The Spirit of the Corps » Band of Brothers

13: So Dark It's Almost Black

Charlie couldn't help but envy the paratroopers for not having to worry, but then again she didn't think she'd be much keen on army food, so she was content to buy and make her own for now.

When Charlie emerged from the grocery store she had to carry her picnic basket with both hands, for it was too heavy to carry in the crook of her elbow now. The sun was beginning to come out and she lingered outside the door for a moment, squinting into the light while her eyes adjusted to the new brightness. She closed her eyes into the sunshine, breathing in deeply and exhaling all of the air in her lungs in one go.

A whole day to spare, she thought, and absolutely nothing to do with it. And it was beginning to look like too nice a day to spend inside. As she began her walk home, Charlie kept an eye out for anywhere secluded she might be able to sit, though she didn't find one readily. After putting all of the groceries away and promptly preparing, and then eating, a late breakfast, she headed back out into the sunshine with a book in hand, continuing to look out for somewhere she might like to spend her day.

This 'somewhere' came to her in the form of a picnic bench outside of the pub she visited every now and again, the same one she'd been in last night. The bench was on the opposite side of the building to the entrance and she hadn't seen it before. When she sat down at it, spinning around in the seat so her legs would fit beneath the table, she realised she also hadn't known the pub was so close to the outskirts of the village. Where the house she stayed in was to the east and the paratroopers were set up to the west, the pub was to the south, and this bench, along with those around it set on a patch of grass like a tiny, strange little garden, looked out onto miles upon miles of rolling fields.

It was beautiful. Exactly what she'd imagined the British countryside might look like. Charlie simply sat and gazed into the postcard scene for a while, her book forgotten in her lap, letting the sunlight warm her skin as it battled with the chill of the gentle breeze. Her lungs drank in the fresh air while her eyes took in the land, a patchwork quilt of different shades of green, the stitches holding each haphazard square together a bobbing pattern of trees. It stretched on as far as she could see, only giving way to the blue of the sky along the horizon, and Charlie rested her cheek in her palm as she smiled and watched a herd of cattle graze on the greenery a little ways away.

Charlie's serenity was interrupted by a voice somewhere nearby, though the voice wasn't addressing her. "Hey, boys, look!"

Even though she clearly wasn't the 'boys' the person had been trying to get the attention of, Charlie looked over anyway, and when she did she found a paratrooper pointing right at her.

He was dark-haired and grinning, his smile clenched around the cigarette in his mouth, and his eyes were all lit up like he was excited about something. He was accompanied by three other boys, all of them wearing their fatigues even though she knew they weren't training today, and all of them also smoking.

"You're one of the nurses, right?" the one who pointed called, removing his cigarette from his mouth and jogging over to her. His three friends followed after him and before long the group of them were standing in front of Charlie and her table.

She nodded at his question, fiddling with her book in her lap, not so forgotten anymore.

"Barely recognised ya out of uniform," the same boy continued, still grinning at her as he dragged intermittently on his cigarette. "I don't think we've met."

She shook her head. "No, I don't think so."

"I'm George," he declared, sticking out his hand for her to shake. "George Luz. It's great to meet ya..." He trailed off, leaving a space for her to offer up her name.