June 6, 1944 - St. Marie-du-Mont, France
Behind Buck, Bill and Don, I push my way through the bushes. We sneak behind one of the trenches the Germans have dug and stay down. The other men are already shelling them. Suddenly Buck gestures for us to wait. He crawls forward a little and surveys the situation. Then he comes back and looks at us. He tells us with hand signals that we should throw grenades at the soldiers. So we take them out, and on Buck's call, we throw them into the ditch.
After they explode, we run over, and I see Buck running into the ditch and a wounded German lying in front of him, reaching for his gun. However, something seems to be wrong with Buck's gun. "Don!" I shout, and he notices it, too, and shoots the German, who is instantly dead. Then we hear Winters from behind and continue to make our way through the trench. We shoot at the Krauts running away, and then I hear Popeye yell out. "What the hell?" I grumble and look over for a moment. Next to me is Bill, who is watching one of the new guys from us try to shoot down a German but fails. "Jesus Christ," Bill curses and fires his assault rifle at him, causing the German to drop dead. Then he walks past the soldier. "Fucking jeep jockey," he grumbles, and I look at him, annoyed. "Cut it out, Bill!"
I also walk past the soldier, who looks at me gratefully, and I nod. I crawl over to Popeye, who is moaning in pain. "Fuck, Pop, what happened?" I ask, looking over at Toye, who is already examining him. "I'm so sorry. I fucked up," Popeye whines, and I lean over to get a better look. "Grenade!" shouts Winters then, looking at us. "Joe, Joe, roll on, roll on!" Toye throws herself forward at the last second and lands on top of me, so I'm pressed into Popeye's back, who yelps again. As Toye rises off me again, I look at him. "Something happen?" I ask quickly, and he examines himself but then shakes his head. "You are one lucky bastard, Joe," Bill now says, looking over at his friend.
"Guarnere, Malarkey, Lorraine, secure that gun!" shouts Winters then. "Compton, Stark! Covering fire." "Yes, sir!" I'm still kneeling next to Popeye, trying to locate the wound. "Where are you hit, Pop?" I hear Buck behind me. "I can't believe I fucked up. My ass, sir." "Your ass?" I then ask, and he nods. "Oh, shit." Now Winters comes back and looks at us. "Popeye, how bad is it?" "Sorry, sir, I didn't mean to fuck up. I don't think it's too bad," Popeye says, and I can't help a little grin. "Can you make it back yourself?" "I think so, sir." "Let's move out. Right, here we go." I take the helmet and push it back onto Popeye's head. "Let me get in there for a second, Liv," Buck says, and I make room for him. "Drop your weapon, Pop, drop your weapon," Buck says. "Come on! One, two, three!" They help Popeye across the ditch, and then we turn back to the Germans. Next to me, Buck drops his grenade and almost hits Toye again with it.
"Jesus Christ, fucking twice!" he curses, and I hold out my hand to him. "Come on," I say and pull him to his feet. Then I follow Buck and Winters along the ditches. "There's the second gun. Grenades first. Then keep going, go!" Winters orders, and with him, Buck and Toye, we keep running through the trench. We stop for a moment, and Winters looks at me. I nod and take out the grenade. Then we move on, and I pull the ring before throwing it into the Germans' weapons trench, where it explodes. Buck, Toye, and Winters follow me and shoot at the remaining Krauts. One of them wants to surrender and raises his hands. "Nicht schiessen!" he shouts in German. "Nicht schiessen. Ich habe keine Waffe mehr!" "Shut the fuck up!" shouts Toye, and they engage in a shouting duel until Toye loses it and hits him in the face with his brass knuckles, knocking him unconscious to the ground.
We secure the weapons and let them go off as D Company shows up and takes over another one of the weapons as well. "As soon as this one goes up, you guys pull back, yeah?" says Winters, and we nod. When it does, we pull back, and I go back to HQ with Buck.
Suddenly I feel an arm around my shoulder. "Well, how about it? Feel like something to eat?" asks Don, and I grin at him. "Always do," I laugh, and we continue walking. "Did I just hear food?" we then hear Buck behind us, standing there with Bill and Joe Toye. "Come on, gather everything we can find, and then we'll cook something good," Don grins, and we nod.
No sooner said than done. As it dims, we meet again in one of the trucks. "How exactly are we going to cook this?" asks Joe Toye. I grin and lift an old ammunition box. "That should work," Don smiles, and we climb into the truck. With us are Toye, Buck, Lip, Bill, and to my great surprise, Liebgott. "So let's see... What do you have?" Don asks, and we show off our accomplishments. "Should work," he grins at me as he sees what all we have. "I have another little surprise," I then smile and pull a bottle of whiskey out of my pocket, which earns me quiet cheers from the guys. I open the bottle and toast them. "Cheers," I grin and take a sip, passing it to Toye.
Suddenly, an unpleasant smell hits my nose. "Oh shit," I curse and hold a hand in front of my nose. "I'm sorry, but did one of you get hit and is dying inside?" I look into the eyes of the men who now smell it as well, and then my gaze lingers on Don. "Oh, come on! Don! For real now?" I laugh. "Couldn't you have held it, Malark?" Toye asks, but Don is not deterred. "If I could, Joe, I still wouldn't have done it. I'll be glad to let you in on it." "I really could have done without that," I laugh, and some guys join in.
Liebgott is surprisingly quiet the whole time. He just sits there smoking his cigarette. Occasionally I catch myself watching him, but then I quickly avert my eyes again. Why am I doing this at all? He's an ass. "Did anyone else find us?" I ask a while later. "How should we know?" asks Liebgott, and Bill rolls his eyes. "Come on, not again, okay? We've had enough fighting for one day," he says in my direction and Liebgott's. "Tell him that," I return, and Liebgott glares at me before snorting. "You're one to talk, Stark!" "Guys, this doesn't have to be now," Lip now interjects. "Whatever," Liebgott grumbles and slowly stands up. "I can't stand it in here anymore anyway." He opens the hatch and jumps off the truck. "Jesus, let me out of here."
"Light, light discipline," Buck then says, looking to Bill, who is now moving up. "Guarnere, close that flap." "Let the Krauts cook their own goddamn food," Don then says, stirring the pot again before tasting it. "How are we doing, Malark?" asks Buck. "We're doing good." "Doing good?" "What the hell do you know about cooking? You're Irish," Buck says, and I have to grin. "I've never had an Irish meal. What did you hold out on me, Don?" "Sir, if you have a reservation someplace else... You can take her with you," Don returns, and Buck grins. "Just start dishing it." "Thank you," I say as he puts some on my plate. "Don again?!" I ask as a new wave of stink comes from him. "Shit. Jesus Christ, give me some air," Bill curses and opens the flap again before closing it.
A little later, Winters comes out from behind the flap. "Evening." "Hello, sir," we reply, and Winters then backs away a bit, having probably smelled the odor as well. "Did something die in here?" he asks, and I have to grin. "Yeah, Malarkey's ass," Joe Toye replies. "Any word on Lieutenant Meehan, sir?" Buck asks, and we all perk up. "No, not yet. I exchange a look with Don. No one on the plane with Lt. Meehan has shown up yet, which probably confirms what we're all already thinking. "Don't that make you our commanding officer, sir?" asks Bill. "Yeah, it does." I take the bottle of Whiskey and nudge Joe to pass it to Winters. "Sir?" "Joe, the lieutenant, don't drink," Bill replies promptly. Winters, however, surprises us, takes the bottle, and takes a swig before coughing, making us all grin. "It's been a day of firsts. Don't you think, Guarnere?" he then asks, passing the bottle to Bill. "Yes, sir." "Carry on," he says still and is about to leave when he pauses again. "Oh, Sergeant?" "Sir?" asks Bill, "I'm not a Quaker." With those words, he disappears, and we all laugh. "If he's from Lancaster County, he's probably a Mennonite." "What's a Mennonite?" asks Joe dumbly, and I smack him on the head.
"Did it ever occur to you that maybe he just doesn't want to drink?" I then ask Bill with amusement, and he shrugs. "I just thought it might be... I mean, he stopped me when I was shooting at the Germans too." "Yeah, but you almost massacred them," Don now interjects. "So what? He didn't do anything." "What should he have done? He didn't have a weapon... Should he have thrown his boots at them?" "Oh shut up, Malarkey!" "You guys are looking at this way too tightly, however. I'd rather have Winters than Sobel a thousand times over." "Ohh, Liv, does anyone here have their eye on our CO?" asks Toye, twitching his eyebrow. "No, Liv has her eye on someone else entirely," Don interjects, and I look at him questioningly. "What? And what is it exactly that you know, and I obviously don't?" "Oh, my dear... You know exactly what I'm talking about," he grins. "Anyway... Phu Don, okay, that's enough. I'll see you guys later," I say and get up to fight my way out of the truck. "Come on, Liv, stay," Buck says, but I jump off the truck. "Sorry, Buck, but I'd like to be alive tomorrow," I grin and walk away.
For a moment, I wander around without a destination, looking for a place to spend the night. The logical explanation would typically be that I do this together with Don or Muck, but next to Don, I definitely can't stand it the whole night, and I have no idea where Muck is. So I'm just on my own.
"Hey darling, are you lost?" I suddenly hear a voice and turn around. A soldier is standing in front of me. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the Easy Company slut." I look at the face I already know. It's the soldier who hit on me in the bar more than a year ago and got punched in the face by Liebgott. "So we meet again, bitch," he continues, taking a step toward me. "Seems like it. And it also seems you still don't know the insignia. It's Sergeant Bitch to you," I say, looking down at my arm. He grins and looks at his own, where I can see the sergeant's insignia. "You bet I do." He takes a few more steps toward me and then stops right in front of me. "Well, I guess you don't have such a big mouth now, do you? Where's your oh-so-good company now?" he asks quietly and menacingly. "I don't need them to fight back... I can do that just fine on my own."
The sergeant grabs my arm and squeezes, but I push him off me. He doesn't let go of me, though, and pulls me closer so I can smell his alcohol-scented breath. "Let me go," I hiss threateningly, but he laughs. "I'll let you go when I'm done with you," he returns, but I push him again and give him a hard slap. He holds his cheek, puzzled. "You little whore," he then says and strikes me in the face with the back of his hand as well, and I fall on the floor but stand up quickly again. For a moment, he grins at me with an ugly grin. "What's going on here?" we then hear a certain voice and turn around. In front of us is Lt. Speirs. "I don't know, sir; she just hit me for no reason. I just wanted to ask her if I could help her," Stretton says quickly, but Speirs looks past him to me. "I wasn't talking to you, Sergeant; I was talking to Sergeant Stark." He walks up to me and scrutinizes my face. Then he turns back to Stretton. "Will you give me just a little explanation of why it's okay to hit a woman, Sergeant? And then your superior, too." Stretton's eyes grow big, and he looks at me again. I grab my cheek briefly and see blood on my fingertips. "I uh... I," he stammers, and Speir's eyes flash. "I'll expect you at HQ in five minutes. Do you understand me, Sergeant?" He spits the word 'sergeant' at his feet. "Yes, sir."
As Stretton departed, Speirs turns back to me. I, meanwhile, wipe the blood from my cheek. "Is everything all right?" "Yes, sir, thank you." "You shouldn't be wandering alone in the dark, Sergeant. Not all soldiers always have good intentions, especially when alcohol has been flowing." "I'm aware of that, sir. I'm actually looking for my boys." "Liv? Is that you?" we hear a voice, and I turn. "George?" I ask back, and then I see the familiar grin of George Luz. He walks up to me and takes me in his arms. "Oh, it's so good that you made it," he says and lets go of me again. "You say that? I've been here since this morning," I laugh, and then George notices Lt. Speirs. "Sir," he says quickly, and he nods. "Good evening," he says and disappears. "What's your deal with Speirs?" he asks, looking at me. "Oh, he was just helping me with something," I say as George pulls me along.
He takes me to a group of Easy men leaning against a wall. Among them are some new faces, which I greet, and some I've seen before, like Liebgott. He leans against the wall and looks up at me briefly as we approach. "What happened to your cheek?" George asks, sitting down a little further next to Liebgott and giving me a little space so I can sit down too. "What?" I ask, confused, and he grabs my cheek. "This," he says, showing me the blood stain on his finger. "Oh, that. It's nothing," I say quickly and wave it off. I wipe my cheek again and then grin at George. "What?" he asks. "I actually got this one for Don and the others, but Don is gassing everyone back in the truck, which is why..." I grin and pull out a second bottle of whiskey. "Wow, Liv. I think I love you," George says, and I slap his shoulder, laughing.
I drop down next to him, keeping a big enough distance from Liebgott because I don't feel like another comment from him, and I hold out the bottle to George. He takes it and takes a big gulp. "Jesus Christ, I didn't think I missed it that much," he says, and I chuckle. He hands me back the bottle, and I take a sip. Then I pass it to Liebgott, who looks at me in surprise. "Really?" he asks, and I nod at him with a smile. "Maybe there is something good about you, after all, Stark," he then says and accepts the bottle.
George, Liebgott, and I drink the whiskey silently for a while. At some point, I take myself out, cross my arms, and rest my head against the wall with my eyes closed. The conversations around me also fall silent more and more and become quieter. "Hey, Liv, will you move over a bit?" I hear George at some point, and half asleep, I think nothing of it and slide over a bit to Liebgott.
June 7, 1944 - St. Marie-du-Mont, France
The following day I am awakened by laughter. Slowly I open my eyes and quickly realize that I am leaning against a shoulder, and at that exact moment, I realize who must be sitting next to me. I quickly startle. Next to me, I hear Liebgott grumbling, and we both look at each other. He has probably just become aware that he had also laid his head on mine and that we slept leaning against each other. I quickly slide away from him a little. "Oh, that looked cute," I already hear the teasing voice of Don, who grins at me and then reaches out his hand to pull me to my feet. "Shut up, Don!" I hiss, averting my eyes in shame. "What? I mean it. The way you and Joe slept there snuggled up together," he continues, and I punch him in the shoulder. "Can we just drop it," I ask, annoyed. "Drop what?" interjects George. "That you and Joe were cuddling tonight? I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself." "Oh, come on, guys," I groan, rummaging in my backpack for my toothbrush. "You guys can go fuck yourselves. I'm going to go freshen up." "Why always so mean, Liv?" calls Don after me, laughing.
I walk past the HQ and make my way to the sinks that have been set up temporarily. I brush my teeth briefly and wash my face. Did I cuddle with Liebgott? Jesus Christ. No way.
When I finish and return to the boys, Don looks at me with concern. He immediately takes my face in his hands and examines my little scratch from yesterday. "What the fuck are you doing?" I ask him. "What happened here, Liv?" he asks directly, and I pull out of his grip. "Nothing," I say and want to wave off, but Don doesn't stop. "Winters was just here. He wants to talk to you about what happened last night. What the fuck happened last night, Liv? This has something to do with it, and I want to know what it is." I notice more and more of the guys looking at me, Liebgott, George, Bill, and Bull included, which is why I lower my voice. "I'll tell you later, okay?" I say and quickly turn away from him to get to Winters.
When I arrive at HQ, I see Winters discussing with Speirs. "Uh, Lieutenant Winters? You were looking for me, sir?" I clear my throat, and the two gentlemen turn to me. Lt. Nixon is also standing in the room and examines me briefly. "Oh, Liv. Yes, good that you're here. Take a seat," Winters says, and I sit down while Speirs stands next to us with his arms folded. "Did something happen, sir?" I ask Winters, and he briefly examines my face. "I was going to ask you that, Liv." There is silence for a moment. "Lieutenant Speirs reported to me that there was an incident yesterday with a sergeant from C Company. Would you like to elaborate?" I look briefly at the faces of the officers in front of me. "It's not worth mentioning, sir. Really..." I say, and I hear Speirs move next to me.
"Are you sure, Sergeant? It didn't look like it yesterday." "Please, Liv, I need you to tell me exactly what happened. We also need to know how the companies relate to each other." I think for a moment. "The son of a bitch hit you, and you're really not going to say anything?" Speirs asks, and I look up at him. "Well, for the record, I hit him first," I say. "And I'm sure there was a reason for that, right Liv? I know you, and I know you don't hit people without reason," Winters continues. "Except maybe Liebgott," Nixon interjects, chuckling. "Very well... Actually, it all started in Toccoa. We were in this bar one weekend, and he hit on me, and I asked him to leave me alone, which he didn't do. Of course, the other men overheard, and Liebgott hit him when he insulted me. I never saw him again after that. He was a private and didn't realize I was a platoon sergeant." I look around for a moment. "Yesterday, I was looking for the others and ran into him. I guess he still resented me for what happened, and well..." I explain and break off. "And then?" "He got in my way and grabbed me by the arm. I told him to let go of me. In the meantime, I noticed that he had also been promoted to sergeant. Probably he thought that now he could do whatever he wanted. He said he wouldn't let go of me until he was done with me, and I think we don't need to go further into that matter. When he wouldn't let go of me, I hit him in the face. He didn't find that funny, and then he... Well, he hit me. And then Lieutenant Speirs showed up, sir."
The officers exchange a look. "Okay, thanks, Liv. Do you want to report the incident?" "No, I don't think that's necessary, sir. After all, I wouldn't have brought it up at all." "Very well," Winters says, unhappy with my decision. "I'll talk to the C Company officer. At the very least, this worthless piece of crap should be demoted", Speirs puts in. "Do that... And Liv, I don't want you wandering by yourself anymore, understand? That's an order." "Yes, sir." "Good, carry on," Winters then says. I nod and walk out of HQ.
When I return to the men, they sit comfortably by a fountain, talking to each other. When Don sees me, he stands up and comes toward me. "Well?" he asks, and I look at him. "What?" "You know what, Liv. What happened?" I bite my lips. "I don't want a big thing made about it, Don. So just leave it..." "No, I won't. You're my best friend, Liv. I want to know if something happens to you." I shake my head in annoyance. "So?" I look at Don again. "The shithead from Toccoa, remember? The one who hit on me and which Liebgott punched?" I ask, and Don nods. "When I got out of the truck, I walked around a little to see who else found their way here. Anyway, I ran into him. He's a sergeant, too, now. I guess he didn't forget our argument and grabbed me. I don't know exactly what he finally wanted to do, but he wouldn't let go of me, and that's when I hit him. And then he hit me."
"What? That motherfucker! I'm gonna..." "Stop it! Speirs is looking to have him demoted." "Demoted? That's it?! Liv, this asshole probably would've tried to rape you, and all that happens is that he gets demoted?" "I didn't report him." "What?! Why not?" "Because I don't want a fuss over it." Don snorts angrily. "You can't be fucking serious, can you?" "The hell I am! That's exactly why, Don. Exactly because you're acting like this now! What do you think will happen when the others find out? Bill? George?! Jesus, Toye? You know exactly what they'll do!" "Yes, and that would be the right thing to do!" "No! This is my decision, Don, and I ask you to respect it!" Don grumbles and crosses his arms. I can see him grinding his jaw and how he is so not happy with my decision. "Please, Don." "Fine! I won't say anything." "Thank you," I say a little more softly now and put a hand on his arm. "But just to be clear! I won't let you out of my sight anymore." "No worries. Winters orders anyway."
"Did I miss something? Since when do you two act like an old married couple? I thought that was Liebgott's job?" we suddenly hear a voice behind us. Turning around, we see Muck and Penkala. "Skip!" I shout and jump into his arms. "We already thought you guys didn't make it," Don calls, shaking Muck's hand as I break away from him and greet Penkala. "Not gonna happen, Malark," Muck grins and smiles at us. "Jesus, that was a journey, I can tell you that." He points behind him, where Frank and a few others now appear. "We were completely in the wrong place and had to find our way. We kept running into Krauts. Unbelievable." He looks at Don and me. "And what about you guys?" "We've been here since yesterday morning," Don says. "I ran into Winters, Lipton, Guarnere, and a few others after the jump." Muck nods and then looks at me. "You can guess three times who I ran into first." "Come on. Really? Liebgott?" I nod. "Yep, and then later, we ran into Buck and some Baker Company guys and came here."
We tell Muck and Penkala what else happened and how we took out the guns in Brécourt. "Oh wow, we missed quite a bit there," Penky says, and I smile at him. "Yeah would have helped if you guys were here, but it looks like we still have to teach you how to read a map." "Shut up, Liv," Muck laughs, and we join the others. We sit down with George, Bull, Bill, and Toye. I stretch and then hold my back. "Jesus, my back is killing me already," I grumble, and George starts laughing. "Maybe you should ask Liebgott if you can sleep on him again," he jokes, and I look at him angrily. "What else did we miss? It seems you left out something important?" Muck laughs and looks at me. "Please, not again!" I grumble, and then I see Liebgott coming toward us. "Oh great..." "Why don't you ask Joe? I'm sure he can tell you," George grins and looks up at Liebgott. "What about me?" "Joe and Liv were cuddling last night," George grins. "Shut up, Luz!" say Liebgott and I simultaneously. "I'm just telling it like it was."
We chat for a while, the others occasionally teasing me and Liebgott, which he takes even less well than I do. At some point, I stop listening.