Last Time: Easy Company begins training and meets their CO.
"That which does not kill us makes us stronger." Friedrich Nietzche
Now: Rebecca struggles to win the boy's trust over.
Chapter 8 - Routines
Rebecca didn't fully expect the men to warm up to her right away. Even though Easy Company was made aware a woman would be joining their ranks, they still didn't truly accept her as one of their own yet. As far as Rebecca was concerned, she was the second disliked if not hated officer in Easy. The once godlike persona the men had for her at first soon washed away once they understood her role in the company and that she was here to stay. The men loathed the fact that they had to take orders from her and as soon as her back was turned they vexed her as they did Sobel and wished everyday for the woman to wash out.
Only having two people, both of which who were fellow officers, in her court made Rebecca feel extremely isolated. She felt the wedge that was put between her and the enlisted men dig deeper everyday. She saw the sideways glances and heard the mumbles under their breaths. Rebecca just wasn't welcomed among them. There was no admiration or respect from the company that the other officers had. Having an officers rank made her untouchable but that didn't stop Easy from ostracizing her and by that making her feel all the more unwelcome.
They saw her as an extra load to carry around and felt she slowed them down, despite making the same progress as them.
Rebecca knew that this would happen, she knew that it would take time to win the hearts and minds of the company over. For now though, she would just keep her head low and train. "Hang tough", as Dick put it. And boy would she have. Training was starting to get more and intense.
XXX
Rebecca sat at an open bench in the mess hall, quietly eating her meal of toast and whatever the heck white substance the bread was drenched in. It lacked flavor and was about as appealing as a pussing wound. Nevertheless, she ate and washed it down with a steaming hot cup of joe. Rebecca was positively exhausted. Sobel's daily routine of physical torture had her and all the men completely drained. She could only wonder how Dick and Nix were fairing.
"Morning, Becca," Nix greeted, tray in hand.
"Good morning, Becca," Dick said.
Rebecca looked up at her two fellow officers, barely able to meet their gaze. She felt like she had ten pound weights attached her eyelashes.
"Morning, gentlemen." She just managed to get out.
Nix looked down at the woman and smirked. She looked dead on her feet.
"Well, I was going to ask you how you were doing this fine morning, but I think I just got my answer." He jested placing his tray down next to hers.
Rebecca watched as the two friends situated themselves at the table and wondered how in the hell they weren't as dead she was.
"It's just a lot to adjust to, is all." She assured the two. "The training I had was nothing compared to this."
Dick picked up the salt shaker and began sprinkling the flavor over his bland food; like clockwork he then passed it Nix and did the same. It was like the two were on the same wavelength.
"You're body is going to take a little bit to get used to this new schedule. Just hang tough. It won't be long before you feel normal again," Dick said.
"Yeah, well it's also not easy when the other guys are treating me like the leper of the group."
XXX
Rebecca found herself in a normal routine, getting used to Sobel's grueling demands and learning all she could in the classroom. She began to notice that her clothes were getting baggy in some places like her thighs and bosom and tighter in others like her arms. There was no doubt she was getting into the best shape of her life. Rebecca even swore that she was getting real toned abdominal muscles. The training was hard and demanding but she could notice a difference daily in her running and her strength with the constant practice. Even hand-to-hand combat was coming slowly but surely. Rebecca knew since she was smaller than the guys she was paired up with, it would be harder for her to overpower them. But, just like running and her strength conditioning it took time and eventually came to Rebecca. She might not be physically stronger than a man, but she could use her smaller size to her advantage and could certainly move a lot faster than they could.
She even found something she actually quite enjoyed: target practice. Rebecca already knew her way around a gun thanks to weekend trips to the range with her father. It wasn't a regular occurrence and she certainly was no Annie Oakley, but with the routine practice she got at Toccoa, Rebecca was turning into quite the shooter. Of course, being a medic meant that she wouldn't carry a weapon into combat, but she still needed to learn the basics just in case she needed to defend herself. And, it didn't hurt to pass with flying colors rather than just scrape by that portion of training. Why not have as much fun as she could?
In addition to PT, classroom instruction, jumping drills, and classroom lectures, Rebecca soon started to teach first aid as well. It came as a surprise when Col. Sink asked her to help out the other officers with instruction and at first, she was nervous as all get out. But, once she dove into the textbooks they had on base, Rebecca soon discovered she had a passion for classroom instruction. First aid was a joy to teach, it's hands-on nature made it easier for the men to pick up. Being lectured at for hours often put the men to sleep so this was a good change of pace.
XXX
Despite her steadfast improvements, Rebecca was still under the close and ever scrutinizing eye of Sobel. Even though he targeted everyone, he especially liked to taunt and harass her on their daily runs up Currahee and other physical trainings. Not to mention, training was picking up a significant amount. Easy started to run the dreadful mountain in full gear and began marching twelve miles every Friday night in full pack. Plus, to add on to their daily torture, they began to drilling from a fake platform to simulate jumping out of an airplane. The amount of sprained ankles and shin splints increased as the weeks dragged on.
By the time the afternoon rolled around and Easy Company filled the classroom for instruction, Rebecca was positively exhausted. She tried her best to keep her heavy eyelids opens.
She had planned to take a quick combat snooze to refresh her before lecture during her two-hour freetime, but Sobel had other plans for the woman. He decided that instead of allowing Rebecca to actually rest during her break, he assigned her to man the aid station for the day in case of any would-be incidents during other company's PT. Rebecca reluctantly manned her post but knew this was another way for Sobel to try and break her. He was now pushing her far harder than any other man in the company.
Nevertheless, Rebecca sat in the back of the class, trying to draw the least amount of attention to herself. It would be mortifying if the instructor caught on that she was falling asleep during his lecture.
Frustration began to work it's way through her. Rebecca all of a sudden didn't understand why Sobel was being such a hardass and why the company couldn't just grow up and accept that she was apart of the company. She began to feel like she was back in high-school with a bunch of bitchy girls that wouldn't allow her into their click. She hated high-school and all the people she attended it with.
The voice of the instructor quickly snapped Rebecca out of her mind's wanderings. He must have noticed she wasn't paying attention.
"Lieutenant Clark, what is the proper way to deploy one's reserve chute in an incident where the first doesn't deploy?"
The one thing Rebecca credited herself with was that she could always seem to daydream and have a foot in on the topic at hand. She knew the answer, they went over it just five minutes ago.
"One should open the reserve shoot in the opposite direction of the wind, sir," Rebecca responded, fidgeting with her pencil.
"Very good, Lieutenant. Glad to see someone is paying attention."
The instruction officer turned back to the board and continued on.
"Fucking brown noser," she heard someone hiss under their breath.
Rebecca didn't look up from her notebook, she just rolled her eyes and continued with her notes.
After the class was over, Rebecca grabbed her things and quickly exited the building. She put her notebook under her arm and began making her way back to the barracks.
"Excuse me, Lieutenant, I think you dropped this." A soft accented voice called out behind her.
Rebecca turned around and saw a shorter man with dark hair and eyes, holding her pencil out to her.
"Oh, thank you, ah," Rebecca faltered, no knowing the man name.
"Roe, Private Eugene Roe, ma'am." He said.
Rebecca noticed his Louisiana accent and his soft smile and couldn't help but do the same.
"Nice to meet you, Eugene." She began, taking her pencil back, "I believe I recognize you from my lectures. You're always up in the front, always engaged, and the first to volunteer and ask questions. You're training to be a medic, I assume?"
"Yes, ma'am. And even if I wasn't, your lectures are the best out of the others. You're a really good teacher."
Rebecca was touched. This man actually didn't hate her and was having a full-on conversation with her.
"Well, I'm glad they're not as as boring as the one we just got out of," Rebecca joked.
"Not by a longshot."
"Well, it was a pleasure to meet you. I'm sure I'll be seeing you around, Private."
Rebecca continued to walk to the barracks to drop off her supplies on her way to dinner. She smiled to herself. This seemed like progress.
XXX
The next day, Rebecca was lining up with the rest of the company as they made their way through the obstacle course. This usually carried on until the men were about ready to puke up their lungs. However, even though Rebecca was in a terrible amount of pain, she couldn't help from worrying about the other men. Their technique was beginning to get sloppy and she feared for more sprained ankles.
She noticed the man named Luz was the first to fall victim to a rolled ankle. He was jumping through the rope squares and was about to move on when he landed on a tired ankle that simply gave out from underneath him. Luz cursed to himself as he picked himself off the ground, limping. Of course, this didn't stop him from continuing. His pride was too big to stop. Rebecca inwardly cringed as she watched Luz continue on his rolled ankle, probably only making the injury worse. It looked terribly painful to walk on.
After twenty minutes of pure hell, the company was finally allowed to stop. As they walked off the course and back to the barracks, Rebecca walked over to Luz as he fell behind the back because of his twisted ankle. She knew he was going to her attention. He was favoring his ankle as he walked away but she guessed that he wouldn't get it looked at, so she took matter into her own hands.
"Luz, let me take a look at that ankle for you," she said, approaching the man.
"Thanks, but I'm okay," Luz lied.
Rebecca rolled her eyes, not wanting to drag this conversation out any further. The longer they stood there debating over his ankle, the less time she had to shower before lunch.
"No, you're not and if you keep walking on it, you're going to make it worse. Now you can either let me take a look at it or suffer."
Luz was taken aback by her bluntless but it must have worked because he nodded and allowed Rebecca to help him to the aid station.
When the two arrived at the aid station, Rebecca helped Luz over the tall door frame and onto a cot.
The aid station was the one place Rebecca felt very familiar with. Even though it looked like a discount doctors office, being surrounded by the medicine, supplies, and medical diagrams made Rebecca feel like she was back in a hospital working again instead of training to be a soldier. It made her feel comfortable amongst the chaos of basic.
Rebecca propped Luz's ankle up for him, trying not to cause him too much pain. She walked in the back to get pre-wrap and the bandage, then she began her work. Rebecca gently removed his boot and sock and examined his ankle. By looks of the swelling and slight bruise, it was definitely sprained.
As she started to wrap it, she could tell Luz was uncomfortable by the way he gripped the table.
"Fuck, that hurts like a son of bitch." He hissed through his teeth.
"I'm sorry, I'll be done in a minute. I'll get you some aspirin for the pain and ice." Rebecca offered.
Luz grimaced and squeezed the table tighter as Rebecca finished.
"Hey, Lieutenant. Why the hell are you here? And why the hell are you being so nice. We treat you like shit and you could've already had our asses, being a lieutenant and all."
Rebecca chuckled to herself. It's amazing what someone in pain will say. And he's right. She could reprimand them for speaking about an officer in such a way, but she knew it wouldn't help things in the slightest. No one likes a rat.
"I'm here to do my job, same as you. And I don't know, Luz, maybe it's the nurse in me, but that's just the person I am. Kill em' with kindness I guess." she shrugged handing him some aspirin pills and an ice bag.
Luz sniggered. "Kill em' with kindness, huh?"
"Plus, I'm not willing to give up on you miscreants yet."
Luz knocked the pills down and leaned back on the table.
"Take it easy and check back with me tomorrow. You can stay here and ice it for a bit. I'll bring you back something from the mess."
"Thanks, Lieutenant," Luz said.
Rebecca smiled and patted him on the shoulder and began walking out the door. "Anytime."
Once she was gone and George Luz had the aid station to himself, a feeling of acceptance crept its way into his heart. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad having a dame like her in the company.
"I guess you're alright after all, Lieutenant." He whispered to himself.
- End Chapter -
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter and my revisions thus far. Please leave me a review and let me know how I'm doing or if you have any suggestions. Your guy's support is the only thing that keeps me going!
