We Happy Few | Band of Brothers

Chapter 21: Okay

Winters continued to shout orders and encouragements at his men as he made his way around the three platoons. As he passed by a wounded man on the ground, he was almost taken out by Annie leaping out of the bushes. "Sorry, sir," she mumbled hastily, not even making eye contact as she dropped down beside the injured man and got to work. If there was one thing Winters could always rely on his female medic for, it was her speed and efficiency. 

Running over to Perconte and Margot, Bill Guarnere, the Platoon Sergeant of 2nd Platoon, placed a hand on his friends' shoulders. "Cover the crest of the hill!" he shouted over the sounds of war before running off again.

Bullets were littering the trees and bushes, sending leaves, twigs, and even some branches falling to the ground. Splinters of bark flew through the air and dirt was bursting upward everywhere you looked. 

Hearing a loud, low rumble, Margot looked up from her gun and over to the hedgerow on the German side. Her mouth dropped open. Tanks. Lots of Tanks. They were fucked.

"Where the hell did they come from?!" Welsh's voice ripped through his throat as he glanced at the oncoming artillery through his binoculars. When the first tank fired, the chaos reached a high. "Holy shit, there goes our left flank!" 

Turning to the left, Margot's blood boiled at the sight of Dog and Fox company retreating. How could they leave Easy alone like that? Did they have no shame? No honour? 

Tanks were arriving from damn near every direction at that point and Margot could feel her palms begin to perspire. She was nervous; hell, she was scared. They were very clearly outnumbered. However, the raven-haired woman didn't let her fear stop her from reloading, settling back down, and firing again and again and again. 

The gunfire was loud in Margot's ears and she was sure they would ring for hours after everything had gone silent again. If everything went silent again. 

 Looking up from the patient she had just tended to, Annie almost missed the sight of Welsh and McGrath running into the middle of the open field. Her eyes widened and her mind flashed back to the stunt Malarkey had pulled on D-day. If she hadn't known better, she would have thought the men in her company wanted to die.

Running up to the front of the hedgerow, Annie fell onto her stomach and watched as Welsh frantically pulled out the rocket launcher and set it up over McGrath's shoulder. A tank was barreling towards them as fast as it could and everything seemed to move in slow motion. 

"Come on!" Annie could hear McGrath scream. "You're gonna get me killed, Lieutenant!"

Welsh didn't answer. Instead, he fired the first shot at the tank. The explosive hit the armoured body and bounced off, doing no damage whatsoever. "I knew you'd get me killed!" McGrath accused as Welsh loaded another projectile into the launcher. 

The tank got closer and closer, but McGrath didn't fire. Annie could see Welsh's mouth moving a mile a minute, but she couldn't make out what he was saying. The tank's main gun adjusted its aim right for Welsh and McGrath, but still, the two Easy men didn't fire.

Annie's heart was pounding so hard she almost feared it was going to burst out of her chest. She could somehow hear her pulse in her ears, louder than the gunfire and screaming. Mentally, she prepared herself to watch two of her men die.

As the tank began its climb up the only hill between it and the Easy men, McGrath fired at the newly exposed underside of the tank. The explosive hit its target and the tank came to a defeated halt. Jumping up, Welsh and McGrath ran back to cover just as the tank fired its final shot, sending earth into the sky. 

"Covering fire!" Winters instructed. 

When Welsh and McGrath threw themselves back into Easy's hedgerow, Annie felt like she could finally breathe again. "You damn near gave me a heart attack." She gave the Lieutenant a pat on the back.