Bree heard for the first time the term 'clusterfuck' when her sister persuaded her to watch an HBO mini-series about the Marines of the First Recon Battalion in Iraq. The definition of the term is 'an originally military term for a situation in which multiple things have gone wrong'.

That's exactly what happened to Easy Company.

Clusterfuck.

Easy suffers heavy casualties during the barrages this morning. That's what happened when 88 mm guns, which originally designed as anti-aircraft and anti-tank artillery guns, were aimed to ground targets, such as Paratroopers.

Joe Toye's legs were destroyed during the first barrage. Bill Guarnere's legs were mangled while he tried to drag Joe Toye to safety when the second barrage started. Both are Buck Compton's close friends, both are highly reliable NCOs from 2nd Platoon and Buck watched them all torn up. Buck dropped his helmet and walked to the aid station in a zombie-like state. George tried to talk to him, to stay with the men, but Buck shook his head slowly and said "I'm sorry. I can't." Buck Compton has reached his breaking point.

"I won't blame him." George says sadly to Bree. "The stress is too much for Buck. He already did his best."

"Who's gonna be lead the 2nd Platoon then?"

"I think it's gonna be Malark. I don't think Captain Winters will assign a new officer without combat experience when we're this close to attack Foy. It'll be too risky. My only concern is…well…you see…Malark is always in the front line since D-Day. He's never get hurt or pulled back. Hoobler's death already shook him, you know. They're quite close. And now Buck has to stay at the aid station. I'll talk to Skip and Penk to stay close to Malark. Those two are his last…anchor, I might say."

"Poor Malarkey. Do you think Buck's gonna be okay? Captain Winters asked me to write trench foot in the report as his reason for being hospitalized. I wonder why though. I thought CSR will be enough reason for being hospitalized."

"What's CSR?"

"Combat Stress Reaction. You know…changes in behavior due to stress of battle that will decrease the soldier's fighting efficiency. My sister once wrote about this. I proofread her essay about CSR in soldiers of World War 2. I mean…this war."

"Well…we called it shell shock in this time. Some people in the higher up still consider shell shock is a weakness and shall not found in "good" units. There were men with shell shock who put on trial, and even executed, for desertion and cowardice. General Patton even slapped two soldiers in Italy because those soldiers said that they're 'can't take it anymore'. I think that's why Captain Winters asked you to write that on Buck's report. He wanted to protect Buck."

"I see. God…I don't know how you guys can get through this."

George smiles softly "Don't worry…We'll be fine. Although we'll be finer if we had a company commander like Lieutenant Speirs, instead of Dike. But we'll make do."

"Oh yeah…I've met Lieutenant Speirs when he's giving his report to Captain Winters & Nixon. He's very competent, all right. And intense. But damn….that man is downright creepy. Handsome, I admit, but creepy. With his mussed black hair and brooding eyes that could probably both impregnate and kill at several paces."

George laughs "That…is the most definite description of Lieutenant Speirs I've ever heard!"

"What description?" says aforementioned creepy man who just materialized from behind a tree.

"Holly shi….molly! Lieutenant Speirs, Sir. Um…Good day?" George stutters. Meanwhile, Bree tries to restart her heart that surely stopped for a second just now.

"Not really." Speirs says flatly. "What did you two just talk about?"

"Um…just discussing about combat fatigue, Sir." Bree says.

"I see. I hope Compton will be all right." Speirs says. And then he just stares at the two of them, which is very unnerving. He finally reached to his pocket and picks up a box of cigarettes "Do you want some cigarettes?"

George immediately shook his head in panic. "Th..thank you, Sir. But she's not smoking and I gotta bring her to Captain Nixon. Uh…Thanks again, Sir." And he practically drags Bree to command post.

After they're far enough from Speirs, Bree asks "What the hell was that?"

George huffs "There's a rumor that he's giving cigarettes to 20 German POWs, before killing them."

"Are you shitting me?!"

"I'm not that kinky. Ouch! Why you always slap my head, woman! Look…just be careful if he offers you a cigarette, all right? Constant vigilance."

"Geez…now you sound like Mad-eye Moody."

"Mad-eye who?"

"Never mind."

A few days later, E Company and the rest of the 506 set a line in the woods west of Foy. Captain Winters is on the radio, reporting to Colonel Sink.

"Lighting Six. Kidnap. Uh, yes Sir. We've cleaned all the green area. We have KIA."

"Thirteen." Nixon reads from Bree's report.

"Thirteen, Sir." Winters relays the information to the radio.

"Copy, Lighting. Kidnap out." Says Colonel Sink from the radio.

Winters huffs and sits on his makeshift chair. "Thirteen…" At that moment, he looks so much older than his age. He's just a Captain and only 27 years old, but holding responsibilities of a Major.

"They died as heroes, Dick." Nixon says.

"I know, Lew." Winters says "They're just too young."

"Older men declare war. But it's the youth that must fight and die." Bree says.

Nixon nods "Herbert Hoover."

"But I assure you, they won't die in vain, Sir. My sister admires your generation. In my time, we called your generation as 'The Greatest Generation'. You survived the Great Depression and you voluntarily went on to fight in this war, not for fame and recognition, but because it was 'the right thing to do'. I was not really understood back then when my sister told me, but after these past few days, I can really see that the term is really apt. So please don't be sad for those who passed away, Sir. They died for the right cause. They won't be forgotten."

Nixon pats Winters' shoulder "Come on, Dick. We need your calm head."

Winters exhales "I tried, Lew. But it's hard to calm yourself if your boys are in imminent danger because of one shitty officer."

Nixon laughs "Whoa…you cursed! Dike finally gets on your nerves."

Winter snorts "Believe me…when Lipton told me that on that last barrages Dike comes running up to him and may I quote '1st Sergeant Lipton, you organize things here, and I'm gonna go for help', I want to slap that idiot officer to the moon and back."

Nixon and Bree laughs at that. Winter is seen as a hybrid of Angle, Saint and anything goodness. He even didn't drink alcohol ("And you're best buddies with Captain Nixon who declared Vat 69 as his soul mate." "I know. I myself surprised we're best friend. I even let him to hide his Vat 69 supplies in my footlocker." "You both have the most epic bromance") So he's cursing and calling someone as idiot is a very rare occurrence.

"Well, Bree…here we saw Dick Winters in his very uncommon state of foul mouth. A very rare occurrence, I might add, that we should record for future reference." Nixon says.

"Oh, for crying out loud…" Winters laugh.

"And here we back to politeness. You know..."

Nixon can't finish his sentence because the Nazi decides to barrage them with heavy artillery. Again.

Nixon shouts "Oh for fuck's sake! Come-the- fuck-on! Fucking surrender already, you asshole!"

Winters just rolls his eyes at his friend's antics. How the hell he can be this calm during a bombardment?

When the barrage finally stopped, shouts of "Medic!" rang through the forest. The Battalion radio crackles and Frank's shaken voice came over "Lightning, Lightning. This is Easy Red. We have KIA. Skip and Penk…I mean…Muck and Penkala. Direct hit. Over."

Winters' face paled before he mutters "Oh God…Malarkey…".

Nixon forbade Bree to see Skip and Penk's foxhole, because what left from them are just some pieces of bodies, a part of a sleeping bag, and a piece of Skip's rosary. From what Nixon told her, when the barrage started, George didn't make it to reach the nearest foxhole. Skip and Penk shouted at him to crawl and jump to their foxhole. But when George started to crawl towards them, their foxhole has taken a direct hit. Right in front of George. After the barrage, Frank and Babe found George digging frantically on the foxhole with his bare hands. They have to drag George from it.

Skip and Penk's death hit Malark the hardest. Just like George said, both are Malark's last anchor. The three of them were inseparable since Toccoa. In just a few days, he'd seen his best friends die and the other reached breaking point.

Lipton gave him Hoob's Luger and a piece of Skip's Rosary. Nothing left from Penk. He stored the items carefully and promised Lipton that he will write letters to Faye (Skip's fiancée) and Penk and Hoob's family. His usually vibrant red hair is now a lump of brown mess. Worried about him, Winters offered him to go back to Battalion and work as a runner for a few days. But still Malark refused to leave his post as de facto leader of 2nd Platoon. He took a deep breath and put his mind one hundred percent on his duty. This is how Donald Malarkey coping with his loss.

George stays quiet for a while. Frank told Bree that after George saw Skip and Penk foxhole exploded in front of him, he managed to crawl to Lipton's foxhole. Seconds later, a shell hit their foxhole.

But the shell didn't explode.

That's just the way it is. The shell that hit the foxhole George and Lipton was a dud. The one that hit Skip and Penk foxhole wasn't.

Those two near death experience has shook George deeply. And without George Luz's antics to lighten the day, fear starts to creep up. And fear is poison in combat. The morning after the shelling that killed Skip and Penk, Lipton saw a soldier try to dig a foxhole with his bare hands. He even didn't notice that he'd torn all his fingernails.

Lieutenant Norman Dike is an idiot and bears shit in the woods.

Some things are fact.

This morning is the day. They will attack Foy. Each building on the small town is filled with Nazi and their weapons to the ceiling.

The plan is simple. Easy Company will lead the attack, while the other Companies as the reserves. Easy will have to run across a clearing to reach the village. There's very little cover, so Easy has to move quickly.

Bree stands beside Nixon and Colonel Sink on the edge of the clearing while Winters briefs Dike about the attack.

"I've set up two machine guns at either end here." Winters says to Dike "They'll give you covering fire. 3rd Battalion will come from the east, led by I Company. That's to cause distraction. D Company will be in reserve"

Winters points to the direction of Dog Company with Speirs leading them. Speirs nods.

"But you shouldn't need them" Winters continues to Dike "The point is, you gotta move in there fast. Get in there before they can bring their mortars and artillery down on you. Clear?"

Bree literally can see Dike's head working.

Processing.

Compute.

Error 404: Brain not found.

"Clear" Dike says unconvincingly.

Winters looks like he wants to wring the idiot's neck. But he manages to refrain himself and pats Dike in the shoulder, giving his last benefit of the doubt "I'm relying on you. Get it done."

The aforementioned idiot is yawning.

Even Speirs throws a murderous glare at him.

Eugene steps beside Bree and hold her hands "Bree…can you keep this for me." He gives her his photo with Vera and a letter. "If there's something happened to me, I want you to send this to Vera. Tell her that you're my friend, and that I love her…and that I'm sorry to make her wait."

Bree tries very hard not to cry "Gene…come on…you're gonna be okay."

Gene smiles softly, looking resigned "I really hope so, Bree. But with Dike leading this attack…well…let's just say I'm a realist."

Bree can only nods. She keeps the photo and the letter on her breast pocket, and watched Gene take his place on his assigned platoon.

Not far from her, Bree sees George, in his position besides Dike, tinkering with his radio, presumably check that he's in the right channel and all parts are functional. When he lifts his head, his eyes meet hers and he smiles a little. He then mouthed 'take care'. Bree replies with 'you too'

And the attack begins. Started by the machine guns open fire, followed by Easy Company moving forward, and then German artilleries decided to join the party.

Bree stands beside Nixon, watching the attack on the relative safety of the edge of the clearing. Winters and Colonel Sink stand a little further in front of him.

"Oh God…oh My God…that's too close" Bree gasps when a mortar exploded near Lipton.

"Breath, Bree." Nixon says. Bree can feel his fingers curl on her wrist. "You can shut your eyes, if you don't wanna see. It's okay."

"I can't. I want to, but I can't."

Nixon sighs "Me too"

And then the metaphorical shit hits the metaphorical fan. Dike is the middle of the clearing, suddenly stop, his head turned to the left and to the right as if he's looking for someone and order the rest of the men to stop. The idiot himself takes a hide behind a haystack while his men scattered around in the open, an easy target for German artilleries.

Retardation, thy name is Norman Dike.

Winter shouts "Will you move! Get out of there! Move!"

Bree grabs Nixon hand "Why they're stopping?! What the hell Dike's doing?"

Nixon hissed angrily "I have no idea! They're sitting duck out there!"

Winters walks furiously towards regimental radio and starts to contact George "Easy Six, Easy Six. Kidnap over. Give me Six!"

George's respond is heard from the radio "Roger, Kidnap. Standby for Six."

There's a rustle and there's a voice that shouts "I don't know! I don't know!" that Bree is sure it's Dike's voice.

Winters barks to the radio "You better get Dike on that radio! NOW!"

There's sounds of other people on the radio.

"That sounds like Lipton, Foley and Shames." Nixon says. "What the hell…Dike order's Platoon leaders to have a meeting behind a haystack?! Idiot!"

Winters is shouting to the radio now because apparently, Dike is too chicken shit to talk to respond him "Get going forward!"

Luz's voice is heard again from the radio. He sounds exasperated "You need to talk to Captain Winters, Sir."

And then they saw the 1st Platoon flanking around at the back of the village.

Nixon shook his head violently. "No no no no! Stupid! That's not the plan!"

Speirs walks toward them with a murderous glare "Dike's getting his men got killed!"

Nixon spats "I know, Speirs! That's my boys too over there."

Winters finally loose his shit when he sees one baby replacement got shot in the head by a sniper. He shoulders his M1, charges forward and shouts "You've got to keep moving!"

Colonel Sink quickly shouts and grabs his elbow "Dick! Captain Winters! Goddamn it! You're the battalion commander! Now get back here!"

Winters halts frustratedly and turns back around.

Colonel Sink continues "Now, Dick, I understand your attachment to Easy Company…"

Winters cuts him "SPEIRS! Get yourself over here!"

Speirs immediately runs to him and Winters shouts "Get out there and relief Dike and take that attack on in!"

Nixon huffs "About damn time.."

Colonel Sink joins Bree and Nixon while Winters stays in his position, overlooking the attack "Damn it! That Dike person is literally the dumbest excuse of an Officer I've ever met. Bree, after this, I want you to prepare a letter to General Taylor to transfer that idiot to any unit as far from my regiment as possible. He messed up enough."

"Gladly, Sir." Bree say, but her eyes keep watching Speirs running through the clearing. "Holly…did he just…"

Nixon chuckles "Yep…he just jumped through a mortar explosion."

Colonel Sink mumbles "That's the difference between a properly trained Officer and a Ninety-day wonder."

Nixon says "Well…Foley turns out all right as a Ninety-day wonder, Sir. I think it's because he has brain, unlike Dike. He just need more combat experience. Speirs is downright exemplary since Toccoa. That man is a natural-born leader and warrior."

Bree muses "Give that man a red, white and blue spandex and a shield and he'll be Captain America."

Nixon says "Wow…Captain America comics still in the run in 2016? I like that comic."

Bree grins "Yep…the movies are superb too…with awesome CGIs, one hunky and super delicious Chris Evan, and the whole goodness that is Marvel Cinematic Universe."

Nixon frowns "I don't understand half of what you're talking about, but I think it's a good thing."

"I don't know why the two of you discussing comic book characters during an attack." Colonel Sink says. "You just missed how Speirs effectively eliminate the snipers and make Easy moving forward again."

"Right." Nixon and Bree mumble, feeling chastised.

From their position, they can see Easy is making progress; now on the edge of the town. Most of them take cover behind the scattered shacks. Unfortunately, due to Dike foolish decision holding up Easy, Item Company that supposed to be on the other side of the town started to pull back.

"Oh…No no no.." Nixon says. He's wearing his binocular.

"What is it?" Bree asks.

"I think Item is gonna pull back. Easy has to make radio contact or Item gonna slip away."

And then they see something worthy to be depicted in a movie, with Chariots of Fire as the background music. Oh…and in slow motion.

Speirs, the fearless-creepy-handsome person that is Lieutenant Ronald Speirs, run towards the I Company…through the town and German lines, link up with the Item Company soldiers and have a quick chat with I Company leader. Having completed this, he then runs back (!) through the German-occupied town. At first the Germans didn't shoot at him. Bree thinks it's because they couldn't' quite believe that this crazy GI will casually run through their line, twice.

"Un-fucking-believable" Nixon grins.

"He's an overly manly man…like Chuck Norris..." Bree mumbles in disbelief.

"I want Speirs to be Easy Company commanding officer." Winter shouts over his shoulder from where he's standing.

"Done." Colonel Sink shouts back.

Even though Easy managed to capture Foy, they can't take a rest just yet. Apparently, the-powers-that-be's main objective is Noville. But to capture Noville, they need tank support. And tank needs roads. Ergo, Foy it was.

To reach Noville, they have to occupy a tiny village of Cobru and then Recogne. And to reach Cobru, they have to across a 2 kilometers of open and snow-covered field (again), in a bright sunny day. In Colonel Sink's words to Winters, "2nd Battalion would have the honor of leading the attack on Noville". In which of course could be translated as "Easy is the spearhead. Now get it done!". But on the bright side, the success of the attack of Foy and Speirs being Easy's new commander, lift the morale of the men.

This night, while regrouping and preparing for their next progress to Cobru, they stay on a church, entertained by the angelic choirs from the nuns. Most of them sit contemplatively while the other takes the much needed sleep.

Bree already finished typing the report of today's attack. It's very depressing to write down all the fallen soldier names, especially the one that she knows closely. So after she gave the report to Captain Winters, she's looking for George. She needs some stress relieve.

She founds George with Frank and Gene. Gene is tending Frank's…ass?

"You ain't a real man of Easy Company unless you've been shot in the ass. So congratulation, Sir Frank of Perconte. Thy now a proud man of Easy Company." George says with super horrible English accent.

He taps Frank's right shoulder and then left shoulder with his bayonet like he's knighting Frank. Frank himself is lying on his stomach since, apparently, his ass got shot during the attack. Eugene is tending his wound. Poor Eugene.

"It's fucking hurts, George! I don't know getting shot in the ass can be this hurt." Frank seethes. Bree pats his shoulder commiseratively.

Eugene chuckles "You're lucky you only got one wound, Frank." He pulled the bullet from Frank's ass and starts to clean and close the wound with bandage. "Buck's got four holes from just one bullet back in the Holland. The bullet had gone into the right cheek of his butt, out, into the left cheek, and out."

"Oh yeah…I remember that." George laughs "Talk about big ass. You see, Bree...Easy has so many traditions. Getting shot in the ass is one of them. The others are loyal to the point of idiocy to your buddies, went AWOL from hospital and repeatedly demoted due to mischief activities."

"That's just you. Repeatedly demoted, that is." Gene says.

"Oh yeah…that just me." George says shamelessly. "But I got promoted again, mind you. I'm just too good in my job."

Gene and Frank snort in unison.

"Speaking about job." Bree says "Do you know what you're going to do after this war? I've read about this new G.I Bill in Colonel Sink's newspaper. It offers low-interest loans and cash payment for tuitions among others."

"I think I'll the loan." George says "I have no interest in school. But I'm good with mechanical things. I'm gonna use the money for starting my own repair business. Ahh….I've already see the bright future." George nods with faraway look on his eyes.

Frank scoffs "Hah… my teeth are brighter than your future."

Without losing a beat, George says "Then you have to protect your teeth from Lieutenant Speirs, midget. That man is easily distracted with something shiny."

Bree laughs "Okay…first, as of tomorrow, it'll be Captain Speirs. Second, what's with Speirs and shiny things? I just saw he's holding some kind like a gold goblet and a small ornate clock on my way here."

"Our new, esteemed company commander developed this affinity for precious and shiny objects since our mission in Netherland. He said it's to…um…'preserve' the historical objects from ignorant hands." George says.

"Geez…George you really shouldn't use your entire vocabulary in one sentence." Frank says.

"What's this? Amateur Comedy Hour: Asshole Edition?! Are you wishing to shit sideways? Because I will happily rip open you wounded ass again for a new asshole for you. It's I insult you, not the other way around. That's how the universe works." George says.

Frank flips him off over his shoulder.

Gene chuckles while tidying up his medic stuffs and then says "Why don't you both crawl back inside your mothers and don't come back out again until you've matured into proper human being?" and then he goes to the aid station.

George grins widely as if he's a proud father or something "Aaawwww…our medic become feisty. I think my comedic genius has rubbed off on him."

Bree snorts "Yeah...right…Comedic genius. Whatever makes you sleep in the night, George."

"Ohhh…I will give anything for a hot shower right now. I've donned this Eau de Homeless too long for my liking." Joe joins them and flops himself beside Frank. "How ya doin little guy?" He pats Frank's head.

Frank swats Joe's hand; feeling annoyed "I can shot your ass if you wanna know how I feel."

Joe grins "Wow….are you menstruating or something? The only one who is bitchier than you right now is Martin. But that's his default expression day by day."

"Asshole" Frank mumbles. "Dammit how can I brush my teeth if I have to lay on my stomach all day." He moans.

Bree laughs "That's what makes you're like grumpy cat? Because you can't brush your teeth? You really are something Frank."

"Maintaining oral hygiene is important! War or not. And what the hell is grumpy cat?! I've told you…no more references about the future!" Frank says heatedly.

Joe grins "That's Frank Perconte for you, Bree. His toothbrush is his most precious thing in the whole world. What the heck it is made of, by the way, that make it so goddam precious, Frank?"

Frank snaps "Your mom's chest hair!"

A/N: Hello...thank you for the review and follows. as usual, since Englih is not my native language and i have no beta reader, please bear with me if you found any mistakes. So please read, poke me if you find some mistakes and don't forget to leave your review. Cheers ^_^