A/N - Here's another one. Sorry it took so long, I'm at the beach right now and have been spending a lot of time down there with the family. It's been nice, you really appreciate vacations more when you have a job, lol. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's the last one before all the action really kicks up. Enjoy. :)

Oh, and thanks to . for your kind review. I'm glad you like the story and Maddie's relationship with Bill. :)

Disclaimer - I don't own BoB or anything in it, just Maddie Tauscher, my OC. I don't wish any disrespect to the real men who fought in WWII, I only respect them and look up to them.

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Like I said before, it wasn't real for any of us until we were standing against the railing of that boat, watching Lady Liberty fade into the distance. No one spoke, it was as quiet as I've ever heard these men. Wedged between Grant and Luz, I tried to keep myself stable. I knew what I was doing, I knew it when I signed up, but all of these men did. It didn't mean that we weren't going to miss the place we all took for granted, the place we all grew up, the place we called home. We also knew something else, something we had tried to push to the back of our minds; we knew a lot of the men on the boat wouldn't come back. We tried not to think about it, but every once in a while the thought would come to the front of our minds and remind us of the awful truth.

"She's real pretty, ain't she?" Luz said, looking out at the Statue of Liberty, a lit cigarette hanging off his lip, "I saw her once when I was a kid."

Chuck shook his head and kept his gaze on the beautiful sight, "I've never seen her. Only in pictures?"

Luz looked over at Chuck curiously now, his facial expression finally changing from serious to curious, "Really?"

"I'd never left the state of California until this whole thing started," Chuck said, his blue eyes still focused on the statue as it had nearly faded away at this point, "Weird huh? I lived in LA my whole life, then went to Georgia for a year, North Carolina, New York for twenty minutes, and now I'm going to England."

"I came to New York once when I was a kid," I said, smiling slightly at the fond memory, "I came with my dad. He took me all over the city... His family comes from here, I guess he just wanted to show me where I come from."

"Well, surely you're not from New York," Chuck said, looking down at me now, "Where do you come from, really?"

"I'm Irish on my mother's side," I said, throwing my own cigarette over the boat and into the water below.

"Shit, don't tell Malarkey that," Chuck joked, snickering a little bit at his own joke.

"And I'm German on my father's," I said, not even smiling. I still couldn't believe this was it.

It was silent for a minute, then I heard George say, "You're shitting me."

I shook my head, "My grandparents are from Germany, they immigrated to New York in the late 1800s, then they had my dad, his brother, and his sister."

"Wow," Chuck said, "My great-grandparents are from Scotland, and the other set of great-grandparents are from France. I don't know shit about either of 'em."

I chuckled and finally cracked a small smile as George spoke again, "I'm Portuguese and Portuguese only."

"Your parents from there?" Chuck asked and George nodded.

"Yep," He replied, finally finishing his cigarette and tossing it over the edge where mine had just disappeared to, "Come on, let's go inside, I feel like a nap."

So we followed George Luz inside.
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"Okay, so what we're a little dirty and poor? Philly's a great city," I tried to tell Chuck Grant who has been giving me a hard time for the past two hours. I lay next to him on my cot, and he in his, and we lay opposite directions, meaning he kept putting his filthy boot in my face, "Tell me one good thing about LA."

Chuck scoffed and shrugged, as if that were easy, "The Dodgers, of course."

"Really? Is that all you got?" I asked him, giving him a borderline dirty look.

Chuck thought about for a minute, then he shrugged and nodded, "Yeah, pretty much."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head, going quiet for a moment. I looked down at the deck of cards I kept shuffling in my hands, trying to keep myself distracted. I had to move, I couldn't keep still. So I decided to take out some cards, if I didn't have these I'd be fidgeting all over the place.

"So... I've known you for a little over a year now, and I just realized I don't really know that much about you," Chuck said, resting his hands over his stomach as he looked up at me.

I scoffed and smirked, "Chuck, other than Bill and Ralph, you know the most about me on this entire ship."

He rolled his eyes, "I'm not talking about that. I mean... What's your family like? You got any brothers or sisters or anything?"

I looked up at Chuck curiously now, "What's with the sudden interest in my life?"

Chuck smirked a little sarcastically, "I may act like the others guys, Tauscher, but I have an interest in other people's life and feelings just like any woman might."

I snickered at one of my best friends and replied with, "Well, look at you. Chuck Grant, tough guy during the day, sensitive sweetheart by night."

"You're a jackass, Tauscher," Chuck said with a roll of his eyes and I just snickered, "But seriously."

I sighed and looked back down at the deck of cards I was still shuffling in my hands, "Alright, I'll bite... I was second born in my family, I'm the middle kid. I have an older brother and a younger one. Maurice, my older brother, was in college for some kind of science degree, but when Pearl Harbor happened, well... He's in Japan right now, fought in Guadalcanal, I don't know where he's at now, I haven't heard from him in a while. My younger brother, Mitch, he signed up last year with me, but he joined the Navy. He's going to Japan next week..." I sighed, "My mother's heartbroken, all her children left the nest a bit early to join the fight, and all of them have now been officially shipped away."

"Yeah, my mom's probably the same way," Chuck replied, looking down at his hands now as he twiddled his thumbs, "I'm an only child, so she's probably balling her eyes out as we speak."

"I'll have to send her a letter when we get to England," I said, having become a little sad now, so thank God something broke me out of my little depressed spell.

A sudden loud banging sound jerked both me and Chuck out of our conversation and then a bunch of voices followed. I heard, "Break it up! Break it up!" and, "Jesus! Not again!" I furrowed my brow and looked over to Chuck, and he just shrugged his shoulders. I sat up and peered down my cot and I saw a group of people surrounding something and they all seemed frantic. Then I heard a familiar voice yell, "Ya don't wanna fuck with me, Joe! I'll kick yer scrawny little ass!"

Great.

I quickly climbed down my cot and let my boots hit the floor before I quickly made my way to the large group trying to break up the fistfight. I pushed my way through the group and when I got to the middle I saw Bill and Liebgott wailing on each other. Bill had a bloody nose and I saw him spit onto the ground, his saliva had a reddish tint to it. Joe had an already swelling eye and a cut lip as well. I sighed irritably and got between the two, mustering up all my strength and putting my hands on each of their chests, pushing them apart.

"Alright, enough! Enough!" I cried, getting them to stop swinging at each other, but that didn't stop the insults from coming.

"You're a jackass, Gonorrhea!" Joe yelled at him, pointing an angry finger at him.

"Oh, real original, Joe!" Bill yelled back and then Liebgott narrowed his dark eyes at the shorter, but more well built man.

"Oh, fuck you!" Joe cried back, trying to size Bill up again, but I pushed them apart once more.

"Both of you, shut up!" I snapped at them, glaring at the both of them.

They both went quiet all of the sudden, and I looked up at Bill, "What the hell is your problem?"

Bill seemed shocked by my outburst, "Me?! I didn't do shit!"

"Oh, bullshit!" Joe cried again, "You're sittin' over here insultin' me and-"

"Insultin' you! I was talkin' 'bout Sobel!" Bill cried back and I finally shouted, very loudly.

"SHUT UP!" Everybody around us went quiet and I glared at the both of them again, "Both of you go find some medics and get all of this," I gestured to their beaten faces, "Fixed up. And the rest of you, sit the fuck down and go back to your business. You got me?"

"You ain't the boss of me-" Joe tried, but I sent him a glare and he went quiet, though his glare was just as much as mine, if not sharper.

Everybody quickly dispersed and Bill and Joe kept their glares, except Bill's was on Joe and Lieb's was on me. I glared right back and pointed to I don't even know where, "Go find a medic. Now."

Bill grumbled and shrugged out of my grasp, but his shoved Joe with his shoulder as he passed, but Joe's gaze never left mine. I glared hard at him for a moment more, then he just shook his head and turned away, going to find a medic just like Bill had.

He hated me, and I didn't know why and it used to bother me. But now, I had just given up on figuring it out, I didn't even care anymore. He hated me, and I hated him. I don't care.
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September 1943
England was great. The people were lively, the food was good, and so was the beer. Weekend passes were always blessing, and we cherished them here in England as the training had gotten more intense. I was always the last one to get up in the morning, for two reasons. First reason being the obvious one when it came to getting dressed, and the second reason was just because I liked sleeping in.

The one good thing about our England training was we didn't get up at the crack of dawn, we waited until a little later. I guess the more intense the training, the more rest they wanted us to have. Thank God. Of course, I'm sure Sobel didn't exactly agree with that. He still got up real early and went running every morning, but that was him and this was me. Sleeping till eight was better than sleeping till five.

I was awoken one morning by a weird feeling in my ear, almost like cold air was blowing into it. I winced at the weird feeling and groaned sleepily, turning onto my side, then I felt the weird feeling on my face, which made me open my eyes. I nearly fell out of bed when my eyes met Chuck's.

"Jesus!" I cried, jerking away a little, "God dammit, Chuck! You scared me shitless!"

Chuck just smiled and gazed over at me, "It got ya up, didn't it?"

I released an irritated sigh and sent him a narrow eyed gaze, then I noticed, "Why are you lying in my bed?"

"I felt this was the best position to execute my plan," Chuck said, shrugging a he looked over at me with his bright blue eyes, "It's worked, so I was right."

"I hate you," I simply said, and Chuck smiled.

"No, you love me," Chuck teased, and I rolled my eyes.

"You're a jackass," I said, rolling onto my back and staring up at the ceiling.

"A jackass," Chuck began, sitting up now and peering down at me and holding up at finger, "But a jackass whom you love."

"Whom? Since when did you start saying that?" I asked with a smug smile.

"Since I talked to Webster yesterday," Chuck said, "The guy's a walkin' dictionary."

I rolled my eyes, "Idiot."

Chuck smiled and leaned down, giving me a peck on the cheek as he usually did when we were alone before he got off my bed and went over to his footlocker.

"Chuck, ya need ta stop doin' that," Bill Guarnere's accent suddenly filled my ears, "Eventually somebody's gunna catch ya and think you two are... Well, ya know."

Chuck just smiled, but I rolled my eyes as I finally got out of bed and went to my own footlocker, "So, what's on the agenda today?" I asked, "Weapon's training? More running? What?"

Bill sat down on his bed and looked over at me as I slipped on my socks, "Yeah, I think we got some weapons trainin'... And some hand ta hand combat trainin', and a class, and some more weapons trainin', and then I think we gotta real life scenario drill or some shit..."

"Jesus, they want to pack some more shit into our schedule?" I asked, looking for my pants.

Bill just shrugged, "Well, we are gettin' closer and closer to our drop, I'm sure. They want us ta be prepared."

I sighed and looked down at my pants that I held in my hands, "I guess you're right," Then I turned to the both of them, "Boys... Do you mind?"

Bill and Chuck then promptly turned away and let me take off my sleep shorts and put on my OD's. When I began fastening my belt, I turned to look at them and said, "Alright, you can turn around now."

They both turned around and Bill immediately went back to talking, "Sobel's doin' our drill this afternoon."

"Shit..." I said, looking up and over at Bill, "Seriously? Why can't someone else run it?"

"'Cause Sobel is our Captain and he has ta lead us," Bill told me, as if it were fact. Which it was.

"Yeah, lead us to our fuckin' demise," Chuck said, scratching the back of his neck.

I sighed once more after I grabbed my jacket, then I shut my footlocker door and said quietly, "Shit."
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We were twenty minutes in and Sobel was already lost. He was bitching about a fence right now, looking down at a map, which I was sure he didn't know how to read. I was kneeling down, my gun at the ready as I looked around in alert as I was trained to do, but I knew we were in no real danger, so I kept sending short little glares Sobel's way, and I sent a glance Perconte's way and he had the same look on his face as I did mine. I sighed and looked down at my watch. Four o'clock. I hope we were out of here soon so we could get the food while it was still hot.

"Perconte, Luz! Get the men, uh... Get... Take 'em... Take cover behind those trees!" Sobel barked out at the two funny men of the company, and Perconte quickly said, "Yes sir!"

We all quickly followed Perconte and Luz towards the trees and away from Sobel. As we got close to the trees, I grabbed the sleeve of Perconte's jacket and asked, "Hey Perconte? Is Sobel lost again?"

"Yeah," Frank answered, then he caught sight of Luz passing him by, so he called out, "Luz! Hey Luz! Come here!"

Luz came up to the front of the line with me and Frank and Frank looked up at the slightly taller man with a hopeful and already amused smile, "Can you do Major Horton?"

George smiled at Frank and then down at me as he slung his rifle over his shoulder, "Does a wile bear crap in the woods, son?"

We all snickered at that, but Frank quickly hushed us, "Yeah, yeah. You can do a good Major and goose this schmuck. Can you do it?"

"Oh, no way, I can't-" He was cut off quickly by everyone begging him to do it, and he looked around almost nervously, but he caved in the end.

"Alright, just this once," Luz said and everyone seemed excited all the sudden, even myself as he shushed us and I patted him on the helmet, causing it to tilt to one side as we all knelt down and waited for him to begin.

We watched as he cleared his throat and released a tense breath, as if he had to prepare for this, which caused me to roll my eyes and snicker a little bit. Then George knelt with us a little bit before he began his nearly spot on impression, "Is there a problem, Captain Sobel?!"

We all snickered a little at his first words and then Sobel shouted back, "Who said that?! Who broke silence?!"

We heard Tipper say something to Sobel, his voice sounding almost amused, then George spoke up again, "What is the God damn hold up, Mr. Sobel?!"

We were all trying our best to stay silent at George's impression as Sobel replied with, "A fence, sir, a-" He cut himself off abruptly, but spoke again a moment later, "A barbed wire fence!"

"Oh, that dog just ain't gon' hunt!" George yelled, and I almost hurt myself trying not to laugh and George shushed me as he went on, "Now you cut that fence and get this God damn platoon on the move!"

"Yes sir!" Sobel called and then I heard him frantically ask for his wire cutters.

We were all laughing so hard we had tears in our eyes. I wipe my own eyes of tears before I said, "Jesus, Luz, I think I ruptured something laughing so hard."

Luz just smiled charmingly and said, "Why thank you, Colonel."

We all became silent a moment later and just listened to Sobel frantically ordering around Tipper, telling him to figure out where we were supposed to go after he cut the fence. I started snickering again at Luz's impression again as I ran the entire thing over again in my head, and he smiled at me.

"You think I'm that funny, Matt?" George asked, looking around the corner at Sobel who was quickly cutting the fence.

I wanted to say something smart to him, but for some reason nothing came to mind, so I just said, "Yes George, I think you're that funny."

George smiled wider and we just waited for Sobel to order us back out of cover.
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I was fuming. I couldn't believe this! My fists were clenched, my dark eyebrows were knitted together in anger, my face was probably as red as a tomato with all of my rage. I stormed towards the barracks, ready to just throw my footlocker through a window. I stormed up the few steps and swung open the door, slamming it shut behind me, and when I walked in I almost punched them.

I glared at the only two men in the barracks, both of them looking over at me with alarmed expressions. I pointed an angry finger at the both of them, storming up to them with purpose as I finally said, "Are you two fucking stupid?!"

Chuck flinched at my tone, a tone he's never heard me use before. Bill hardened his gaze though, he knew how hot headed I could be, because he was the same way, "What the hell is yer problem?"

"You damn well know what my problem is, Guarnere!" I cried, using his last name, which I never did, and it seemed to surprise him, but only for a moment.

"We had ta do it, Maddie! It was the only way ta make sure that schmuck wouldn't be leadin' us inta combat!" Guarnere said, his scowl enough to kill.

"You could've been lined up against a wall and shot!" I snapped, jabbing my finger into his chest, my blue eyes never have held such anger, "What would I have done then, huh?!"

"Ya woulda lived on and fought in this damn war without me!" Bill snapped back at me, glaring at me sharply. We haven't fought this bad in years.

"We haven't even jumped yet and you're already trying to get yourself killed!" I yelled, trying my best to size him up, "I can't go on fighting if everyone keeps leaving me! I've already lost my brother, I'm not ready to lose you guys, too!"

It was silent for a moment and Bill's angry expression faltered. He looked at me for a moment, trying to take in what I just said, "Yer-yer brotha' was killed?"

I felt the tears stinging my eyes, but I never let them fall, I just glared up at Bill, my finger still jabbing into his chest, "Bill Guarnere, I don't know if I can ever forgive you for this."

I said it through gritted teeth. Because I was angry and also trying to keep myself from just breaking down. After my little rant, I couldn't even look at him, nor Chuck. They were both making me sick, I had to go on a walk, "I can't even look at you two right now."

I turned on my heel and went back out the door, storming quickly down the steps and back down the path in the direction I had just come from. I didn't make it very far when I heard a familiar voice call out, "Tauscher!" But I kept walking, I didn't look back. I kept my fists clenched and my feet moving, "Colonel Tauscher!" He said it again, but I still didn't turn around, not until he called, "Maddie!"

I stopped dead in my tracks, a small part of me fearing that someone else had just heard him call my real name. I clenched my fists so tight, my fingernails were digging into my palms painfully. I slowly turned around and faced Chuck Grant, who was just a step in front of me. He grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side, in between the barracks so we were out of everybody's way.

"What Grant?" I asked, glaring up at him.

He looked down at me, almost sympathetically, but he tried to explain, "We had to do, Maddie."

"Did you? Did you really?" I asked, keeping my voice low, but harsh, "You didn't have to try and resign from the company, you didn't have to completely disrespect this military, you didn't have to do any of it."

"Maddie, listen-"

"No, you listen, Grant," I said, jabbing my finger at him, but I didn't touch him, "You could be awaiting your death right now in a cell. If this had gone further against you than it already has, you could be dead. And for what?!"

"We did it so the other men wouldn't be led into battle by that lunatic!" Chuck finally snapped, narrowing his eyes at me, I was almost surprised, but I kept my brave stance, "My life was worth being lost if it meant saving the lives of others. We couldn't let that man lead us or anybody else into battle, he'll get us killed the minute we touch down, I couldn't let that happen! Not to them, and not to you!"

I didn't know what to say. What he and the others did was still incredibly stupid, I thought, but I guess he had a point. Sobel wasn't a good leader, not when it came to combat. He was good at preparing us for it, but not for leading us into it.

"Chuck, I..." I sighed finally, slumping my shoulders and releasing my tension, "I just don't want you guys getting hurt. Is that so much to ask?"

"We're going to war soon, Maddie," Chuck told me, softening his gaze now and slumping his shoulders as well, "You can't protect us forever."

I frowned deeply now. I had never really thought deeply about where we'd be soon. I couldn't watch over them all the time, I couldn't make sure they were out of harms way. I knew they'd be facing death everyday, and I wasn't ready for that. I could handle myself, but I couldn't handle seeing them hurt. I tried being strong, but the thought of these guys that I've grown to love being here one day and gone the next just broke my heart. I felt my eyes stinging again, and this time the tears didn't stay where I wanted them to.

The warm tears trickled down my cheeks and I wiped them away in annoyance, not wanting to cry in front of him. But Chuck didn't react awkwardly, it didn't make this uncomfortable. He frowned deeply and his eyebrows knitted together sadly. He slumped his shoulders and took a step closer to me, putting a gentle hand on my shoulder, his warm touch comforting.

"Maddie..." Chuck said, sighing in defeat as he searched my tearful blue eyes, "Don't cry... Please, don't cry..."

That only made me cry more and the next thing I knew Chuck's arms were wrapped firmly around me and my face was buried in his chest as I choked back sobs. I felt one of his hands on the back of my head, resting against my growing, but well kempt hair, and his other hand rubbing soothing circles on my back.

"Everything's going to be okay, alright?" Chuck tried assuring me, "We're going to be okay. Me, Bill, Ralph... Everybody, okay? Nobody's going anywhere."

"You can't promise that," I sniffled, pulling away a little and looking up at him, "You can't know that, not for sure. Anything can happen out there, any one of us could get hit. We just..." I swallowed thickly, not wanting to say this, but I knew I had to, "We just have to learn to accept it. We should've done it a long time ago when we signed up for all this mess."

Chuck looked down at my tear stained face, but he offered me a small, almost reassuring smile, "We're all idiots, aren't we?"

"What?" I asked, furrowing my brow a little as I wiped my face.

"Well, I mean... Look at us," Chuck smiled a little more, "We're all a bunch of morons who signed up to jump out of perfectly good airplanes. It doesn't get dumber than that."

I finally smiled, and I actually let out a small laugh, which made Chuck smile wider, "There's the smile."

I averted his gaze and looked down at my feet, Chuck's arms still loosely around me and my smile staying where it was. I eventually looked up at him and said, "You're a good man, Chuck Grant."

He smiled sweetly, "And you're a brave girl, Maddie Tauscher."

I scoffed and rolled my eyes, pushing away from him finally, "Let's not push it now, Sarge."

Chuck snickered and followed me as I went back to the path, "I have to at least try."

"You're flirting becomes a bit much sometimes," I teased as we walked, me trying to regain my composure, "You might want to ease up."

"And why's that?" Chuck asked, smiling sweetly as we walked.

I just smiled and said, "Because you don't stand a chance, Sergeant Grant."
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June 4, 1944
Nine months passed by quickly, and now here we were, all ready to jump into Normandy. We were all packed up, had our face paint on, our combat uniforms on. We were ready, well, as ready as you could be to jump out of a 'perfectly good airplane' and into enemy occupied land.

This shit was heavy, the bag around my leg was more than half my weight. Granted, I gained ten pounds while at boot camp, but I still barely weighed one hundred and fifteen pounds while this fucking leg bag weighed like eighty. I couldn't say I wasn't nervous, we all were. None of us wanted to admit it though, we couldn't. If we did, it would make things worse. We'd break. We couldn't break, we had to stay solid. We had to go into this thing one hundred percent. We had to win.

"I can barely fucking move, how do they expect me to jump out of an airplane with all this shit attached to me?" I said in irritation as George Luz sat next to me, waiting for our orders to board the plane.

"It ain't that bad," Bull Randleman said to me as he stopped in front of me and George.

George gave him a funny look and said, "Well, not for you Bull, you're 6'2 and weight two hundred pounds. It ain't so easy for us little guys."

Bull just smiled at us as a commanding voice yelled, "Easy Company!" We all turned our attention to that voice, every one of us dropping our smiles and frowning. This was it, "Listen up!"

There was irritation the next moment, but also some form of relief from the men when he told us there was 'no jump tonight.' I was silently thanking the rain, wind, and fog, but also cursing it out. On one hand, I wanted to get this over with, but on the other, I wanted to stay here, in the comfort of England, without the war.

Everybody around me grumbled or groaned, all of them annoyed, and I so was I. After he finished telling us that we were postponed for twenty four hours, we all sort of cleared out and went on either to the barracks or went to the theater. I was tired, so I went to the barracks. I cleaned up and relaxed on my cot, but I could never fall asleep.

I sat up in bed anxiously, looking up at the ceiling as I awaited my orders. I was the only one to come back to the barracks, everybody else went off somewhere else. I'd only been here an hour when all of the sudden I wasn't feeling so good; I felt sick to my stomach. I felt my breath hitch in my throat as it increased it's speed, I was feeling lightheaded now.

I swallowed thickly, trying to regain my composure, trying to calm down. Was this a panic attack? I haven't had one of these in years. Not since I was a kid. I put a hand to my chest, feeling my quick beating heart under my jacket, and I almost yelped in fear when the door to the barracks slammed open.

I jumped and sat up in bed, looking up to see what all the commotion was. My panic instantly dissipated then, it was replaced with something else, something very different, something that I felt often. Worry.

I furrowed my brow as I watched the figure walk between the line of beds, "Bill?" I said, watching him pass me and go to sit on his bunk, "Are you okay?"

He sat down and ran a hand through his black hair, his eyes holding two different emotions. Pain and anger. He didn't answer my question, so I swung my legs over the side of my bed and started to stand, "Bill? What's wrong?"

I approached his bed and he shook his head, sighing heavily before he looked up at me, "Henry's dead."

I froze. He... What? No. No, it couldn't be. He wasn't- No.

"H-he..." I swallowed thickly, "What?"

"Henry's dead," Bill said, looking up at me angrily, "He was killed in Monte Casino. Where the fuck is that?"

I didn't know, I was still frozen in my spot. I shook my head, my eyes staring at the bed beside him, "I-I don't know... Sounds Italian."

"Jesus..." Bill said, running a hand across his face. I then shook my head, snapping out of my trance and looking down at my friend. He was in pain, and he needed me right now.

"Bill, I'm... I'm so sorry, I-I don't know what to say," I said, looking down at him sadly.

He looked up at me now, catching my eyes and his features softened, "I'm sorry too, Maddie. I know how close ya two were. Hell, he loved ya like a sista'."

I shook my head, "He was your brother."

"He was yers, too," Bill said, and I wouldn't smiled if I hadn't felt a sudden rush of sadness take me over. Bill then frowned again, and he was trying to hard to hide his pain with his anger. He was always good at doing that, "Ma has nobody there with her right now. God knows what the hell she's goin' through."

I sighed and looked down at my booted feet, going to sit down next to Bill. I looked up at him and searched his face for a minute, trying to find the words to say, "Everything's going to be okay," I said, grabbing Bill's hand in mine and squeezing it firmly, "We're going to jump tomorrow and we're going to get them son of a bitches," I paused, squeezing his hand again and giving Bill a brave look, "For Henry."

Bill nodded and looked down at our hands, squeezing mine back, then he met my eyes again, "They'll get what's comin'."

I offered him a smile, a smile that took everything I had to muster, "You bet your ass they will."

Bill smiled back, then frowned. His brow twitched with sadness, but he kept himself together, he quickly hid that slip up with a scowl, but that didn't mean I didn't see it. I scooted closer to him and released his hands before I said, "Come here," I wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him into a hug, and he didn't even protest. He wrapped a firm arm around my middle and rested his chin on my shoulder and letting me comfort him.

He never cried though. If there was one thing about Wild Bill Guarnere, it was that he never cried.
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"Doc Roe is going to pass these air sickness pills out," He told us as Gene started walking down the line, passing them out, "You take one now and then one after thirty minutes in the air."

He passed them around without making eye contact with anybody, not even me. He handed me a pack of the pills and I quickly took one, swallowing it without any water. I stuffed the other one into my breast pocket and then I heard Lieutenant Winters speak.

"Alright men, listen up," We all looked up at him, anxiously awaiting the moment we were to board the plane, "Good luck... God bless you... And I'll see you in the assembly area."

We were all quiet, nobody smiled back at him, and even his smile looked forced. I watched as he leaned down and helped one of the men to his feet, then another, then another, then another, and then he got to me. I gripped his hand tightly as he lifted me up, as if I weighed nothing, and compared to him, I probably didn't. I nodded curtly at him, looking into his green eyes bravely before I walked around him and started towards the plane.

I was helped onto the plane by Grant, and he smiled at me reassuringly. I smiled back, though it was forced, and I walked past him. I sat down next to Joe Toye and Chuck on the other side of me. Joe looked at me for a moment, but he didn't say anything. He was chewing gum, almost anxiously. I sat in between the boys silently, gazing down at my boots. Thank God I was wearing all this gear, or else everyone would see me shaking.

I sat there for only a moment being silent and looking down at my boots, but I lifted my head and my gaze when I heard the plane start up and the propellers start spinning. I swallowed thickly and looked around me at the other men on the plane. Liebgott was resting his arms on top of his bag, his chin resting atop his arms; Gordon was doing as I was just doing, staring down at his boots, almost paralyzed with fear; George looked like he wanted to cry, and to be honest, so did I; Bill was still scowling, but I knew he was just as scared as the rest of us, he just hid it better.

Chuck shifted next to me uncomfortably, and because of how crowded it was, nobody saw me snake my hand to his side and slide it slightly behind him, rubbing his back a little for comfort. He looked down at me, fear in his eyes, but the rest of his face was calm. He was trying to be reassuring, and I gave him a smile for his effort.

I looked back to in front of me, and I looked across and saw Eugene sitting stiffly. He wasn't moving a muscle, his gaze was blank, he looked in shock. I stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out what he was thinking. I didn't know much about the guy. Did he have siblings? Was he thinking about his parents? What were his parents like? Did he have someone back home who was waiting for him?

He looked up, his dark eyes catching mine, but I quickly looked away and back down to my boots. I shifted in my seat and cleared my throat quietly, trying to get adjusted.

I might as well get comfortable, it was going to be a long, anxiety ridden flight.