Without stating their mission, all of the soldiers headed back to Ramelle. It didn't take long for them to reach the town. From the looks of it, the place seemed to have been deserted. Barbed wire surrounded the perimeter. The fog and smoke that encompassed the area remained stagnant. The group moved farther inward. Donnie and Miller walked with the Corporal.
"Looks like you guys got hit pretty hard," the Captain spoke up.
"Yes sir," Henderson replied, "Small unit action. They came in and beat the hell out of us, 88s. Tell you what sir, if you're our relief I'm gonna file a complaint."
"I wouldn't blame ya. Who's your CEO?"
"Would've been Captain Jennings, sir. I'm afraid the most we could muster up is a corporal."
The brunette looked at the man. "So, you're in charge?"
"Yes ma'am."
She scoffed. "Well, we're not your relief, but we are assistance."
"Pardon, but what the hell are you saying?"
"I'm Eris Donahue. These are my girls Rae Montgomery, Lorraine Johnson, Dinah Lee Jackson, and Alice Bowman. We're a part of a special trained forces program. We received orders to aid in the protection of this bridge as well as notify that relief is being sent this way. ETA is a little up in the air. Did you know we were coming?"
He shook his head. "Negative. No disrespect, but how are you women supposed to help us?"
She smirked. "You'll just have to wait and see."
Henderson turned back to a smirking Captain. Miller's men were also smirking. Henderson's men began to adjust the gear around them. The Corporal looked at Miller.
"So, what are you guys all about?"
"We're here for him. Ryan."
"Me sir?" asked the young man.
Miller nodded at him. He slowly led him away from the pack. They were still within hearing distance.
"James Francis Ryan of Iowa?"
"Yes sir, uh, Paton, Iowa. What is this about?"
Miller kept his gaze steady. "Your brothers were killed in combat."
Ryan looked at him for a moment. Hesitation gripped the boy. His gaze shifted to the ground and back up to the Captain.
"Wh-Which ones?"
"All of them."
Ryan dropped his head in sadness. He sighed heavily before looking back at Miller with distress.
"Uh, I'm alone?" he asked.
Miller nodded. "I'm afraid so. You might wanna take some time with this. If there's some place you wanna go and…" he trailed off.
A mixture of emotions surrounded the young man. Grief encompassed him as he tried to hold in his cries of anguish.
"You," he choked, "You came all the way out here to tell me that?"
"Well, you're going home. Our orders are to bring you back."
"Bring me back," Ryan muttered.
The Captain turned to face the corporal in charge. "Corporal Henderson, uh, we don't mean to leave you even more short handed, but orders are orders. So any communication to when you'll be relieved up here?"
"The ETA is all screwed up," Donnie piped up.
"Sir, there's no way to tell. We have no idea what's happening south of us-"
"I have my orders, too, sir," Ryan interjected, "They don't include me abandoning my post."
"I understand that, but this changes things."
"I don't see that it does, sir."
The Captain looked at Ryan annoyed. "The Chief of Staff for the United States Army says it does."
"Sir," Henderson addressed while moving back into Miller's line of sight, "our order's to hold this bridge at all costs. Now, our planes and the 82nd have taken out every bridge on the murder route except two: the one in Balone and this one here. If the Germans take it, we lose our foot hole and half of this place."
"Private, your outfit wants to stay, that's one thing. Your party's over here."
"Sir-Sir, I can't leave until at least reinforcements get here-"
"You have three minutes to gather your gear."
Ryan wouldn't take it. "Sir, what about them? There's barely, hardly any of us-"
"Hey asshole!" The young private looked to see a pissed off Reiben. "Three of our guys already died to try and find you, all right."
Ryan stood there stunned. Miller turned to look at his men and the girls. The private turned to him.
"Sir?" he questioned.
"That's right. One woman, and two men."
Hesitantly, he walked over to the squad.
"What were their names?"
"Irwin Wade and Adrian Caparzo," Mellish answered.
"And Mary Tomms," Jo added.
"Tomms, Wade, and?"
"Caparzo," Mellish sighed.
Ryan, with a confused look on his face, walked back to the edge of the bridge. His eyes shifted across the water. The private muttered to himself. After a moment, he spoke up.
"It doesn't make any sense, sir. Why? Why me? Why do I deserve to go? Why not any of these guys? They all fought just as hard as me!"
"Is that what they're supposed to tell your mother when they send her another folded American flag?" Miller reasoned.
Off to the side, Reiben angrily rolled his eyes. Noticing this, Donnie gently nudged him and offered an empathetic smile. He nodded. Their attention returned to Ryan.
"Tell her that when you found me, I was here, and I was with the only brothers that I have left. And there was no way I was gonna desert them." His gaze shifted to the ground. "I think she'll understand that." He began to walk away. "There's no way I'm leaving this bitch."
Corporal Henderson stepped away. The mourning private hopped over the sandbags before sitting. He hung his head as he began to silently sob. One of his brothers in arms rubbed his head. The captain hung his head slightly in thought. He contemplated his decisions before speed walking toward the end of the bridge. Horvath jogged to catch up with him.