Montie, Jo, and Tom-Tom stood behind Upham and Wade. Their faces held a look of warning. Tom-Tom and Jo closed one of their eyes as they tried to look away. Reiben smirked at the three in amusement.
"Oh, don't wake her up," Montie pleaded.
"Someone's gotta" Reiben replied.
"She wakes up on her own. If someone wakes her up, then…cranky Donnie comes."
The New Yorker chuckled. "You're afraid of her being cranky?"
"It's no joke," said Tom-Tom. "One time, back in basic, I tried to wake her up and she punched me, twice."
"She reached for her pistol when I woke her up," Jo added.
Reiben looked at them with an amused expression. He rolled his eyes and turned to the sleeping brunette. The three girls began to squeal. Jo gripped Upham while Montie gripped Jo. Tom-Tom hid behind Wade's back. The two smirked at each other. Jackson turned his head and grimaced; Mellish rolled his eyes. Reiben bent over and shook Donnie's shoulder.
"Hey, Sweetheart, wake up. Time to go," he drawled.
In a quick instant, the brunette grabbed a hidden dagger. She jolted upright and held the knife to his neck. Reiben's eyes were wide with fear. Her eyes growled at him.
"Damn it Reiben! I could've killed you!" She put her dagger away and rubbed her eyes. Reiben stood there, frozen. She continued, "Didn't anyone tell you not to wake me up?"
She shoved him back onto the pew. He gave her a dumbfounded expression.
"We told him not to," Montie jumped in.
"Oh, so he's just stupid."
Jackson, Mellish, and Wade laughed. The girls and Upham quickly joined in. Reiben snapped his head over and glowered at them. The three called him various names that implied he was a wimp. Miller and Horvath walked into the church.
"What's so funny?" the captain asked.
"Reiben lost his balls," Tom-Tom blurted out.
The comment made the rest of them laugh harder. Montie was holding onto Jackson's shoulder as she bent over. Mellish had tears in his eyes, and Upham had moved to the silent laugh. In the midst of their laughing, Donnie moved out of the pew. The laughing soon died down.
"Girls, grab your gear…now," she spoke in a cranky manner.
The three nodded and followed orders. Seeing as how their load was light, they were done quickly. Miller's men grabbed their stuff as well. In a matter of moments, the four girls and five boys stood in front of Horvath and Miller.
"Let's head out men," said the Captain.
The group of eleven walked out of the church and headed towards the fields. Judging by the amount of darkness, it was early morning. Tom-Tom smirked as she saw Reiben still upset over the teasing. She chuckled to herself. The company was silent as they hiked through open fields. There was the occasional question from Wade asking if Montie's arm was okay. Otherwise, it was silent. Donnie scoped the surrounding area and walked with Upham. Montie walked next to Wade by his request. Jo lead the way with Reiben. Tom-Tom kept pace with Mellish. The ebony haired woman noticed him mumbling. She wanted to ask, but held it in. No one wanted to break the silence. The sky began to lighten as the sun started to rise. A small glint caught the auburn's eyes. She held out her arm to stop Reiben.
"Hold up," she commanded. They all stopped.
"What's the big idea?" asked the Captain.
Ignoring him, she called, "Donnie, you need to see this!"
The brunette with a braid hustled to the front. The two crouched low to the ground. Jo gently brushed away some grass to reveal a shiny line. The two looked at each other worriedly.
"You think you can do it?" Donnie questioned.
"This may need a finer touch."
She gave a curt nod. "Montie, Tom-Tom, on the double!"
Jo turned toward Horvath. "Sorry Sarg, Cap. We have a delicate situation."
"What do you mean?"
"This shiny piece of light is actually a line connected to a nearby mine field. You trip it and step on that, bye bye boys."
"Can't we step over it?" Horvath spoke up.
"No can do. For all we know, that field could be right over the wire, and sometimes the wire is used to create an ambush."
Miller frowned. "Anything we can help you with?"
"Stay back and give us cover. I suspect some men are guarding it."
Miller nodded. He turned around. "Men, give the girls some room. They may need some cover."
The two remaining girls rushed to their leader. All four wore a face of seriousness.
"Montie, we need you to disable the field. Tom-Tom, you and I are gonna help with cover: I don't want these men to be surprised. Jo, stay with Montie and help any way you can. We must do this quickly and well. Got it?"
"Yes sir," they answered.
Tom-Tom and Donnie walked away. The auburn looked at the blonde with empathy.
"We'll get through this," she said.
"We have to, don't we?"
Donnie and Tom-Tom crawled next to the men. Tom-Tom glared at Jackson.
"Lemme see your gun."
His eyes went wide. "No!"
"Shit Jackson, just hand it over." He shook his head. "I just need the fuckin scope!" He reluctantly handed it over. "Damn," she muttered.
Tom-Tom crawled a little farther away and looked through the scope. She moved slowly to avoid attracting attention. A shift of movement behind a tree caught her eye. She caught sight of a rifle. She continued to look through the glass. Donnie crawled up next to her.
"How many we got?"
"Four riflemen and three pistols."
"Fuck," she paused, "Tell Miller and them where the riflemen are, then we'll take on the pistols."
"Yes sir," Tom-Tom replied.
She crawled her way back to the huddle. Jackson gave her a strange look as she handed him his gun. She then crawled over to Miller and Horvath.
"What's the situation?" whispered Horvath.
"There are four riflemen behind that tree line. Donnie wants you to go at 'em. Her and I will take out the other three."
"What other three?"
Tom-Tom smirked. "You didn't think we were the only ones to send in special forces, did you?" She held up her pistol and winked. Her face became serious. "Donnie didn't want a thing like this to plague your minds. That's our problem."
The two gave the girl a supportive nod. She crawled back to her leader.
"Alright," Miller started, "Let's give the girls some cover."
In a matter of moments, the rest of the men were clued in to the plan. Each one readied their position. They crawled closer to the tree line where the enemy was hiding. The silence was soon filled with rapid gunfire. Two men dropped dead. Another tried to run at the company: he quickly fell. An eerie stillness filled the air as they waited for the fourth. Jackson heard a rustle to his right. Quickly catching sight of the enemy, he shot him in his tracks. The company slowly stood up. Tom-Tom walked over to the boys.
"Nice shooting," she complimented.
"Where's Donnie?" Upham asked worriedly.
All of their eyes widened. A sudden roar brought their attention to the tree line. Donnie and a woman covered in mud circled each other. Donnie had pushed her in to the open. The brunette wore a scowl on her lips. She held two knives, one in each hand. The enemy quickly rushed her. Donnie ducked and drove the dagger into the enemy's back.
"Look away...now," Tom-Tom commanded fiercely.
The men looked away just as Donnie snapped the woman's neck. She fell to the ground. The verdant eyed leader retrieved her weapon from the cadaver. She cleaned it on the grass and walked over to Jo and Montie. Tom-Tom brought the men as they made their way to the same place.
Donnie crouched. "How's it look, Jo?"
"The wire is an active trip."
"And the mines are where?" asked Tom-Tom.
"A couple steps that way," Jo replied while pointing to the right of the group.
Montie spoke without glancing back, "I still need a few minutes."
"Keep working Montie, you're doing good," Donnie assured her. "Jo, give the signal when she's done." She turned and faced Miller. "I suggest we hide in the grass again."
"Why's that?" he asked bluntly.
"If someone comes through that tree line and sees the dead, and then us...well, let's just say we'll be singing with Jesus."
He nodded. "Alright men. You heard the lady."
The company slowly sunk back into the grass, a few feet from Jo and Montie. Tom-Tom sat between Wade and Jackson. Donnie had made her way between Miller and Reiben. She laid her legs in front of her.
"So," the Captain began, "When you said you were behind Omaha-"
She smirked. "We were literally behind the beach and trenches."
"How does that happen?" asked a surprised Reiben.
The brunette took a deep breath. "We got orders a couple days ahead of the invasion to infiltrate behind the lines. Once we were back there, we were supposed to clean out the back lines and move forward." She glanced around to see everyone listening patiently. "We had a unit at each location, even with Patton. They ranged from six to seven women a unit. At night we would cut at 'em, ya know, little by little. The day the invasion began, we fought in daylight. It wasn't as hard as the front lines by far, but…" She shook her head. "We lost Phil and Jon fighting. Spence, our medic, couldn't save Will. They were best friends, like Carp and Fish. Spence, she was angry at the Germans. Before we could stop her, she ran straight at the remaining back lines. That was the last we saw her alive."
Mellish grimaced. "Lousy bastards," he muttered.
"What happened after that?" Upham questioned.
"After burying the others, Jo, Montie, and I ran to the forest. We waited until we got the orders from Ramelle. We headed inward, then you guys found us." She snorted. "You were the first men to see one of our units. That's part of our deal; be shadows. That's why we came from behind."
They stayed silent. Upham turned his gaze in the direction of the other two girls. Horvath and Miller glanced at each other with sadness. Donnie drew her knees in as Reiben gently shouldered her. The brunette's ears perked up just as the auburn let out a long, high pitched whistle. Donnie nodded at Tom-Tom. She grinned.
"Looks like the wire snapped."
The nine gradually stood up, watching their backs, and walked over to the two girls. Jo was standing while the blonde wiped sweat off her forehead. Jackson slyly smiled and held out his hand.
"Nice work."
"Thanks." She smirked as she grabbed his hand and stood up.