"Make a hole up there!" Miller's voice shouted out at us over the loudspeaker and we all positioned ourselves farther away from the makeshift opening in the brick wall we were stationed behind. I felt Reiben push into me again to make more room as Miller slid down to a crouch next to him with Staff Sergeant William Hill taking cover on the other side. I slid back against the wall, realizing that I would no longer be able to see out of the opening, and then moved over towards Caparzo to give Reiben room, listening to Miller and Hill.

"Who's that on the loudspeaker?" Miller glanced through the whole in the wall and made a face as Hill snorted, repositioning his rifle in his hands. "That…that's Dagwood Dusseldorf, our friendly neighborhood morale officer."

Miller smiled at Hill as he paused to listen to the German propaganda booming over the sounds of distant gunshots. "'The Statue of Liberty is kaput.' That's disconcerting."

I smirked at the look Miller shared with Hill before turning to where Caparzo and Fish were crouching behind a wagon, a pile of spilled fruit at their feet. Fish made a face at the voice and then turned around to peer over the wagon in the direction of the loudspeaker. "Your father was circumcised by my rabbi, you prick!"

Caparzo snorted at Fish as he looked down at the fruit, a smirk making its way onto my face. "Nice."

He looked over at me and grinned. "Thanks."

Caparzo began picking up pieces of the fruit and throwing bruised ones over his shoulder, offering some to Fish who declined. I watched him and then jumped out of my skin when heavy machine gun fire rang out, forcing all of us to smash ourselves back into the cover we were behind.

"Cover!" Hill shouted out over the gunshots and began returning fire, the rest of us doing the same. That is, besides Caparzo.

"Are you seriously worried about eating that shit right now?" Reiben shot a disgusted look at Caparzo, my gaze turning towards Caparzo and my eyes rolling. "Seriously, Carp?"

He just looked at us and shrugged. "What? I didn't eat-"

A few bullets hitting the side of the wagon near his head cut him off and he smashed his back against the cart, attempting to position his gun between the wheels of the wagon for a shot. He struggled for a few moments before grunting, getting up and quickly moving behind the wall we were using next to Miller. I heard a bullet fly past my head and I ducked down, Reiben shooting me a look as he continued to return fire. "You alright?"

"I'm good." I straightened back up and looked over the wall only to have Reiben push my form back behind the full cover of the wall. "Just stay down…I, uh, don't need your blood all over me when you get your head shot off."

"Oh, it's nice to know you actually care about my wellbeing." I made a face at Reiben as I straightened up once again, aiming my rifle and taking out one enemy. There was silence after a moment and we all stared out into the distance, waiting for the sounds of gunfire again. A few shots rang out and I realized why when I saw Caparzo being dragged back behind cover by Miller. He shot an annoyed look at Caparzo as he roughly yanked his collar. "Get down! Are you nuts?"

"They know we're not in direct contact. They'll single out the runners." Hill spoke to Caparzo as he reloaded his weapon, Caparzo shooting him a confused look. "Why do they keep shooting him up like that?"

Miller turned back to look at Caparzo this time. "As long as his lungs have breath in them, he still carries the message. We do the same thing-"

"No we wouldn't-"

"Wade, get him ready to travel," Miller ignored Caparzo's protest as he motioned for Wade to move the injured soldier he was working on, looking over at Hill again. "What's the rest of Neuville look like?"

Hill shrugged before motioning in front of him. "Uh, next block's got 2-story buildings on both sides of the street. Then there's a wide open square with pretty good coverage on the left."

"Show me." Miller nodded at Hill as he got up, Hill following behind him as they ran to take cover behind a building to survey the area ahead.

"Should we move?" I looked over at Fish as he spoke and shook my head, leaning my back against cover as the gunfire died down again. "I wouldn't."

A moment passed by with all of us waiting in silence while we watched Miller and Hill before they yelled out towards us, motioning a hand for all of us to come over to their position. "Up front!"

I quickly got up from my position and followed Fish, taking a knee next to him as Reiben kneeled next to me. Miller looked at all of us and then focused on Reiben and Caparzo. "Reiben, Caparzo. Short runs. High and low at the corners. Gonna be tight, be prepared for close contact. Go!"

Reiben and Caparzo nodded as they took the lead with Fish, Jackson, Wade, and myself following behind. We quickly made our way forward through the wreckage with Miller and Hill walking to the front, surveying the area we were headed towards. I stepped over a large wooden beam and looked around, noticing the destroyed and tattered homes. I frowned as I imagined the families that once lived here running out in a panic, leaving almost everything they owned behind.

"Shit." I heard Jackson curse from my left as he tripped over one of the stray beams, my gaze going over to him as I grabbed his arm to steady him. "You okay?"

"Yeah…all this destruction. It's horrible." He shrugged at me as he kicked a few rocks, watching as they bounced off of the brick walls of one of the destroyed homes. Miller and Hill took the lead farther ahead of the group and we staggered behind, Reiben taking a knee to survey the area as Upham came up behind him. "Reiben, where's the Captain from?"

Reiben glanced back at him as I stopped next to them, looking around at the rooftops for stray snipers. "You figure that one out, you get yourself a nice prize."

Upham stared at him in confusion as he got up, Reiben looking over at me and grinning as I shot him a look. "What?"

I shook my head at him with a smile as I followed behind, Upham continuing to stay put as Jackson added in on the conversation. "Three hundred bucks last I heard."

"Company's got a pool. Five bucks gets you in." Fish nudged Upham on the shoulder as he followed behind Jackson, jogging up behind us. Reiben and I were the first to reach Miller and Hill, crouching behind them as they looked at the area ahead. Miller motioned an arm towards a building to the right. "It's around that corner. Defilade right up to those gates."

Miller and Hill stood up again and quickly made their way towards the building as we stayed behind for a moment, Upham shoving his way between Reiben and I as Horvath crouched to my right. "Someone has to know where's he's from, what he did for a living."

Horvath snorted from my right and Upham looked at him. "I've been with him since Kasserine Pass and I don't have a clue."

Horvath shrugged at Upham as he got up, Reiben and I moving to follow behind him. Horvath stopped at the corner of a building to look for threats and Reiben stopped behind him, Upham and myself coming to stop behind Reiben. I soon felt a hand reach over me and tap Reiben's shoulder. I shot a look back at Upham for his constant questioning and shook my head as Reiben looked back at Upham, annoyed. "Reiben, so you don't even know where he went to school?"

Reiben shook his head as he looked forward again, nodding at me to follow him. "Captain didn't go to school. They assembled him at O.C.S. out of the spare body parts of dead G.I.s."

I smirked at Reiben's response as I followed him. "I think the guy's in love with you or something the way he keeps singling you out for questions."

Reiben glanced back at me and rolled his eyes. "I hope to hell he isn't."

We quickly came up on Miller and Hill's location behind a wall and took cover, Upham and the rest of the squad picking up the back.

"Thunder! Thunder or we will fire on you!" Hill shouted out through a break in the wall, glancing around the corner at movement in one of the destroyed buildings.

"Ne tirez pas! On est Francais!" A woman's voice rang out and we all looked at each other, Miller moving behind us to a wooden door hanging off of the end of the wall. "Upham, tell them to show themselves."

Upham nodded and quickly made his way over to Miller, moving past the door a bit to show himself to the people in the building. "Montrez-vous! Montrez-vous!"

"On n'est pas arm´es!" The woman's voice rang out again and Miller ran out of cover with Upham, the rest of us following behind and moving behind cover. I followed Reiben to an abandoned car and crouched down, watching as Miller, Upham, and Caparzo crouched down behind a hill of debris below the destroyed house the woman and her family were standing in on the second floor. A baby was wrapped in a blanket in the woman's arms and a small girl and boy stood behind her.

"Porquoi tirez?" The man shouted down at Miller as the baby began to cry. The woman walked forward and looked down at Miller. "Mais baissez vos fusils! On est Francais!"

Miller looked at them for a moment before turning to Upham. "Ask them if they know where the Germans are."

Upham nodded and then looked at the family. "Ou sount les allemands?"

"Ca vas pas! Lis sont partout! Il faut vous emmener les enfants!" The man seemed to ignore what Upham was asking him as he turned towards his wife and young daughter behind him, picking her up and holding her out towards Miller.

"What's he saying?" Miller looked over at Upham who was staring up at the man. "Something about the children. They want us to take the children."

Miller shook his head abruptly, shooting a look at Upham. "No, no, no. We can't take the kids."

Upham looked over at Miller and nodded, shooting his gaze back to the man and waving his hand at him. "Non ne pouvons pas les prendre avec nous!"

"We can't take the kids! No!" Miller shouted up at the man in English as Caparzo moved around the corner of the house and looked up at them.

"Mais non! Mais non! Nous ne pouvons pas les prendre avec nous!" Upham yelled up at them once again in French and I placed a hand to my forehead, sighing from in front of Reiben behind the cover of the car. All of the communication that was getting lost in translation along with the blatant confusion radiating from everyone was giving me a headache.

"Caparzo! What are you doing?" I looked up when I heard Miller scream at Caparzo, watching him move forward towards the man holding out the child for Miller to take. Caprazo moved his gun to his hip and reached out towards the little girl, taking her in his arms as she screamed, tears streaming down her face.

"He's fucking crazy…" I heard Reiben mumble from behind me as I stayed silent, unsure of what Miller was going to do and what Caparzo was planning to do with the child. I turned my attention to Miller when he slammed his boot into the wreckage in front of him, glaring at Caparzo as Upham whipped his attention between Miller and the family. "They think the children will be safer with us-"

"It's not gonna be safe when they're with us!" Miller interrupted Upham and ran a hand over his face, shooting another glare at Caparzo when he removed his helmet from his head.

"Caparzo, leave the kid! Please!" I yelled out towards Caparzo and I saw him glance at me before turning his gaze to Horvath who had yelled at him right after me. "Are you nuts?! Listen to the Captain!"

"They think they'll be safe with us, Sir." At this point, Upham was just trying to calm Miller down and avoid a blowup. However, Miller wasn't having any of that.

"They're not going to be safe anywhere!" Miller screamed at Upham before looking at Caparzo. "Caparzo! Put that kid back!"

Miller moved from his position next to Upham towards Caparzo, glaring at him as he attempted to calm the little girl in his arms. "Caparzo! Put that little girl back! Get that kid back now!"

When Caparzo didn't comply Miller groaned, turning back to Upham. "How do you say 'it's okay'?"

"Uh-" Upham was soon interrupted by Caparzo beginning to move away from the family, everyone shooting their attention to him.

"I can't. She reminds me of my niece, Sir." Caparzo looked at Miller with sincerity as he held the girl close to him, Miller's face twisting into an annoyed look. "Caparzo, get the kid back up there!"

Miller's left arm flew out and he pointed up towards the family, his shoulders squaring and face remaining stern. Caparzo opened his mouth to say something and looked back at the family, turning back to Miller after a moment. "Sir, the decent thing to do is to take her down the road to the next town-"

"We're not here to do the decent thing! We're here to follow fucking orders!" At that moment Miller snapped, moving forward and grabbing the girl out of Caparzo's arms and then turning towards the rest of us. "Sarge, take this fucking kid-"

A gunshot rang out and we all jumped, a thud sounding in the background as everyone's eyes darted around for where the shot had come from. My eyes finally met the bullet's target, all of the feeling in my body leaving me at that moment. Caparzo lied on the ground where he had just been standing with the little girl a moment ago. My breath caught in my throat as I attempted to comprehend what had just happened, watching as blood pooled underneath his torso.

"Jesus Christ." Reiben's words came out as a breathy whisper as I slowly began crawling forward, attempting to reach Caparzo. I felt a hand roughly grab my arm and pull me back before I could move even an inch. "Stay here!"

Reiben's grip remained on my arm as I stared at Caparzo in complete shock while everyone else yelled at each other in confusion. I felt my body fall back and into Reiben, his grip repositioning itself to hold up my form. "Carp…"

"Goddamn it! Where'd that come from!" Hill yelled out over everyone and it got quiet again, Caparzo attempting to move from his position. "Cap…"

"He was on the ground before we heard the shot!" I heard Jackson yell out from somewhere behind us and I turned my head, watching as he moved over towards Miller and loaded a bullet into his rifle. "I wouldn't venture out there, fellas! This sniper's got talent!"

I watched him for a moment before I turned my head again, this time towards a small tower to the left of where we were all positioned. My eyes scanned over the opening at the top and then widened when I saw a gleam, jumping a bit as I prepared to move. "I see him-"

"Don't move," I felt Reiben's arm pull me back again and I looked at him, his eyes looking between me and the tower. "Just- stay here. Don't move-"

"Reiben, I have to help Jackson-"

"No! Just…it's not safe. Just stay here." I stared at him in frustration for a moment before turning my attention back to Jackson, watching him move closer towards the tower to line up a shot. I contemplated trying to rip from Reiben's grip and going to help Jackson before I realized that the angle Reiben had on me would mean I would be overpowered before I could even try. I sighed in anger and stayed behind cover, looking over the hood of the car in Jackson's direction.

"Jacqueline!" I heard the family cry out to their daughter before she cried back, her voice cracking a bit as Horvath attempted to comfort her. "Mama!"

"Please don't cry. I'm going to take you back to your mama and papa." I watched Horvath place a hand to her shoulder as he tried to shush her before I looked at Caparzo, writhing helplessly on the ground. He turned his attention towards Miller, attempting to call him in a raspy voice. "Captain-"

"Hold on, Caparzo." Miller attempted to motion to Caparzo to keep quiet, waving a hand in his direction. Caparzo ignored him as he once again tried to move. "Help me up! I can walk, I can walk!"

"Caparzo stay still!" Wade's voice cut through the air in a panic as I shut my eyes tightly, moving farther back into Reiben's grip. He responded to me and tightened his grip, watching Caparzo struggle and cry out again. "Fish!"

More shouting from the French family and the child continuing to cry filled the air as everyone remained where they were, Wade's voice cutting through the tension once again. "Captain, can you see him from there? How is he? Where's he shot, Captain?"

"Wade, you stay put! Stay there!" Miller's voice was stern as he looked at Wade, his attention slowly scanning over Caparzo in worry.

"Damn it, stay down!" Hill's voice could be heard next to Wade and he reached a hand out, roughly pulling him back behind cover. "What's the matter with you? Am I gonna take care of you if you get hit? Huh?"

"Fish, come over here…" I shot my attention back to Caparzo when he spoke again, the words seemingly getting harder to speak after every passing second for him.

"Put your head down, Carpy. Put your head down." Fish's strained voice sounded from just behind Reiben and I as Caparzo reached a shaky hand into the front of his jacket, bringing out a folded white envelope and holding it in the air towards Fish. "Copy it. Copy it and send it for me."

"Carpy, you're gonna send it yourself. Put it down! It's got blood! Carpy, I see it." Fish's voice was strained again as he pleaded with Caparzo who just ignored him and continued to hold the envelope out towards him. "It's- it's to my dad. It's got blood on it."

As soon as the words left Caparzo's mouth a gunshot rang out, my entire body jumping when I realized I had been staring at Caparzo the entire time. I felt my hand reach for Reiben's forearm and grip onto it, a grunt sounding from him in response to the sudden pressure. More than a few moments of silence passed before Fish's voice cut through, signaling to all of us that it was once again safe. "We got him. Stay down."

I was ripping myself from Reiben's grasp before Fish could finish talking, running over towards Caparzo and slipping to a stop at his side. My eyes darted over his face, looking for some sort of sign of life as my hands reached forward, cupping his cheeks. "Carpy…Carpy, can you hear me?"

Wade quickly made his way over towards us, kneeling down next to Caparzo and beginning to inspect the gunshot wound in his chest. I continued to stare at Caparzo's lifeless face as a crowd began to form around us, Fish stopping next to me and looking towards Wade. "How bad is it?"

"Chest, maybe lung shot…" Wade mumbled as he worked, my face falling at his assumption. "Can you fix him? Is he going to be okay?"

My voice was in a rush as I spoke to Wade, his eyes never leaving Caparzo's body as he spoke. "I'm not entirely sure," Wade moved his hand up to Caparzo's neck to feel for a pulse, his face remaining stone for a moment and then falling. His eyes slowly made their way up to mine and he slowly shook his head, seemingly in shock. "No..."

My breathing hitched in my throat again as I gripped Caparzo's face, my eyes moving down as everyone looked on. Wade slowly rose to his feet and removed a blanket from his pack, beginning to unfold it as I just stared at Caparzo. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked to my left, seeing Fish looking down at me in sorrow. Another hand gripped my right bicep and I shot my attention to Reiben, seeing him jerk his head in a motion for me to get up. "Time to move…"

I remained where I was for a moment and looked back down at Caparzo, wiping some of the dirt from his face. Reiben's grip tightened on my arm and I felt him gently lift me up as Miller stormed over to the group, pushing his way in between Horvath and Jackson. He stared down at Caparzo for a moment before looking at all of us. "That's why we can't take children."

He shook his head before crouching down, reaching into Caparzo's jacket and ripping his tag from its chain. I tore my gaze away from Caparzo and looked towards the French family, seeing they were now huddled together and staring down at us. I felt a hand on my lower back and I looked behind me at Reiben, watching him give me a nod in understanding. I just looked at him for a moment before I heard Wade move to take Caparzo's letter, grief hitting me hard once again. I shut my eyes and just laid my forehead against Reiben's shoulder, his hand remaining on my lower back as he stayed still.

"Sergeant Horvath, do an ammo check. Upham, canteens. Fill 'em up. Sergeant Hill, gather your men. We'll form up." Miller looked between all of us before he moved towards Hill, leaving us in a quiet circle around Caparzo's body. I turned my head away from Reiben's shoulder just in time to see Wade begin moving the blanket over Caparzo, pausing to look at his face before covering it. He remained crouched on the ground for a moment before he stood up, sending Reiben and I a nod before moving to find Miller. I watched him walk away before I moved my gaze back to Caparzo's covered body, staring at the green blanket.

"Reiben, Bolt! Let's go! Move!" I jumped at Miller's sudden shout and looked up, watching Miller motion towards us and then start to walk away with Hill. I remained silent as I moved away from Reiben, looking back at the blanket again before moving towards the rest of the group. When I realized Reiben wasn't following me, I looked back, seeing him in the same spot. I walked back to him and placed a hand gently on his arm, his gaze moving down to my hand before moving up to meet mine. He stared at me for a moment before he finally spoke.

"Fuck Ryan."

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