Author's Note:

Thank you trickst3r-97 for the follow and the favorite!

Thank you missavc34 for another review! I'm glad you liked the bit with Malark protecting Marie from 'icky Sobel', as you put it. :)

Thank you for the two reviews Straight Edge Queen. I know what you mean about that scene with Malarkey and the laundry in the episode Carentan, it's so sad! It's also super sad in the book.

Thank you She Walks In Starlight for the follow and the favorite!

Sorry for not updating at my usual rate! I had writers block with this chapter for some reason and I have been a little busy the past few days. And sorry for this chapter being so short, I needed to add it before the next chapter to set the pace for Eindhoven. This chapter focuses on Malarkey's book and has some dialogue from it as well - I hope you all enjoy!

Zon

Eindhoven, Holland

September 17 - 19th 1944

The hum of the C-47 drowned out all the sounds of conversation that Marie was straining to listen to. Malarkey, Toye, Guarnere, and Buck were on the same plane as her again, just like they were for D-Day. She wanted to take her mind off of the jump into Holland by talking but the roaring engines of the C-47 had made it impossible. She started tapping her foot anxiously on the floor of the plane. Her restless leg syndrome was really taking over today, much to her annoyance.

She felt a hand rest on her leg and she stopped. Malarkey had placed his hand on her leg to make her stop thumping it against the plane. She gave him an apologetic smile and forced herself to try to stay still. Sitting still wasn't something that she was good at; naturally she was an anxious soul full of high-strung energy that had to be released. Marie crossed her arms as she tried to remain calm and collected. Malarkey smirked at her; he reached in his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. He offered it to her, but she looked at him and shook her head.

He placed the cigarette between his lips and was about to light it when Buck came walking down the plane aisle to tell everyone that they were coming up to the DZ. Malarkey reluctantly placed the cigarette back in the pack. Marie watched as Buck made his way up and down the plane. The atmosphere was so much more relaxed than the morning of D-Day. Marie was thankful that they weren't flying in the dark and that they were being escorted by other planes.

"All right, hook up!" Buck called when he reached the door of the aircraft. The red light had come on, signifying that they'd be jumping into Holland any minute now. Marie stood up and hooked up, Malarkey right behind her.

"Check equipment!" Buck ordered. Marie did as she was told, checking everything that she was carrying. Her medical pack and her chute all seemed correct so she proceeded to checking the gear of the man in front of her. She knew the drill like the back of her hand, but that didn't make the probability for mistakes any lower. After what they all experienced with the jump into Normandy no one was taking any chances with not taking the proper time to check the equipment.

"Sound off!" Buck's voice rose of the C-47 engine again.

Marie heard the sound off begin in the back of the plane. Her heart rate sped up with nerves, but it wasn't as bad as it had been when she was in the plane to jump into Normandy, or when she did her first jump ever.

"Five okay!" Malarkey called, giving Marie a tap on the shoulder.

"Four okay!" She yelled, tapping the man in front of her. It was almost time, and this time she was closer to the front of the line. After the sound off was over, she felt Malarkey give her an affectionate squeeze on the shoulder. She reached up for his hand and grasped it for a moment; when the light finally turned green she let go.

Marie watched Buck and Guarnere leap out of the C-47; the static line undoing their chute as they descended. Marie made her way up to the door and looked outside. The sun was bright; Marie had to shield her eyes for a second so she could regain focus. Once the light turned green she leapt out of the door without hesitation. The sight of hundreds of soldiers coming down in parachutes was an incredible sight. The rolling green hills of Holland were breathtaking, and much more calm than what they landed in inside France.

One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi, four Mississippi…

After counting she felt the familiar feeling of being pulled upward as the cover chute opened up. She glanced around to make sure everyone was coming down at the same speed that she was. After she realized all was good she took time to admire the scenery around her. They were landing in a green field by a forest; hills covered the landscape as far as she could she. She saw that she was nearing the ground, she braced herself and naturally rolled off her ankles and landed softly on her side. She looked up and saw as hundreds of soldiers continued to float down to the ground. She smiled to herself and started to pack her chute as the men landed around her. Malarkey landed twenty feet away from her and packed up his chute as quickly as he could. He jogged over to her.

"Look out for falling equipment." Malarkey warned, glancing up at the sky and shielding his face from the sun's rays. Marie did the same, but she didn't see anything drastic happening; all she saw were men floating down from the sky. "Nice to have no hedgerows, flak, or darkness."

"I agree. We have to head to the assembly area." Marie mentioned. They started heading toward Zonsche Forest where the platoons were gathering. Marie spotted Buck and Guarnere reloading their M1's and waiting for the rest of 2nd platoon.

"Hey, you two." Guarnere greeted, not taking his eyes off his M1. "Catch your breath while you can, we're hiking to Eindhoven. But before that we need to capture Son."

Malarkey took off his mortar gear and started getting his M1 ready with the rest of the men as they showed up one by one. Marie waited for them to finish up, leaning against a tree. The woods felt so crowded with Easy Company compact into it. Easy Company started to make their way out of the forest when a horrible sound erupted from the sky.

Marie dropped by instinct at the sound of the rumbling explosion, she watched as 2nd platoon did the same. She peered up at the sky to see that two gliders had collided with each other. Marie watched with a sinking heart as both aircrafts fell to the Earth. She braced herself for the second explosion of impact as it landed on the grounds of Holland, but the sound was too quiet to make out. It was as if God himself had muffled the horrific sound of the impact for their sakes.

Marie gave Malarkey a saddened look. His large, dark eyes had an equally disrupted and morose look in them. He pursed his lips but didn't comment on the sight. The scene was enough as it was. Easy had jumped into Holland with optimism, but now it was all gone. After laying on her stomach, Marie finally willed herself to stand.

"Okay, we need to get going." Buck muttered.

Easy Company headed east to the Son-Veghel highway. After walking the whole way, they changed their direction to south and went for the small town of Son. The most important thing about this objective was capturing the bridge over the Wilhelmina Canal. Capturing Son was surprisingly easy since the Germans had fallen back from the fighting. Easy readied to head toward the bridge after the fighting in Son.

"That was a cakewalk." Malarkey told Toye as they quickly got ready to move out again. Marie was relieved that there hadn't been many wounded, her medical pack was still stuffed full.

They walked over to the bridge, expecting the same as they did for Son, but Easy Company was mistaken. As they drew closer a German 88 and a machine gun started firing at Easy Company. The bullets reigned straight down the middle of the road, forcing Easy to split off to the sides.

"Take cover!" Winters hollered.

Everyone leapt off the road, taking cover from the enemy fire. Marie pulled her helmet down further, covering her head from the dust that the bullets were kicking up. This had reminded her a lot of Carentan. The fire didn't seem to cease, and Easy Company was too pinned down to get up and fire back.

The Germans finished rigging the bridge with explosives and blew it up so it would slow down the Allies. Marie was upset that they had succeeded, but after the bridge was blown, Easy Company started to push forward firing what they could at the Germans until they were silenced. The entire objective had just grown more complicated. Luckily no one was hit or wounded in the little barrage, much to the relief of the entire company.

In the morning Easy Company would have to attack Eindhoven. As the night came, Easy had to take boats to get across the canal then they would wait on the outskirts of Eindhoven until morning before they would strike. Marie followed everyone as she started to get drowsy. This had been the first time in months since they've slept outside in foxholes.

She drifted off to sleep quickly, and prayed that entering Eindhoven wouldn't be the same as Carentan. The Germans had already slowed down the objective considerably, they didn't need any more difficult than it was already becoming.