A/N: Okay, I'm back! I'm really sorry for disappearing. I was moving, and then COVID hit, and then my laptop broke. BUT I'm trying to make a comeback here, so bear with me. I'm open to suggestions, feedback, constructive criticism, all of the above. And of course, all disclaimers apply.
June 23, 1943
Camp Mackall, N.C.
Charlotte grimaced as she watched the armed and well-camouflaged men rise from the bushes before them. She slowly dropped her rifle, glaring at the back of Sobel's head, internally cursing him. He had gotten them killed...again. It wasn't the first time that Sobel had failed them, and it certainly wouldn't be the last.
"You've just been killed, along with 95% of your company. Outfit?" The officer in charge of the training exercise stepped out from seemingly nowhere, marking the notes in his clipboard.
"Easy Company, 2nd battalion, 506th." Sobel ground out, and Lottie frowned. While he seemed to be upset, it wasn't about the fact that he had gotten most of his company killed, it was the fact that he lost.
"Leave three wounded men on the ground and report back to the assembly area." The officer spoke again before walking off, heading over towards another company's area.
Sobel pointed to three of the men, her men, and stalked off in the other direction, muttering obscenities all the way. Charlotte gave a sad smile to the men before following after the rest of the company.
"He's going to get us all killed." Lottie muttered under her breath to George, and he grunted in response. They all were on the same page. Sobel was making an embarrassment of Easy.
"How are we supposed to learn the formations if we keep getting killed each fucking time?" she turned toward the sound of the voice, making eye contact with Guarnere as he stomped over to her and Luz.
"Fuck if I know. At the rate we're going, we won't even make it out of the fucking plane." she only spoke loud enough for the men in her vicinity to hear, wary of Sobel hearing. They were away from Toccoa, so he wouldn't be able to make her run Currahee, but Lottie wouldn't put it past him to make her run all the way back to Georgia.
Soon they were moving out again, and Lottie could only guess to where. No one was talking, and it was doing nothing for her nerves. She heard of the vicious guerrilla warfare in the Pacific, and the equally vicious Germans in Europe, and she wasn't sure which one intrigued her more. Hell, if they were lucky, maybe they could go after both.
Charlotte finished packing her things quickly, leaving her trunk to be shipped later. "So, princess, where do you think we're headed?" Lottie rolled her eyes at the nickname, turning to face the culprit.
"Now, George, what did I tell you about that? Princess is not my name."
"Yah, yah, but it fits you, ya know? Besides, it means you're one of us now. We've all got nicknames. Like Gonorrhea over there." George nodded over to the man in the corner, who waved his middle finger in response.
Lottie giggled, eyes rolling at the men's antics. She had grown to love it over time, their incessant teasing becoming the norm for her. They were like her annoying older brothers. Well, almost. Like the annoying older brother's friend who always flirted with you.
"And I thank you for not giving me a nickname like that, Luz." she winked, swinging her pack over her shoulder. "But, really? Princess? Nobody will take me seriously now."
"Nobody took you seriously anyways." Lottie turned towards the voice, frowning when she spotted Tab's glare. Seemingly nothing had changed between the two of them, although she kept her distance he still chastised her at every turn.
"Fuck off," she responded in a very ladylike manner, grabbing her cap and stalking out of the bunk they shared.
"Seriously, Tab? What's your problem?" Martin sighed, shaking his head. "You don't have to like her, but leave her alone." he chided before following her lead, and soon Talbert was the only one left inside.
"Thank you, Johnny." she grinned over her shoulder, watching him follow her out of the cabin.
"Anytime, princess." he winked, and she rolled her eyes in response, giving him a playful shove.
"Now, princess, are you gonna answer the question? Where the fuck are we going?" George bumped his shoulder into her's and she shrugged in response.
"Honestly, I don't give a fuck where we're headed, as long as I get to shoot something." This earned a chuckle from the group of men surrounding them, and Lottie felt an arm get slung over her shoulder.
"That's exactly what I was thinking, doll." Guarnere grinned at her and she couldn't help but to grin back, his smile infectious.
"And that is exactly why we get along so well. That, and our penchant for terrible nicknames." Lottie winked as Guarnere guffawed in response, ignoring George's protests from behind them.
"Listen, I can come up with some pretty awful nicknames for you, don't underestimate me." George pouted, and Lottie linked arms with him with a grin.
"I wouldn't dream of it, Luz. But, let's just stick with Lottie for now." she guided the trio towards the awaiting truck, throwing her bag up into the bed before climbing up after the two men with their help.
The train ride took longer than Lottie had hoped for, but soon they had arrived at their destination. As soon as the port came into view and she saw the Statue of Liberty on the horizon, she gave a sigh of relief.
"Thank fuck, it's Europe. We're going to Europe." she practically giggled, hopping from the tailgate and dragging her pack with her.
"And here I thought you were happy with wherever we went." Don Malarkey stood next to her, offering a cigarette with a teasing smirk.
"Listen, I say that now, but me and humidity and that much heat? If you thought Georgia was bad, you haven't seen nothing yet." Lottie nodded, looking over to the group of men joining them.
"Oh no, we have." Liebgott smirked, ruffling her braided hair.
"Piss off." Lottie giggled, giving him a playful shove. "I'm serious, I fucking hate the heat. Give me a cold fall day over summer any time."
"Ya know princess, we could still be going to Africa. My brother's in Africa, he says it's hot." Guarnere stole the cigarette from her lips, shrugging his shoulders.
"No shit, Bill. Africa's hot? Who fucking knew?" Lottie laughed loudly as he jabbed her side, leaning into George who came to stand beside her. "If we're going to Africa, ya'll better get me a fan, or you'll never hear the end of it."
The men and Charlotte soon boarded the ship, equipped with a lifejacket for each of them. For Lottie, the life jacket seemed big enough for two men to fit into. She was a petite woman to begin with, but the lifejacket swallowed her, bunching up around her cheeks. After several attempts at holding it down, and even deflating the damn thing, she ripped it from her shoulders, throwing it onto the deck at her feet.
"Thank fuck, I can breathe again." she took in a deep breath for emphasis, pouting at the raucous laughter of the men around her.
"It's not your fault they make these things adult-sized." Bull Randleman leaned against the railing beside her, chewing on his cigar. She pouted for a moment, trying to think of a comeback.
"I'm not that short." she sighed, stealing a cigarette from the mouth of the man beside her, throwing them a wink when they protested. She wasn't sure who they were, but they didn't seem to mind.
"Compared to us, yes you are." George shoved the private out of the way, standing on her other side as she felt the ship start to move.
"Yah, yah. Just remember, I know where you're sleeping." she grinned at him, offering him the cigarette as they turned to face the water, watching as the Statue came and went. Charlotte tried her best not to think about how for some of the men, it would be the last time they saw American soil.
It wasn't until the sun finally dipped below the horizon that Lottie finally made her way back down to the bunks. She held her breath, the smell of smoke and B.O. assaulting her almost immediately. She followed behind George as he led them to their bunk, leaning against the frame as she listened in on the men's conversation.
"Right now, some lucky bastard's heading towards the pacific. They're gonna get billeted on some tropical island, sleep under a palm tree with six naked native girls helping him cut up coconuts so they can hand feed them to the flamingos." Muck lamented as he pushed his way through the crowd and Charlotte laughed along with the men.
"Flamingos are mean. They bite." Ramirez nodded.
"So do the naked native girls." Skinny grinned, winking at Lottie who simply rolled her eyes in return.
"With any luck." Perconte replied, smirking at the two of them.
"Shit, if we could convince princess over here, she'd blow those native girls out of the water," Liebgott smirked at Charlotte and she scoffed at him, folding her arms over chest.
"I don't know whether to be flattered or if I should punch you." she shook her head, unable to hide the grin. She couldn't lie, the attention was nice, but she had to remind herself that they only felt that way because she was the only woman within a 100-mile radius.
"Both. Hell, I'll hold him down for you." Joe Toye said from across the way, and she moved to sit at the end of his bunk by his feet. "I knew I liked you," she replied, holding out a cigarette from her stash for him to take. He gladly took it, winking at her in thanks.
"Anyways, I'm glad I'm going to Europe. Hitler gets one of these right across the windpipe, Roosevelt changes Thanksgiving to Joe Toye day, and I get 10 grand a year for the rest of my fucking life." Toye grinned, holding up his pocket knife.
"Shit, you better share, Joe. 10 grand is a lot of money for one person." Charlotte laughed before standing up, grabbing onto the bunks and using them to climb up to her spot. She snagged the bed right above George's, happy to be high enough up and away from wandering hands. It wasn't her men she was worrying about though. She folded her arms over her stomach, listening to the sound of the men shouting as it lulled her to sleep.