I am SO sorry for not updating in awhile. I've had a hard time keeping myself motivated to write, and haven't had much free time lately. I hope everyone is still enjoying this story. Reviews are greatly appreciated! Thank you for reading xoxo

Chapter 4: Screw Ups

Camp Mackall, North Carolina

February-May 1943

Everyone was in position as they lay on the forest ground, hiding themselves amongst the leaves and mounds. Easy Company had been lying down for so long that they all began to grow anxious, shifting slightly, making the leaves and twigs rustle and crack. Marie was on her belly in a crouched position. She had had grown bored with the stalling, so her focus was now on an earthworm that was burrowing in the dirt beside her. She hoped she wouldn't fall asleep before Sobel gave the order - only he wasn't giving any orders. He looked flustered as he talked to Tipper and pointed at a map and checked his compass. When it came to actually directing the Easy Company in combat drills, Sobel was a regular fish out of water.

Marie glanced over at Emilia, amused by the entire situation, but the expression on Emilia's face told otherwise. She was angry with Sobel's incompetence to lead. Emilia was an excellent tracker, Marie swore she had a compass built into her brain. The misdirection must've been killing her.

"We're so off course," Emilia hissed at Marie. "He led us right into the wrong position! We're going to get negative marks for this! Just you wait."

"Figures," Bull jeered, he was sitting by them.

"I knew he was leading us in circles. He even has a compass and he still gets lost," Emilia uttered under her breath.

"It's all screwed up now, the only thing we can do is wait it out. If we move out we'll be ambushed for sure. That's what Winters said, anyway," Bull added

Marie slid upward to take a better look at what was going on. She could see Sobel talking to Winters, both men looking equally distressed. Sobel must've told Winters something he didn't like because Winters suddenly looked taken aback. Winters pursed his lips in annoyance as he made his way quietly over to the company.

"We're moving out," Winters ordered flatly.

Sitting tight for an ambush was a basic and effective military tactic, yet Sobel was too damned proud to show that he's made a mistake.

"Unbelievable," Emilia groaned.

Everyone stood up begrudgingly to follow Sobel, whom was marching in front of the platoon with a false sense of pride. He had absolutely no guard up as he led them a couple steps into the forest. Suddenly a bunch of men popped out of the ground like sprouting plants; it was one of the enemy teams, holding up their weapons in a firing position. They were well camouflaged.

A solider with a tired and serious face approached Sobel with a clipboard. "Captain, you've just been killed, along with 95% of your company. Your outfit?"

"Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506." Sobel uttered, his voice fading in the realization that he'd majorly fucked up.

Easy Company glared daggers at the back of Sobel's head. If this were real, most of them would be dead. Marie thought about the heaviness of that unspoken statement and she felt her heart grow hardened. This man was going to lead them straight to their graves.

"Leave three wounded men on the ground, and report back to the assembly area," The soldier ordered.

Marie heard Sobel curse under his breath. He snapped his head around and glowered at his company as if it was their fault that this happened. Marie clenched her fists at her sides, then let her hands relax before Sobel spotted her. Sobel hastily picked three men and pointed to them, and then everyone moved out, their shoulders and spirits hanging low. Marie followed Sobel back to the assembly area, reluctantly along with the rest of the company.

0000

At this point in time, Easy Company was seriously questioning Sobel's ability to lead Easy into combat. It was rather obvious that he wasn't fit to lead anyone, but the harsh reality was that there was nothing that could be done about it. Morale began to drop drastically amongst the company as the days dragged on. Everyone already felt like they were as good as dead, and they haven't even been shipped to Europe yet. The mood in Camp Mackall had grown stale and cheerless, and made Marie question if she had made the right decision in enlisting. She tried to go on as if everything hadn't changed, but the attitudes of everyone had dramatically shifted for the worst. Even Emilia had grown impatient and quick-tempered, snapping at Marie over things that couldn't be helped. She knew it was because of the past week being with Sobel whom kept messing up, but she wished that it would all pass.

"That SOB's gonna get us killed," Toye announced grimly.

A few of the men, along with Marie, were all sitting outside in a circle, gathered around and talking ill of Sobel. This wasn't unusual. Gossiping and complaining about Sobel was fairly common; conversations like this have been happening since Camp Toccoa.

"I'm thinking it's time we get rid of him," Roy Cobb, a blond-haired, long-nosed man with a terrible attitude, added. There was something dark about his words that made Marie shudder.

"Like some kind of accident," Liebgott mused with a mild smirk.

Marie couldn't believe that she was sitting here listening to soldiers talk about getting rid of their CO. He was better off gone, but dead? And by the hands of his own soldiers? What on Earth was happening to Easy Company?

"You guys shouldn't be talking about this," Marie warned, interjecting into their conversation.

"He's going to get us all killed, including himself," Cobb said to her, "it's the only way to get a new CO. I do NOT want to follow that man into war."

"Me neither," Toye agreed.

Marie couldn't listen to any more of it. She got up and went to find Malarkey and Muck to see what their thoughts were about this. Marie later found out that Malarkey had won a three-day pass to DC for placing first in some weapons competition. Without Malarkey to talk to, and with Emilia being moody, Marie felt dreadfully lonely. Malarkey was her voice of reason, her shoulder to lean on when she needed to, and now when she needed him the most he was absent. Mackall was turning out to be worse than Fort Benning.

The only good news that came from staying at Mackall was that Easy Company had gotten a new Lieutenant. Harry Welsh had joined Easy and everyone instantly loved him. He had curly, light hair that was already receding, a bright smile that showed off a gap between his two front teeth, but that smile was infectious all the same. His jovial and joking nature made him fit in well with the rest of Easy Company.

Marie had gotten latrine duty from Sobel. His recent losses made her a perfect target to vent out his frustrations. Muck had surprised her by volunteering to for the duty along with her. It made her happy that her buddy came to help, he actually made even cleaning toilets enjoyable. She knew that Muck needed the company from missing Malarkey, too. After a few hours of scrubbing the bathrooms until they were spic n' span, Marie returned to her barracks to find Emilia sitting on her bed, trying to concentrate on writing a letter. Emilia bit the eraser of her pencil deep in thought as she peered down at the paper.

"Who you writing to," Marie asked as she walked in, testing the mood of the room, "your many male admirers?"

"Jealous," Emilia asked her, looking at her with a challenging but joking smile. "Ha, no. I'm trying to write Jane, but I have no idea what to say."

"Tell her how idiotic Sobel is being, and how The Black Swan is going to lead us all to our death beds," Marie deadpanned, her voice practically straining to sound lighthearted.

Emilia glanced at her frostily. Marie had struck a nerve even mentioning Sobel. Although it was better if Jane only received good news, they didn't want her to worry about them.

"I'd much rather write to her about you and that man from Fox Company with the interest in books," Emilia stated with a smile, scribbling down something on the paper. At least the atmosphere had shifted a little bit.

"There's nothing going on! I haven't spoken to him since," Marie huffed, flopping herself down on the thin mattress. She lay sprawled over the covers, looking up at the barrack's ceiling. She hadn't even seen that David Webster guy since Easy Company left Fort Benning.

"You're right, you and Malarkey is a much more obvious choice," Emilia replied with an impish grin.

Marie felt her face grow hot but she didn't let Emilia see that.

"I see the way you look at him, I can tell you're-"

"No, I'm not," Marie protested, shooting up from her bed, giving herself an unpleasant head rush. Marie tried to sound as candid as she could but the deep blush on her face made her very unconvincing.

"Uh-huh," Emilia answered sarcastically, still writing on the paper, "you've been moping around here like a sick puppy ever since he left."

"That doesn't mean anything, I'd be sad if you were sent to DC for a few days," Marie retorted, "Besides, he has a girl back in Oregon that he's crazy about. They're high school sweethearts, she's going to be a singer or something."

Emilia raised a skeptical eyebrow at her friend but didn't reply.

"Ha, you know I'm right," Marie smiled triumphantly, laying back down on her bed.

"Looks like the only girl here getting any action is Florence," Emilia proclaimed.

Marie looked over at Emilia, surprised that she said that.

"Oh, dear, don't tell me that you didn't know?"

Marie threw her pillow at Emilia playfully, "it's mean to talk about someone like that when she's not even here."

"Oh please, like you don't do it," Emilia said rolling her eyes.

Marie thought of what Toye, Liebgott, and Cobb were talking about earlier. Her smile faded along with her cheery mood.

"Hey, some of the men were talking about 'getting rid of Sobel' today, Marie informed Emilia.

"I don't blame them. We're doomed if we follow Sobel into war," Emilia answered in disgust, "he doesn't even know what direction to walk in."

"Well, we'll just have to make the best of it somehow," Marie sighed, knowing that her words were trite.

"Even if that means insubordination in the near future," Emilia added. She continued to look down at the letter until she finally brought herself to finish writing to Jane.

Marie wasn't sure what she chose to write to their friend about, but she was sure that Sobel came up in it one way or another.

0000

Malarkey had returned and was instantly greeted by Muck and Marie whom were very happy to see him. The conversation she had had with Emilia taunted her in her head, making her fight back another blush in irritation.

"So how was DC," Muck asked.

"It was great, a nice break from Sobel and training that's for sure," Malarkey answered.

"You're so lucky. I would do anything to have been in your place. Beats having latrine duty with this one," Muck said, patting Marie playfully on her shoulder.

"Excuse me, you volunteered," Marie replied putting her hands on her hips, but smiling at him.

Muck chuckled, "But seriously, though, it must be the damned luck of the Irish. With you surviving that jump then getting to go to DC-"

"What jump," Marie interjected, frowning as she looked between the two of them.

Muck's eyes widened as he realized that she shouldn't have said that. Malarkey shot him a look as he shifted in his spot uncomfortably.

"Nothing," Muck replied, scratching the back of his head nervously.

"What jump," Marie pressed, this time she said it firmer than she did before.

Malarkey sighed, knowing that Marie wouldn't drop the topic unless she knew. She was too damned stubborn for her own good, a trait that drove him crazy at times.

"The spring jump that we had to do in Mackall, I didn't pack my chute very good and ended up getting five blown panels as I was falling. Some loose BBs tore up my chute as I jumped I think. There was no air in the canopy when I was descending. I almost landed in a lake, but I pulled the reserve chute but… I kinda blundered on that too…" Malarkey paused for a minute and tried to laugh it off, but Marie looked at him with serious eyes. He sighed again before he continued, "I barely slowed down and ended up crashing into a tree. I got caught hanging from it with the suspension lines, but I'm okay, really."

"You could've died…" Marie muttered after a moment of prolonged silence.

"But I didn't," Malarkey added in emphasis, "if anything, this experience taught me a lesson.

"Please just… be more careful…" Marie sighed, "I just don't want…" She couldn't finish her sentence. T

"Oh, he will," Muck piped up, "like he said, learned a lesson from that," he tried to fix the situation, but it was futile. Worrying too much was another trait of Marie's that would drive Malarkey crazy.

Marie didn't answer, she felt too upset at the fact that Malarkey had almost died from a mistake, and she didn't know about it. The mood had been killed by then, so Marie decided to return back to her barracks for a few minutes until training started up again, trying to process what she had heard. Things around Mackall just kept going from bad to worse.