up front.
And before they could even hear that horse neighing, Hall had stopped the column.
Noelle crouched down, while Winters moved up to investigate.
He moved towards a fence, looking down on the road below them.
When he came back, he got Lipton to take the right with a squad and Guarnere to the left.
They all moved down a small slope, hiding among the bushes and a wall.
From below them, was a road and a bridge, which the Germans were currently moving under, on top of a horse and cart. Noelle positioned her rifle, waiting for the order to start firing. Guarnere was near the bottom of the slope, crouching down. And before Winters could give the command to start firing, Guarnere was already standing up, blasting the Germans with his tommy gun.
Well, they had to start firing now.
Winters was going to be pissed.
Noelle started to fire out, knocking down a German who was walking beside the cart.
The weird part was, she kept on shooting.
That must have been the training.
Someone tossed in a grenade, hitting the side of the bridge.
The horses were in so much distress.
And Guarnere was now standing right in front of the tunnel, taking down the remaining Germans and the ones who were only wounded. Noelle slowly lowered her rifle, staring at the Sargent with a tiny frown. He wasn't kidding, they had turned a killer loose.
One of the horses was on the ground, neighing out in agony.
Guarnere was firing out at nothing now, completely overcome with rage.
"That's enough, Guarnere!" Winters grabbed his shoulder.
Noelle was standing a few feet away from them.
They both stared at each other, for a few tense seconds.
"Everyone okay?" Winters called out.
"Yes, sir". They responded.
"Next time I say wait for my command, you wait for my command, Sargent".
If looks could kill, Winters would have been dead.
"Yes, sir". Guarnere replied, through gritted teeth.
Bang!
Noelle flinched.
Toye had shot the horse, putting it out of his misery. It was the kindest thing to do.
She swallowed and looked away from the animal.
"Here you go, Lieutenant, Kraut weapon". Lipton handed him a rifle.
When Winters walked away, Guarnere muttered, "fine, Quaker".
Noelle frowned, she had no idea what that was.
"What's that guys problem?" Hall asked.
"Gonorrhoea". Malarkey replied.
"Really?"
"His name, dummy, Guarnere – gonorrhoea, get it?"
Noelle's lips twitched.
"So, besides having a shitty name, what's his problem?" Hall asked.
Guarnere looked at him, "none of your fucking business, cowboy".
"Alright, let's move out!" Lipton called, "quietly". He then added.
"Nelly, Hall – up front". Winters told the two Privates.
"Yes, sir".
Before she moved, Guarnere took her arm.
"Don't tell your pal nothing, Nelly".
Pulling a face, she yanked her arm free. "'A won't".
Guarnere gave her a tiny nod, "sorry, Nelly".
"Right – it's 'awright, Bill".
Noelle walked to the front, where Hall was waiting.
She didn't like how dark it was while they walked.
However, it would be getting lighter soon.
It was like those night marches back in training, when all the trees looked like people. Only this time, they looked like Germans. Noelle chewed down on her bottom lip. Reminding herself that if anything were to happen, she had a group of guys behind her and one next to her.
"You're not scared, you're being careful". Is what she told herself.
She didn't like the look of those bushes, or the way the trees almost smothered them.
Crack.
Noelle raised her hand and quickly got down, Hall frowned and looked at her.
Her heart was thudding against her chest like a drum, while she pointed her rifle towards the bush. What the hell made that noise? Was it more Germans? Was it one of them? They had only been walking for ten minutes, it could have been anything.
Winters raced over to her, staring at the bush and then back at Noelle again.
"What is it?" He whispered.
"I heard something, sir". Noelle whispered back.
He looked back towards the bush, "well, it could have been an animal".
Well, that never crossed her mind.
"Right". Noelle mumbled, "yeah".
Maybe she was hearing things.
Noelle hoped the rest didn't think she was jumpy.
Like Sobel.
They moved on, Noelle tried not to think about that crack.
But when another few minutes had passed, she heard it again, coming from the same side. Noelle felt a shiver roll down her spine, her eyes went right to that bush again and this time, for definite, she could see movement. And very quickly, Noelle saw the barrel of a VZ.24 rifle poking out from the bush.
"Get down!" She yelled.
It was a good thing everyone got down when they did, before that mad German started to shoot, aiming straight for Noelle and Hall. She covered her head, helmet still on, mind you but she just needed that extra security for the time being. Hall and Noelle stood no chance of firing back, they'd get shot for sure if they lifted any part of their body. Thankfully, there was only one German and he was quickly taken care of by the rest.
Noelle used her hands to push herself back up.
She tipped her helmet back a little, staring towards the bush.
"John, are you alive?"
Hall almost laughed, "yup".
Noelle was on her feet, Hall got up shortly after.
"You two okay?" Winters asked them.
They both nodded.
"Yes, sir".
He then looked down at Noelle, "looks like you were right about that noise, trooper".
Noelle looked a little pale, "'a think he were following us, sir".
"Yeah, maybe". Winters sighed quietly, "alright, let's move on".
Back in front once again, Noelle didn't mind it much this time.
She figured that was pretty scary and maybe, it wouldn't happen again.
So, she was happy to be in the front.
…
There was a lot of dead during this walk.
Noelle saw dead cattle, German soldiers and American's.
Some of them were hanging from trees, ropes and harnesses strangling them.
And it was worse when it got light because they weren't hidden in the darkness.
On one particular scene, Noelle couldn't take her eyes off the dead trooper, hanging from the tree. It did bring back those dark memories and she should have done better at suppressing those feelings, but it was hard, when it was staring you in the face.
Lipton and Popeye declared it safe to move beyond the farmhouse.
But first, Winters wanted them to gather up any supplies they could find.
"Nelly, you okay?" Lipton asked her.
Blinking, Noelle looked away from hanging trooper.
She caught Malarkey giving her a worried look.
Noelle looked back up at Lipton, nodding her head.
"Let's get going, huh?" He said, clapping her shoulder.
"Okay". She whispered, moving to stand next to Malarkey.
"Hey, I promised my kid brother I'd fetch him back a Luger, so I got first dibs, okay?" Malarkey told the guys who were around the dead German. "Check that one".
Bless Hall, who got down and checked the German for that gun.
Noelle frowned a little, looking up at Malarkey.
"What?" He mumbled.
She shook her head, "why don't you check him?"
He sighed, "I ain't as brave as Hall".
"Liar". She said, "but 'a'll settle for that".
Swoosh.
A series of planes flew above them.
"It's the navy". Lipton said.
"The landings have started". Winters added.
"Let's move it out!"
Hall looked at his watch, "right on time".
"Yeah? Tell that to him, cowboy". Guarnere snapped.
"My names Hall".
"Is that so?"
"Let's move out!" Winters called.
Hall got back onto his feet, empty-handed.
"You just 'gotta learn to return his fire, that's all". Malarkey said to him.
"You just 'gotta realise it ain't about you". Toye added.
"I just heard his brother-"
"Malarkey, just your yap". Guarnere warned him.
He ignored him, "his brother got it at the Cassino. Found out before we jumped".
When they walked off, Hall looked over at Noelle.
"So, he's not always like this?"
She shook her head.
Hall sighed, "okay".
The pair of them started to walk.
"He doesn't hate you". Noelle said, "he just hates them".
She nodded towards the dead German on the ground.
"It's sad about his-"
"aye, it is". Noelle mumbled softly.
Hall frowned, looking ahead.
While on their way, they joined up with around forty guys from Dog Company, Captain Hester and Lieutenant Nixon. And they all moved to a place called Le Grand Chemin, where Battalion were currently stationed, at the farm. While walking down the muddy path, which was the sort of mud which could swallow up your boot and cause you to slide right on your arse, they past around twenty or so German prisoners. Which was odd, considering their orders were not to take any prisoners.
Malarkey was joking around with them and eventually found one guy who was from Oregon.
Noelle left him to it, he'd join up with them by the farm.
Buck was there, waiting for them, along with Liebgott, Ranney, Plesha, Hendrix and Petty.
It was good to see their Platoon leader again.
"Is this it?"
"This is it, boss". Guarnere confirmed.
Buck sighed, "Jesus".
Noelle's eyes were pull towards the right, where the sounds of heavy fire could be heard.
"What's that, like?" She asked, no one in particular.
"No idea, Thumper". Buck said, "I'm guessing we'll have to sort that out".
He took in his guys.
"Go take a knee, get something to drink. You all look like shit".
That lightened the mood a little.
"Lieutenant Meehan around?" Popeye asked.
"Nope". Liebgott responded.
What Battalion quickly learned that at seven or eight in the morning, the troops started coming in from the coast and the German's started blowing away the guys on the beach. And once they learned where the battery was, they needed a Company to take care of it, so the troops could move up from Utah Beach, which was just beyond causeway one and two.
But for the time being, they didn't know that yet.
So, they took a seat and leaned against a small grass verge.
"So, that bit of wind made me lose Chuck and Jack?"
"Sounds like it, kid". Toye told her.
Noelle was confused about how she could have lost Grant and Jackson when they dropped. And of course, she'd always consult these matters with her squad leader.
"That's weird, eh?" She mused, "cause they was right by me and that".
Sighing, he tossed away the grass he had picked up. "Yup, it's weird, kid".
Noelle was wondering where Malarkey had gotten too.
Was he still talking to that guy?
"Thumper, go and see about Malarkey". Buck said to her, as if reading her mind.
"'Awright, sir". Noelle got onto her feet. "Don't go away without me, sir".
He snorted softly, "oh, we wouldn't get very far, Thumper".
Smiling small, she walked away from her friends and made her way back towards the road.
"What are the chances of that, huh? You and me, a hundred miles apart from each other, working practically the same job". Malarkey was telling him.
Noelle smiled a little, while she approached them.
"We need to go, Malark".
"Yeah, alright". He faced the prisoner again, "I'll see you around".
"Yeah, see you around…".
Noelle grabbed his arm, helping him up.
"What's the word?" He asked, while they made their way down the road again.
"Meehan's 'no here". Noelle told him, "who's in charge now?"
"Winters". Malarkey said to her softly.
They made a little gap for Lieutenant Speirs, who was making his way towards the prisoners. Noelle looked up at him, he stared back at her and she quickly looked away. When they got around half way down the road, someone opened fire with a tommy-gun.
Noelle and Malarkey covered their ears, looking back towards the end of the road.
All the prisoners were dead.
"Shit…". Malarkey whispered.
Noelle blinked a few times, "who – who did that?"
His eyes soon flickered towards Speirs.
Malarkey took her arm, "come on, let's go, Nelly".
They both made their way back towards the others.
Malarkey still looked a little shaken, while Noelle was left with too many questions.
She looked over at Buck, "sir?"
"Oh, you're back with Malark already?"
Noelle nodded, "eh – sir?"
Buck looked down at her, "what?"
"He say's no prisoners, eh?"
"They did, yeah". He confirmed, "why?"
Noelle shrugged, "how come we saw prisoners on the way in, sir?"
"Well, they probably surrendered, Thumper".
She frowned, "then how come they didn't shoot them anyway?"
Buck cleared his throat, "I'm not sure that's the rules, Thumper".
Noelle tilted her head to the side, "how?"
Toye clapped her shoulder, "Nelly, quit asking the Lieutenant a thousand's questions, huh?"
"'A only asked four". She said lightly.
Buck grinned and leaned back against the grass verge.
"Well, Thumper. Let's say you wanted to surrender, alright?" He said, "and then some Kraut decided to shoot you – how would you feel about that?"
Noelle frowned again, "oh, 'a'd be too dead to care, sir".
Buck chuckled quietly, "kid, you're damn lucky we like you".
Smiling, Noelle leaned back against the grass, deciding she wouldn't ask anymore questions. And she wouldn't think about the prisoners too much.