Band of Brothers - Sunshine Solider

chapter 69: the relief

" Shifty..." she mumbled, still shocked from the identifiable food. He sipped his tea with a raised brow.

" Do you know what this is?" she asked, pointing at the meatloaf on her plate.

" Uh, food? Meatloaf?" he asked, placing his tea down.

" Yes!" she exclaimed making the man almost choke on his food, but he chuckled afterwards.

" Correct because, we can identify it as well! It's actual meat with ketchup, and corn on the side and bread. There's texture, and color! Color! I never thought I'd miss color!" she cheered, grabbing the fork and plunging it to the sky. Shifty only chuckled.

" Sure you aren't a food critic?" he asked lightly. She turned with a smile at Shifty.

" I think there wouldn't be any food to critique." she answered back with a knowing grin. Shifty laughed with the girl. They finished up their meal, no one else really showing, suggesting they were already passed out back at the billet. Shifty and Charlotte walked back to the barracks and headed inside the warmer billet, shutting the door behind them. She noticed that some of the men were already asleep, which included Babe on her one side. She went over and pulled his blanket up a bit higher, and she noticed the tiny smile appear on his lips as she did so. She went over to her bed, and pulled off her boots, wiggling her wooly socked feet, before undoing her jacket and taking off the cargo pants and snuggling under the bed. Luz, Talbert, Perconte and Grant were already asleep along with Babe, and Shifty was already climbing into bed to follow. Webster sat up next to her, reading his book quietly, with the light on beside him as he did so. She turned over, the covers pulled up to her chin to face the man.

" What're you reading, Web?" she asked softly. Webster looked up, and over and smiled lightly.

" It's about sharks." he said, noticing the wide curiosity in her eyes.

" Come on." he said, patting the spot on the bed next to him. She smiled wide, escaping from her warm covers and grabbing the spare blanket and cuddling up next to Webster in a ball. She laid her head on his shoulder and watched in a marvel as he read quietly to the girl. She saw the faces in her sleep, behind her eyelids. She saw each feature, each little noticeable fixation that anyone outside of their close knit circle wouldn't notice. She could've saved them if she had turned a half second earlier, or had told them a different thing, or did that extra run. She could've pulled them to safety, but now they were dead and she was still here, living with that matter. She saw how they died too and the visions sprinted over her vision. She also saw everyone that had been hurt and how it happened and the limb blowing off from their body and it scared her. She screamed. She screamed and screamed trying to make those nightmares disappear, but all she saw were them there lying helpless and she had done nothing. She shot up out of bed, sucking in large breaths of air, her lungs quivering inside her body as the tears cascaded down her cheeks and sweat glistened over her entire body. The quiet cries bubbled from her lips, as her hands scrambled to grab something, to touch something comforting. Charlotte swung her feet over the edge of the bed, and sucked in loud breaths trying to calm herself down as she stared forward, trying to tell herself she was ok. She stood, grabbing her coat overtop her PT shirt, and then pulled her boots on untied onto her wooly feet with her PT shorts before marching straight out of the billet. She figured her hair was a mess in her braids. But she had to get away. Get away from her sleep and the terrors that followed it. An icy chill blasted her, but her red puffy eyes kept her going straight towards the bathrooms. She marched right into the stall and profoundly threw up. Tears streamed down her face from her eyes, as she pulled back from the toilet seat and sat, heaving against the stall door. She figured it was about 3 in the morning, and this was the last thing she wanted to be doing. How was she supposed to comprehend the last few months? How was she supposed to live with the hardship? How was she supposed to continue like it never happened? How does a person do that? Then suddenly, there were some footsteps and she froze.