"You're a lot like me, kid". Guarnere slung his arm around Rory's shoulders, "you've just 'gotta know exactly where we are, huh? Hey, it's okay to be nosey. I'm nosey. And sometimes, my nose gets me into all kinds of trouble but you…heck, kid. You ain't 'gonna get in no trouble".

Standing in the middle of what could only be described as a pigsty, Guarnere handed Rory two small radios. They had been stationed in a place called "The Island" for almost three days. The Island was a long, narrow, low-lying stretch of land north of Nijmegan and sandwiched between the Lower Rhine and Waal rivers. The roads ran along tall twenty-feet dikes, which divided up the fields and held back the rivers. But it didn't do very well at holding back the rain. The land was practically flooded. Below the dikes were plenty of ditches and vegetation. Mainly apple orchards, carrots and cabbages. Rory tended to avoid the apples.

They didn't do a lot of movement during the day.

So, Guarnere handed Rory the radios at night.

Rory looked down at the radios and asked;

"what'd I do with 'um, Sarge?"

With a smile, he said;

"head on over to CP…and while you're there, find out what our next move is, huh? We're getting bored of sitting around and doing nothing, kid. We've 'gotta keep moving. 1st Platoon should still be on reserve at CP but…I got a feeling some of the fellas have been taking out the odd patrol".

The sound of a pig oinking caused Rory to jump.

Guarnere grinned;

"think you need a little break away from those damn pigs too".

Rory sighed;

"I don't like 'um, Sarge…they keep on eating dead bodies".

He sighed;

"that's war for you, sweetheart…but hey, least they ain't eating the living, right?"

Rory still looked slightly disturbed.

Shrugging, Guarnere grabbed her shoulders and turned her around, to face the other way. He gave her a little shove forward;

"come back when you find out something, kid".

"What 'bout Sarge?"

"Don't worry about Joe…he knows where you're going".

With a tiny sigh, Rory began to walk towards Company CP.

The line was stretched out, as they had a lot of ground to cover. To keep in contact with each other, they used contact patrols, outposts and radios. It was a pretty stressful first couple of days, with not knowing when the enemy would strike. But things had been pretty quiet on the Island so far. Still, no one was willing to risk walking during the day, frightened they'd get their head blown off. Rory was very thankful for Toye during those moments of stress. Her squad Sargent would sing "I'll be seeing you", to ease the tension and lift the morale.

She really appreciated his singing voice during those long and cold nights.

They all did.

Reaching the barn where CP was located, Rory opened up one of the double doors and stepped inside. It was dry and almost warm. Some of the men were snoring up high in make-shift bunks, using hay and straw to create beddings. Some oil lamps were lit, so men could play cards, read or sort out broken radios. Luz and Winters were hard at it at the table, sorting out one of the radios from an outpost.

"Well, look who it is". Luz greeted, "are those for me?"

Rory walked towards the table and set the small radios down.

Sighing, Luz picked them both up.

He frowned and mumbled;

"who took out the batteries?"

Rory tried to hide a smile.

Guarnere would do almost anything to find out what was going on.

Sighing, Luz shook his head;

"don't matter…I'll get some for you soon, kid. Just 'gotta get a runner. But don't you do it, huh? You just got here…why don't you help us out?"

Rory looked down at the table and bit her bottom lip.

With a shrug, she agreed;

"okay, George. I'll help".

Grinning, Luz pulled out a chair;

"sit down, kid. Rest those legs, huh? Did Bill send you?"

She nodded, while sitting herself down.

Luz snorted;

"huh…he's probably sticking his nose in things again". He said, "well, you tell 'um nothings going on here. Just that patrol he sent out earlier on".

Rory's eyes landed on the large radio;

"they ain't back?"

"Not yet". Winters replied, "they shouldn't be too long now".

"Can you screw the battery back into the radio?" Luz asked her.

Nodding, Rory took the screwdriver;

"sure, George".

"If you do a good job, there's some crackers in it for you".

Her eyes brightened slightly;

"really? Cause Joe's told me to eat the apples…and I hate apples".

Luz smiled;

"hey…if you were under my watch, I'd let you have all the crackers you wanted".

She smiled a little;

"thanks, George".

"Is that Rory down there?" A voice from above asked.

Rory looked up and saw Vest's head poking down from one of the bunks. He had bits of straw sticking out from his hair. With a yawn, he gave the girl a nod;

"I've been trying to chase you down for days, kid…".

Luz chuckled;

"well, look no further, Vest. She's right here".

"Me?" Rory frowned, "how come?"

Vest climbed down a set of ladders;

"you've got a letter".

Winters frowned and looked at the girl.

She looked shocked;

"me?" Rory whispered.

Nodding, Vest walked over to the table and handed her an envelope;

"yup…sorry for the delay. Toye must have forgotten to mention it. He's a busy guy, huh?"

With the letter in her hands, Rory looked down at it.

She was almost scared to read it.

Frightened it was from her parents.

The sound of a dog barking pulled Rory away from her deep thoughts. She followed the sound and saw an Alsatian dog by Talbert. The Sargent was rubbing the dog's neck, while he let out a tiny bark. Frowning, the girl hopped down from the table and tucked the letter inside her pocket. Moving towards the animal, she gave Talbert a shy sort of smile and asked;

"is he yours, Sargent?"

"I found him". He replied kindly, "he's a good dog".

The dog moved away from the Sargent and padded over to Rory.

There, he gave her boots a little sniff before sitting by them.

Rory looked down and smiled small at the dog.

"Hello". She greeted quietly.

He barked in response.

Dukeman chuckled;

"looks like you've made a new friend, Roo".

"He's big". She commented softly, "bet he's hungry too, huh?"

"Maybe, yeah". Talbert said, "not much we can give him".

Rory shrugged;

"he can have the crackers George's 'gonna give me".

Talbert smiled;

"that's real sweet, Roo but I don't think dogs like crackers".

"Oh". She mumbled, "I ain't never had a dog…so, I 'dunno what dogs like".

"Meat". Dukeman replied, "and lots of it".

"Usually comes in a can". Talbert added.

"What 'bout our rations?" Rory suggested.

Dukeman smirked;

"we ain't trying to kill the dog, Roo".

She smiled and let out a tiny giggle;

"yeah…you're right, Bud".

Rory soon knelt down in front of the dog.

There, she placed her hand by his shoulder and gave him a gentle rub.

The dog let out a tiny bark, before leaning forwards and sniffing her face.

And then, he licked her cheek.

Rory laughed;

"that felt…different".

Hearing her laugh, the dog did it again.

She continued to laugh.

Having never heard Rory laugh before, the guys who were awake listened with smiles.

Dukeman chuckled;

"I think he likes you, Roo".

"I like him". She said with a smile, "what's he called Sarge?"

"Trigger". Talbert replied, "you like the name?"

Rory nodded;

"yeah…it suits him".

"This is it, boys". A voice said from behind them, "get across the river, across the field and over the dike. That's a lot of territory to cover".

Rory frowned a little and looked up at Talbert and Dukeman, who only snorted in response. A few other men soon walked into the barn, two of which, were Hashey and Garcia. Rory gave her two friends small smiles.

"Where'd you want us to go?" Hashey asked.

"You Hashey, you get the penthouse". Dukeman replied.

"Thank you". He thanked, before looking at Rory and smiling in return, "see you around, Roo".

"Bye". She replied, "have a nice sleep".

"Oh, we will". Garcia smiled sleepily back, "we get the penthouse".

"At least you got a roof". Rory said, "we're sleeping in holes".

"Unlucky". Hashey smirked. "Guess they only keep the penthouse for the best, huh?"

She smiled a little;

"shut up, Les".

When they walked away, Rory focused back on Trigger.

But the same group of guys behind them continued to talk.

"How bad does it get?" One of them asked.

"You'll find out". The other replied.

Talbert faced Dukeman with a tiny smirk;

"that's a lot of territory to cover".

Dukeman grinned;

"a couple of regular GI Joes, huh?"

"You said it". Talbert replied, "you coming, Roo?"

Nodding, she got up.

Trigger followed after the pair of them, while they headed back over to the table, where Winters and Luz continued to work. Rory retook her seat and under the watchful eye of Luz, resumed her task of replacing a battery.

"New guys giving the replacements the what for, and why is". Talbert told Winters and Luz. Scratching behind his ear, he added, "I swear one of thems never shaved".

Winters snorted and gave Rory a tiny smirk;

"yeah…kids".

She hid her smile by working away on the radio.

"This is one hell of a dog, Tab". Luz commented while giving their new friend some attention.

"Thank you". Talbert replied, "here you go". He threw the stick down the barn, allowing the dog to chase after it.

"What'd you call it, Tab?" Winters asked.

"Trigger".

"That's good". Luz approved, "I like that, Trigger".

Nodding towards the radio, Talbert asked;

"anything on that?"

Luz shook his head;

"no, it's all quiet".

It seemed the word "quiet" was cursed.

For as soon as that word left Luz's mouth, the barn door flew open.

"WE'VE GOT PENETRATION!"

"Alley's hurt! We need the doc!"

Getting up, they cleared a space on the table so they could gently set Alley down. While someone went off to grab the medic, the men all gathered around their wounded friend. Rory was standing behind Liebgott and she noticed him stick a bandage by his neck, which was slightly wounded. However, Alley was worst off. He had holes in his legs from pieces of hot metal off a grenade. He also had deep gashes on the side of his body, just under his ribs.

"Where was it?" Winters demanded.

"Crossroads". Liebgott replied, "where the road crosses the dike".

"If it wasn't for your loudmouth, they'd have never known we was there". Lesniewski snapped.

"Hey, you know what, Joe? Back off". Liebgott snapped back.

"Lesniewski, send a runner for Lieutenant Welsh". Winters ordered, "Lipton, assemble me a squad".

"Yes, sir…FIRST SQUAD, ON YOUR FEET! WEAPONS AND AMMO ONLY!"

Leaving the table, Rory raced over and grabbed her rifle.

Slinging it over her shoulder, she put on her helmet and joined the others outside.

Rory soon found herself quickly walking along a ditch, covered up with long wet grass. The ends of the grass tickled her nose, but she didn't sneeze. The patrol led by Winters walked quietly and stealthily. With an unknown German force close by. Feeling slightly anxious, she had a good grip of her rifle, while following behind Liebgott. And, as if sensing her nerves, he looked over his shoulder and winked at her.

Rory might have felt reassured.

If a burst of fire from a machine-gun hadn't startled her.

The men soon got down and took cover among the grass.

Rubbing her lips together, she could hear a few hushed words exchanged by Talbert and Winters, before their Captain began to scale the high dike. Talbert told the rest of them to wait for Winters signal. So, they sat tight and waited.

Rory could feel her heart race.

Every now and then, she'd look up towards the dike, hoping to see their Captain soon. And when the man eventually did appear, the rest followed him up the dike. Once they reached the top, they walked down the other side and stopped when they hit one of the roads. After a few moments, they all crossed the road together.

A machine-gun stayed at the top, ready to give them covering fire.

Rory could see the sparks of fire coming out from the Germans MG-42 on the top of the dike, before she followed the others down that same dike and into another ditch. Once assembled, Winters gave them a plan;

"this is our fall back position, here!" He whispered loudly, "mortars, deploy here. First squad, on me. Go!"

While the mortar team went to the right, the rest followed Winters up the ditch. Keeping low, they ran. Rory didn't know how she managed to keep her footing, what with all the holes she was stepping over. She figured the adrenaline kept her from falling flat on her face.

Winters stopped the squad once again for another isolated scouting mission.

Leaning against the grass bank, Rory looked behind her and gave Garcia a nervous sort of smile. He smiled tightly back at her and whispered;

"what're the Krauts shooting at?"

She shrugged;

"I 'dunno…I can't see nothing".

Liebgott turned around to face them;

"they're 'gonna be shooting at you…if you don't shut up, kids".

After giving his warning, Liebgott faced the front again.

Garcia raised a comically eyebrow at Rory, who smiled in return.

But the smile fell from her face when she reminded herself of something.

Guarnere was waiting for her.

On top of the dike, Rory took covered.

Winters had assigned each of them a position and a target.

From there, Rory could see a handful of Germans blasting out a machine-gun, firing at no one. It was odd and confused not only her but the rest of them. Setting her sight, she looked through and followed her target. Winters had given her the German who was firing out the gun. He was quite possibly the easiest target but still very important.

The earth seemed to go still, while they waited for their order to fire.

Winters kept the men in suspense, while he set up his sight.

Once he pulled the trigger, they all fired one shot.

And knocked down seven Germans.

"FALL BACK!" Came Winters next order.

Quickly scaling down the dike, Muck, Penkala and Malarkey set off their mortar. With the added explosion, they could hear Germans firing out from behind the road embankment and over the dike. Fires from the enemy rifles lightened up the sky. Rory made it in one piece down the dike and jumped into the ditch. Keeping low, she ran with the rest towards their fallback position.

Back along the ditch, Rory got into position and fired out across the field. She could see some Germans leaving the road and venturing across the field. The men took care of the Germans running across the field, but Rory soon caught sight of another group of Germans, who were coming from the left side of the field.

"ON OUR LEFT!" She yelled.

Garcia, Hashey and Webster directed their fire towards the left.

One German remained standing and before Rory got him down, he tossed a grenade towards their position. Thankfully, it didn't reach the ditch and ended up setting off in the field. Webster gave her a tight grin;

"that was a close one, Roo!"

"Yeah, it-"

"here comes some more!" Garcia soon cut her off.

"DUKEMAN, ROO!" Winters soon yelled.

Rory crawled her way towards the Captain, with Dukeman just in front of her.

"GET THAT MACHINE-GUN ON THE RIGHT FLANK! GO!"

Giving the Captain a firm nod, the pair set off towards the gun.

Along the way, a German fired out a rifle grenade.

When it went off, the impact threw Rory back into Luz. She landed on top of the radioman. And watched in horror, while Dukeman fell flat on his back, not moving. Eyes widening, she scrambled towards him and saw a huge piece of shrapnel pierced into his shoulder. Hands shaking slightly, she pressed down above the piece of shrapnel, while Dukeman let out a few gasps for air.

"Fuck, Dukeman's down!" Luz raged, before firing out across the field.

Chewing on her bottom lip, Rory held onto Dukeman's hand, until he slipped away.

She then took the ammo from around his neck and headed for the machine-gun.

When she reached the gun, Rory clipped the ammo in place and fired out.

She didn't stop once.

Rory used up a lot of rounds of ammo in her small fit of rage.

But she didn't care. She just wanted the night to end.

No one expected to run into a Platoon of Germans. And by the time it started to get light, all they could do was wait for the other men from 1st Platoon to show up. Winters had crawled fifty yards out onto the field to think up a plan. They had to start an attack before the Germans outflanked them. The enemy could easily take them from all sides, they had the higher ground, after all.

Still sitting by the machine-gun, Rory's eyes occasionally shifted towards Dukeman and the grass by her boots. It was a feeling she couldn't explain, watching a friend die. Rory was in a small state of shock but still felt the adrenaline from the battle. All she wanted to do, was fire out her weapon and destroy every last enemy. But then, hidden behind the anger and shock, was this horrible heartbreak, where all she wanted to do was break down and cry rivers of tears. For Dukeman, Miller and Vernon.

One of the biggest moments in Rory's army career came when Winters divided up his men into three assault squads. Their goal was to run across the open field, head for the road and fire. Down each assault squad, would be a set of machine-guns, to provide them with covering fire. Rory was placed in Talbert's third squad, she stood next to Webster, while the Sargent gave the order to fix bayonets.

Heart beating fast, they waited for the red smoke signal.

Winters set the smoke grenade off and left the ditch.

He began his sprint across the field.

But there was a delay with the grenade.

Talbert, Rory and a few others almost left the ditch without the smoke.

But Peacock ordered them to stay down and wait.

When it finally did go off, they left the ditch and charged.

Boots pounding against the grass, Rory had never sprinted so fast in her life. They all ran like a heard of galloping horses. Some of them even let out battle cries. Though scary, with not knowing how many Germans they were facing on the other side of that field, Rory couldn't deny how epic it felt, to be running alongside some of the best soldiers in the armed forces.

At the road, they got down and started to fire.

Rory hadn't realised that they had been shooting Germans wearing long coats.

They didn't look like regular infantrymen.

The enemy was scattered across the road, popping up and down and trying to avoid bullets to retreat back towards another dike road. However, coming down from the other dike, was another Company of Germans. From there, it was like a duck shoot. But Rory was still surprised to see more. And while she loaded up her rifle, Winters "incoming mail" had arrived.

Bursting shells blasted away some of the retreating Germans.

Rory watched them getting blasted away with wide eyes.

"Once the reinforcements get here". She heard Winters tell Boyle, "we're 'gonna push down this road to the ferry crossing. If we take that and hold it, they won't be able to re-cross the river and we'll have them cut off".

"Yes, sir!" Boyle responded, "we have a Platoon from F Company coming, along with our 2nd Platoon, sir".

Things had quietened down once the German retreated towards the ferry crossing. They had a small rest, while waiting for more reinforcements to arrive. Rory was sitting on the road embankment, staring out towards the scattered dead Germans, lying across the field.

"How are you for ammo, trooper?" Winters asked, while crouching beside her.

"Fine, sir". Rory whispered.

"Good". He said, while staring at the side of her face, "you doing alright?"

Nodding, she then asked;

"how come they look different, sir?"

"What do you mean?"

Rory pointed towards the bodies;

"the other Krauts didn't have long coats, sir".

Clearing his throat, Winters said;

"their SS officers, Roo. One of Hitler's favourites".

With a tiny frown, she mumbled;

"I forget 'bout him sometimes".

"Who, Hitler?"

She nodded;

"yeah…it's all manoeuvres and tactics, sir. Nothing 'bout Hitler".

Winters shrugged;

"suppose he's easy to forget out here".

The sound of a rifle going off, caused Rory to almost jump out of her skin.

Winters sharply turned towards the sound.

Liebgott fired out again, trying to take down a wounded German.

Sighing, the Captain rose to his feet and moved towards him.

Crouching beside Liebgott;

"Joe? Joe, knock it off!" He ordered, giving Liebgott's shoulder a little nudge.

"Dammit, what?!" He snapped.

Liebgott soon looked towards Winters, realizing just who had given him that order.

But not a word was said about it.

Instead, Winters checked Liebgott's neck wound;

"you're bleeding".

"Ah, it's nothing, Captain". He brushed it off.

"I want you to take these prisoners back to Battalion CP". Winters instructed him. "Get yourself cleaned up". He added.

Liebgott quickly rose to his feet;

"yes, sir". He responded eagerly. "Come on, Kraut boys!"

Rory frowned and looked over at Winters.

The Captain soon got onto his feet and called for Liebgott;

"Joe?"

"Yeah?"

"Drop your ammo".

Liebgott stared at him, as if the Captain had just lost his mind;

"what?" He asked, clearly confused.

"Drop your ammo". Winters repeated.

"Are you kidding me? What are you doing?"

"Give me your weapon".

"Captain…".

Taking Liebgott's rifle, Winters pulled back the bolt and brought out the clip inside.

"You have one round". Winters said, leaving one bullet inside, "Johnny, how many prisoners do we have?!" He asked Sargent Martin.

"We got eleven right now, sir". Martin responded.

"Okay". Winters said, "you drop a prisoner, the rest will jump you. I want all prisoners back at Battalion CP. Alive".

Liebgott looked less enthused;

"yes, sir". He mumbled.

With the weapon now back in his hands, Liebgott walked over to Martin and the eleven prisoners. Rory felt her lips twitch slightly. Winters turned around to face her and gave her the smallest of smirks.

After that short break, Winters had them push towards the ferry crossing. It was around six hundred yards away. And to cover their move, Winters set up a base of fire and they leapfrogged towards the crossing. They covered around two hundred yards using that method. However, without a warning, the air above them whooshed with the sound of incoming shells that burst around the advancing men. Rory dropped and hugged the ground, along with the rest. German artillery began to drop all around them. The shells lifted up the earth, causing mud and grass to spew up into the air. But when the shells started hitting the men, limbs and guts landed all around them, as well as mud, grass and jagged shrapnel.

She could hear men screaming in agony.

Crying out for a medic.

Crying out for their mothers.

Rory felt completely exposed with nowhere to hide.

All she could do was lie on the grass and stay still, like a statue.

That was until a man almost landed on top of her.

She rolled over just in time.

When the guy did land, however, his leg was missing and most of his fingers.

And he was screaming in pain.

Rory didn't know this man; he wasn't from Easy. He was a young Private from Fox Company. He looked young, maybe two years older than Rory. Which had her believing he was a replacement. She looked around, hoping someone would come along to help him but they were all either ducking for cover, badly wounded or dead.

Rory scrambled towards the young man.

Shaking her head and not knowing what to do, she said;

"don't worry – I'll help!"

Rory moved towards the back of his head.

Grabbing onto his jacket, she got onto her feet and began to drag him away.

Looking over her shoulder, Rory spotted the dike.

If they got up there and onto the road, she knew they'd be out of harm's way.

But walking backwards across bad terrain was hard. Rory lost her footing a couple of times and tripped over small potholes. German artillery was still going strong. She could see many bodies fly up into the air and drop back down on the ground, with a sickening crack.

For one hundred yards, Rory dragged the young man from Fox Company without any covering fire. When she eventually reached their covering fire, they were getting ready to leapfrog back to the dike. It was Christenson who raced over to help Rory drag the man back to safety. The wounded man had lost consciousness from blood loss and pain. Though he did wake up when they reached the dike.

Staring at Rory and whispered;

"my…my friend".

Frowning, she asked him;

"where is he?"

Raising a hand, he gestured towards where she had just come from.

"MEDIC!" Christenson yelled.

The young man lost consciousness again.

Getting onto her feet, Rory started to run down the dike.

Christenson tried to pull her back, but she escaped his grip.

"ROO!" He screamed, watching her go with wide eyes.

The German's weren't as frequent with their artillery when Rory raced along the field, searching for another wounded man. Running two hundred yards to where she found the guy from Fox Company, she soon saw his friend.

Rory tried to ignore the fact that the guy was missing one leg and one foot.

She tried to ignore all the blood and bits of flesh and bone, scattered around the once grassy field. Because if Rory thought about it, then she'd crumble. It was a lot for someone to take in.

Getting behind the wounded man, Rory grabbed his jacket and began to drag him.

He let out screams of pain.

But his screams were quickly drowned out by more artillery fire.

Slightly panicking now, Rory tried to move quickly back to the dike. She was out in the open, very vulnerable and made the perfect target for the enemy. Of course, it wasn't just the Germans who witnessed Rory drag a wounded man across the field.

Toye saw it too.

"YOU STUPID KID!" He raged.

Leaving the safety of the dike, Toye sprinted one hundred yards to reach her.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!"

Toye was red in the face from anger.

Rory didn't respond.

So, he helped her out.

The pair of them dragged the screaming man back towards the dike.

And soon, the two wounded friends were reunited.

Toye grabbed Rory by the shoulder;

"you…idiot!" He snapped, "are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

Staring up at him, her eyes hardened;

"no!" She yelled back, "I was just trying to help!"

Toye roughly let her go;

"get back to CP! And stay there – fucking kids…".

Sitting down by the table in CP, Trigger soon padded over to her.

He let out a happy bark and sat by her boots.

Sighing, Rory reached down and rubbed his head;

"I've had it, Trigger". She mumbled, "I don't think Toye'll want me 'round no more…where you going? Maybe we could live together, huh?"

When the barn door opened, Rory's heart picked up.

Fearing it was Toye.

But it turned out to be Winters.

Taking off his helmet, the Captain walked over to her.

She stared up at him, watching his every move.

Rory felt nervous. Trigger could sense this, and he licked her muddy and bloodied hands.

Winters set his helmet down on the table and stood before her.

"Your Sargent is rightfully peeved off, Rory". He told her, "what you did was reckless. You could have gotten yourself killed out there. Very easily. You're not invisible, Rory. It may feel that way because you're young, but the Krauts don't care how old you are".

She lowered her eyes.

Trigger whined and placed his head on her lap.

"I can't exactly put you on latrines duties out here. But you have to promise me and the men, that you'll think really hard before doing something as reckless as that…understand?"

Rory nodded and whispered;

"yes, sir".

Sighing, Winters knelt in front of her and beside the dog.

With a tiny smile, he gave Trigger's head a rub.

He then looked back at Rory;

"those boys you saved…they've got a long road of recovery ahead of them, but doc thinks they still have a fighting chance". Winters told her softly, "I'm not angry because you saved their lives, Rory. I'm angry because you had me worried sick…I almost had a heart attack when I saw you run back to save the other man. You were out in the open and made the perfect target for the Krauts".

Rory gave a tiny nod.

Winters sighed;

"but…I am proud of you for saving their lives. It was brave. Stupid. But brave".

Slowly, she raised her eyes to look at him.

He snorted softly;

"yeah…I can't exactly punish you out here, trooper. So, you're off the hook. Sargent Toye might have more to say on the matter, however, …he's a good squad leader, Roo. He only wants to keep you unhurt".

Rory frowned;

"I know, sir". She mumbled.

Winters then smiled small;

"suppose I could ground you in CP for a few days, huh?"

"I have to be out there with the rest, sir". Rory said, "it ain't so quiet 'round here no more".

"No, it isn't". Winters agreed.

Licking her bottom lip, Rory asked;

"sir…'bout Dukeman…how did he…?"

Sighing, Winters said;

"that piece of shrapnel went right through his shoulder and into his heart, trooper".

Rory felt her face form into a sad frown.

While tears reached her eyes she whispered;

"he had a big heart, sir…can't miss it".

Frowning, Winters gave her knee a gentle pat;

"yeah, he did, huh?"

He then added;

"I'm proud of you all…it was full of risks and quick planning, but you all did an excellent job".

Looking at him with a tiny smile, Rory said;

"those were your plans, sir…couldn't have done it without you".

Shrugging, she then added;

"there's no Company without you, sir".