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October 5, 1944

Since that one shower, Easy wasn't given another opportunity to feel human again. They stayed on the island, but the mobile showers moved on to another company and regiment. Evelyn didn't care though. The aid station was clean and operational. And she didn't see another rat - dead or alive. While she was busy during her shift at the aid station, it was Spina's turn for a break. Roe was with the men waiting for the patrol to return in case they needed a medic. The three of them rotated these duties, making sure they each had a turn to help, prepare, and rest.

Roe was just about to wake up Spina when the doors of the barn busted open with a loud bang a moment before the patrol came in, carrying a bloodied Alley. Roe immediately jumped up and ran to them. "Place him on the table, the table!" he yelled over the loud ruckus. His eyes scanned the wounds of some of the others. "Luz, go grab Evie from the aid station. I need help."

Luz nodded and he was back with Evelyn within seconds. The men were crowding around Winters and Lipton, who were assembling a squad to go back and fight. She met Roe's eyes and he chucked his chin towards the crowd. "Liebgott's neck."

Evelyn nodded before finding Liebgott and pushing her way into the crowd. Winters was briefing them on what was about to occur before they left. She got to Liebgott's side, trying to peel the dirty bandage someone placed half-assed on the side of his neck. The wound was still bleeding.

"Get off of me, Cassidy!" he snapped.

Before she could reply, Winters pointed to them both. "Joe, you're leading scout. Evelyn, you're with me, we're gonna need you. You can treat him afterwards."

They both grumbled, "Yes, sir."

Roe and Evelyn exchanged a glance before she left. She understood immediately. With a nod, he assured her he was OK with Alley. With a nod back, she promised that she'd be careful.

The squad hurried out into the night, hunched in an effort to stay hidden from the Germans up ahead. Evelyn clenched her fists to try and forget that there wasn't anything in her hands. She remembered Guarnere's words and tried to keep them replaying in her mind. She made her choice - she was a medic first.

Crouching and slowly walking silently, she was in between Muck and Perconte. She could see the telltale sign of Luz near the front, the antenna of his radio swinging. She tried to focus on that rather than the beating of her too fast heart.

Suddenly, the blast of a machine gun up ahead. The soldiers immediately flattened onto the ground, holding their breath against the hill. Quickly, they realized the shots weren't directed towards them. Then Luz signaled that they were to stay put and wait for the signal from Winters.

And then they were on the move. Up and over the hill as quietly as possible. And then across the road and down into another ditch. Grant and Penkala began to set up the machine gun while the others remained with Winters. He turned to them.

"This is our fallback position. Mortars deploy here. First squad on me."

While a handful of men stayed behind to set up for a mortar strike, Evelyn followed everyone else. Guess that means me, too. In a single file, they ran as silently as they could, chasing Winters' lanky frame. Finally, he stopped and they could all see the Germans up ahead, who were oblivious to their arrival. The men readied their rifles.

Winters began to move between them, whispering instructions. Although he skipped over her, Evelyn caught on to what he was telling the others. They were being given specific krauts to kill. He added to them all, "Wait for my signal." With a nod to Evelyn, she hunkered down behind all of them, bandages in her hands ready.

It felt like an eternity while Winters focused down the barrel of his rifle. And then he fired.

It was over as quickly as it began. And before Evelyn swore she had time to breathe, Winters yelled, "Fall back!" Again they were running, the only thing difference was the sound of mortars deploying and a machine gun firing into the kraut territory.

The sky lit up with artillery that flew around them. Evelyn only focused on following the man in front of her until they were back to the fallback position. She squatted down beside Cobb, who had just finished the mortars. Liebgott landed on his other side.

"How many krauts are left?" asked Cobb as he added another round to his rifle before firing once again.

Liebgott grinned. "I dunno. But we got seven in one round." He began to fire too. Evelyn swallowed a curse; she'd do anything to be able to fight at that moment too.

Winters ran behind them, yelling orders to continue. In the distance, she could hear him using Luz's radio for backup. If she didn't look over in that moment, she probably wouldn't have known Dukeman had gone down. The noise was incredible.

Getting to her feet, she passed by Cobb and Liebgott until she arrived to Dukeman, who fell next to Luz. "Keep low, Ev!" he cried before firing once again.

Evelyn pushed Dukeman down onto his back, trying to find the source of all the blood on his chest. He rasped, his breaths shallow. "William, can you hear me?" she shouted over the blasts. She leaned down to try and clear his throat to allow him to breathe easier. It was filling with blood. "Stay with me, Will! Just try and breathe."

Her fingers finally found the wound, its size taking her own breath away. With a handful of bandages, she pressed them into his chest. Looking around to see if there was anyone who could help move him with her, she realized they were stuck alone. The battle continued.

Evelyn looked back down at Dukeman. He grabbed the collar of her jacket, his grip surprisingly strong. She nodded and gave him a smile. "That's it, Will. You're going to be fine."

But then his fingers slackened. Crying out for him to hold on, she pressed another bandage to his chest but the blood poured out. With a choke, his hand fell and his eyes closed. She didn't need to check to see if he was breathing. He was dead.

Evelyn collapsed back on the ground, breathing heavily. Wiping her crimson hands on her pants, she shakily tried to steady herself. She had no idea if only seconds, minutes or hours passed when she finally looked up again, but the shooting was still going on. The pain of losing Dukeman was suddenly burned away by a fiery hatred for the enemy.

With no calls for a medic anywhere, Evelyn touched Dukeman's cheek once more, leaving behind a smear of his own blood, before taking his rifle from his side. Lying on her belly next to Luz, she opened fire onto the Germans.

Round after round until she needed to reload. Digging deep into his pockets and taking the ammo from his chest, she continued her onslaught. It felt so good to do something rather than watching another man die under her hands. The power of the weapon surged through her hands and up her arms until it hit her heart. It drove her.

Finally, both sides stopped shooting eventually, eager to regroup. The sun had begun to come up over the hills as Winters and Talbert worked out the next steps. Evelyn leaned her head back against the dirt of the trench and closed her eyes.

"Are you alright, Ev?" asked Luz quietly.

She turned to him and nodded slightly. "Yeah. And you?"

"As always, sweetheart."

Before they could continue, Winters and Talbert came crawling back. Seeing as she and Luz were in the middle of the squad, they were with Winters. They were going to attack.

"Fixed bayonets," whispered Winters. Evelyn and the men did as they were told. His eyes watched her briefly as she readied her weapon, but he didn't say anything to stop her. "Go on the red smoke."

Evelyn began to think that her heart had permanently moved to her throat; it throbbed painfully there all too often. After the soldiers were ready, they waited for Winters to throw the smoke grenade. She watched as his eyes silently scanned each of them, and she had a sudden feeling as if he was memorizing their faces in case he never saw them again.

And then he threw the smoke bomb. Instantly, he was on his feet and running. Evelyn's eyes widened when she realized what he was doing, but all they could do was wait and obey orders. The red smoke took ages to appear.

When it finally did, she was out of the ditch and running as if her life depended on it along with the others. All those nights in Toccoa, going up and down Currahee had paid off. They were fast and united, trying to catch up with Winters and his suicide run.

Winters was there and he began to fire. Within seconds, although it felt like hours, they arrived and immediately got onto their bellies and began to fire. They were lucky. Half the Germans were still asleep and on the ground. The other half were either dead or still on shock.

In the back of her mind, Evelyn could hear Winters call for an airstrike on Luz's radio. With her ears open and ready in case anyone yelled for her, she kept shooting, watching kraut after kraut fall. Peacock screamed something about another company arriving, but it was no matter. Easy was winning.

"Boyle's been hit!"

On her feet, Evelyn heard the whiz of a bullet pass her ear as she ran towards Winters, Luz and Boyle, who was wounded in the leg. After he was pulled to the safety of the embankment, Evelyn pushed aside the officer and her best friend until she could see the wound better. With a sigh of relief, she dug into her pack for a sulfa packet and a bandage. "You're going to be fine, Leo. I know it hurts like hell, but you're going to be fine."

Boyle winced, trying not to touch his leg as she worked. "Fuck, Evie. It feels like my leg fell off."

She grinned. "That means it's still intact." She wrapped the bandage tightly before moving to grab his hand. "You'll be OK?" He nodded. "I'll see you soon then." And with that, Evelyn moved on. Then the airstrikes happened again, but from the Germans.

"Take cover! German artillery!"

Evelyn ducked low, but continued to move to where Webster lied on the ground. He clutched at his right lower leg. "Evie! They got me!"

Noticing immediately it wasn't a serious wound, she began to treat it, but not before giving him a look. "They got you, Web? Christ, stop being so dramatic."

Webster shut up, but cringed as she looked over his wound. While she worked, the battle seemed to stop abruptly. They had won. Behind them, a single rifle was still shooting, until Winters yelled at it to stop.

Evelyn gave Webster a smile. "You're in luck, David. The krauts only got you out for a few weeks at least. Bone's not broken, but you'll need to keep off it."

Webster sighed in relief and nodded. "Thanks, Evie."

She turned to a few soldiers nearby. "Pat! Skip! Can you help me get Web into a truck?" Christenson and Muck ran over and easily helped Webster to his feet, and she wasn't needed anymore.

Turning, she watched as Liebgott led a line of German soldiers into the back of another truck. Jogging over, she hopped in right after him. He saw her and sighed. "Let's get this over with."

Evelyn rolled her eyes, but appreciated that he was finally going to allow her to look at the wound on his neck. The original bandage had bled through. After digging around in her pack, she found a new bandage and some sulfa. It would have to do for now. Muttering to herself and him that stitches would be needed later, she got started.

She sat down next to him, turning her back on the German POWs, who began murmuring to themselves. She saw Liebgott grin.

She caught his eye. "What are they saying?"

He smirked. "Do you really want to know?"

Evelyn rolled her eyes again before gently peeling the used bandage from his neck. She scooted closer to get a better look at the wound. "Enlighten me."

Liebgott watched her work, the determination on her face took his attention. He could hardly feel it as she cleaned away the blood with a damp rag. He watched next as she sprinkled sulfa. She bit her lip, making sure she got every edge of torn skin. "Let me guess. They're questioning the sanity of the US military in allowing a woman in the field," she drawled when she was met with silence.

He shook his head but she stopped it with a hand on his chin before she began to wrap the bandage around his neck. She got closer to tighten it. "No," he murmured, his eyes raking over her. "They're wonderin' how they can get wounded so that the pretty medic will tend to them next."

Evelyn's eyes snapped up to his and she realized then how close they were. Mere inches separated them. She froze. "You're lying."

He shrugged one shoulder and smirked again. "It's true. But then again, my translation might not be the best. I improvised a word or two."

She felt her heart pound, but contributed it to the hot, late morning sun above them. She wondered which words he changed. The moment she waited for her next breath felt like an eternity, but her lungs didn't want to work when his eyes were looking at her like that. There seemed to be an internal battle happening in his head, but she couldn't guess the topic. Blinking, she looked away.

Evelyn cleared her throat before leaning back again. She tightened the bandage at a safe distance. She stood and felt his eyes still on her. With a smile to herself and eager to change the subject, she asked, "How do you say 'fuck off' in German?"

Liebgott's smirk deepened. "Verpiss dich."

She grinned before turning to the SS soldiers and flipping up both her middle fingers. "Verpiss dich, boys!" And with a laugh, she jumped from the truck and left to find someone else to help. Liebgott watched her go, an unknowing smile on his face.

Evelyn wiped her sleeve across her dirty and sweaty forehead. Finally, Easy was packing up and heading back into town after taking a quick break on the ground. Luckily, Evelyn's services weren't needed for anyone else. Roe and Spina had joined them to help pack up the wounded. All in all, it was an epic battle.

Just then, the man that everyone was talking about, fell into step with her. She glanced up and smiled. "I've heard some rumors, sir."

Winters smiled back. "Don't believe everything you hear, Evelyn."

She laughed before raising an eyebrow. "So you aren't being promoted to lead the entire battalion, sir? My mistake."

He looked at her in surprise before chuckling. "How word gets around just moments after I have even heard it, I will never know."

"Don't underestimate the power of a gossiping soldier, sir. The men hold nothing back."

He chuckled again before getting quiet, thinking. Their pace slowed until they stopped before the trucks. Winters looked at her and grinned. "Before they officially take me from Easy, there are a few things I want to wrap up."

Evelyn waited, unsure where this was going.

His expression turned serious. "Evelyn, you're a medic. I know you trained first as solely a soldier, but now we need you alive to treat the men. Unless it's an absolute necessity, you're not to pick up a rifle. Got me?"

She bit her lip and nodded. "Yes, sir," she grumbled.

Winter grinned. "I can imagine it's a struggle not to step up and help. You've shown dedication, bravery, and leadership to your role beyond what I could have hoped for. Whether if you were on the front lines with a rifle or in the aid station with a wounded soldier, you never stop."

"Thank you, sir. That means a lot."

"That's why before I go, I'm promoting you to sergeant. You will be the lead medic from here on out."

Evelyn gaped. "Are you sure, sir?"

Winters grinned again. "Are you questioning your battalion XO, sergeant?"

A giggle escaped her, and she quickly covered her mouth. She lowered it again when she could trust herself to reply. "Of course not, sir. Thank you very much. This means the world to me."

His grin deepened as they started to walk again the short distance to the trucks. "I know you'll do me proud."

Evelyn climbed into the bed of the vehicle with a helping hand from Martin. She turned to Winters before he left them. "And sir?"

"Yes, sergeant?"

She smiled softly. "We'll miss you, sir."

Winters didn't answer, but only nodded. She could see the struggle already in leaving his company. The truck's engine roared to life, and they began on their way. She sat down next to Martin.

He grinned. "Sergeant Cassidy, huh? Christ, we're in trouble."

Evelyn swatted at his head and grinned back, but he ducked. "Don't worry, Johnny. You can still try and boss me around."