Last Time: Rebecca arrives at Toccoa.

"If you treat people right they'll treat you right... Ninety percent of the time." - FDR

Now: Rebecca meets a new face.


Chapter 6 - A New Friend

Rebecca walked towards the officers mess hall with butterflies practically gnawing at her stomach. She wasn't quite sure if the hunger made this feeling worse, however, all she knew was that she had to face her fellow men eventually, prolonging the inevitable was pointless.

Gravel from the pathway crunched under her new boots as Rebecca continued her way to the mess hall. As the small wooden hut got closer, she couldn't help but wonder what the men were going to think of her, a woman, seemingly invading their territory. Men had impossibly fragile egos and she had no idea how they would take to her presence.

Finally approaching the door entrance to the mess hall, Rebecca took a deep breath, calming her nerves and steeling herself.

She opened the door and resolutely stepped inside. Rebecca glanced around and met the eyes of a few of her new colleagues. Some looked a bit surprised but must have noticed that she exuded the army persona. There was a look, a stature, and a attitude that one soldier to another recognized. And, just like that, they went back to their meals unperturbed by the woman.

Rebecca got in line for food, grabbing a tray, a plate, and some digging tools from the stack, placing it on the counter and waited for the slop to appear. The cooks looked unphased, just trying to get through their shift so they could retire for the evening. One cook working the line slapped a piece of thick white bread on her plate, then drenched it in a creamy meat sauce, and finished his work by giving her a side of dried out peas.

Army food, Rebecca thought, Always five star, even in the Airborne.

With a tray in hand she stepped to the watercooler and poured a tall glass for herself. A nice cold glass of water was in order after enduring the hot Georgian sun.

Rebecca glanced around the hall. Now,to find a seat. Nothing was more awkward and embarrassing than standing around looking for an empty spot. It made it painfully obvious that she had nowhere to go. She hastily scanned the room again and by the grace of God, honed in on a seemingly open seat next to a dark-haired gentleman sitting across from a redhead, perhaps Dick.

She made a beeline over and was spot-on in assuming it was Dick Winters sitting with another fella, chumming it up. Catching eyes with him, she smiled.

"May I sit with you, gentlemen?"

Dick politely covered his full mouth with a napkin. "Of course, Rebecca."

Rebecca sighed in relief and placed her tray in the vacant spot.

"Rebecca, I'd like you to meet Lieutenant Lewis Nixon, Commander of second platoon and my good friend." Dick said, extending a hand out to Nixon. "Nix, this is our newest recruit, Lieutenant Rebecca Clark. She'll be one of medics in the field and will oversee all medical affairs of Easy Company."

Lewis Nixon was very handsome with dark hair, eyes, sharp features to match. He looked at Rebecca with a smirk and presented a hand to shake.

"Nice to meet you. I have to say, I didn't think they were serious when they told us a woman would be joining up."

Rebecca shook his hand and quipped, "Well, they figured they needed a woman to straighten things out over there."

Nixon looked a little a surprised by the comment, but smiled and chuckled all the same. "A sense of humor, I like it."

Rebecca was pleasantly surprised at how well she got along with Nix. He was a stark contrast from Dick's straight-laced attitude and they balanced each other off very well. Nix was as smart as a whip an made perfect sense that he was an intelligence officer. Rebecca found it fascinating that they both met in OCS at Fort Benning and followed one another to the Paratroopers. Dick and Nix's friendship very much reminded Rebecca of her's and Michelle's: both total opposites but complementing one another perfectly.

"So," Nix continued, shoving another spoon-full of grub into his mouth, "what made you decide to join up, anyhow?"

Rebecca glanced down at her meal. She wasn't quite sure yet if she was willing to disclose such personal details with the two. After all, they had just met each other today. Taking a sip from her glass, Rebecca elected to tell a quick white lie.

"For the experience; I couldn't see myself stuck in a hospital somewhere in England when the action was elsewhere. I love the trauma aspect of nursing, being able to test your quick thinking on life or death situations."

Nix put his spoon down. "I meant why did you join the army in general?"

"Oh, that," Rebecca frowned. "I needed an escape from my boring homelife. I wanted to pursue a different kind of nursing career. Rhode Island was too boring and small for me. Plus, they needed the help anyways."

It was true. She did need to escape her homelife but for different reasons than she was alluding to, and Rhode Island was too small for her.

"Fair enough." He replied.

"That's a noble thing to do. Especially since no one forced you to join," Dick joined in.

Rebecca wasn't exactly sure she saw it that way.

"Tomorrow should be a fun day for you, Rebecca. You get to meet our CO, Sobel," Nix said sarcasm lacing every word.

"Yeah, I'm not holing out any hope he going to pleased about a woman joining his ranks."

Both Nix and Dick glanced at each other.

"Oh, trust me. He'll treat you just as poorly as any of us. Besides, he knew this would happen sooner or later. All this," Nix waved his arm around, "the paratroops is an experiment and I don't think anyone can afford to be upset when they bring in new subjects when they're ones themselves."

Rebecca smiled at that sentiment even though he just called her a test subject. But nevertheless, it made her slowly begin to feel like she belonged here.

XXX

Rebecca, Nix, and Dick finished their meals, headed out of the mess hall, and to the barracks.

Exhaustion suddenly hit Rebecca like a freight train going at full speed. It had been a long day. She decided it would be a good time to retire for the night in order to be well rested for formation tomorrow.

Rebecca felt nerves hit her as she thought about the start of her training as a paratrooper, but sleep soon overtook her as she undressed and slipped into bed. She would had no other choice but to deal with it tomorrow.

- End Chapter -


A/N: I'm Sorry this chapter is so small and my posting is super inconsistent. I have a lot going on at the moment and I'm starting my second semester of college and unfortunately, writing gets put on the back burner. I'm trying to work on this as best I can and I promise I'll finish this flaming hot garbage, train-wreck story. Leave a comment and a favorite for more trash similar to this!