Buck was taken off the frontlines. Malarkey and I got to go to the new aid station to see him off. Buck hugged me tightly before turning to Malark. "Take care of yourself, bud." Malarkey nodded, his facial expression staying the same. He had adopted a sad look as of late. And his newfound misery followed him like a dark cloud.

Skip had been closer than a brother to Malarkey; now he was gone and Malarkey had also lost Guarnere, Toye, and now Buck. I was officially the closest friend he had.

Dike had been giving me nasty looks ever since Winters decided not to punish me for "hiding". And it wasn't just me who was noticing his rising hostility towards me. One day while we were eating broth, Roe brought it up. He told me that Dike had asked Roe where I was and why I wasn't helping him. "I told 'im that you were probably takin' care of someone else." Roe said, swallowing the last of his broth.

I shook my head, explaining what Dike had told Winters. When I finished, Roe frowned. "I'd be careful 'round 'im, if I were you. Sounds like our commanding officer wants you gone."

"Wish I knew why," I said, drinking the final gulp of broth that Martin had made. Roe shrugged and we separated to go make our rounds.

And then came the news that we had been waiting for: Easy was going to be apart of an assault on Foy, which had been being held by the Germans. Dog and Item Company were to join us. The only problem that anyone had was that Dike was going to lead the assault.

"He's almost as bad as Sobel," Luz vented to me one night as I was making my rounds. "That man could get us killed out there." There wasn't much I could do besides agree with my friend and then continue on with my rounds. After all, I had to go with them down to Foy and act as medic for them. I was in just as much danger as the rest of them.

The morning of the assault finally came. Dike had been briefed by Winters, who would be watching from a vantage point. Right before we started the attack, I felt a hand squeeze my wrist and I looked to see Liebgott there. "Lets try not to get killed, Di." He said quietly. I gave him a small smile.

"I'll try if you will," I said. Liebgott smirked at my words before hesitantly letting go of my wrist. I found myself wishing that he had grabbed my hand instead.

Speed was to be our ally if we moved correctly. So as first light spread over the village of Foy, Dike led the charge. We ran in silence for a brief moment before harsh, German voices cried out and machine gun fire sounded. Some men in the front of the formation fell over, dead immediately. Haystacks were spotted around the field, and Dike instantly dove behind the closest one the second he heard the gunfire. With Luz and a few others by my side, we skidded to a halt in the shadow of the same haystack. I saw Liebgott and several others dive behind other haystacks. Liebgott was behind the one right next to ours.

"Sir!" Luz screamed over the sound of gunfire. "We need to keep moving!" I was patching up a man who had gotten hit in the arm. Roe was somewhere else, probably behind another damned haystack.

Dike had gone into some kind of shock. Luz, who had the radio on his back, was yelling back someone on the other line. Most likely Winters. Every time Luz tried to hand the radio to Dike, the older man would straight up ignore it and stare off into the distance.

I heard screams coming from behind me and I turned to see a replacement getting hit in the throat. The Germans knew we were behind these shitty hiding places, and it wouldn't be long before we were all hit. Liebgott was watching me from across the way, worry etched into every aspect of his face. I turned back to Dike, fury at his failure as a leader rising up to the surface.

I moved towards our commanding officer, ready to try and snap him out of his daze, or to even see if he truly was in shock and couldn't lead us any further. But the second I got close enough to check him out, Dike lashed out. Quick as a snake, he shoved me away from him and out of the protection of the haystack. Dirt and snow peppered up right next to my head-

A pair of hands slammed down on my thighs and dragged me back into the temporary safety of the haystack. I turned to see that Lipton had been the one to save my life. For a moment, I hugged him as tightly as possible before letting him go. Lipton gave me a nod of understanding. Luz was now completely in Dike's face, screaming at him and holding him by the front of the shirt.

Liebgott, I thought before turning back towards his haystack. Liebgott was straightening himself; it looked like had been held down by the men by the men there with him.

Suddenly, Speirs was beside us. I glanced between the forest line and where he was now. Did he just charge into empty space? Speirs locked eyes with me. "You alright, McCall?" He asked. I nodded, losing my ability to speak. Speirs took my word and shoved Luz off of Dike. "I'm taking charge of this company." He told Dike and without waiting for a response, Speirs turned toward the soldiers and spat out direction like a natural born leader.

The second Speirs took control of Easy Company, the assault of Foy became a success. After the battle, Speirs was given permanent control of our company and Dike was booted out for failing to follow orders, proving to be incompetent in the heat of battle, and for pushing me into the way of enemy fire. But that never went down into the official books. According to Winters, it never would've held up in the books because it was during the heat of battle and because it could always be Dike's word against mine.

That didn't stop me from back handing Dike's face the last time I saw him.

I was taking my first break from the aid station after staying inside the new aid station for three hours. I had spotted Dike leaving the village, preparing to go back to England. I thought about all the times he had tried to get rid of me, whether it was officially through Winters or through fighting by tossing me into the fray. Without much of a second thought, I walked towards him. Dike saw me approaching and halted, narrowing his eyes with glaring dislike.

"Can I ask why?" I asked, waiting for the excuse, the reasoning behind his dislike.

Dike smirked at me as if it was obvious. "Because you don't belong here. You never have and the fact that you have a gash doesn't-"

I interrupted him by slapping him with the back of my hand as hard as humanly possible. I was suddenly thankful to Sobel for forcing all of the extra muscle into my arms, making my slap echo around the village road. Some of the men who had been on the road gasped or snorted with amusement. I glared at Dike before turning my back on him and stalking away. I was only walking for a few minutes before I heard footsteps behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Liebgott following.

"May I say that that was the most impressive thing I've ever seen you do." Liebgott said with a smirk. "And I've seen you do plenty of impressive things."

The compliment brightened my mood, despite the back of my hand stinging fiercely. "I kinda wish that I had used Toye's brass knuckles." Liebgott laughed, genuinely laughed, and I felt my stomach tighten and a smile appeared on my face without my meaning it to.

"If Toye was here, he'd probably hold Dike's arms behind his back so you could get a few punches in." Liebgott said, that warm smile still on his face. My face started flushing. "I'm just curious how your sisters would take this new transformation of yours."

He always knew to not bring up my mother, just my sisters. I sighed before looking Liebgott in the eye. "I like to think that they'd be supportive of this .I highly doubt that my sisters would want me to lie down and take Dike. They'd want me to stand up for myself and to stop takin' the shit the commanding officers having been handing me. First Sobel, now Dike." I paused, my frustration finally free. "To just ignore them would be an insult. I'm done takin' shit."

Liebgott listened in silence, taking me in with a particular gleam in his eye. When I finished, he smirked and slapped my shoulder, his hand lingering there. Together, we walked back towards the aid station. My break was over.