The mission seemed simple. They were going to head North to link up with Baker Company, and eventually take the next town. That's how Wardaddy had explained it to the rest of his crew, who seemed unimpressed, but Norman was terrified. Adrenaline soared through his body as they were driving out of camp. The rest of them seemed so calm, so unbothered. It really seemed just another Tuesday for them.

Grady was stood at the rear part of the tank, leaning on the .50, while Agnes sat on the turret with her legs dangling inside the secondary hatch. Next to her was Bible, stood on the loader's seat, his right arm leaned onto her knees to stand more comfortably. Collier stood on his seat as well, leaning out of the main hatch. There were many civilians passing by. Refugees on their way to the American army camp. Norman almost envied them. At least they were heading to safety.

'Alright, there might be a wolf hiding in the sheep. Kid, you're up, cast an eyeball on them. Anything that makes a move you cut them right in half. Copy?'

'I copy.'

There were people carrying their last possessions, even a woman in a wedding dress… When the largest group of refugees had passed them, Norman saw only one more girl, dragging her bike with her through the mud. She had to carry it off the road to make way for the passing tanks. Norman looked at her as they drove by. He noticed she first kept her gaze fixed on Agnes, perhaps as confused as Norman about seeing a woman atop an armoured tank, but then she looked at him. She looked at him with desperation. And then she was gone, out of his sight.

'She'll let you fuck her for a chocolate bar,' Gordo suddenly said. Norman sighed.

'Oh, for fuck's sake,' he immediately heard Agnes complain over the intercom.

'That's not true,' Norman replied.

'It's not true?' Gordo asked.

'No.'

'Alright then, it's not true.'

'It's completely fucking true,' Grady interjected. 'Or just give her some smokes. You ain't gotta fuck around and give her the whole pack neither, fucking four will do it,' he added with a grin.

'Norman. Ignore him,' Bible said. 'Don't disappoint Christ now, don't let them lead you astray.'

A smirk formed on Agnes' lips. 'But let he who is without sin cast the first stone, right?'

'Yeah, ain't that fucking right… I'm just giving him some advice,' he muttered back as he looked up at her.

'You see, we can kill 'em, but we can't fuck 'em, 'cos it says so in the Bible,' Collier said with a grin. Agnes suddenly turned to him.

'Oh, aren't you a fucking Godly man, then, hm?' she continued the joke with him, as she found the premise amusing, but Bible didn't like the other accusatory implications the joke had.

'Stop, alright. I'm done trying to convert you heathens, do you mind if I continue invading Germany?'

'Boyd, do you think Jesus loves Hitler?' Don changed the subject.

'Do I think Jesus loves Hitler? I'd assume so. If Hitler accepted Jesus in his heart and got baptised, he'd be saved. It ain't gonna save him from a man's justice.'

'What about your regular-issue Nazi line trooper? Is he going to Heaven?'

'Nah, I'm not gonna do this with you. We've been talking about the same dumb shit for three years; you know I'll stand on it. You're trying to rile me up now.'

'What about me then? You think you could save me?' Agnes asked with a wide grin on her face. 'Sing me a hymn?'

'Sure.'

'Sing Old Rugged Cross?'

Agnes started giggling as Bible started singing.

'On a hill, far away…'

'I like the way your mouth moves when you sing, I like that,' Grady commented as he brought his hand up to Boyd's face to touch his moustache.

'Stop- I'll sing it if you don't do that,' he replied as he flinched away.

'No, Bible please, sing, you have to save me,' Agnes pleaded with laughter as Grady continued to try to touch his moustache. 'I'm a sinner, Father, I've strayed!'

'Don't fucking touch me. Stop, Grady!' he growled as he continued to flinch away. Grady finally put his hand back down.

'But you have to forgive me, Father, I beg,' Agnes pouted as she also reached out a finger to lightly brush his moustache. He didn't flinch away from her like he did from Grady, but when she continued touching him for too long, he did slowly lean in the other direction.

'Get your hand away,' he said calmly as he leaned as far away from her as he could. She held her hand still in front of his face. 'Get it away,' he repeated with a reprimanding tone, and then she finally dropped her hand back down. She smiled at him, and he looked away as he tried to suppress a grin and be serious. Agnes tutted as she lightly kicked her leg that was hanging through his hatch against him, asking him to lighten up.

'Am I forgiven then?'

He sighed.

'You're gonna need to repent if you want forgiveness, you heretic.'

She tried to kick him harder this time for calling her that, but he grabbed onto her ankle to stop her like he'd known she was going to do that. He then swung his entire arm around her legs to keep them in place, with a satisfied look on his face.

'Right then, I'll sing my own fucking song for redemption,' she then stated lightly and confidently.

'Don't you dare,' Boyd replied immediately as he looked back at her with now not only a reprimanding tone, but a reprimanding face.

'It's a long waaay, to tipperaryyy!'

'God damnit, Angel, stop,' Collier now also commented. Grady and Gordo joined him in their laments.

'Fuck's sake, shut up!'

'It's a long waaay to gooo…'

'You shut your mouth, young lady,' Bible said as he let go of her legs and raised his hands out of the hatch to point a finger at her.

'It's a long waaay, to tipperaryyy, to the sweetest girl I kno-'

Bible reached out to put a hand over her mouth, but was reminded at the last second, partly by Agnes flinching away, that that wasn't a good idea. He'd just placed the stitches in her lip, they were so fresh they might come back out again if they were handled too roughly.

'You can't touch me,' she commented quickly before continuing. 'Goodbye to Piccadillyyyy, farewell Leicester Squareee…'

'Enough, Agnes,' Collier intervened with a more serious tone. She finally stopped.

'You guys are no fun.'

'We are no Brits,' Bible corrected as he let his hands back down, once again leaning his arm on her knees.

'Boyd, you think Hitler would fuck one of us for a chocolate bar?' Don then asked with a grin on his face. Bible cracked up.

'I hope so.'

'How 'bout you, Angel, would you fuck me for a chocolate bar?' Grady asked jestingly. Agnes smirked as she rolled her eyes and sighed.

'I don't wanna get scabies,' she replied.

'I ain't got it,' Grady replied confidently. Although the entire premise of fucking him was laughable to Agnes altogether, she also really wasn't so sure about the accuracy of that rebuttal.

'Oh, my mistake,' she went along with it. 'In that case it's just that I don't want to.'

'What's wrong with a guy like me, huh?' Grady asked with a chuckle.

'You smell.'

'So does he.' Grady pointed at Bible, who preferred to stay out of the conversation.

'Maybe that's why all the townswomen we liberate steer clear of him,' Agnes replied nonchalantly. She could tell that a small grin had formed on Bible's lips as she said it.

'You know, Angel, I got two chocolate bars in my pocket right here, I'd like to make you a better offer,' Wardaddy said sarcastically to add to the teasing. Agnes turned her head to look at him as she started chuckling, but her eye was caught by something else instead. Something in the tree line their platoon was driving past. She didn't even have time to think about the situation they'd just found themselves in. All she saw was the shape of an all too familiar weapon, and like a shortcut in her brain got activated, she cried out.

'Panzerfaust!'

It was too late. The kid who held the weapon fired it at the tank in front of them and lit it ablaze.

'Ambush!' Bible yelled to alert the other tanks. Agnes immediately climbed out of the hatch to give Grady more space to turn the .50 to their right side, and got out her own handgun to point it at whoever else was still hiding in the tree line. Collier was quicker with his machine gun, and shot down the kid who'd shot the Panzerfaust.

'Cover right, we're ripe for an ambush!' Grady and Bible, together with Collier, started shooting at the people still moving around between the trees. Agnes, in the meantime, just like Norman, was distracted by the tank in front of them. The entire tank had caught fire within just a few seconds, and now the Master Sergeant had too. He was screaming for his life as he climbed out, and fell down off the tank, his entire body ablaze.

'Help! Help me! Father!' His bloodcurdling screams made Agnes quickly jump off the Fury and run to him to try to help him in any way she could.

'Roll! Roll!' she yelled at him, but there was no way for him to listen to her anymore to try to stop the burning. He only screamed and kicked around, and wouldn't listen to her pleading with him to roll on the ground. She couldn't make him do it without catching fire herself. There was nothing left to do. Like a switch flipped in her head, Agnes swiftly pointed her handgun at him, and shot him dead, relieving him from his agony. Then she just stood there, defeated, looking at his lifeless burning body.

Wardaddy quickly climbed off the tank with his machine gun still in hand, and went to have a closer look at the people he just shot. Hitlerjugend. Probably no older than fifteen, all three of them. A sad fucking sight. Fuelled with more rage at having just killed a couple of kids he returned.

'Norman! You cocksucker! Why didn't you take the shot?' Apparently he had seen Norman fixated on something in the tree line just seconds before they were ambushed.

'He was just a kid, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, sergeant,' Norman pleaded. Wardaddy climbed up to him to grab him by the collar as Norman cringed in fear.

'You see what a kid can do? Look!' Both of them looked back at the burning body, and Agnes standing next to it still looking defeated, now looking back at her sergeant.

'That's your fault,' he told Norman. 'That's your fucking fault! The next German you see with a weapon, you rake the dogshit out of him. I don't care if it's a baby with a butter knife in one hand and momma's titty in the other; you chop him up!'

'Yes sergeant!' Norman yelled fearfully as Wardaddy slapped him on his helmet. Don then turned to Agnes and reached out his hand to help her up.

'Come on back up, sweetheart. You okay?' The contrast in his voice between talking to her and Norman was massive, it suddenly turned calmer and kinder. Agnes just nodded and took his hand to climb back up. 'You did good,' he added to affirm her.

'You okay?' Bible checked again as she took her seat next to him again.

'I'm fine,' she sighed. Bible nodded and immediately placed his arm over her knees again as soon as she'd sat down, as if to want to set her more firmly back in place under his watch after this tense and dangerous moment. In the meantime, Collier got back inside his hatch and grabbed the radio. He looked back at Binkowski, Davis and Peterson behind them, and shook his head.

'All tanks, Wardaddy. Looks like I'm it. I'll lead the column, let's get us where we're going.'