Last Time: Easy Company begins there mission.

"The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you." - Dwight D. Eisenhower

Now: Rebecca lands in Normandy without the help of her company


Chapter 14 - Bolero

The plane was in the air for a few hours, and every minute that passed the men became that much more jittery. Guarnere, on the other hand, looked enraged as he fumbled with his rosary beads.

Rebecca noticed how some of the men twiddled their fingers, tried to smoke, or played with their crickets nervously. She was so busy looking at the other men and their nervous habits, Rebecca didn't notice her own. She had been bouncing her leg as the plane came closer to its destination. It started with a gentle jiggle, but turned into a noisy, bouncing tap.

Suddenly, Toye - who was next to her - placed his hand on Rebecca's leg in an attempt to get it to stop quivering. I'm not trying to be annoying.

Rebecca looked up at Toye and mouthed an apology. He nodded and continued with his thoughts.

Abruptly, the plane began to shake as incoming booms and explosions of artillery sounded overhead. Any man who was trying to sleep was definitely awake now.

Rebecca's stomach was doing flips. I'm going to puke up these airsickness pills. She thought.

The explosions began to get louder and louder.

Soon following the burst of artillery, the red light flashed near the door. Winters stood up and motioned for the men to get ready, stand up, hook up, and check their equipment.

Rebecca commenced her equipment check quickly, making sure her helmet was hooked and her various bags and gear were attached.

Then the men began to sound off for the equipment check. All the men in the plane checked the others gear and gave a pat and a yell to make sure.

The explosions got more heavy and intense as the plane continued towards the drop zone. Without warning, a plane was struck by artillery and burst into flames. Rebecca saw it explode and spiral to the ground. The sight made Rebecca feel sick. All those men were dead. That could be us any second now.

Suddenly, their plane was hit and began to get faster and faster and closer to the ground. All the men in their stick were jerked sideways and some fell onto the floor of the plane. Rebecca was filled with dread as the plane began hurdling faster and faster to the ground. The pungent smell of smoke and plane gas began to fill the air as the aftereffects of the explosion. Rebecca heard Skip said how they weren't going to need any "friggin' parachutes" if they continued to lose altitude.

Almost as if reading everyone's mind, the green light flashed and Winters yelled to jump.

Rebecca waited to jump and the anxiety in her hit its peak. Jumping now was a hell of a lot different than the practice jumps they were used to. This time we could die. Rebecca's mind was racing a million miles a minute.

What if my chute doesn't deploy? What if the plane gets shot down before I have a chance to jump?

What if, what if, what if?

After seeing the men before her jump, it was her turn. Without hesitation, she hurled herself out of the plane. Her body jerked as she hit the prop blast, and she felt the quick falling sensation followed by the feeling of floating.

The jump would have been exhilarating if it weren't for the gunfire and bombs exploding around her. At least I made it out the door.

Many guys didn't even get the chance. Rebecca floated to the ground and took the world in around her. The earth looked like it had been set ablaze. The sky was lit up for brief moments in time from the quick lightening that erupted from exploding bombs and the eruption of anti-aircraft guns. The ground was set on fire from the remnants of C-47's. It was a horrifying sight.

At last, Rebecca made it to the ground and tucked and rolled. She sat up on her knees and noticed her leg bag was gone. The leg bag that was sprung on them last minute with the purpose to carry more supplies, turned out to be a huge loss of equipment for most of the paratroopers dropping into Normandy. That had most of her medical supplies in it.

"Are you shitting me," Rebecca said.

Medics didn't carry sidearms, and as she looked around Rebecca noticed that no one was there to accompany her. This meant she was completely defenseless.

Realizing the situation, Rebecca began to panic. Her breath began to get labored and her heart raced.

I'm going to get picked off before I have a chance to do my job, she concluded.

Rebecca allowed her mind to spin with frustration and worries before she took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to gather herself. She did the only thing she could think of, just keep moving forward.

XXX

After walking for about an hour in the dark she finally found a road to follow. It wasn't long, however, before she voices. They were not speaking English. Rebecca stopped and crouched down, taking cover in some brush behind her. Her heart was absolutely pounding.

The voices got closer and closer until Rebecca saw two German troops walk past her hideout. It seemed as if they didn't notice her. Was she going to make it of this alive?

Just as she went to move her heel down to get some balance, a twig snapped under her boot.

Shit, shit, shit! Rebecca seethed.

Her eyes widened in horror as she heard the footfalls of the German troops stop at the sound of the branch. Rebecca placed a hand over her mouth to silence her heavy breathing. What was she going to do? She had nothing to defend herself with.

The footsteps got closer until the German crouched down to examine the bush. All Rebecca could do was look at him with absolute terror. She waited for the Kraut to alert his friend of her presence, but instead, he looked her up and down, eyeing her red cross and her obvious feminine features and backed away.

"Josef, was ist es?" His friend asked.

"Nichts, nur ein tier oder etwas."

Rebecca was stunned. He just let her go.

She waited in the bush until she could no longer hear footsteps and came out from her hiding spot. Rebecca's heart was racing. She thanked God and everything holy that she was able to make it out of that situation alive.

Knowing she had to regain her focus and continue on, Rebecca put the incident in the back of her mind and began walking through the forest.

She walked and walked, trying to orient herself. The woods eventually ended and she came upon another road. Some rustling in the bushes across from her caused Rebecca to take cover behind a road sign. She pulled out her cricket and clicked two times. After waiting, the response came back, she eased up.

Lipton and two men that Rebecca didn't recognize came out from the shrubs.

"Lieutenant Clark, that you?" Lipton asked.

Rebecca was relieved to see some friendly faces.

"Yeah, it's me," Rebecca sighed.

Lipton and the other paratroopers walked up to her.

"Glad to see you're okay," Lipton said smiling.

"You too, Lip," Rebecca said.

Rebecca glanced at the two guys from the 82nd. They looked like kids like they should be in high school.

"We'll be traveling with these two guys from the 82nd until we find the rest of Easy," Lipton explained.

Lipton, Rebecca, and the two 82nd boys walked around in the cover of brush next to a river until they heard movement coming from the bushes on the other side.

The men drew their weapons in the direction of the noise until they heard the clicks of a cricket. Lipton pulled out his and clicked back.

They jumped into the river and headed parallel to the noise.

"Who's that?" The voice asked.

The voice was familiar to Lip and Rebecca.

"Lieutenant Winters, is that you?" Lipton asked trudging through the river bank.

Lipton's group ran across the river and met up with Dick and another paratrooper she didn't know. He later introduced himself as John Hall.

Any weapon?" Dick asked.

"No sir, as soon as I hit that prop blast, so long leg bag. All I got is this knife and some TNT. These 82nd boys got their M-1's." Lipton said.

"Oh man, 82nd, where the hell are we?" The other paratrooper with Winters asked.

Dick glanced up at Rebecca and smiled. He was happy to see her safe.

"Sir, I saw a sign back thataway, said, Sainte Mere-Eglise," Lipton stated.

Dick pulled out a compass from the zipper of his pants and checked a map under a raincoat. He explained that they were seven kilometers away from the objective and said there would be a lot of walking ahead of them.

The small group began walking to the objective. Rebecca quickened her pace up to where Dick was.

"Hey, Dick. I'm glad to see you're safe" Rebecca started.

"You too."

XXX

Later Rebecca and her group met up with Toye, Guarnere, Malarkey, Popeye, and few other Easy men over by some train tracks. Rebecca didn't bother to contain her grin of relief that they were all alive and in one piece.

Rebecca walked over to the group of Easy men, relieved they had all made it. Although, she could tell something was wrong with Guarnere, immediately. He seemed angry.

"Good to see you, boys." She said to the group.

They all exchanged greetings and uniform feelings of happiness that they had survived the jump. Bill, however, just stood quietly, a grimace on his face.

The now larger group of Easy men and the stragglers made their way down the tracks. They passed over a bridge and at the sound of a carriage accompanied by German voices, began to pass under it, they stopped and readied for attack.

Winters signaled for them to get down and waited for his command to open fire. Before he could tell them to do so, Guarnere abruptly opened fire before Dick's command.

All of them, except those without weapons, opened fire on the Germans, who were yelling and screaming for their lives. After most of the men stopped, Bill was still going at it, shooting down already dead soldiers. Rebecca watched in horror as he continued to mow down the dead bodies of the German soldiers.

"That's enough, Guarnere!" Winters yelled, whipping Bill around to face him.

Bill gave him an icy look that said he wasn't a bit remorseful for what he did.

"Next time I say wait for my command, you wait for my command, Sergeant," Dick said seriously.

"Yes, sir," Guarnere said, disdain clearly in his voice.

Dawn began breaking through the sky as they made their way through a mosquito-infested swamp, Rebecca became distracted by the beauty of the sunrise. For the first time that night, she felt calm. She didn't even have time to truly process all that had happened to her, but looking at the sunrise made her feel safe. She had survived to see another beautiful morning.

Her appreciation was soon interrupted by Guarnere bitching about Winters again. He had been going off all night. His mood was honestly bringing down the whole group. Rebecca couldn't pretend not to know why he was upset. She knew it had to be about his brother. Now, though he was acting like a petulant child.

"Did you see him? He just sat there." Guarnere said.

"He didn't have a weapon, what's he gonna do, shout at 'em?" Toye replied.

"Shouts at me for killing Krauts." Guanare huffed.

"He just wanted you to wait for his command," Toye said again.

"Joe, he don't even drink."

That struck a chord with Rebecca. She was honestly sick of hearing him complain the entire night. Bill was wrong for what he did.

"Hey, Bill why don't you give it a rest, okay? I don't drink either. That makes me any less of a trooper?" Rebecca snapped.

He shut up after that.

Complete daytime befell the land as the small group of Easy Company men, Hall, and the 82nd boys found a bombed out farm. They looked in horror at the torn up bodies of dead cows and the mass destruction that surrounded the small farm. She soon discovered a dead paratrooper hanging from the tree. He was hung by his parachute strings, swinging back and forth with the gentle breeze. The private - Rebecca noted by his stripes - had a chillingly blank stare. The sight frightened her to the bone.

Lipton and the other guys started gathering supplies and Dick took the rifle off the hanging trooper.

Rebecca walked over to the hanging trooper, and cut him down from the tree. The other men watched her as she covered him with his poncho, guilt-stricken. How was it that a good paratrooper, just as good as any of them could end up going like that?

Rebecca didn't hesitate to cover up the rest of the bodies on the ground.

A plane growled loudly overhead symbolizing the start of the invasion.

"Right on time," Hall said.

"Yeah, tell that to him, Cowboy." Guarnere snapped back, gesturing to the dead trooper Rebecca was covering up on.

XXX

After walking eleven hours, the group made it to Ste. Mere Eglise, their original objective. They passed a group of German POWs that looked positively defeated. Some of the paratroopers who walked by, couldn't help themselves when it came to taunting the already beaten Germans.

Rebecca just kept walking. What was the point of kicking them when they were already down? She just wanted to find the rest Easy. When she entered the town, it took her no time at all to spot some Easy Company guys.

They were just as happy to see her as she was to see them.

"It's good to you, Becca," Liebgott said.

"I'm glad all you boys are okay. Have you seen Roe?" Rebecca asked, worrying.

"Check the aid station." Someone said.

She walked over to what looked like the aid station. It was just a haphazardly set up tent, but Rebecca knew she was in the right place, judging by the horrific smell and the line of wounded both inside and outside.

She walked in and was instantly floored by the stench of coagulated blood and other wounds. Men were lined up on stretchers set on the floor. Some conscious, others not so much. It took Rebecca a moment to remember why she was in there in the first place. She glanced around looking for her Cajun friend and spotted him next to a trooper, replacing his bandages.

"Hey, Roe. You need some help?" Rebecca asked, walking over to him.

He looked a little surprised by her sudden appearance but smiled up at her.

"Good to see you, Lieutenant. You can jump in anywhere you'd like. I'm all set over here."

Roe removed the remainder of the bandage and applied a fresh new one. "Word on the street is that Easy is going to be taking out the guns at Brecourt."

"Okay, I'm going to find the battalion surgeon and let him know we're going to need to be prepared for an influx of wounded."

Rebecca felt sick saying that. She had to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

"Battalion isn't here yet. As of right now, you're in charge."

Jesus. Rebecca thought to herself. It was time to get to work.

Rebecca spent hours with Roe and the other medics who made it, caring for the wounded and cleaning up the station. The scent of fetid wounds and flesh was still keen on her nose, but not nearly as bad as it had been. Rebecca had only stopped for a drink of water every couple of hours for minutes at a time.

The woman had been on her feet nonstop for forty-eight hours and it was beginning to weigh on her. She was exhausted but felt that she couldn't possibly stop knowing that Easy was taking Brecourt Manor that very moment.

While she continued to work, Popeye came into the tent lying on his stomach. She heard him wailing and was by his side in an instant.

"Hey, Popeye, what's going on?" Rebecca asked.

"Aw, Lieutenant, I can't believe I fucked up my ass." Popeye groused.

Rebecca didn't know if it was overtiredness but when Popeye told her about his the bullet in her, she couldn't help but laugh. Maybe it was just the way he put it.

"Aw, jeez, Pop, I didn't mean to laugh at ya but -." Rebecca burst into more laughter.

Popeye, being the lighthearted fellow he was, laughed too. Laughter was the best medicine, but he did look like he was in pain.

"Alright, Popeye let's take a look at that wound," Rebecca said wiping a tear from her eye.

The surgeon that finally arrived, took out the bullet and let Rebecca dress the wound. She took some povidone, dressed his wound, and then gave him a shot of morphine for the pain.

"Alright, Pop, we're getting you outta here," Rebecca said soothingly.

"Aw, Becca I just got here," Popeye whined.

"Well, you can't do anything with a shot up ass." Rebecca smiled at him.

Popeye resigned to this fact and nodded, letting the evac team take him away. "Hey Becca, you should know, I was the only casualty from Easy at Brecourt today."

Those were the most marvelous words she heard all day. Rebecca felt as if a colossal burden had arisen from her shoulders. She let out a sigh and smiled as Popeye left the tent.

XXX

Rebecca emerged from the tent and took in a deep breath of fresh air. She made her way over to a water spout and cleaned the caked on blood from her hands and fingernails. Rebecca looked down at herself, cringing at her putrid OD's. There was really nothing that could be done for now.

She worked on some of the routine casualties outside of the tent when she the men who went to Brecourt came back. The goofiest smile made its way onto her face as she stood up to meet the guys.

"You might wanna check Malarkey for brain damage the way he ran out in the battle for that luger, Becca." Guarnere chuckled.

Rebecca laughed, hoping he wasn't serious. When they all settled in, Rebecca went to where battalion was set up, looking for Nix and Dick.

"Hey, guys." She said meandering over to them.

"Hey, kid! Glad to see you're okay!" Nix exclaimed.

"How have you been?" Dick asked.

Rebecca sighed. "Very busy. Luckily Popeye told me he was the only casualty."

"Brecourt was a success, especially so, thanks to Dick. He found some German intelligence that I just turned into battalion." Nix said.

"Great, so now what's next? Any sign of Meehan?" Rebecca inquired.

"No, not yet. We're going to be taking the town of Coup De Ville later on tonight. I suggest you get some rest before we move out."

Rebecca knew that left Dick in charge. She wasn't too hopeful Meehan had made it if he hadn't shown up yet. She was wanted to go back to the aid station and wait to see if the man would show up, but Dick advised against it, knowing the nurse had been up for far too long.

"Don't worry, we'll wake you up if someone as much as stubs their tow." Nix chuckled.

"You better." She grunted, going to find somewhere to rest.

XXX

When Rebecca woke up, it was dark out. She felt rested but already a sense of uneasiness overtook her as she heard the sound of artillery and firefight in the distance. She left the tent she fell asleep in and began walking around and looking for some familiar faces.

In no time at all, she found Dick walking around fidgeting with a can of food.

"Hey, what's a guy like you doing in a dump like this?"

Dick turned around to see Rebecca making her way over to him.

"What's up?"

"Uh, nothing. I just wanted to find a familiar face and your mug was the first I found." Rebecca laughed.

Her smile faded when she saw Dick's less than amused reaction to her joke. Something was wrong.

"Are you okay, Dick?"

"Well, I lost a man today." He said still fumbling with the dinner version of a K ration, trying to open it.

"What? Popeye told me you guys had no casualties."

She hadn't noticed anyone who had been in the assault missing, besides Popeye. Rebecca couldn't have forgotten about anyone.

"It was Hall from Able Company," Dick said.

Rebecca was a little relieved to hear it wasn't an Easy guy but felt sorry nonetheless.

"He was a good man." Dick then scoffed. "Man. He wasn't even old enough to buy a beer."

This was his first loss under his command. She didn't really know what else to say. She had no idea how the guilt and pain that must be accompanied with losing a man under command must feel. trying to offer some means of support she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It shouldn't have been him. Hall shouldn't even have been there. He asked to go and I let him."

"Don't blame yourself. It's war. This is the reality we live in now."

"I just need some time to think. To pray." Dick said.

"Okay."

He left, leaving Rebecca on the street side only with her thoughts. At that moment she wondered how long the war would last if she would be able to do her job, and how she would cope if she failed. Rebecca knew that casualties were unavoidable and so she looked up at the sky and asked God to help her through the toughest of times and help her accept the things she couldn't change.


A/N: Do you guys ever just hate your writing? that's how I feel right now. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, please let me know how I'm doing. Hopefully, I'll be able to provide more stuff for you guys. :3