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In the back of her mind, she heard the tanks pull to a stop outside the edge of town. Evelyn took a quick look at the baby in the woman's arms after a small, silent nod from her. And just as she placed the child back in her arms, the unmistakable sound of a sniper happened ahead.

Evelyn whipped her head to the men a moment before turning back to the woman. "Run!" she cried. Without waiting to see if the woman obeyed, Evelyn ran towards the tanks. Soldiers began running in the opposite direction, towards her, and to the safety of the trenches on the side of the road. Subconsciously, she felt someone tug on her arm to join them, but she shook them off when she heard a bellow from the front.

"Medic up front! Medic up front!"

Randleman knelt next to a wounded officer, a replacement that Evelyn had yet to meet personally. She came up to his other side and immediately put a bandage on his neck, the wound on his throat spurting blood. "Go, Bull!" she yelled. "Your men need you!"

Randleman grimaced before running away, knowing she was right. Digging around in her pack with her free hand, she found the sulfa and another compression bandage. Once both were utilized, Evelyn looked up in time to see Roe slide in beside her. "Bullet to the throat. I don't think it hit the artery, but we have to move him."

Roe nodded silently, grabbing the strap of one shoulder while she did the other. Together, they began pulling the lieutenant back towards safety.

It took several minutes until he was close enough to the line. The officers there took him, and before she had to repeat herself on what happened, Evelyn and Roe ran back into the fight, calls for medics peppering the air.

Soon, they separated. With one last squeeze of each other's fingers, Evelyn watched Roe disappear to the left while she moved up the middle. She soon found Compton and his squad readying the rear of the battle with mortar and bazooka strikes. She settled there with them.

Compton commanded the strikes as Evelyn watched and listened for more cries for help. Her eyes widened as soldiers began to retreat. Lying on her belly between two men, she watched as buildings exploded left and right and artillery was being strewn everywhere. Unable to just sit and wait for someone to get injured, Evelyn took the side arm from its holster and began to fire when a kraut was close enough to shoot. Thankful for the extra ammo that she packed in her trouser pockets, she kept fighting until she needed to stop once more.

The opportunity came when she watched a garden wall explode to her right. Most of the soldiers had run away in time, but Evelyn could see one last man squatting in the corner, whether from injury or shock, she didn't know. Standing up, she ran with everything she had. She tried not to think of the bullets that zinged by her.

Finally, she arrived to the soldier. It was Cobb, and thankfully he didn't seem injured. "Roy!" she cried. "Are you hit?"

Cobb's eyes met hers, and it seemed to take him a minute to comprehend what she was doing there. "No," he replied quietly. "No, I'm fine."

Evelyn grabbed his hand. "Then let's move it!" He obeyed the tug on his arm and ran with her back towards the line. A moment later, the rest of the wall where he was sitting burst into gravel.

Ducking low, she let go of his hand and let him continue to move. Her attention was taken by another blast and its aftermath. Hashey and Garcia began crawling towards a fallen man. It was Miller, and it was clear he was dead.

Swallowing hard, Evelyn felt for a pulse, even though she knew in her heart that she would find nothing. Her eyes were locked on his still and vacant ones. The pain of the blast was forever etched on his face.

"Come on!" yelled Garcia. He grabbed Hashey's shirt. "Hashey, let's go! Evie!"

Shaking her head to clear it and blinking several times, Evelyn got up and ran after them. Crouching low in the trenches, she quickly came upon Compton being dragged by Muck, Malarkey and Guarnere.

"Are you guys, OK?" she cried.

Guarnere grunted and nodded. "We're OK, doll! Get outta here!"

Instead, another blast was heard behind them and more soldiers were still coming from the town, the Germans close on their heels. Evelyn ran towards them, Guarnere calling after her.

Helping a man to his feet, grabbing a hand to hurry another along, and checking to make sure the next on the ground was dead and not only wounded, Evelyn moved between them all until finally there were none left. She could hear yelling behind her, and it wasn't in English. With a look over her shoulder, a line of krauts was headed towards her.

She felt the air in her lungs still even as she ran for her life. The most random thought entered her head as she ducked and covered it with her arms, her feet moving on their own. Did she really think her arms would do anything to keep her alive if a sniper took aim? If a mortar struck her? Laughter bubbled in her throat, and she choked it out as she came closer to the American and British tanks. I'm losing my mind. Again, she laughed.

Finally, Winters pushed her forward until she was loaded into a truck. Knowing nothing was funny at that moment, it took all her remaining strength to stop the giggles that threatened to surface. Her random humor evaporated instantly when she heard Guarnere ask Martin a question.

"Where's the Bull?"

Evelyn's head snapped up along with several others. Martin winced, out of breath. "I don't know."

Her eyes widened and her heart stopped. "What do you mean, you don't know, Johnny? He can't be fucking lost. The man is bigger than most of the houses that just exploded!"

Martin's face hardened. "I don't know, Evie."

The trucks began to pull away as the sun began to set. The realization of the situation came upon all of them. They were leaving Randleman behind.

Evelyn paced back and forth next to Hoobler, Garcia and Hashey, who were sitting on the ground by her feet. Cobb and Webster were nearby. The former hadn't really said a word since she found him by that wall earlier in the afternoon.

Hoobler tried to catch her eye. "Evie, sweetheart, take a load off. You're not going to find Bull wearing a trail in the grass."

She snorted, but continued to pace. "I'd like to see you try and keep me still right now, Don."

Just then, Guarnere came up to them. Garcia stupidly asked if anyone had found Randleman yet, or a body. Guarnere lashed out. "Ain't no body if ain't nobody dead! You got me?"

Hoobler stood then. "Enough of this bullshit. I'm going to find him."

Guarnere looked at him. "Not by yourself you're not. Let me go get some ammo."

Hashey and Garcia stood next. "That's OK. I'll go."

Garcia nodded. "Me too."

Evelyn breathed in a sigh of relief and smiled. "I'm coming too."

Guarnere looked at the men and nodded. "Alright. Go get him."

The group started to pack up and walk back towards the town. As Evelyn turned to go, Guarnere stopped her with a hand. "You ain't going anywhere, doll."

Evelyn gaped and gave him a look of outrage. "I'm sorry, Bill, but when did you start to make my decisions?"

Guarnere smirked. "Never. But you did when you decided to become a medic, sweetheart. You ain't going to battle."

She scoffed. "You know I can cover them just as well as you can, Bill! And I'll be there ready to help in case there's trouble."

He grabbed her hand and tugged her in the other direction. "Can't have it both ways, Ev. Time to wait them out."

Scowling, she knew he was right. She had already fired a weapon today, something she hadn't done in months. She had made her choice, but at the same time, she didn't have to like it. Allowing him to drag her back towards the others, she took one last look over her shoulder at her friends, Webster and Cobb now included, leaving to find their sergeant.

Evelyn still couldn't rest. Not when Luz tried to drag her into his foxhole. Not when Roe tried to get her to eat. And especially not when the Germans began to bomb Eindhoven over the hills. The attack only reminded her of the angry townspeople there and why she was holding onto Randleman's side arm, a weapon he could probably use right now. Guilt twisted in her gut.

"Ev," called Luz from the ground. "Evelyn." But she ignored him. The sun had begun to rise.

Biting her lip, she continued to pace, making herself dizzy with exhaustion and disorientation. Guarnere settled on the grass next to Luz. In the close distance, Liebgott watched her from his spot under a tree, his face impassive.

Guarnere bit into an apple. "What do you think will go first? Her legs or her mind?"

Evelyn snarled. "Fuck off, Gonorrhea. If you didn't like it, you shouldn't have kept me back."

Luz rolled his eyes. "And what would you have done if the Germans spotted you? Sulfa them to death?"

She clenched her teeth and was about to wave the pistol in her hand, but thought better of it. Another wave of guilt hit her. "Maybe I'd just bat my eyelashes and hope for the best, ever thought of that, George?" She looked up and saw Liebgott looking at her. "Or maybe the little lady will distract them long enough and they'd drop their weapons. That's what I'm good at, right Liebgott?"

He didn't answer, only continued to watch her pace. She glared at him until Luz finally got a hold of her hand, stopping her in her tracks. "Ev," he said, quietly. "No one thinks that." She opened her mouth to argue, but he interrupted her. "Not even Joe. I know we all give you a hard time, but it's in good fun." He turned to glare at Liebgott. "At least it's supposed to be." He looked back at her and sighed. "We need ya, Ev. Sit down and try and get some sleep before you drop, OK?"

Evelyn looked down at him for a long time before nodding silently. Slowly, she sank to her knees before sliding onto her butt. She didn't know until that moment how tired she was. Leaning against Luz's chest, she closed her eyes. She only opened them again when she felt a tugging on her boots. Guarnere was taking them off.

"Why are you stealing my boots, Bill?" she murmured. She didn't try and stop him. Now that she decided the rest, her body greedily tried to take her under and sleep.

He gave her a wink before peeling the sock of her left foot off. "Makin' it up to ya, doll." He began to massage her foot.

Evelyn almost cried at the feeling. Groaning, she turned her face into Luz's shirt to try and muffle the sound. He raised his eyebrows. "I don't know if I should be turned on or skeeved out. Do you have a foot fetish we don't know about, Ev?" She swatted at his head feebly.

Guarnere cackled, moving to her right foot, his thumb digging deep into the tight muscles of her heel. "Can't wait to tell the fellas I got ya to moan like that, Evie. Damn they'll be jealous."

"Bill," she replied, trying her best not to kick him when he hit a ticklish spot, "you're already on the list. Right now you're working your way off it. Don't be your own worst enemy."

Before he could do more than laugh, there was a commotion behind them. A jeep had just arrived and they heard Martin shout. On their feet, they ran towards it. A huge crowd was gathering around the replacements that just returned and Randleman, who was grinning and shaking hands.

With a huge smile, Guarnere pushed forward. "I don't know whether to slap ya, kiss ya, or salute ya." Evelyn made her way forward and began looking Randleman over for injury silently. They watched her and smiled together. "I'll leave the kissin' to Evie then."

"I'll kiss you once I know you're OK, Bull," she murmured, fingers grazing his forehead at the dried blood there. He tried to duck away, but she held him steady.

The replacements gathered closer. Guarnere motioned to them. "I tried to tell these scallywags you was OK. Decided to go on a suicide run for ya."

Randleman looked at them, at the same time trying to brush Evelyn's hands away with an impatient sigh. "Is that right? Never did like this company none," he drawled.

The men laughed until Evelyn moved to stand in front of him, her arms crossed and bare toe tapping impatiently. "Are you quite done, sergeant, or shall I wait to see if they throw you a damn parade?"

Guarnere cackled. "Oh, you did it this time, Bull. Toe's a-tappin' and everything."

Dragging him to a truck, she finally got him settled enough on the edge of the bed to inspect the wound on his shoulder. Just in time too. Easy was heading out.

After cleaning the area and applying a clean bandage, she sat down next to him, legs dangling over the side. In the back of her mind, she hoped Luz grabbed her boots. "I'll need to stitch you up when we stop, but it doesn't look bad."

Randleman nodded and gave her a grin. "Thanks for takin' care of me, Evie."

Evelyn sighed and looked down at her hands before removing the side arm from her ankle. She held it out to him. "I should be the one thanking you, Bull. I'm sorry you felt you needed to give this to me. You probably could have used it last night."

He studied her a moment before wrapping an arm behind her and squeezing her to his side. He didn't take the gun back. "I know we'll all feel better if you're armed, darlin'. As scary as that is."

She giggled and leaned her head against his massive shoulder. "Sorry for Eindhoven."

"Sorry for Nuenen."

And with that, they leaned against one another, dozing on their ride out of the failed battleground.

September 25, 1944

Easy moved on next to what the locals called "The Island," a large body of land almost completely surrounded by rivers. After arriving to a small town, they were to hold the territory and keep the enemy at bay until further notice.

Since they didn't know how long they were going to stay there, Evelyn, Roe and Spina got about to setting up a makeshift aid station in small, abandoned cottage. It took most of the first few days just cleaning it out.

Evelyn swept away a pile of rubbish with a broken broom she found in the back. In the pile was something that looked suspiciously like a dead rat. She wrinkled her nose. "I don't want to know."

A big puff of dust erupted in the room when Roe opened a cupboard. Sneezing, he closed the doors again in an effort to trap it back inside, but it was to no avail. He was filthy.

She caught sight of his dirty face and giggled loudly. She could only see the blue of his eyes and a flash of white teeth. "You look ridiculous, Eugene. You need a shower."

Roe chuckled, trying to brush off some of the dirt. "If there was a shower, believe me, I'd take it."

Evelyn sighed. Since the soldiers were staying in a barn they found in town and not inside the small amount of houses strewn about, access to clean water was hard to come by. Finding clean, hot water for bathing was nearly impossible. "How we're supposed to sterilize this room without soap and water is beyond me."

Roe gave her a smile. "We'll make do. We always do."

She smiled back. "That we do. I wonder how Ralph is doing." Spina had left over an hour ago to try and find some extra matches or lighters to clean equipment. If they needed to stitch someone up, and they didn't have soap, hot water, or alcohol to sterilize the instruments, then fire would have to do.

By the time they were done for the day, Evelyn was starving. "Are you coming, Gene? If we don't grab something soon, Hoobler is bound to eat our share."

Roe gave her a look. "Was it Hoobler that finished my share when I turned my head the other night?"

Sheepish, she grinned. "You know I can't control myself when I'm hungry. And besides, I made it up to you."

"A hug is hardly the same as that last bite of sandwich, Evie."

She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "How about now? I think we're even."

Flushing, Roe rolled his eyes and pushed her away with a chuckle. "Go get yourself some food before your blood sugar drops and your good mood fades. And save me some. I'll almost done rolling up this bandage."

Blowing him another kiss, Evelyn left and started walking towards the barn. It also acted as their mess hall. Opening the large door, she hustled inside when she smelled the unmistakable scent of hot food. Her mouth watered. It had been rations for weeks, even after arriving here.

"Christ, Evie, I hardly recognized ya," said Muck, laughing. "Hey, Malark, check out Cassidy."

Malarkey turned around from his place in line and grinned. Liebgott, in front of him, looked over. "Jesus, I thought I was filthy. What did you do, doll? Sleep in a pig pen?"

Evelyn stuck out her tongue at him, making him and Muck chuckle. "I'm going for a new look. You don't like?"

Luz came up behind her and put an arm around her shoulders for a moment before rearing back and coughing. Grimacing, he stepped back. "Ev, is that you, sweetheart? That smell."

She rolled her eyes as the men laughed again. It had only been about two weeks since her last shower, but it felt like two years. The grime on her skin seemed to have developed its own skin. "You're quite the charmer, Luz."

Before Luz could count off the ways he was, in fact, a charmer, Lipton called them to attention. "Hey guys, listen up! We've got showers..."

Everyone cheered in the barn. Lipton held up a hand for quiet. "But there is only enough water for half." They groaned. "The other half will need to wait until tomorrow. I'll let you settle on who goes tonight."

A few men ran for the door, eager to be a part of the first group. Everyone around Evelyn pointedly looked at her. She widened her eyes and shrugged. "What? There are others who need a hot shower more than me." They raised their eyebrows. "Let Eugene go, or Bull! He's still healing and the steam will do him good." Luz poked her, and she looked longingly at the food that was just out of reach. "But -"

"I'll grab you a plate," he interrupted. "Go and save us all. That smell."

Swatting at his head, she grinned before giving in. "Fine. And thanks, guys. I think."

Evelyn left the barn and jogged towards the outdoor showers, keen to finish quickly and alert Roe. A few of the men were already inside. Immediately, she began to strip off her disgusting clothes. Heffron, who was nearest, felt his eyes bug out. "Evie!" he cried, trying to cover her with the clean ODs he was handed before going into the tent. "What are you doing?"

She pushed his hands away before completing her task until she was down to her underwear. He's lucky I'm not going further. Cocking an eyebrow she said, "If you want to wait, Babe, go ahead, but there might not be any hot water left if you do. I'm not going to risk it." And with that, she took her clean ODs from the stunned steward and walked into the tent. If the men inside were surprised, they didn't say anything. She didn't look at them, and they didn't look at her - much.

Eventually, Heffron joined her, but he kept turning his head and blushing. Chuckling to herself, Evelyn scoured her skin with the water and soap. She sighed with pleasure.

"Don't mind Cassidy," drawled Liebgott, who stood under another shower nearby Heffron. "She tends to do that."

She opened her eyes lazily and made sure not to let them wander below his bare chest. She smirked. "Don't mind Liebgott and his mouth, Babe. He tends to do that."

Heffron shook his head in awe, his own underwear still on since he sure as hell wasn't going to take those off with her nearby, and turned away from both of them. "They're right. They are either gonna kill each other or fuck," he murmured to himself. Intent on forgetting the pretty and mostly naked woman nearby, Heffron continued to scrub and prayed for colder water.