Last Time: Easy Company successfully takes the town of Carentan and fights the Battle of Bloody Gulch.

"Give the ones the love wings to fly, roots to come back, and reason to stay." - Dalai Lama

Now: Easy Company pulls out and arrives at Utah Beach.


Chapter 16 - Utah

Rebecca knew what was to be expected when Easy Company arrived at the field camp. When they got to the beach and the stench of dead bodies hit her nose and the noses of Easy Company, she still wasn't prepared for how bad it was.

Rebecca just wanted to eat a decent meal and take a shower.

The Army issued K-rations were disgusting enough to invoke actual longing for the slop they'd been served back at Toccoa. For one thing, at least that food had been hot. The crackers were stale and the canned food – always swimming in juice to keep the mystery meat from spoiling – tasted more like dog food than what was printed on the label. There was no telling how long K-rations had been sitting around in a storeroom somewhere. Rebecca would bet money that despite the jaunty "Fresh!" advertised by the wrappers some of the rations were left over from the last war. Especially since, more often than not, she was being hounded for the pills to quell rampant diarrhea from these "Fresh!" rations, that is when she wasn't using them for herself."

While she'd been busy fighting the Krauts it had been easy to ignore how filthy she was. After a while, the smell of sweat and dirt had become normal. If anyone noticed anymore, no one mentioned it. The thought of a shower and the knowledge that the last time she'd been clean was over a month ago in England made Rebecca feel squalid, and her skin crawl.

Rebecca jumped off the truck that had transported them to the beach and was headed with the rest of the company towards the showers.

Alas, she never got the chance. Roe found her first.

"Lieutenant," Roe said, "They need us at the aid station." A shower would have to wait.

When the two arrived at the aid station, Rebecca saw the horror of what had taken place on the beaches of Normandy just one month earlier.

Army rangers who had just taken the beach one month earlier were continuing with the invasion of France. The injured, however, were left behind on the beach to suffer.

The aid station was a large green tent with cots set up side by side like most ERs were. However, it was similar to being inside of a slaughterhouse.

The wounded who remained in the aid station had injuries so gruesome.

As soon as Rebecca pulled back the flap to enter the aid station, she was met with the staggering smells and sights of the remaining injured.

The putrid stench of flesh and infection assaulted her nose, causing Rebecca to gag. The smell that she first encountered on the beach was nothing compared to the scent of the dead and dying she smelt entering the tiny aid station.

There were men with multiple amputations that were still not stable, victims with burns so deep that bones could be seen under their black flesh, and infection from varying injuries was found in almost every soldier.

Infections were so bad that pus had to be drained from wounds almost every hour.

The lack of supplies made the situation that direr. Antibiotics for infections, plasma, proper disinfectants, bandages, and painkillers were seriously lacking making Rebecca's and all medical personnel's job much harder and frustrating.

Instead of trying to process the carnage and allow it to affect her, Rebecca rolled up her sleeves and got to work with Roe at her side.

Rebecca began by checking each wound of her assigned men for infection. If the wound looked halfway decent she would clean it off and replace the bandage. If the wound was infected she would administer whatever antibiotics, frugally, depending on how bad it was, thoroughly clean the wound, redress it, and repeat.

She also tried to clean up the aid station to make the area a little more comfortable for the men who had no choice but to stay there and endure the disgusting conditions.

Rebecca was in the process of disposing of bandages and cleaning up the area when she heard the moaning of a young private who had a pretty infected bullet wound in his shoulder.

She put down the bucket of blood-soaked bandages and approached the young ranger's bed.

"How are you doing?" She asked, checking the wound.

The private didn't respond.

"Do you need something for the pain?" Rebecca asked again.

"All my buddies…" he began, tears beginning to well in his eyes.

"All my buddies are gone." He said breaking down.

His body wracked as he broke down in front of Rebecca.

She swiftly took the young private and wrapped him into her arms as he sat up and sobbed.

Rebecca felt her heartbreak and all she could do at that moment was let him cry. His head was buried in her chest, and Rebecca rubbed soothing circles on his back.

She was at a loss of words. Rebecca had no idea how to console this young man. Any attempt to try and comfort him seemed inadequate for the pain he was feeling.

Roe who was at the opposite end of the aid station saw this confrontation and approached Rebecca.

The ranger soon let go of her and Rebecca gently laid him back down on his cot.

Roe came up to her and the two exchanged brief looks of shock from what had just happened.

"I finished with my guys so I'm gonna head out now. Is that alright with you?"

"Yeah, of course. I'm not quite done yet so I'll see you later. Go get some food, a shower, and cop a few." Rebecca ordered.

Roe nodded his head and exited the aid station.

Pretty soon, many of the men began confiding in Rebecca as she walked around and tended to them. She was horrified. What the rangers experienced was unlike anything she had on D-Day. Rebecca spent the whole day taking care of her patient's physical and mental injuries.

Eventually, Rebecca realized she needed to catch her breath. She left the tent and put her arms over her head, sucked in the sour air, and let the pain and torture she experienced in the aid station hit her.

How am I going to do this for the rest of the war?

In the spur of the moment, memories of all the wounded and dying men from every battle and aid station she'd stumbled upon flooded her subconscious.

Rebecca's blood ran cold and her heart raced. Her breathing became more labored and her chest hurt.

She felt her hands tremble as fear, guilt, and sadness took over her body. Rebecca began to breathe deep and try to calm herself.

After a moment she calmed herself down, Rebecca quickly cleaned herself up and prepared to go back in.

Just as she was bracing herself to go back in, Roe found her.

"Lieutenant, you're still here?" Roe asked.

She was so wrapped up with her duties in the aid station she hadn't even realized that it was now late afternoon and Roe left hours ago.

She was taken aback by just how long she was really in there for. "Sorry, Gene, I just got caught up." She managed to croak out.

Rebecca noticed Roe had been showered, had a fresh uniform, and looked a little less tired than when she last saw him.

"I-I'm done now, I think I'm gonna go catch some sleep."

She quickly went back into the aid station, grabbed her belongings, and staggered out onto the open field to find a place to sleep.

Rebecca had thought she knew exhaustion from her countless hours studying in nursing school or making rounds at the hospital in the late hours of the night. But that had been completely turned up on its head after her first month in Normandy.

Sleep was often sacrificed when men needed attending to, and Rebecca began running on nothing but coffee and sheer determination to keep awake.

When she did manage to find some time to hit the racks, it was only for a few minutes or an hour before she was awoken to move out again or take care of someone else. That had gone on for a month, Rebecca was sleep deprived.

She finally found the barracks, found the first open rack, laid down, and slept not even caring about how filthy or hungry she was.

As soon as her head hit the pillow she found a solemn sleep, the kind of sleep that's so deep you wake up not knowing what day it is. That was the kind of sleep Rebecca desperately needed, and by some miracle got.

Rebecca woke up with a start, yanked from sleep by Guarnere.

"Lieutenant Clarke, come on, it's time for chow."

Rebecca glanced around the barrack and noticed how the sun flooded in. It must be morning. She rubbed her eyes and swung her legs over the bed.

"What time is it?" Rebecca groaned.

Guarnere rolled up his sleeve and glanced at his watch. "Seven AM, you gotta get moving. We're going back to Aldbourne."

Rebecca didn't know which news was better: that they were pulling out or the fact that she had slept from late afternoon until seven the next morning.

"Okay, okay, I'm up. Let's get some chow before we move out. I'm starving." Rebecca said.

The two arrived at the mess tent and got in line. Rebecca couldn't have cared less what the food was, she was just glad to have something hot in her stomach. She sat down with Bill. Toye, Perconte, Malarkey, Luz, and few other guys joined them.

"Hey, Becca, we haven't seen you since we got here! What's going on?" Perconte asked.

"Oh, you know, playing nurse as always," Rebecca said sipping her coffee. She looked down at her plate and shoveled some of the gruel into her mouth and dipped some of the Wonder Bread in it. It was bland but it was a five-star meal compared to the canned food she was used to.

"What's the matter, not enjoying your tropical beach vacation?" Malarkey said.

Rebecca scoffed. "These beaches have nothing on the ones back in Rhode Island," she said. Despite being a small state, Rhode Island had gorgeous beaches. It only took about forty minutes to get to Sand Hill Cove.

"You're from Rhode Island?" Luz quickly piped up.

"Born and raised." Rebecca realized she had never really talked about her home life to anyone, she knew more about the guys than they knew about her.

"Holy shit! Where from?" Luz said getting excited and slamming his mug on the table.

Rebecca laughed, "Warwick, how about you?"

Luz quickly struck up a conversation all about their home lives. The two didn't even realize they were the only two left at the table.

"Can you believe it? Two people from the same tiny ass state, the same damn city, and now we're in the same company fighting the same damn war." Luz said chuckling to himself.

Rebecca smiled into her coffee and was about to add a comment when Nixon approached the two. "Hey, Becca, I hate to interrupt, but we're moving out soon and we need an extra officer to help round the guys up."

It often slipped Rebecca's mind that while she was parading around as the company nurse, she was an officer too. Rebecca sighed.

"Alright, Lew, I'll be there. See ya later, Luz," Rebecca smiled to him as she got up from the table, policing her area.

XXX

Rebecca and the rest of Easy were thrilled to be back in Aldbourne. The month they had off the front lines lost its luster, after all their seven day passes expired.

Many men, Rebecca included, had spent their leave in London enjoying time away from the hell of war. But as soon as their much-needed passes expired, it was back to the hell of training and preparation for the next jump.

Easy Company partook in long marches, runs, vigorous obstacle courses, and more classroom instruction. It was like being back at Toccoa except they didn't have to worry about Sobel making life worse. Winters was now the Company CO, promoted to captain for his leadership in the battle of Brecourt, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. That made the grueling training a little easier.

Rebecca had noticed with Winters's promotion, she saw less and less of him. It didn't really seem to bother Rebecca during the day, because she was busy herself, but when weekends came around she found herself spending more time with the NCO's and enlisted guys than Dick and Lewis.

One day, while Rebecca was teaching a class to the new medics, she saw Dick pop his head into the class and take a seat. She didn't make too much of a fuss about it and continued teaching. When the class ended everyone filed out but Dick. Rebecca started her descent from the front of the class.

Rebecca eyed him curiously and approached him. "Hey, Dick, what's up?"

"I have some good news."

Rebecca raised her eyebrow. The only news that she thought would be worthy enough of good would be Hitler surrendered and they could go home.

Dick pulled something from his pocket. "Colonel Sink has seen it fit to promote you." He handed her a set of captain's bars.

"I don't understand. Why?" Rebecca said as Dick began unpinning her lieutenant's bars and pinning on the new ones.

"He asked me if I felt as if any of the NCO's or officers deserved to be promoted along with me and I thought you did."

Dick must have seen the confusion on Rebecca's face because he continued.

"Becca, you've proven to be a fine nurse. You look out for the men and you're a fine paratrooper."

Rebecca's confusion melted to pride. "Thank you, Dick."

"See you around," Dick said before leaving.

Rebecca watched as Dick left. She walked back to the front of the classroom and began packing up her belongings.

XXX

Weeks passed and the leave from combat the men of Easy Company had gotten accustomed to was quickly ending. The thought of going back to combat was looming over all their heads as the days went by. Along with the sudden onslaught of replacements, some of the wounded returned too. It was a good reason to celebrate and be dressed up.

Rebecca was sitting with Martin, Luz, and Skip, enjoying a hot meal and the company of her friends in the barn gone mess hall.

Abruptly, the room quieted as hushes were heard all around. Smokey, who had returned from the hospital, began to recite what happened the night Tab got stabbed by Smith.

Rebecca remembered that night explicitly.

Though she remembered the incident less fondly. she still found herself chuckling as Smokey stood in front of everyone with one crutch reciting the night of the bayonet.

As soon as Smokey finished his poem, the lull of conversation continued. "So, Captain," Guarnere began.

"We were wondering if we're gonna see any more of you since you're a big ole hotshot now," Guarnere said laughing.

Many of the guys had been given Rebecca a hard time for being promoted to captain. It wasn't in a bullying way, more of a friendly, teasing kind of a way.

Rebecca rolled her eyes at Guarnere's jab at her newly acquired rank.

"You know, just cause we're friends doesn't mean I can't write you up for a court-martial for mouthing off to a superior officer," Rebecca said with a smirk.

The entire table broke out into wallops and smacked Bill on the shoulder. Rebecca was beginning to get good at sniping back at the boy's offhand comments.

"And to answer your question, no. I'm still the Company nurse so you haven't got rid of me that easy."

Luz patted Rebecca on the back. "Let's keep it like that, huh?"

With the end of their conversation, they all refocused on Smokey again as he finished his poem.

Without warning, Guarnere put a hand on the chest of a redheaded replacement. Rebecca figured, knowing Bill, he was either gonna start a fight or make a friend.

"You, Heffron?" Bill asked.

"Yeah," The replacement said, looking down at the hand on his chest and then back at Bill.

"Where you from?"

Hearing this, Rebecca knew he meant no harm and went back down to her food.

"Who's askin'?" Heffron demanded, still confused.

"From Philadelphia?" Guarnere asked, hand still on Heffron's chest.

"South Philly, yeah." Heffron's friends began shifting, assessing the situation.

Rebecca at this point was sure it was nothing, but new replacements who weren't accustomed to Bill's behavior were probably thinking their buddy was in trouble.

"Ah, I could tell. Seventeenth Street." Guarnere said as if stating that information meant something.

The bitter glare Heffron had on his face melted away in a smile. "Front Street!" Heffron said holding out his hand for Bill to shake.

Bill welcomed the young redhead, who liked to be called Babe, with surprisingly open arms considering he was a replacement. He had the same South Philly accent Bill had and was almost like a carbon copy of the fiery Italian Rebecca knew and loved. Babe was a very friendly character who took to Rebecca well.

After Bill and Babe were done with their conversation about home and talking about the local nutjobs, Babe switched over to Rebecca.

"So, you're the dame captain everyone's been talking about? I've heard so much, it's kinda hard to pick out what's true and what ain't."

The smiles at the table faded. Rebecca didn't particularly care what some new replacements or other company guys thought of her so much anymore. But that didn't stop the Toccoa guys from caring.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Luz snapped.

Babe was very aware that he was treading on thin ice now. His smile faded, as he felt daggers beating down on him.

Before Babe had a chance to rectify his mistake, Bill held up a hand.

"Listen here, Babe, you ain't gotta listen to nothing or nobody here concerning Becca unless it's from one of us or her. You understandn' me?" Bill said.

Rebecca felt sheepish. I had no idea the guys felt so protective of me.

Babe nodded his head and his attention was brought back to Smokey again, as he presented Tab with a Purple Heart. The whole barn erupted into cheers and whistles making it the perfect way to clear the awkward atmosphere that had surrounded Rebecca's table.

Rebecca scanned the faces around the room and saw the distressed look Lipton was sporting. Lipton didn't seem to notice Rebecca watching, as he stood up in front of the room.

"Couple of announcements, men. First, listen up," Lipton began.

The room got quiet as hushes were heard around the barn.

"The training exercise scheduled for 2200 has been canceled."

The barn erupted with the roar of applause and cheering, but Rebecca wasn't clapping. She knew, judging by the look on his face that it wasn't all good news.

"Secondly," Lipton said holding up a hand to stop the premature celebrations. "All passes are hereby revoked." The moans and groans began venting in the air. "We're heading back to France. So, pack up all your gear. We will not be returning to England, boys. Anyone who has not made out a will, go to the supply office."

This sounds pretty serious, Rebecca thought. It was disheartening seeing all the now depressed looks on the faces of Easy Company.

"The trucks depart from Membury at 0700. As you were," Lipton finished and walked off.

Poor Lipton. It must stink being the bearer of bad news.

The conversations continued, but not to the same degree as before. The dark storm cloud of war was looming over their heads once again.

Unexpectedly, Malarkey approached their table to talk to Skip.

"Hey, Skip, I'm heading over to Mrs. Lamb to pick up my laundry. Wanna come?" Don asked.

"Nah, I think I'm gonna sit here for a bit and enjoy the last few moments civilization has left to offer me," Skip joked, half-heartedly.

Malarkey nodded his head, a little disappointed in his friend's response. He began to walk away

Before Malarkey had a chance to make it out of the barn, Rebecca piped up. "I'll go with ya, Malark," She said.

Don broke into one of his characteristically warm smiles. He nodded and continued to walk with Rebecca at his heels.

XXX

"Hello?" Malarkey said as the two ducked into the small cottage. Both Rebecca and Malarkey took off their side caps and tucked them into their belts.

Rebecca had only been to Mrs. Lamb's once, but she loved the small makeshift laundromat that obviously also served as Mrs. Lamb's home. It was small but had character and reminded Rebecca of the small beach view cottages on Nantucket.

"Hello?" Malarkey said again when no one answered.

The middle-aged women rounded the corner and wiped her hands on her apron before shaking hands with the two.

"Good morning Mrs. Lamb. Um, sorry to bother you so early."

"That's alright, Private ah—."

"Malarkey," Don answered.

Rebecca also held out her hand to shake. "Captain Clark, ma'am," she introduced herself with a smile.

Mrs. Lamb returned the smile. "Come in."

"Actually, it's Sergeant Malarkey now ma'am. I just got promoted."

"Oh, lovely," Mrs. Lamb said with another warm smile.

Rebecca looked around the cottage for a brief moment and noticed a little girl - maybe twelve - ironing some uniforms. She must have been Mrs. Lamb's daughter. The girl looked so sweet and innocent. She noticed Rebecca staring and gave a quick smile before going back to work.

"I expect you'll be wanting your laundry. I heard the trucks rumbling by all night," Mrs. Lamb said.

"You too, dear?" she asked Rebecca.

"Yes, please, ma'am," Rebecca said.

"I guess the Yanks must be on their way off again," Mrs. Lamb inquired.

"Yes, ma'am," The two answered in unison.

"Looks like for good this time," Malarkey added.

Hearing Malarkey's statement made her feel even worse about going back to the hell of combat. She tried to not to dwell on how many men they would lose this time around. Easy had gotten lucky on D-Day and at Carentan, but that luck wouldn't last forever.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Mrs. Lamb said, jerking Rebecca out of her somber thoughts.

Mrs. Lamb reached down and pulled Malarkey's laundry package off the shelf and on a table. "Er, two shirts, two pairs of trousers, light starch. Two Bob and Tuppence please."

Malarkey pulled out his change and had no idea what "Bob and Tuppence" were so he just held out his hand for Mrs. Lamb to take what she was owed.

"Thank you." She smiled.

"And for you, love, two shirts, two pairs of trousers, no starch. Two Bob and Tuppence for you as well." Mrs. Lamb pulled her package off the shelf and placed it on the same table Malarkey's laundry was on.

Rebecca pulled out the coins needed. She had no clue what "Bob and Tuppence" were either, but she watched Mrs. lamb draw the coins from Malarkey's hand and held out the same.

Mrs. Lamb took the change and thanked Rebecca.

"Would you two like a cup of tea? I've got the water boiling."

A cup of tea would be great right about now. Rebecca thought, but they were all in such a hurry.

"No, no thank you. We're in a hell of a—. Bit of a hurry, er, thank you anyway." Malarkey said stumbling to correct himself, forgetting he was in the presence of a lady.

"Oh, um, Private, Captain?" Both Rebecca and Don turned around.

"Yes, ma'am?" Don asked.

"Lieutenant Meehan's one of yours, isn't he? I hope he hadn't forgotten his laundry."

Rebecca and Malarkey stiffened and felt a cold wash run down them. Mentioning someone's absence was almost unheard of in the Army. Everyone knew what had happened to them, death or horrific injury. Bringing it up was almost a taboo.

But there was no way for Mrs. Lamb to know. It was unfair for her to do extra work; the Army should have notified her. Rebecca noticed how Malarkey's attitude changed.

Don looked confused on how to handle the situation. Rebecca watched him nervously glance around the room and at herself. His voice became very hushed and despondent as he replied to Mrs. Lamb.

"I'll take it," Malarkey croaked, dejection lacing his words.

"Thank you," Mrs. Lamb said, completely oblivious to the elephant in the room.

Rebecca watched as she took the money Malarkey held out for her again, and how Malarkey eyed the package of laundry like it had a ticking time bomb in it.

"You, um, couldn't be a dear and help me with a few others, could you?"

Malarkey and Rebecca watched Mrs. Lamb like she had ten heads as she began reciting the names of their dead friends who'd left their laundry behind.

"Er, let's see. Sergeant Evans, Private Moya, Blowzer, Gray, Miller, Owen, Collins, Elliot, Blithe."

The last name made Rebecca's already unsteady breath hitch.

The sudden unpleasant memory of how Blithe was shot flooded back into Rebecca's consciousness. It was one of the many battlefield casualties she had tried to forget. Now, she vividly remembered all of the men who had died from Easy on D-Day. Men she had no way of helping.

"We'll take care of it," Rebecca managed to get out.

Malarkey and Rebecca left Mrs. Lamb in a state of shock. It wasn't until halfway back to barracks that Rebecca was able to say something.

"I'll notify Col. Sink about the laundry."

Malarkey stopped. "You sure Becca?" Don queried.

"Yes, I'm sure. I'm the ranking officer and it would be unfair for me to place this task on an NCO," Rebecca pointed out.

"It wouldn't be unfair. It's kind of a sore subject for you more than anyone being a medic and all, and I just—."

Rebecca interjected before Malarkey could finish. "Don, it's fine. I'm okay." She then put on the biggest fakest smile she could muster up to show she was alright and took the laundry from Don.

The two walked back to the camp in silence. When they arrived Rebecca headed over to see Col. Sink.

XXX

After talking to Col. Sink about the dead's laundry, Rebecca headed back to the officer's quarters where she sat down on her bed and broke into a terrible, messy bawl.

Rebecca cried for those who'd died on D-Day; she cried for the dead of Easy; she cried for their moms, and dads, children, wives, sweethearts; she cried for herself, and she cried for the men of Easy that were doomed to the same fate of the men who perished on D-Day. She cried until her head hurt so badly she couldn't think straight.

Rebecca spent the rest of the day in her bed too heartbroken to move. Instead, she curled into her blankets and let the stray tears roll down her cheeks and stain her pillow.

XXX

The hyped up mission that had caused Rebecca so much grief, ended up being cancelled—right as they were about the board the planes even—and was accomplished by Patton and his tanks. General Patton overran their drop zone leaving some feeling like they had been jipped, but it left Rebecca relieved.

Another stay of execution, she thought bitterly.

It was mostly the new replacements who felt like they had been cheated.

The veterans were not fond of the new recruits, called "replacements". There were two main reasons for this: first, because the newcomers were replacing dead friends, and second, the newcomers had odd ideas about battle.

They were all "bright eyed and bushy tailed" to get a taste of some action, which pissed many of the Toccoa men off.

The replacements had no idea what combat had in store for its woeful participants. They wouldn't understand why they were hated so much for their outlook on the whole situation.

They wouldn't understand until they were faced with the horrific reality of cradling their dying friend as his lifeforce drained out from him, or it was themselves dying miserably.

When Easy headed back to Aldbourne, Rebecca found out that Mrs. Lamb was fully compensated and then for the dead's laundry. At least someone made good of the otherwise dreary situation.

With the sudden onslaught of time on their hands after almost all their drop zones had been overrun, Easy Company was left to prepare for their next jump.

Despite their unquenchable desire to "get a taste of the action", replacements were very green and had a long way to go before they were combat ready. While Easy Company was in still stationed in Aldbourne, it gave the veterans a lot of time to train the replacements.

Toccoa men were quick to get angry at replacements when they didn't get something right the first time.

They may not have been hollered at as much by the likes of Guarnere, Toye, Martin, and the other sergeants if they weren't constantly asking when they were jumping next, despite how green they were. How on earth would they be ready to go into combat if they could barely make it through the basics of training?

XXX

While they were waiting for their next orders, Winters asked Rebecca if she would give Easy Company a refresher course on first aid.

So, on a rainy day deemed too cold and miserable to do any PT, Rebecca gathered the entire company in a large green tent and began going over the basics of combat first aid.

"Okay, class, just to recap what we learned today. First, check to see if the man is breathing, second check for a pulse, third put pressure on the wound using the first aid kits provided, and lastly wait for your medic, which in this case will either be me, Roe, or Spina."

Rebecca spent a minute looking at the faces before her.

Bored, they look bored.

"Next class, we will be going over how to properly apply a bandage and how to distribute morphine. Dismissed."

The men began piling out of the tent, probably glad to stretch their legs. Rebecca began packing up her supplies and exited out of the back of the tent.

Guarnere and Toye started were packing up their notes and about to leave when they heard two replacements talking rather loudly.

"Ugh, I'm sick of this bullshit. I just wanna jump already and kill some Krauts, not be lectured by some dame," one said.

"You got that right, what the hell is she still doing here anyway? Wonder how far she had to spread her legs become a captain?" the other replied, hitting his buddies chest playfully and laughing.

Swiftly, Guarnere and Toye whipped around and headed in the direction of the two big mouthed replacements.

The two approached the young replacements, not thinking twice about getting in their faces.

"You mind your fucking manners. That dame happens to be a captain and you're lucky I don't write your asses up for talking about an officer like that." Guarnere snapped, going toe-to-toe with one of the kids.

The two new guys' eyes suddenly went wide-eyed with fright. "S-sir?" one asked.

"You replacements sure have a lot of shit to say considering you don't have any stars on your jump wings yet," Toye pointed out.

"Captain Clark could be the one saving one of your sorry asses one day, and I wouldn't want to make her think twice 'bout it," Guarnere said, venom still lacing his words.

"We better not hear any of that bullshit circulating around again. You better tell your buddies that too. Ya, hear me?" Guarnere barked.

"Yes, sir!" The two replacements replied quickly.

Bill and Joe watched as they both quickly scrammed out of the tent.

"Fucking replacements," Guarnere grumbled.

Toye let out a long sigh. "I just hope the Captain ain't heard anything about this. She'll be crushed," Toye said.

"We'll just have to keep our ears open for any more rumors going around, Gotta stop this thing before it starts. I'll let Malark and a few other guys know too," Guarnere added.

The Toccoa boys wouldn't allow any stupid replacements to bully Rebecca out of here. It wasn't right. They all knew she belonged here by proving herself at Toccoa, all those years ago.

Becca's a damn fine medic and earned her right to be here, Bill reflected.

The two walked out of the tent and made their way back to the barracks to raise hell.

- End Chapter -


A/N: Hey, I hope ya'll enjoyed! I'm working my but off to post new chapters and I'm really happy you guys are liking the changes I've made thus far. I have a lot of ideas for Rebbeca. Things are gonna get wild! Please let me know how I'm doing! :3