Love You Till The End (Robert Zussman x Reader)

** 29 ** - Y/N L/N

June 5, 1944

We had to be up very early today. I figured we were finally gonna go through with the operation. For the past few days, a lot of us had suffered from seasickness due to a storm. The ship had been moving like crazy and it wasn't a pretty sight inside with all the vomit on the ground. The ocean seemed much calmer today though, but occasionally we would feel a big jolt.

When we headed to the mess hall this morning, we were greeted with the smell of steak and eggs. They had been feeding us really well. For the past few suppers, they had even given us ice cream. Today's breakfast felt odd though. As I watched the men around me devour their food, I couldn't help but see right through these great meals we had been given lately; They were meant to be our last meals. I picked at my food and ate slow and I noticed Stiles doing the same thing. If we were finally going to get on those boats and head to the beach, I wanted to avoid seasickness the best I could and I'm sure he was thinking the same thing.

"I wouldn't eat so much, boys," I told my squad. I poked Aiello's side as he shoveled food into his mouth, "or eat so damn fast. Your food isn't going anywhere, Aiello."

"Shut it, L/N. I don't know when I'm gonna eat this good again," Aiello said with a mouthful of steak and eggs.

"Hey! I'm only trying to help. If we're invading that damn beach today, you better hope you don't vomit all over the boat."

"She's right, y' know. I'd rather not be hurlin' up my insides again," Zussman put down his fork and Daniels followed. Aiello sighed and eventually put down his fork. We all wanted to eat, but we also didn't want to go into combat feeling like shit.

Turner informed us after breakfast that the operation had been canceled today. We were going to go through with the operation tomorrow morning, but today we were getting a briefing by Colonel Davis. The rest of our day was spent talking, playing cards, and simply trying to not feel so damn anxious.

As we sat around the table near our bunks, Zussman told us a story from his high school days about how he had gotten beaten up by his high school football captain for not giving up his watch. He was trying to play five finger fillet with his knife as he told us the story.

"So he asks me for my watch and I'm thinking, 'What the hell do you want my watch for? You're the captain of the goddamned football team.' But I turn around, and I felt this punch. And it was cold like ice."

It was always interesting hearing about the experiences he had gone through in his youth. He had no choice but to learn how to protect himself in order to survive in Chicago. He's tough, that's for sure.

Zussman eventually started offering his knife around to play five finger fillet. I was watching Stiles mess around with his camera when Zussman offered Stiles the knife. He refused of course and told Zussman, "Besides, I gotta keep all my fingers if I'm gonna take photo of the year."

"Oh, well excuse me," Zussman said sarcastically as he put his hands up. He then offered the knife to Daniels.

Suddenly, Aiello stood up from his chair.

"Okay, let's make this more interestin'," Aiello said, taking his pendant necklace off and holding it up for us to look at, "Saint Michael. Patron Saint of Soldiers. He's had my back since Kasserine. Zussman, three times in ten seconds, and he's all yours."

It was like a day couldn't go by without those two either challenging each other or butting heads. I was a bit surprised to see Aiello offer something so important to him though. He had got around to finally telling us about his service in The Battle of Kasserine Pass a while ago. He didn't give us too many details, but he told us enough so we could understand why it had been so hard on him.