Chapter 9: The Beaches of Normandy

Hi, I'm back after two months! I am so sorry, I had very crucial finals to take and then I went on vacation. Here is the next chapter, the one you've been waiting for about D-Day, which was basically the turning point in WW2 when the Allies began to win. My battle scene is horrible, but I hope you enjoy anyway! This chapter features Finn and Puck's POVs. Please read and review! I wrote this chapter while listening to Quinn and Puck sing "Just Give Me a Reason" on repeat. :)

June 5, 1944 - England, United Kingdom

England. It had been fascinating at first for a boy who'd never traveled further than an hour away from his home smack-dab in the middle of small-town USA to visit the land of tea, the monarchy, and Big Ben. But Finn was tired of England - he was aching to fight, to do something - anything - rather than just sitting around for another day with his comrades. He had not enlisted in the army to play endless games of poker or to listen to another one of Puck's stories of how he lured another unsuspecting European nurse into his bed. Now, Finn was beginning to question why he did choose to fight for his country. He daily had to remind himself of why - for his father - but now he wondered if it was something more than that. Whatever the reason he enlisted, Finn couldn't think of it now. Anyway, he would leave Mike to ponder existential questions like that - Mike was the resident philosopher in their unit, not him.

Currently, Finn and his friends were lounging around in the dining hall eating the baked beans and bacon the camp staff had prepared for them. Puck was describing his latest conquest, a young British nurse: "I've never seen a rack as big as hers! If only you fellas had been there to touch them!" The other guys were listening attentively, which their wives and sweethearts back home would have chewed them out for. Finn shook his head; Puck was really such an entertaining character. But Finn didn't care about a random nurse; he only cared about his golden-haired, doe-eyed Quinn.

To remind himself that he had to remain faithful to Quinn, Finn pulled out a picture of her. It was from 1937, the year the high school sweethearts had wed. Quinn looked so young there, so beautiful and innocent in her ivory lace wedding dress with her blonde hair pinned up in the style of the decade. The world hadn't hardened her yet in that picture; she looked as if nothing in the world was wrong. Finn wondered what Quinn was like now, if the war and the distance between the couple had changed her the way he was sure it had changed him. His worst fear was that he would come home from the front and she'd grow apart from him and find someone else.

Sam Evans, a kindhearted native of Dayton who'd become one of Finn's closest friends, noticed his picture of Quinn. "Whoa, Hudson, who's the dame? She's a knockout!" "That's his wife", Mike answered for Finn. "Every man in his right mind in our hometown of Lima wanted to get into her pants, but instead she got saddled with this asshole!" Mike jokingly pointed at Finn, and all of the soldiers at their table laughed, even Finn. But Puck looked a little jealous and angry…or was that just Finn's imagination? Last time he talked to Puck, Puck was still hung up on Santana Lopez, the girl who'd dumped him before the war began. Puck couldn't love Quinn in a more than friendly way…right?

Captain Schuester made his way over to the Ohio boys' table. "Attention!", he barked, and they all saluted him. "Men, we're all going to hear General Eisenhower speak. He wants to discuss plans for the invasion of Normandy." The normally calm Captain Schuester seemed a bit nervous at the prospect of going into actual battle, but still he led his men out to the lawn.

General Eisenhower, the commander of the Allied forces in Europe, was much less physically impressive than Finn had expected. He stood at average height and had clear blue eyes and light brown hair. He informed the troops of what they would be doing in the morning : invading the beaches of Normandy. "You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months," Eisenhower said. "The eyes of the world are upon you."

—

June 6, 1944 - Normandy, France

Puck couldn't sleep at all that night. He kept tossing and turning in his bunk into the early hours of the morning, thinking. Thinking wasn't exactly one of Puck's strengths, but he was actually going to fight tomorrow. He couldn't tell if he was excited or scared.

In a lot of ways, he was excited to prove himself, that the loser football player who couldn't hold a steady job had finally made something of himself. Puck had been itching to fight the enemy ever since Pearl Harbor. Now, two and a half years later, he was finally getting the chance to do that. Everyone in the unit knew why Finn had joined the army: to honor his dad or some sentimental crap like that. No one ever asked Puck why he was there, maybe because unlike Finn, Puck liked to talk about girls and football and poker. Puck had enlisted in the army partly to support his family and protect them girls like Quinn and Santana from harm, just like Sam and the others had. But the other reason he had joined the army had to do with his childhood in Germany.

In a few hours, he'd be marching into battle on those French beaches with a confident swagger and his easy grin, and to the rest of the world, it would seem like he didn't have a single care in the world. The enemy soldiers would look across and see a calm, collected man instead of the frightened teenage boy they'd hoped to face. No one realized he used his smile and his reputation as a ladies' man as a mask to hide his real feelings, to hide the frightened, quiet German Jewish boy of years past that he knew would always be part of him. No one except Quinn had ever bothered to try to see the old him, the uncovered him. Maybe that's why he loved her, the girl who had been the first one to show him any kindness when his mom had moved him and his little sister, Miriam, to Lima fifteen years ago.

Puck would punch any bastard in the face who dared to call him a coward. Yes, he was (a little) scared, but he wasn't scared of pain or dying. Puck was afraid of losing his life; it was so good. He didn't want to lose his family or Finn or Mike or Quinn or girls or sex or football or alcohol or music. Hell, he didn't even want to lose Lima, which was probably the most podunk, crappiest town in the whole United States. Wait, he was starting to miss Lima? He was really going soft. Who was he, Hummel?

Puck's racing mind had finally settled down and he had drifted off to sleep when Captain Schuester woke them and told them it was time to go. Shit. He'd maybe gotten an hour of sleep, tops.

The Ohio boys ate a quick breakfast and packed their C-rations, which consisted of some kind of stew, and their D-rations, a disgusting-tasting chocolate bar. Puck hadn't thought chocolate could taste gross, but then he'd sampled the D-rations, which were only supposed to be eaten in emergencies on the battlefield. Then they boarded a ship which would take them across the English Channel to the beaches of France where they'd fight. Apparently French girls were gorgeous, so maybe Puck would get to meet some if he survived the battle. If. God help him.

—

The first thing he noticed was the water. Puck had never felt this numb and cold in his life. He was randomly reminded of studying about the Titanic in high school history classes - he had actually attended that class sometimes -, and wondered if that was what the passengers on that ship felt: nothing but the freezing, numbing water.

The next thing Puck noticed was the deafening sound of gunshots, and that sent all of his senses into overdrive. Suddenly, he and the other soldiers were just firing and firing their machine guns at the Nazi forces. He was standing next to Mike and Finn. Damn the Germans, too many of them had bullied him when he was a kid because he was Jewish for him to have any sympathy for his former countrymen.

He didn't know how long it had been when the Germans retreated. Had the U.S. won, had the Allies really done it? Puck realized Finn and Mike weren't standing next to him anymore. Puck panicked and glanced at the ground. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Finn writhing on the sandy beach, clutching his leg. "You good, man?", he asked Finn. Finn nodded, painfully. "They got me in the leg. I'll get by, Puck," he said. "I'm just going to stay here for a bit."

Puck nodded and started to look for Mike. He walked a little further along the lines and then he saw him and his heart sank. Mike Chang was lying face-up, staring blankly up at the clear blue of the French sky. No, Mike had to be all right. He couldn't be…not all right. Puck moved over toward Mike's head and started to shake him. Mike didn't respond. Puck shook his friend harder and began to cry out. "Come on, Mike, come on, Chang, wake up, you can't be dead, wake up…"

Mike couldn't be dead. Not Mike, the kindest person in their unit. The quiet one who preferred to observe rather than to converse. The smart one, the philosopher who was always asking questions. The medical school student who could dance better than anyone he knew. The boy who always tried to please his parents. The patient football player who was engaged to the bubbly, innocent Brittany Pierce. Oh, God. Mike had to make it home to Brittany, or she'd just die of a broken heart.

Puck dragged the unconscious Mike over to Finn. "Hudson, can you walk?", he asked. Finn shook his head; it seemed too much of an effort for him to speak. Puck shifted Mike's limp form over so his friend was draped over his shoulder and then he helped Finn to his feet. "Put your arm around my shoulder," he barked to Finn and the taller boy followed Puck's directions so that he formed a kind of crutch for his friend. For once Puck didn't care if anyone thought he was a homosexual for hugging his best friend. He was helping him, after all.

The awkward trio staggered for what seemed like miles over the beaches until they reached an Allied field hospital. Puck was instantly greeted by the stink of decay and the sight of the gore of battle. He just barely managed to get Finn and Mike onto makeshift cots and then he couldn't stand anymore.

Puck was so exhausted that he collapsed onto the floor and slept through the next two days.

Dun-dun-dun, a cliffhanger! What do you think will happen to Finn and Mike? Follow and review to find out! Next chapter will feature Brittany, Quinn and Santana back in Lima as their lives are changed by the battle and as they help the war effort. Bye for now!