Joe snickered, as did Bull and Perconte. "Awh, come on, you know I'm just messin' around." Joe looked back at her and flashed one of his charming smiles before turning around again and spotting Perconte out of the corner of his eye. "What are you crouching down for, Perco?" he asked, causing the Italian man to stand up straight again. "Think the deer's gonna shoot back?"
"Leave me alone." Frank huffed.
"How 'bout y'all just shut up and let Shifty kill us some dinner?" Bull suggested as he sauntered through the trees, his rifle sitting loose in his arms and a wad of chewing tobacco in his mouth.
"Awh, what's the matter, Bull?" Frank shot back, his demeanour much more uplifted when it wasn't him getting picked on. "You tired of eating dried-up spuds three times a day?"
Annie physically winced at the thought of eating another package of dry, foul-tasting spuds. "Tell you what," she spoke to everyone at once. "If you guys manage to catch a deer and do all the skinning and all that stuff, I'll make a nice stew. I've got my mom's recipe committed to heart and I'm sure it'll taste just as good with deer as is does with beef."
"Sounds better than anything I could cook." Malarkey wasn't afraid to make fun of his own food creations that he knew brought tears to people's eyes, and not in a good way.
"Hey, you know what, I got an idea," Joe piped up again as he stepped over a fallen tree. "Why don't we just shoot Bull here and feed the company for a week?"
"I'm not making Bull stew." Annie shook her head. "Strangely enough, I draw the line at cannibalism."
A few more chuckles escaped the men, but before anyone could say anything in response, a twig snapped somewhere close by and Shifty motioned for everyone to stop moving. All at once, the seven Paratroopers halted and locked their eyes on a gorgeous buck standing among the foliage a few meters away.
Slowing his breathing, Shifty lifted his rifle and peered through the sight. No one made a sound as they waited for the resident marksman to take the shot, but before he could do anything, the buck spun around and darted away.
"Awh, goddamnit, Shifty," Joe grumbled as he watched the white tail of the buck disappear into the bushes. "You let him get away. The Army outta be glad to get rid of you."
"Oh, like you could have done any better." Annie stepped up beside the frustrated man and glared up at him.
Shifty nodded slightly, his rifle still raised. "I wish, you know. Seems they want me to stay around a while."
"You serious?" Joe asked.
Annie cocked a brow. "How many more points do you need?"
"Fifteen," Shifty answered.
Malarkey's mouth fell open and the small stick he was chewing on nearly fell from his bottom lip. "Fifteen? Jesus Christ, I thought I had it bad."
Shifty sighed. "No purple hearts. Never was injured."
As the group headed back through the forest toward the base camp, a few of them got to talking about how many points they had and how many more they needed. For everyone present, going home was just a pipe dream. Even for those who had seen almost every single second of the war, like Annie, the points still just weren't enough.
"I need ten more," Joe said as he walked beside Annie, his hand holding low-hanging branches out of the way so they wouldn't hit him or Annie in the head. "What about you?"
"Well, I got a few stars here and there for various things, and even though I never went to an aid station, I got a purple heart for those bullet grazes I got in Holland. Still not enough though. I need about the same amount as you I think," Annie answered, her hands stashed away in her pockets. "Looks like you're stuck with me a little while longer."
Joe laughed. "Darn. Guess I'll just have to find a way to make do."
"Guess so." Annie nodded, her mind quick to remind her about what Margot had told her not too long ago. The blonde medic had yet to mention anything about it to either George or Joe, and for the most part, she was sure she was going to keep it that way.
If they were due to head back into a war, Annie knew that she didn't need things to be any more complicated than they already were.
●●●
When Speirs gave the order of ease, the many Paratroopers dressed head to toe in their dress uniforms relaxed their bodies and waited for the coming announcement. Not one of them was sure why they had all been called out on the bright, hot Austrian afternoon, but by the looks of it, it was something important.
"General Taylor is aware that many veterans, including Normandy veterans, still do not have the eighty-five points required to be discharged," Speirs announced as he surveyed the companies standing before him. "On this anniversary of D-day, he has authorized a lottery to send one man—or woman—home in each company. Effective immediately."
Stepping up to the helmet of names, Welsh swirled his hand around a little to show that the choosing process was indeed randomized. What only a select few knew, however, was that there was only one name in the helmet. "For Easy Company," Speirs began as Welsh handed him over a single slip of paper, the smirk on his face only telling to those already in the know. "The winner is ... serial number 13066266, Sergeant Darrell C. Powers."
Everyone cheered because even though they were none the wiser about the rigged lottery, they all knew that no one deserved to go home more than Shifty. "That's how it's done, Shifty!" Luz shouted over the whistles and cheers.
"Go Shifty!" Margot clapped as the bashful sniper smiled wide and hung his head with embarrassment.
Once the eruptions of joy had died down, Speirs continued his speech. "Sergeant Grant will see to it that 2nd Platoon takes over at the crossroads checkpoint beginning tonight at 2200 hours."
"So much for our anniversary," Christenson scoffed, his voice just loud enough for those directly around him to hear.
Chuck gave a small nod. "No shit."
"General Taylor has also announced that the 101st Airborn Division will definitely be redeployed to the Pacific." Speirs' face remained unaffected as he delivered the bad news. "So, beginning tomorrow at 0600 hours we will begin training to go to war."
Annie's heart dropped in her chest even though she had suspected for quite a while that redeployment was more likely than going home. "Guess we're gonna be running up those mountains instead of skiing down them," she muttered to Talbert, who was standing on her left.
"Yeah." Talbert did his best to flash a genuine smile to the small girl. "At least we've got lots of practice, right?"
"Right." Annie locked eyes with Margot and let her disappointment show.
It didn't matter anymore if Margot had decided to go home with Annie or not because she no longer had a choice. Despite two purple hearts, her promotions, and her many stars, the machine-gunner was among the large numbers who were just shy of eighty-five points.
Never before did eighty-five seem like such a large, unobtainable number.
YOU ARE READING
We Happy Few | Band of Brothers
Historical Fiction"Women don't belong in war" was something Margot Kessler and Antonia Winslow heard day in and day out, but never once did they let those words deter them from serving their country alongside the men. They were unbelievably strong and skilled beyond...
