It always amazed me, the cruelty of men. How one person could hate another for something so trivial like differences of faith or something that one cannot control like race. It wasn't until I joined the Army that I knew just how cruel those people could be. Ignorance and hate… that is what a soldier is truly up against. Hate is the enemy of all. Hate starts all wars and brings about all murders. I was not ready for the extent that one group of people would go to just because they did not share the same point of view as the others.
I hoped with everything that was in me that I would never have to see such horror again in my lifetime, that I would never see another person so hurt by another's ignorance and hate.
But hope was worthless these days.
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It was a beautiful day. I spent the morning sitting on the roof of a war-torn building, allowing the sun to soak into my skin as I enjoyed the sound of life going on around me. The shouts and laughs of men as they played and talked in the street hummed pleasantly against my eardrums. I felt more like myself then I had in months. My belly was full of food-like products, my body freshly cleaned in a warm shower… I had even managed to gain a few pounds.
I breathed in deep. The smell of spring was in the air…
But there was something else. Something familiar and sinister that kept me from completely relaxing. Something I knew, but that was so deeply buried in my mind it refused to be brought up.
"Have you seen Winters?" A heavily accented and breathless Illinois voice asked beneath me. I opened my closed eyes and crawled over to the edge of the two-story roof. My eyes locked onto the dark hair and short stature of Perconte.
"No." Someone answered back just before Perconte dashed off, yelling at people, asking them if they had seen Winters or any of the other officers. I drew my eyebrows together before sliding back up the roof. I tried to relax again, but that smell kept tickling my nose and Perco's breathless voice refused to leave me in peace. I closed my eyes once more, no longer enjoying the day, but trying to bring up the repressed memories that held the answer to the question: what was that smell?
"Benally!" Speirs voice called out, shaking me from my own head. I twisted until I could see the window that the Captain was leaning out of. His lips twitched in what I had come to recognize as amusement. "What are you doing up here?"
"Thinking." I answered automatically. That smell…
"Something you couldn't do on the ground?" He questioned. I raised an eyebrow.
"I could, but I find the threat of impending death really gets the creative juices flowing. " I felt the corners of my mouth twitch up in a similar fashion to his.
"Haven't you experienced enough impending death to last you a lifetime? "
"
"You would think, sir." I grinned. "How'd you find me, sir?" I slid over and sat cross-legged in front of the window.
His eyebrows rose, the expression on his face answering my question, suggesting that he knew I was up here the whole time. If he were any other person I would have rolled my eyes, but somehow him knowing I was up here made sense.
"Find anything good?" I nodded to the helmet full of pilfered objects that he held under one of his arms. He opened his mouth, about to answer when Lipton's voice rang out.
"Captain Speirs!" I exchanged a glance with the Easy CO, before standing up and walking over to the edge of the roof to peer down.
"He's up here, Lip!" I called and waved at the new 2nd Lieutenant. Lip looked up before dashing into the building. I turned and raised an eyebrow at the Captain who, in turn shrugged. I slowly made my way back over to the window and crouched down as a breathless Lip skidded to a halt next to Spiers.
"What's wrong?" Spiers asked.
"Sir, first platoon found… a… a…" Lip sucked in a deep breath. "Well, sir, I don't know."
"Does this have to do with Perco?" I asked. "He was looking for an officer earlier."
"Yeah," Lip nodded as the ruckus started a new down on the street. I stepped back over to the ledge to see the men had stopped what they were doing and where running around, gearing up for something as Winters yelled out orders. I turned back around to report what was happening to Speirs, only to see an empty space where his overbearing frame once stood.
"What's going on down there, Lip?" I asked as I walked over to the window and slithered in through the frame.
"I don't know Benny, but you better get with Doc and Spina. Perco says we're going to need you." With that he turned and jogged through the hall and back down the stairs.
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The truck flew through the trees. Spring had arrived early to Germany and it seemed as if the world was waking up around us, greeting the new season. It would have been almost picturesque if not for one thing.
"It's so quiet." I said to Gene who nodded, a look of apprehension marring his face. There was nothing, no sounds of animals waking up from their winter sleep, no sound of birds singing. It was as if the world went still.
We soon found out why.
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The smell hit me like a ton of bricks long before the tall barbed fence floated into my vision.
The smell.
I knew that smell.
The arid desert air gave the feeling of being locked in an oven and a strange smell tickled my nose as I stepped out of the Humvee. I held my rifle at the ready as I quickly scouted the area out. I saw no one. It was completely deserted. I noticed the buildings had multiple padlocks on each door and the windows had been covered with steel plates that were bolted in place.
I closed my eyes and swallowed hard as the memories that I had buried so deep in my mind made their way up from the depths they were locked away in.
Death. Decay. Torture.
That smell.
"Benny?" Spina nudged me. I opened my eyes and looked up at him and Roe.
"Do you smell that?" I rasped out.
"Yeah," Roe nodded.
"What is that?" Spina asked. I didn't answer. I pulled out the stethoscope that Speirs had pilfered from one of the homes and slung it around my neck. Doc gave me a questioning stare but my mind was focused ahead of me, preparing myself for the horrors to come.
Camps. They called them camps.
Camps are where children go for the summer to play and socialize with others of their own age, where laughter and songs and ghost stories were traded. It was where you went to play games, make macaroni art, and cool off in the murky lakes as the summer sun beat down on your skin.
But you add one word in front of camp and it can change that image of happiness into one of unimaginable horrors.
Concentration Camp.
The trucks rolled to a stop in front of the large barbed wire fence that was topped with vicious, razor sharp wire, waiting to tear into the delicate flesh of those it kept at bay.
It was so quiet. Like the world stopped in its tracks to mourn, silently weeping for the souls that stood staring back at us with such hope and uncertainty.
"Open it up." Speirs ordered. I jumped from the truck and pulled my med bag with me as I marched past that unassuming gate. It should have been made out of black rod-iron, curled and twisted in sinister ways, not like the gate that I crossed every summer to visit my shi'nali hastii that kept the horses at bay and signaled the beginning of a summer full of happiness and love.
I jogged over to the first man I could and checked him over. He was almost unrecognizable as a man. There was no fat to his body and his muscles were eaten away as his body cannibalized itself, fighting for survival. His eyes held such hope at seeing us… seeing me. Like I was his savior brought to him to pull him from the belly of hell. I suppose, in some twisted way, that I was his savior. I had pulled out my canteen and held it to his lip when I felt a shadow fall across me.
"Give them water, small sips only." I ordered. Gene's shadow nodded as he relayed my orders to the rest of the medics. "Hinsetzen. Ruhe. Sie sind jetzt sicher." I said in broken German, cursing myself for not paying more attention to my Oma when she insisted on teaching me her native language. The man mustered a small smile, showing me the rotting and decaying teeth that sat inside his mouth. His gums were inflamed, dried blood crusted around his teeth. Even the simple act of that small smile must have caused him so much pain. I added antibiotics and morphine to my mental list of supplies as I smiled back at him and gently placed my hand on his back. He pulled me into a tight embrace.
"Danke." He whispered into my hair. "Danke." I felt his tears as they dropped down the collar of my shirt. I gently rubbed his back. "Danke." He whispered once more before he lifted his embrace. I nodded to him and moved on to the next man, knowing my task was just beginning.
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Time started to blur together for me once more. Like Bastogne, I treated man after man, their faces mixing and melting into one emaciated body. I stop seeing their faces after a while, stopped hearing their voices. It was a coping mechanism that I was able to perfect, one that saved me from the heartache that presented itself to me over and over again as I treated each abused and starved man.
"Sergeant Benally." A voice finally broke me from my work. I looked up to find one of the new replacements standing over me, clutching his helmet in his hands and suppressing his tears.
"What is it, Private." I sighed as I wiped away the beads of sweat that found home on my brow.
"There's something you need to see, sir." He gulped.
"Sirs are reserved for officers." I grumbled. "Do you see bars, leaves, birds or stars on my chest?"
"No si-ergeant." He stuttered.
"So don't call me sir." I snapped harshly, gaining the attention of those around me but no longer caring what they thought. I was too tired, too bone weary and heartsick to deal with the emotions of some sniveling replacement. "What did you want to show me?" I motioned for the properly chastised soldier to lead me on. He jumped and spun around before leading me deeper into the camp. I followed along beside him, taking in the utter devastation as I did so until the first of many small huts came into view.
My heart dropped to my feet when I saw Luz's face as he and Bull sat crouched down in front of the small door. I stopped short, already knowing what would greet me before I even entered.
"Private." I barked causing the replacement to jump. "Get the other medics over here… now." I ordered. His hand raised towards his head as his body drew straight and stiff. I glared hard at him, stopping him before he could throw me a salute. He gulped before dropping his hand and beating a hasty retreat.
I breathed deeply, nearly choking on the smell, and turned my attention back to the hut as I steeled myself for what was to come.
"Jo." Luz's hand shot out and locked onto my wrist, forcing me to turn my attention to him. What I saw in his eyes will haunt me until the day that I die.
I had never seen him like that before. The man I knew and had come to love, the one who always had a joke and a smile playing on his lips, was replaced by a man who looked lost and confused. He looked like a man tortured by a war that was not his making, who had spent too long away from his home and had seen more horrors than anyone his age should ever have to see. "Jo… they-"
"I know." I clasped my hand over his and squeezed it tightly as I forced a smile of comfort down at him. "I know."
He swallowed hard and I gently pried off his hand. He nodded once at me as he pulled his hand back to his side and stared down at the hard packed earth. I took a deep breath and entered the structure.
The putrid air was the first thing that hit me, a smell so foul that it nearly knocked me to my knees. I closed my eyes tightly, forcing the nausea back. I heard the grunts, groans, moans, and coughs of the men before I mustered enough courage to open my eyes once more. I blinked several times before I could focus my sight to the darkness that engulfed the hut.
"My name is Jo Benally." I spoke in a voice more gentle than I had ever used before. I knew it was unlikely that any of them would understand what I was saying, but I spoke anyway, softly, reassuringly. The men quieted instantly, those that were strong enough turned their heads towards me, their eyes lighting up in a way that I didn't know was possible. They squinted their crusted eyes as they stared at my form, illuminated by the light that glowed from the open door. I unwrapped my pilfered stethoscope from my neck and walked deeper into the room.
"Don't be afraid. I'm here to help you."
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Translations :
Hinsetzen. Ruhe. Siesindjetzt sicher – Sit down. Rest (peace). You are safe now.
I have to let you all know. I have been agonizing over writing this part for some time. Everything I wrote just never seemed right, could just never to justice in the way I want it to. This is just such an emotionally charged part that I can only force myself to write it in small bits as it is draining. I hope I did alright. This will encompass a few chapter, maybe two or three more, I'm not sure yet.
Thank you to everyone who has read and added my story to their alerts. And, as always, a very special thanks goes out to those who took the time to leave me a review. EmmyMK, Kelly Belle, britt, CP2girls, Azrael's Darkest Secrets, cHoCoLaTe-RuM, activeingredient, Ashlynn, and the newest reviewers, gothique4, LittlestSweetheart, Aleciaa, narutokakashijiraiya13, and achillies-eel, you guys all rock!
britt – I know! I was as shocked as you were that I finally got an update out. Sorry again it took so long. Not a lot gets by Speirs, but he might not know anything about Jo yet. You'll just have to wait and see. ;) Luz would make a joke like that, and I have to admit, I heard him say it in my head and giggled out loud. Which was bad because I was at work when I wrote it! I'm still not telling what the pairing is going to be! Thank you for sticking with me!
LittlestSweetheart – It seems like everyone is apprehensive about reading this story. I can completely understand though. I am as apprehensive about reading a OFC join easy as the next person, that is kinda what motivated me to write this in the first place. I wanted something that was different then what everyone else has out there. I've tried to keep everything as true to real life situations as I could, that includes spending many hours talking to myself and hashing out who Jo really is. I'm very happy to know that you think she fits in with the Easy guys. I personally think that romance needs to build up slowly and not be a BAM there it is kind of thing, so that is what I am trying to go for. I just don't find that romance in the middle of war is very realistic. Sex, maybe, but not romance, there is just no time for it. Thank you so much for your review! I' glad you are enjoying the story so far!
Aleciaa – Thank you so much for your review. Roe/Jo does seem to be a popular option among all the readers, but you'll just have to wait and see what happens! I'm glad you picture Jo in your own way, that was my ultimate goal. Thanks again for the review!
activeingredient – Thank you for the review! I'm glad you like it!
Ashlynn – Sorry it took so long to get this out. I'm glad I made your day! Luz is something else! ;) Thank you, I do like my job, and it does pay the bills! Thanks so much for the review!
As for everyone else who has read the story and not reviewed, thank you for reading and please let me know what you think of this story! Good, bad, not so bad, just let me know what you like or don't and any suggestions for improvement you may have!
Please take the time to leave me a review, it is always greatly appreciated!
Amanda
Edited 8/6/17