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She was sleeping a lot longer than she wanted to, but Nelly's body needed to sleep. Waking up on her fifth day out in the middle of Normandy, she got to work. Nelly unset her trap, packed away her gear and walked up the verge and onto a road. Nelly lost track of days. She didn't pay attention to time either – Nelly ignored her watch. She moved when it was light and stopped at night. There were a few random houses she had passed along the way but didn't dare go near them in case the enemy occupied those buildings. She was saving her bullets for emergencies only. Nelly didn't know how long she'd be lost in Normandy for, so, she rationed everything. However, she finished her water – her canteen was bone-dry, much like her mouth.
She didn't take the same continuous road. However, she kept to north – as much as she could anyway. Nelly was still confident north was the right way to go. It got her to the road; it led her to that mare. And it would lead her to Easy Company – she was sure of it. Nelly had passed a few signs during her travels. None of which led her to Utah Beach or Grand Le Chemin. But she made up her mind on one particular name – Angoville-au-Plain. Nelly only picked it because it was the closest place from her current position to causeway one. And she was closest to causeway one by that point in her lonesome journey through Normandy. Nelly had figured it all out – she had pieced together how she ended up getting so lost. She landed near Sainte-Marie-Eglise. And she got chased away from that position and into a very vast forest, which took her to Picauville – that wasn't even supposed to be on the map because it was away from their objectives. That's how Nelly got so lost for so long.
Now, Nelly was following a farm road toward Liesville-Sur-Douve and from there, it was a five-mile hike to Angoville-au-Plain. Nelly's legs powered on, albeit slowly. Despite sleeping a lot at night, Nelly continued to suffer from fatigue. Her body wasn't getting enough water or food, but she couldn't do anything about that – she couldn't take care of herself properly. Nelly had no water, and she was running very low, dangerously low, on food. She had sucked the rainwater from her fatigues. And she ate two crackers a day – one in the morning, one at night. And by some miracle, Nelly could get up and do it all over again. She could walk for hours starved and dehydrated. She could ignore the insane amount of pain in her body because her will to reach Easy Company was so much stronger than anything else.
Nelly had done this before. She had walked for a long time, on the run, dying of thirst and hunger. And she survived. It was strange, all Nelly could think about was hotdogs and soda. Starving, thirsty and desperate minds conjured up images of food and liquids to gorge upon. Those images taunted Nelly to no end. They were so vivid; she wanted to eat and drink them. She wasn't sure why there was no food to eat or water to be found – Nelly guessed the shells had knocked out the plumbing and the men had eaten everything in sight. Every town and village in Normandy was a wasteland. And there was water all around Nelly but not water she could drink.
In Liesville-Sur-Douve Nelly saw the water, a church and a few houses. But no people. It was dark by the time she reached the village. Nelly thought about staying there for the night but decided against it – she wanted to reach Angoville-au-Plain. It was only five more miles and compared to what she had already walked, five miles was a walk in the park. Nelly mentally laughed at her earlier self, thinking Europe would be easier for her because she knew the area – and she might have known some of Europe, but she didn't know Normandy or France. And as she neared the end of the village, Nelly noticed the signpost had been blown up. She had no clue where to go next. Chapped and dry lips pressing together, Nelly turned west and headed that way because she was sick of going north. For three miles she walked, starving and verging on passing out due to dehydration. She wandered into a village called Des Ponts Douve. And when Nelly saw an old rundown barn, she headed inside. Shrugging off her heavy pack, Nelly leaned up against a mass of straw. There was a stench of death in the air and Nelly could hear shots being fired in the distance. She had passed many burning vehicles and charcoaled bodies during her journey to the village. Nelly was close – she had to have been.
And like most nights, Nelly brought out her radio. It was running out of battery, and she didn't have an extra battery with her to swap. Twisting a few knobs and pressing some buttons, Nelly soon found the correct channel and she then hovered the radio by her mouth.
"Gandalf...".
...
Three miles away, 2nd Battalion took the lead advance toward Carentan. With a peacetime population of about four thousand, Carentan was the largest French town in the Utah Beach sector of the Cotentin Peninsula. The town sat astride the Cherbourg/Caen/St. Lo highway as well as the Cherbourg/Paris railroad. Its distinction as a transportation hub made Carentan the main objective for the 101st Airborne now that the causeways from the beaches were open and secure. The town's fall would clear the way for a linkup between US troops now pouring ashore Utah and Omaha beaches.
Attacks for Carentan by the 101st began on the 8th of June. The Germans had blown the bridges leading into the town and set up heavily fortified roadblocks that the Americans found costly to clear. In Carentan, von der Heydte's situation was precarious at best. He was outnumbered, out of communication with his headquarters and seriously low on supplies and ammunition, thanks to Allied fighters that made German airdrops almost suicidal. On June 10th General Taylor send von der Hydte a surrender message, which the Germans rejected. So, the fighting continued.
On June 11th Easy Company re-joined 2nd Battalion, which was headed south along Nationale 13 toward Carentan. Outside the town, the Battalion swung right, across swampy fields heading toward Nationale 803, which entered Carentan to the west. It was one of the German's escape routes if they had to pull out. Their objective was an intersection leading out of town. Strayer put Easy up for the first initial attack – Fox Company to the left and Dog in reserve. However, it felt as though the men would never reach the town. Leading them to the actual town itself, was Fox Company.
Lit only by the eerie glow of burning vehicles, the flooded fields made for difficult travelling in the dark. The stench of dead flesh lingered over the field as Easy Company and 2nd Battalion stepped over contorted bodies and weaved around shattered equipment. As they plodded laboriously over marshland, the muck sucked at their boots. Passing through tangled stands of trees, units became separated and lost contact. More specifically, Fox Company became lost – they'd hear one noise and move toward that noise, at the ready to attack. In the process, they'd leave the rest of 2nd Battalion out of range. So, when they lost contact, men were ordered to stay down and set up their machine-guns, while a couple of scouts set off looking for Fox Company.
Right now, Easy was hunkered down and waiting.
Near the front, Skip sat on one knee. Hoobler and Blithe were out in the tangled trees, looking for their lost Company. It had been a long night; the men were exhausted already. Skip was lost in a world of his own, thinking about Faye and hotdogs – he missed American food.
"What the hell was that?" Just in front of Skip, were Welsh and Winters. Welsh looked over his shoulder. His eyes briefly stared at Skip before searching his men.
"What?" Winters asked.
"I thought I heard something". Welsh mumbled.
Winters huffed softly. "Don't lose it on me, Harry".
Facing his friend with a smirk, Welsh shrugged. "When have I ever had it?"
"Gandalf...".
Eyes widening, Skip dropped his weapon and lifted the hood off his musette bag. And while he brought out a hand-held radio, the two Officer's stared with raised eyebrows. He wasn't meant to have that. But Skip didn't catch their stares. He had Nelly. "Bilbo?"
...
"Bilbo?"
Eyes widening softly, Nelly nodded slowly. "Gandalf...". She whispered. "It's you".
...
Smiling and letting out a tiny, relieved laugh, Skip nodded. "Yeah, it's me. Are you okay?"
"Yeah...are you?"
"I'm – yeah, I'm great...I'm great". Skip's smile widened.
And soon, the two Officer's looked surprised.
"Is that Nelly?" Winters asked Skip quietly.
Skip nodded. "She's...she's alive, sir". His voice shook slightly. "She's alive...".
...
Nelly rubbed her forehead. "I'm...in a barn...". She told Skip quietly.
"I can't tell you where we are". Skip said, "Not exactly. But I can...hell, I'll figure something out, alright?"
"Yeah...". She whispered weakly.
...
Skip and the two Officer's frowned.
"You don't sound good, Bilbo". Skip said, "What's going on?"
She sighed into the radio before replying, "I'm just...tired, Gandalf".
"That's okay, that's fine". He assured her, "You've been walking a lot, right?"
Nelly hummed out a weak laugh. "Fucking...yeah...".
Skip smiled softly. "Hey – I'll bet you've got some stories to tell us".
"Well...yeah...". She said quietly. "I killed...a German and...".
When her voice trailed off, Skip frowned. "Bilbo? You okay?"
After a short and tense pause, Nelly replied. "And then a horse...it was bad...".
Alex quickly rushed up from the back to sit next to Skip. "Bilbo?" He said into the radio.
...
A tiny smile met Nelly's lips at the sound of Alex's voice. "Thorin...". She whispered, "You're okay".
"Are you?" Alex's voice sounded urgent.
"Yeah...just a bit tired". Nelly downplayed it for him. "It's been...well, I've walked loads...and I was hiding and...but I'm okay".
"Are you sure?" He whispered.
Smile softening, Nelly's eyes closed. "Yeah...".
"Don't say where you are". Alex said, "But you're three miles from us. We're not far from each other".
"Just...three miles?"
"That's right". Alex confirmed softly. "I could kick myself for not telling you where we're going".
"Don't...kick yourself...". Nelly frowned. "That would hurt".
...
Smiling tearfully Alex assured her, "It's a figure of speech".
Skip spoke next. "Are you safe right now?"
"Yeah". Nelly mumbled. "But like...I ran out of water...".
"When?"
"Few days ago...".
The men frowned.
"Is there anything you can drink where you are?" Skip asked.
"No...I don't...no...". Nelly faintly replied.
Sitting back on his heels, Alex ran a hand down his face. "Shit". He whispered.
"Well, you just sit tight, alright?" Skip told her gently. "Once we do this, we'll come find you".
...
Nelly knew that wasn't impossible. The entire advance couldn't stop because of one missing trooper. But she played along.
"Okay". She whispered, "You know...I didn't think it would...end like this".
"It's not 'gonna end like this". Skip promised her. And he joked lightly, "You're just thirsty, man up".
A weak smile met Nelly's lips. "I miss you...Thorin and Balin too...and our Lieutenant...".
"We miss you too, Bilbo". Skip said softly. "But we'll see each other soon".
"And Ronnie...". Nelly mumbled. And if she had tears to shed, she would have cried. Because they were only three miles away, but Nelly didn't know where. "Do you think...Lieutenant would be proud?"
"I know he is". Skip said, "He's sitting right next to me".
Nelly smiled small. "Hi, sir".
...
Winters leaned toward the radio. "Trooper, you keep safe, alright? We're 'gonna come and get you as soon as we can".
"I'm sorry...I missed the drop zone, sir". She apologised quietly.
"We all missed it, kiddo". Winters assured her. "Don't be sorry".
"I could get to you...". Nelly said, "But...I'm really tired, sir".
"That's okay". Winters said to her quietly with a frown. "You just rest, alright? We'll go to you".
A couple of shots were fired in the distance.
"Jesus". Welsh mumbled.
However, they could hear those shots through the radio as well.
Nelly was a lot closer than they thought.
"Bilbo, did you hear that?" Skip asked.
"Yeah". Nelly mumbled, "They've been...firing for ages...sounds like...it's two miles away".
"It's a lot closer to her than it is to us". Winters pointed out quietly. "I'll bet she's closer than we are to the town".
"She coloured parts of Normandy in". Skip said, "If I could just remember the colour of the town, I could tell her to go there".
"Even better". Winters mumbled while bringing out his map. "I need a raincoat and a flashlight".
...
Letting out a quiet sigh, Nelly looked up toward the high ceiling. It was dark inside the barn. Setting the radio on her lap, she brought out her flashlight and turned it on.
"Bilbo, you there?" Came Skip's voice.
Picking the radio up, she leaned back against the straw. "Yeah...still here...".
"Bring out your map".
"Okay". Nelly put the torch down before taking her notebook out of her pocket. "I've got it". She informed Skip quietly.
"Did you write down the times of each landing and objectives?"
Nelly's eyes looked over her map and she nodded. "I did".
"Good girl – well done". Skip had a smile to his voice. "Okay, listen up...can you find 0913".
Eyes scanning the area, Nelly found that time between Angoville and Dead Man's Corner. She gave herself a tiny nod. "Yeah...got it...".
"Fantastic". Skip beamed. "Okay...move all the way down...until you find hill30 and causeway".
She did that. "Okay".
"What do you see between hill30 and causeway?"
Nelly saw blue because the town coloured in blue was right by the Douve River. "Blue". She said, "I know...what it is...".
"Of course, you do". Skip said to her softly. "Because you're fucking smart – that's why".
"I'm not far...". Nelly whispered with a small frown. "But...".
"No". Skip told her almost firmly. "No buts – you can do this, Bilbo".
Giving her head a shake, she whispered. "I can't...".
There was a short pause until Alex spoke.
"Go outside". He told her softly.
"Why?" Nelly croaked.
"Because it's raining, honey".
Pushing herself off the mass of straw, Nelly weakly rose to her feet and stumbled over to the door. Opening the double doors, she stepped outside, and the rain drowned her in refreshing water. Head tilting up toward the sky, Nelly opened her mouth and drank the raindrops. A tiny laugh tumbled out of her mouth – a laugh the men could hear because her finger was still against the button. She wasn't going to die of thirst. Nelly was going to live.
Radio by her mouth, she promised them. "I'm going to find you...".
"We know". Skip said to her – voice firm and confident. "Hey – fill up that canteen, Bilbo".
With her free hand, Nelly unscrewed her canteen and raised it above her head. "I'm running out of battery, Gandalf...I hope I make it...".
Before she could get a response, the radio died.