Miller didn't stop walking until he realized no one was following him. He turned around to find the entire squad staring at him, unsure if they wanted to go through with this. He stared angrily back at them.

"What?" Miller asked. No one answered. "Well?" Again, no one said anything.

"She's not our mission anymore!" Miller said angrily. "This is the only way she can go home." The other members of the squad shifted from foot to foot, took off their helmets, ran their hands through their hair, and adjusted their weapons. No one wanted to answer Miller. Miller rubbed his forehead, thinking of what to do with Elizabeth.

"Alright, look. Reiben, Elizabeth will be your assistant rifleman. Reiben and Jackson, find her some ammo and show her how to fire that rifle. We'll move out in an hour," Miller ordered. Reiben nodded, frowning. He and Jackson went out in search of B.A.R. ammo, beckoning Elizabeth to follow.

"What's going on?" Elizabeth asked, scared. Reiben kept his eyes forward, scanning for more ammo, avoiding Elizabeth's eyes.

"You're gonna be my assistant rifleman," Reiben answered.

"What?" Elizabeth asked.

"That means you're gonna carry extra ammo for my B.A.R.," Reiben said, picking an abandoned cartridge belt off the ground. He and Jackson quickly began putting in B.A.R. ammo, still avoiding Elizabeth's eyes. When they were finished, Reiben handed the cartridge belt to Elizabeth. She struggled to put it on. Reiben gently took it from her hands and helped her put it on. Then he took her M1 Garand and showed her how to reload it. Elizabeth was able to reload it quickly.

Reiben, Jackson, and Elizabeth walked to the field next to the temporary camp, far enough away that they could shoot their weapons. Rebel came bounding out of nowhere to follow them. The squad was beginning to notice that Rebel followed them, but only made an appearance when he was bored, or when he wanted to be next to Elizabeth. Reiben tossed the rifle to Jackson, who showed Elizabeth how to aim and fire the M1 Garand. She had good aim, and she was quick about it.

"Stay by Reiben and you'll be fine," Miller directed Elizabeth as the squad left the camp. "Just be there with his ammo, and never let go of that rifle."

Elizabeth nodded, looking jumpy. She began pulling at the dirty bandages around her hands.

"Better replace those bandages, Wade," Miller said, before walking to the front of the formation. Wade unwrapped Elizabeth's bandages as they walked. The deep cuts weren't healing well, and Wade knew there would definitely be scars. She'd never forget.

"Hey, Captain?" Reiben asked cautiously. They were too far ahead of Elizabeth for her to hear.

"Yeah, Reiben?"

"What you said about her parents… is that true?" Reiben looked at Miller, pretending not to care.

"Yeah. Yeah, her parents are dead," Miller said quietly.

Everyone got quiet after that. Reiben coughed, then got back in formation. He hadn't known Elizabeth was an orphan.

At the back of the formation, Wade finished wrapping new bandages around Elizabeth's hands.

"Am I gonna die?" Elizabeth asked quietly.

"What? No," Wade answered, surprised.

"But… what if… what if I do die?" Elizabeth asked, even quieter. Wade wasn't sure what to say. Reiben and Jackson drifted to the back of the formation to stand next to Elizabeth and Wade.

"…Are you afraid of dying?" Wade asked quietly, looking at Elizabeth. She shrugged, looking scared.

"I don't know. It's not that I'm afraid to die, I'm afraid that… you know how they say you're life flashes before you're eyes when you die?" she asked quietly. Wade nodded.

"I'm just afraid that when that happens… I won't have anything to watch." Elizabeth said. Reiben, Wade, and Jackson looked at Elizabeth. They had never thought about that before.

"Elizabeth… you're not gonna die. I promise," Wade said.

"But… what if you're not there? What if they find me…and-"

"Elizabeth, just stay by me, okay?" Reiben said. "You'll be fine, I'll watch you."

"But what if-"

"We're not gonna let anything happen to you." Reiben said gently. "I promise."

Elizabeth nodded, biting her bottom lip. Then she stared at the M1 Garand in her hands and her face took on an eerily calm look. Reiben knew that look was familiar, but he couldn't quite figure out why. Suddenly, violent flashbacks from his childhood flooded through his mind. Shaking his head, he walked to the front of the formation again, in front of Elizabeth. She was scaring him.

It was starting to get dark when the squad came upon several large hedgerows. There were so many hedgerows that it looked like a maze.

Then came the gunfire. Everyone dove for cover against the hedgerows.

Then they realized that was where the shots were coming from.

"ARRGGHH," someone moaned as more shots echoed in their ears.

The squad leapt up, randomly firing their weapons into the hedgerows, just as a heavy rain began pouring down. As they ran, they could see a body lying on the ground, but no one could tell who had been hit.

Reiben grabbed Elizabeth and dragged her down into an unoccupied hedgerow. Suddenly, Elizabeth was being dragged through the other end of the hedgerow. Reiben scrambled to the other side, but by the time he got there, she was gone. A few seconds later, a single shot rang out.

Reiben felt himself collapse to his knees as all the breath left his body. They had shot Elizabeth.

Upham was standing between Jackson and Wade when they both darted off in different directions, leaving him standing there alone, and confused. He threw himself into a hedgerow, desperately trying to find the rest of the squad.

Miller and Horvath crept along the side of the first hedgerow, trying to get a closer look at the enemy. They got a couple of shots off before they were spotted, and in the confusion, they both ran in different directions.

Reiben struggled to stand up. He grabbed his B.A.R., knowing that he had to keep going or he would be dead, too. Shaking, he shoved himself against another hedgerow and realized his B.A.R. was almost out of ammo. He reached for his cartridge belt only to discover, to his horror, that it was no longer around his waist. Realizing that it must have come off while he was scrambling through the hedgerow, Reiben gulped and looked at his weapon. He would only be able to fire two or three short bursts before he ran out of ammo. He stared ahead of him. He didn't think he would be able to move. How could he let this happen? He promised. He promised. Reiben covered his eyes with his hands. If he had been a little faster, Elizabeth might be sitting next to him right now.

But instead there was just an empty space next to him, almost as empty as Reiben felt.

Jackson held his sniper rifle firmly in his hands. He had to remain calm, he knew that. His survival instincts kicked in as he slowly scoped out his surroundings. That was when he realized he was alone. Jackson couldn't remember a single time since he entered the army that he had been alone. Even on the beach... that horrible beach. He had been separated from the company for a few minutes, but never alone. Jackson quickly banished thoughts of Normandy from his head. He needed to think clearly right now. But the only thing he could think of was Elizabeth's smile, Miller's commanding, yet reassuring tone, Reiben's laugh, Wade's caring eyes, Mellish and Caparzo joking around together, and Horvath smiling softly at Miller's jokes. He wondered briefly if the rest of the squad was lost, too, or if they were all together and he was the only one. He had never thought about what it would feel like to be alone. Jackson had never felt so lonely in his life.

He quietly crept along the hedgerows, looking for someone else in the squad. It was eerily quiet, except for the rain pounding on his helmet.

Upham sat by himself in a hedgerow, so nervous he was sweating. He clumsily clutched his rifle with his clammy hands. Where was everyone else? He was starting to think they had left without him.

Wade frantically searched the hedgerows around him, searching for a familiar face. He couldn't see anything through the rain, it was all he could hear. He was cold, wet, and alone. He wasn't afraid that he would die, he was afraid that the others were dying and he couldn't reach them. He was afraid he would break his promise to Elizabeth.

Jackson continued creeping along the hedgerows until he saw a helmet bobbing up and down. He aimed and fired, watching as the helmet disappeared. It wasn't until the helmet dropped out of sight that Jackson started to have second thoughts about whose helmet it was. Had that been an American helmet? Had that been Elizabeth's helmet?

Upham felt fear take control of him. He knew he would freeze up if he ever needed to fire his rifle. His rifle pointed forward, he froze as a helmet appeared in front of him. The man under the helmet slowly pointed his rifle at Upham. This is it. This is the end. Upham thought as the man slowly lifted his head.

"Flash," he whispered urgently.

"Thu-Thunder," Upham stammered quickly.

Jackson sighed in relief when he saw Upham's face.

"Have you seen anyone else?" Jackson whispered. Upham shook his head, then followed as Jackson moved down the hedgerow.

Reiben stood up and began walking down the hedgerow, searching for the rest of the squad. He froze when he heard leaves crunching under someone's boot. He tightened his grip on his B.A.R. as the sound got closer. Suddenly, a figure appeared before him.

"Flash," he whispered urgently. No one answered.

"Flash," he said again. The figure turned. "FLASH!"

Reiben pulled the trigger.

He watched as the body flew back, the last of his ammo piercing the enemy's skin.

His adrenaline level peaked as a second figure came out of nowhere, frantically trying to load his weapon.

"FLASH!" Reiben shouted as he tossed his empty B.A.R. aside. He stumbled backward as he tore out his pistol. He fell backward, the pistol falling out of his hand. Sitting on the ground, his back against the hedgerow, Reiben reached for his pistol as the enemy pointed his rifle at him. He knew he would never reach it in time.

BAM!

Reiben closed his eyes as he felt his whole world shatter.