Gosh, I can't believe it's already been three weeks since I last got around to posting a chapter! Well, it certainly has been an eventful time. I have to work from home, which is more tedious than it is convenient, and being stuck at home with my family pretty much day in, day out is not what I call having a good time.
And now I can't even go outside for a walk because I somehow managed to catch the virus, meaning I'm officially in quarantine. So now it's 10 days of not leaving the house at all for my entire family. Yay. I can already see the drama approaching.
Anyways, I should stop bothering you with my self-pity and whining and let you get on with the story :)
Every once in a while, Maxine felt a surge of gratitude for her prestigious upbringing. It had given her the invaluable skill of enduring inane prattle, filtering out the important bits and letting the rest roll off her like water on a duck's back. Still, despite her talent, the sheer pointlessness of Lt Norman Dike as a whole was slowly driving her to despair.
"And I want tight security around the company, Lt Shames", the man in question said, frowning at the beleaguered platoon leader. "Is that understood?"
Shames looked like he had a hard time containing the urge to either shrug or roll his eyes. Possibly both. "Alright."
The CO didn't seem to notice, instead continuing: "Now, Battalion S3 is planning a move, so I will probably be called away regularly."
As opposed to just gallivanting off to heaven knows where? My, what a difference that would make. Maxine was sorely tempted to giggle, but clamped down on the sarcasm bubbling inside her.
"Any questions?"
Oblivious as he was, Dike didn't realise that every single person present stared at him in that particularly dumbfounded and vaguely desperate way that just begged 'Please tell me you're joking'.
"Uh, yeah", Buck spoke up, tone dripping with incredulity. "What's the formation you want us to go for?"
If Maxine had been one to bet, she would have wagered an entire year's pay that Dike had no idea whatsoever.
He blinked, brain obviously stalling for a moment as he was caught by surprise. "At present, as per usual, but I'll clarify that with you at a later time, Lieutenant Compton", he then replied and Maxine had to applaud them all for their restraint because good God, how could anyone think this man was suited for command? And why the fuck is he always yawning?!
"Alright, I gotta make a call." With that abrupt announcement, Dike ended the meeting and strode past Lipton.
Maxine traded a look with Foley and sneezed. "So much for that."
He just offered a micro-shrug, lips pressing together. They were all thinking the same.
Sighing and sneezing again, she tucked her hands under her armpits and blinked snowflakes from her lashes.
.
They split up after a few yards, everyone heading for where they needed to be. Their platoon's foxholes, OPs, the CP. Maxine started making her way towards 2nd platoon, wanting to speak to Louise, when she heard Buck calling her name.
"Lloyd."
She turned and waited for him to catch up to her. "What is it, sir?"
He looked tense, anxious in a way she would never associate with the charismatic, boisterous man she'd first met in Aldbourne last year. "Can you believe that man?", he asked, fretful urgency flittering in his tone. "We need a leader, not an empty uniform. He should be here, strategizing, planning, reassuring, not feeding us bullshit about being needed at battalion and having to make a call."
Something fizzy and unpleasant bubbled in Maxine's stomach. "I know", she agreed with a heavy sigh. "I keep thinking about it myself. It's only a matter of time before we'll be sent to claim Foy and we'll need a water-tight plan."
"The veterans are worried. There's a lot of rumblings in the company, they're on edge."
She nodded, shivering as another gust of wind bit her cheeks. "They're smart and no amount of verbal diarrhoea can fool them", she said, quietly proud of them. "They know what a good leader is supposed to be like and they know Dike does not fit the criteria."
"It's gonna be a disaster." Buck's shoulders slumped as he raked a hand through his light curls.
Maxine's stomach tightened and she forced herself to swallow her own fears and doubts. "Not necessarily."
He frowned at her, lifting a questioning eyebrow and crossing his arms.
.
Having expected this display of disbelief, she continued: "Think about it. Easy is full of good, experienced soldiers. Each squad has at least a couple of Toccoa guys, the NCOs are all seasoned veterans."
"Doesn't help much if the CO's a useless puppet."
"Buck", Maxine said, balancing confidence, soothing and just a hint of concern in her voice. "We've managed without a proper CO before."
He countered: "Because we had Dick."
The brunette conceded the point but maintained her argument. "Yeah, at first. But look at all the replacement lieutenants we had in Holland. We made it through that, too, and some of those were nearly as useless as Dike, if we're being honest."
"Back then we had a good XO", Buck pointed out. He seemed determined to remain unnervingly pessimistic – almost defeatist.
Maxine immediately banished that thought because that would mean opening a can of worms she wasn't quite ready to deal with just yet. First, she needed to fix this apparent crisis of confidence he seemed to have. "Granted, we've lost Welsh for the time being", she allowed, "but my point still stands. We're not alone in this, Buck. We can count on our guys."
His features displayed his conflict, but she could see her words finally taking effect. "We won't have enough people left if they keep doing stupid things", he remarked, frustration now rising to become the primary emotion. "Welsh, Hoobler, Catherine…" He trailed off before suddenly fixing her with an intense look. "Don't you go doing anything stupid, you hear?", he said, tone steely and tense. "We need you."
Puzzled surprise and a sinking feeling of worry joined the hissing mixture of unease in the pit of her stomach. Maxine plastered a soft smile onto her face. "You know me, Buck."
The intensity of his gaze didn't let up. "Promise me", he pushed. "No stupid stunts."
"No stupid stunts", she echoed solemnly.
His chin jerked in a firm nod, as if warning her to break her promise. She nodded back, more subconscious reflex than anything else.
The frustration over their situation, particularly their lack of competent senior leadership, was everywhere. Maxine would have had to be blind and deaf to miss the eyerolls and annoyed frowns, the grumbles and disgusted mutters. She couldn't remember how many times she'd had to bite her tongue so she didn't voice her agreement.
In the privacy of her own mind, she could admit that she was terrified. Terrified of going into Foy with a man that was about as suited for the battlefield as a snowball in the desert. Terrified of one man's indecision costing the lives of her comrades.
And yet, on the outside, Maxine couldn't let it show. She had faith in her friends, in the Toccoa guys, her fellow platoon leaders. So that's what she held on to, what she used to soothe the rumbles and whispers.
.
Melancholy washed over her as she trudged towards the foxholes of her platoon. She missed Catherine. The Hawaiian's warm, motherly presence had always worked wonders whenever the company had been uneasy and restless. A few kind, patient bits of advice, words of reassurance that seemed to come so easily to the ranking medic, and people's smiles grew deeper, their stances relaxed and worries eased.
She saw a small group clustered around a foxhole. Luz was easy to identify by his gestures, hands in motion as he talked. Babe's red hear was equally hard to miss, shining like a beacon in this world of dulled greys and browns. Next to Babe was Johnny, the barbed snarky undertone of his voice unmistakable as he fired a retort to whatever Luz had just said. The resulting muted laughter revealed the last person to be Grant, his chuckles as warm as his friendly blue eyes.
"Hi boys", Maxine greeted them, working a smile onto her lips. "What's new?"
Luz gave her an innocent grin. "Oh you know, the usual. Shooting the breeze, betting on who's gonna replace Dike…"
She let out a sigh, the stream of air displacing a flurry of snowflakes in front of her face. Folding her long legs underneath her, she crouched down beside Johnny. "I know you're frustrated", she acknowledged, choosing her words. "Trust me, I understand."
"Yeah, you would", Chuck commented with a dry huff. "You're a saint, Max."
A brief smile flickered over her lips before she turned serious again. "You can't let anyone hear you speak like this", she urged, looking at them, searching for the flash of understanding in their expressions. "The last thing I- we need is a mutiny."
Luz shrugged, just a little too dismissive, and said: "It worked last time."
"Last time", Maxine rebutted tiredly, rubbing her forehead, "we weren't in the middle of a siege. Guys, please, we've had over a dozen different COs since Holland and we're still here. We made it under Sobel, we'll make it under Dike."
Johnny's jaw worked and there were lines of tension around his ice-shard eyes. "You expect us to believe that?", he questioned.
"Have I ever lied to you?"
He shook his head, as did Babe and Luz.
.
"No," Grant spoke up, "but all due respect, Maxine, you're a diplomat. You don't need to lie. You know exactly how to deal in half-truths and pretty words to hide the real state of things."
She smiled, not bothering to deny it and not the least bit offended. "You're right, Chuck. But telling you how far we're up shit's creek isn't going to help our situation. And the way I see it, it's not your job to worry about Dike. It's mine."
"Why, 'cause we'd get creative?", Johnny sniped, a wicked grin tucked into the corners of his frowning mouth that was almost Liebgott-esque.
"Careful, sergeant", she warned, her tone teasing and hazel eyes dancing. "No, because you are busy enough running your squads. It's my responsibility to talk tactics and figure out this mess."
With a squeeze of Johnny's shoulder, Maxine straightened, not even blinking at the loud pop her left knee gave. "Now take care boys, and no more bets on Dike, Luz."
"You got it, Lady Lloyd", he grinned.
Chuckling, she left them to their devices, finally going to seek out Louise. Battalion planned to send the sniper on a reconnaissance mission in the next few days, so Maxine wanted her to be prepared. And she also wanted to talk to her friend for a little, longing for a passionate and stimulating conversation like they've had many in the past.
After the odd, stilted exchange with Lieutenant Dike, Lipton sat in his foxhole pondering the mystery of how somebody could look at a bureaucrat and rule-book enthusiast like Norman Dike and see the ideal leader of an elite combat unit that had been in two major operations. So far, the answer continued to elude him.
He was pulled from his thoughts by the soft shuffle of paratrooper boots in the snow. "Lip?"
He looked up and offered a smile to the young squad leader, who looked worn and in desperate need of sleep.
"Mind if I stay for a while?", she asked, shifting from one foot to the other, hands buried deep in the pockets of her greatcoat.
"Sure."
Theresa dropped in beside him with a low groan that expressed the exhausted, miserably frustrated sentiment they all felt. "Thanks", she sighed. "I foisted my newbies off onto Pace and Cobb. They're alright, but I really needed a break."
Lip chuckled. "Too green?", he asked.
"I don't have the patience to deal with them right now", the brunette admitted freely. "I haven't slept in a day and I'm pretty sure I caught the same bug as everybody else."
A frown tugged at his brows and he studied her more closely. She was pale and even in the greyish light of dusk, there was a slight glaze to her eyes. "You're sick?", he asked.
"I'm sure it's just a cold, thanks to the lovely weather" – he couldn't help but feel a flash of amusement at her dry wit – "but yeah, my head feels like it's stuffed with cotton."
"Have you told the Docs?"
Her eyebrows arched slightly and she slanted him a look. "I got a shot of penicillin and an aspirin." She shrugged her shoulders. "But it's not like they can do much about it. Everyone's sick."
.
Snowflakes flurried from the darkening skies. Theresa lazily watched them drift on the wind, spinning and tumbling like tiny dancers and circus artists. Her eyelids grew heavier. The snow began to blur, flakes coalescing into whirls and wisps, think streaks of white.
She took a breath and heard herself ask: "Do you miss home, Lip?"
He treated her to a sad quirk of his mouth, too small to be called a smile. "I try not to think about it", he said, repeating what he'd told Lt Dike earlier. "And you?"
Tilting her head in a yes and no fashion, the Nebraskan rubbed her gritty, tired eyes. "I miss my family. And Nana's piano."
Her fingers twitched, itching with phantom pins and needles. It had been months since she'd had the chance to play. Some pubs in Aldbourne had had a piano and she'd always seized the opportunity to tinkle a tune or five.
Lipton hummed a thoughtful "You play well."
"Thank you. Nana taught me when I was a kid." Sadness mixed with her wistfulness. "You know, that's how I met Thomas."
It took Lip a moment to remember who 'Thomas' was before it came to him. "Your…", he began, trailing off when he didn't quite know how to put it.
Theresa nodded. "My ex-fiancé." She pulled up her knees, burrowing deeper into her coat as if trying to shield herself from the hurt his sudden decision to end their relationship had caused her, even if it was already two years in the past.
"We played together. Duetts, four hands. We were really good." A chipped smile crossed her features and she sighed. "But that doesn't matter now."
.
Their conversation continued in soft waves, each sharing memories and stories from home. Lip talked about some of the interesting guests his family's boarding house had seen. Theresa told him how her mother had taught her brother to knit since he'd been ill so much as a child.
As they talked, Theresa felt her head growing heavier and at some point, between one blink and the next, she found herself leaning against Lipton.
"Get some sleep, Reese", he said, voice quiet and warm.
She mumbled an indistinct reply, already half asleep.
Lipton didn't protest as she settled against his side, eyes slipping closed within seconds, breathing levelling out mere moments later. He pulled up the blanket that had been bunched up by his feet. He moved carefully as he covered them both with it, hoping that it wouldn't disturb the sleep Theresa so clearly needed.
His worry proved to be unfounded. All he got was a small sound of discontentment, followed by the brunette burying her face deeper into his shoulder. His lips pursed, caught midway between smile and frown. It was so easy to forget that Theresa was the second youngest of the women and only a little more than a month older than the youngest. Technically, she wasn't even allowed to drink yet.
Lip rubbed his forehead and tried not to think about it. He sent a prayer to the dark skies, closed his burning eyes and let Morpheus sweep him away into restful oblivion.