A/N- Little edits here and there, got chapters mixed up.
The training at Toccoa was done, and though Ricky wouldn't ever admit it, she was going to miss the camp. She would miss running Currahee every day with her friends. Toccoa was where she found her best friends, and where she found her courage and her purpose. And now she was going to earn her jump wings in Fort Benning.
"So, leaving already?" Oliver said, packing up his things. Ricky, Oliver, Judas and Brice had started their morning off by packing up everything while the men were at breakfast.
"Yeah, I can't believe it. We're getting our jump wings." Judas replied, picking up his book. Ricky was busy folding her ODs, and Brice was sorting through his medic satchel for the seventh time.
"Where'd all the time go?" Brice asked. Brice had turned eighteen two months ago, and the four were chuckling at the memory.
"I'll never forget this place. For as long as I live." Ricky stated. She had made so many memories, ones that she'll never forget.
"This place will always be special to me. Some day, I wanna come back here, with the three of you. And if we have them, we'll bring our children and our lovers with us too." Oliver said, smiling at the three.
"Don't go that far, Oliver. We still got a whole war ahead of us." Judas reminded him. "I just realized, you don't have a nickname."
"Yeah. What does Oliver do again?" Ricky asked. "And also, I love the idea of coming back here."
"You guys are gonna make me cry." Brice said laughing. "Oliver, what do you like doing exactly?"
"Uh, I really don't know, to be honest." Oliver said, rubbing his head. Ricky sighed, Judas just stared at him, and Brice just started laughing.
"You're impossible." Judas said. "Wait, what's you're middle name?"
"Uh, it's Elijah." Oliver replied, a little confused.
"Okay, that ain't gonna work." Judas said, shaking his head. "When's your birthday?"
"June 1st." Oliver replied.
"So, you're a Gemini?" Judas asked.
"...yes?" Oliver said.
"What the hell are we talking about again?" Ricky asked. Judas shushed her.
"Ginger, Gemini's a constellation, right?" Judas asked.
"Yeah?" Ricky asked. Now she was confused. "In contains two bright stars, Castor and Pollux."
"Ah ha! Castor! That's what we'll call you!" Judas exclaimed happily.
"Castor? Uh, kinda weird. But...Oliver Castor Lee...that has a nice ring to it." Oliver said, throwing his last view things in his bag.
"It does, yes." Brice agreed.
"We finally have the perfect group! Ginger, Jerry, Spades, and Castor!" Judas said, eyes beaming. Ricky shook her head and turned to walk out of the billet. She opened the door and stepped out, taking in the air. There were a bunch of men packing and throwing their stuff outside.
"Good morning, Levin." said none other then Lewis Nixon, walking past the billet.
"Morning, Lietenant." Ricky said, giving him a salute.
"At ease, soldier." Nixon said, standing in front of her.
"Where's your partner in crime?" Ricky asked, smiling at him. Out of all of the Officers and Lietenants, Nixon was her favorite. She loved Winters, he was a great man, but Nixon reminded her of her brother a lot.
"I couldn't tell you, Levin. Are you excited for the 118 mile march?" Nixon asked with a sarcastic smile.
"What 118 mile march?" Ricky asked with confusion.
"Well, Sink read that the Japanese Army had held the world record for the longest march, and he's decided that us lucky few can beat it. So, tonight we shall start the great adventure of marching 118 miles to Atlanta. Good luck, Corporal." Nixon said. He gave Ricky a nod, and continued his way down the billets.
"Fucking Sink..." Ricky muttered, about to go back into the billet.
"What was that, Levin?" a voice asked. Ricky turned to see Joe Liebgott.
"Nothing Joe. Just muttering." Ricky said.
"About what?"
"Did you hear on how we're going to Fort Benning? We're fucking marching there." Ricky said, shaking her head.
"Yeah, Gaurnere told me." Joe said. Ricky looked at him shocked.
"Don't y'all fight every five minutes or something?" Ricky asked. Joe started to laugh.
"We do, yes. But that's just how we roll."
"I see. That makes total sense. Anyways, are you all packed to go and chop our feet off?" Ricky asked, leaning on a post that was supporting the billet roof.
"Yeah, packed when I woke up. You know that Savard is the most peaceful sleeper I've ever seen? He always looks so happy." Joe said.
"That is very true. I think he just dreams of home all the time." said Ricky.
"Do you miss home?" Joe asked.
"Yeah, I do. It's my happy place." Ricky sighed.
"Don't worry, Ginger. You'll see it again." Joe said, smiling at the girl.
"I hope so, Joe."
***
Ricky was exhausted. She had been walking for six hours, her feet were hurting, and she was just miserable. They were marching in rows of four, and Ricky was with Oliver, Malarkey, and Gaurnere. She had spoken quietly with Oliver for the most of it.
"My feet are just done man. I think I got like seven blisters. Where's Spades when you need him." Oliver was saying to Ricky.
"I think mine are numb at this point." Ricky replied. Ricky peered through the rows of men, and spotted Judas marching with Perconte, Luz, and Toye. She couldn't see Brice, so she expected him to be behind her.
"Can you see Jerry or Spades?" Oliver asked.
"I can see Jerry. He's four rows ahead, marching with Perconte, Luz, and Toye. I can't see Spades, so I think he's behind us." Ricky stated.
"Will you two just shut it." a voice grumbled from Oliver's left. Gaurnere was giving them a death stare.
"Don't worry, I'll stop when I'm done talking." Ricky snarked back.
"Is that soon?" Gaurnere shot back.
"Stop being a dick, Gonorrhea." Malarkey said from Ricky's right. Ricky couldn't help but let out a laugh.
"What?" Malarkey asked.
"Just the way you said it. 'Stop being a dick, Gonorrhea'." Ricky laughed. Malarkey caught on and soon him, Ricky, and Oliver started to laugh. Gaurnere just rollled his eyes.
***
Ricky sat in a tent with Judas, Oliver, Liebgott, Skip, and Perconte. Brice was in another tent, tending to all the people bad feet. They had done a total of ten hours of marching on the first day, some breaks in between. Everybody was gassed. Ricky layed on a cot, eyes staring up at the ceiling.
"Fuck man, I hate this. Why couldn't have we just gone on a train the whole way?" Skip asked from his postion of laying on the floor.
"I don't fucking know, ask Sink himself." Judas grumbled from his cot. Perconte and Oliver were one of the ones who were actually trying to get a few hours of sleep, before the march continued at five the next morning.
"How was your first bit of the march, Ricky?" Skip asked.
"It was alright. Gaurnere wants to kill both me, Castor and Malarkey." Ricky chuckled.
"Who's Castor?" Skip asked.
"Oh, sorry. Jerry over there decided that we call Oliver, Castor." Ricky explained.
"Why Castor?"
"It's a long story." Ricky sighed, closing her eyes.
"I'm guessing you don't want to tell me, then?" Skip asked, sitting up from the floor. He never got an answer, because Ricky had fallen asleep. He smiled, and went to his own cot, and fell asleep as well. The night began to die down, and soon every single man in the 2nd Battalion was fast asleep, ready to continue for the next part of the march.
***
This time, Ricky was marching with Brice, Johnny, and Bull. It was mid afternoon, and Ricky's feet were already numb. Her ribs were hurting too.
"You alright, Ginger?" Brice asked, looking over at her. Ricky winced.
"I'll be alright. Just my ribs are a little jumpy today." Ricky spoke. "I wonder who's fault that is..."
"Hey, it was the heat of the moment." Bull stated from beside her.
"Sure it was. Fucking three times..." Ricky trailed off. Johnny was of course giving her a glare as always.
"Stop your fucking complaining, Levin. Jesus Chirst." Johnny said to her.
"Shut up, Officer Fun Police." Ricky said.
"Well you see, Ginger. He's not an Officer, so we can still make fun of him." Brice said smartley.
"That's true, Spades. Very true." Ricky said, laughing with him. Johnny just rolled his eyes and kept his eyes on the road ahead. Brice turned to Ricky again.
"I got a letter from my sister this morning." Brice said.
Ricky chuckled. "Which one?"
"Betty. Said she got a really good grade on something. I forget what it is, honestly. But she's doing well. Says she misses me." Brice sighed. Ricky put an arm on his shoulder.
"It's going to be okay, Spades. You'll see Betty again. Are you going to go home for Christmas?" Ricky asked.
"No, are you?"
"I don't think I will. As much as I would like too, I don't want to say goodbye a second time. It was too painful the first time." Ricky said. She looked ahead, memories coming back in. The way her mother cried, the way her father looked at her. The way she felt when she climbed into the car. Ricky felt an arm around her, and she looked to see Johnny, staring ahead, but still comforting her.
"You don't have to say goodbye again, Ginger. Just think on how touching that hello is going to be." Brice said, patting Ricky on the shoulder. Bull sent her a smile.
***
Ricky sat in yet another tent, all alone this time. Ricky didn't really want to talk to anyone at the moment, so she decided to take one of the solo tents instead. It was probably a risky move, but Ricky was strong, and she was smart. She had her knives, and her fists. Ricky sighed as she lay on her cot. The tent was quite big for a solo tent, but she didn't mind. She just hoped that no one would just come in here.
"Fuck...I drank way...too much." Ricky heard a voice slur. Fuck.
"Yeah...I can't...believe that...you had that much in your...bag." another voice slurred in the distance. They were coming Ricky's way. She had to act fast. Ricky quickly changed out of her PT gear and into her ODs, so atleast she would be more covered. The then raced towards her bag and pulled out her largest knife. She stood ready at the flap of the tent, knife clutched tightly in her right hand.
"What's...down here?" the voice said. Ricky knew that voice. She knew that man. James O'Neil was walking towards her tent.
"Stay calm, Ricky. Stay calm. It's okay, it's okay." Ricky whispered to herself. James O'Neil was walking closer, and closer.
"Hey...I found...a tent." a man slurred. Of course, it was Ricky's tent. The one time Ricky decided to go solo, there had to be three drunk men wandering around.
"I'm tired...let's go in." James O'Neil said. The three men walked towards the tent, unzipped the flap, and walked in. They didn't leave when they saw Ricky standing there.
"Well...well. Look..what we have here, boys." James O'Neil slurred. The other two men smirked.
"It's..Easy company's princess." the taller of the two said.
"Leave me alone." Ricky said sterny. Her grip on her knife tightened as the men came closer.
"Ain't gonna happen, sweet heart." James said. "Bring her over here." The two men began to back Ricky further into the tent. She held up her knife, and sent the death stare to the men.
"Leave.Me.Alone." Ricky said with her teeth clenched. One of the men reached up and grabbed Ricky's arm with the knife, causing it to fall to the ground. Ricky did not back down. She had to fight and get out of the tent. She just had to. The man then pulled Ricky towards James.
"Y'know, Levin, when I first saw you, I thought, 'hey, what's she doing here? She looks familular? Has the military forked out a way to give us entertainment'? And then, after I saw that it was really you , I knew I couldn't just leave you be. Chicago's very own Ricky Levin? Sign me up! I knew I just had to get my hands on you before training ended. And today is finally my day." James sneered at the poor girl. Ricky was still glaring at him, even if her arm was starting to hurt.
"Go to hell, O'Neil." Ricky snapped at the man. He only smirked in return.
"Not very friendly, are we today? Boys, I think it's time to teach little Levin here, how to respect real men." James smirked at his drunken buddies.
"I sincerly hope that you don't mean the three of you." Ricky stated, rolling her eyes. She didn't get a response, all she got was a punch in the stomach. Ricky weezed and put her head down.
"How does that feel, huh?" the man who punched her sneered. He dropped her on the ground, and gave another blow to her stomach. Ricky's insides were screaming as the pain kept coming and coming. She was soon to give up, to let James have her.
"You can never give up, think about the fact that you're going to make it!" her father's voice screamed in her ear.
Ricky snapper her eyes open, removed her hands from her stomach, and attacked. The next foot that came towards her stomach, Ricky caught, and threw it away. She stood up like the flash, and delivered a right hook to the man who had first grabbed her. He clutched his face in pain, and soon left the tent completely. Ricky saw another fist coming towards her, and she soon blocked it, and kicked him right where it hurts. He fell to the floor in pain. And finally, all who was left was James. But James didn't move at all.
"Tell you what Ricky, I'll leave you for now. But don't think I won't know when you're alone." James got really close to Ricky's face. "I'll find you, I'll catch you, and I will for sure, do what I want, when I want. Got it?" James sneered right in her face. "I know you're afraid of me. I know you recall our times in middle school. Don't think I'll ever forget that." and with that, James left the tent, picking up his friend and pushing him out.
Ricky stood there, the memories coming back. The things that man did to her. He would rip her school work, pull her hair, spit on her, and even go to the point where they couldn't be in the same class together. But there was more. At the start of eighth grade, he had done something that no human woulld ever want to got through. Ricky hadn't noticied that her breathing was uneven and that she started to shake. She didn't know how or why, but she soon took off out of the tent, racing into the night.
***
In the morning, Ricky woke up on the floor of another tent. She had remembered that she ran to where Judas, Johnny, and Perconte were staying. She had ran in so sudden, that Judas had brought up his pistol and aimed it at her head, but as soon as he saw the state that Ricky was in, he put the gun down and ran to her aid at once. Ricky had soon calmed down afterwards, and told them what had happened. Johnny and Perconte were about to go and find James, but Judas had thankfully stopped them. They didn't need anymore drama happening that night.
"Hey Ginger. How you feeling?" Judas asked, helping her stand up.
"Fine now, but since I slept on the floor, my back hurts like a bitch. Thanks guys." Ricky grumbled. "Ah shit, I left my stuff in the other tent." Ricky slapped a hand against her face.
"Don't worry, I got it already. It's right there." Perconte said, pointing to it laying the corner. Just then, Johnny came stomping into the tent, grabing his stuff, and storming back out.
"What's his problem?" Ricky asked.
"Pissed about what happened last night." Perconte replied. "Said to me this morning that he ain't ever gonna let you out of his sight again."
"Well, I guess that's comforting?" Ricky said. Johnny was always more protective over her, and it made her laugh.
***
After another long and exhausting day, 2nd Battalion had finally arrived to Fort Benning. It was easily the hardest thing that Ricky had ever done, and she was thankfull that she made it without anymore incidents with James O'Neil. Word got around on what happened, and it was safe to say that Easy company was not happy. Ricky noticed that her three best friends were a little more on edge than they were on the start of the march. They were currently in their billets, taking it easy and talking about what's to come.
"So, this is the place where we get our jump wings, am I right?" Judas asked from the top bunk of the bunk bed that he was sharing with Oliver, who was half asleep on the bottom.
"Yeah, I can't wait to get more weekend passes gone. It's going to be so much fun." Brice said sarcasticly from the top bunk of the bed he was sharing with Ricky.
"How many weekend passes have you gotten in the last few months, Savard?" Frank Perconte asked.
"Hm, about ten maybe?" Brice said uncertain. Ricky let out a laugh.
"Ten? Damn, that's more than I get in a whole three months. I've gotten like five." Ricky said, shaking her head.
"Well, that's because Sobel hates you the most, Levin." Skip said dryly. Everyone in the billet laughed.
"He does? I didn't know that, thank you for your input, Skip. Really needed it." Ricky replied sarcasticly. "It's going to be real fun to have him around while we jump out of airplanes."
"Yep, that's going to be a real joy, isn't it boys?" Judas said.
"Very true, Savard. Very true." Joe Liebgott said, throwing a pillow at the boy's bed. Brice slapped it away and threw it back, causing it to hit Liebgott in the face.
"Alright, alright children." Malarkey said, grabbing the pillow out of Liebgott's hands. "We all need sleep, so we can actually have enough for Sobel's bullshit in the morning."
***
"Hey, Spades! Get up, you're the last one up! Do you want food or not?" Ricky said, shaking the entire bed. Brice groaned and sat up, and of course Ricky burst out in laughter.
"You have the best bed head in the entire company, I swear." Ricky chuckled. "Now, come on. Everyone is already at the mess hall."
Eventually, Brice had gotten out of bed and out the billet door, where Ricky was pretending to sleep cause he took like ten minutes.
"There you are, Christ." Ricky said, grabbing Brice and dragging him towards the mess hall.
"Does my hair look better?" Brice asked. Ricky let out another laugh.
"Yes, much better."
The two found their way to the mess hall, where some of the men were already walking out, finished their breakfast. Ricky and Brice entered, and the mess hall looked a little different. It was larger, and the roof was a little bit taller. They got their so called breakfast, and then found Judas and Oliver sitting at a table with a few other men.
"Holy shit, Spades is awake." Judas called from the table. Brice flipped him off and sat down at the table, Ricky sitting next to him.
"So, how was your sleep, sleeping beauty?" Liebgott asked Brice.
"Oh, y'know, just the same old kind. Fucking amazing." Brice boasted. Ricky slapped him.
"Eat your fucking food, both you." Johnny Martin said to the two.
"You got it, Officer Fun Police." Ricky gave a mock salute and starting shoveling her food in her mouth at an alarming speed.
"You're going to fucking choke, slow down. Christ." Brice said, slapping the spoon out of Ricky's hand. The table laughed and continued to talk and eat, this time at a normal pace.
"So, what do you think we'll be doing today?" Oliver asked as he, Judas, Ricky, and Brice headed back to barracks together.
"I think we have class instruction first, and then I think PT for the rest of the day? Then probably talks of getting our jump wings. I mean, we're going to get them here." Judas said, very uncertain. Ricky shivered at a sudden breeze of cold air.
"Hey, speaking of the cold, it's almost Christmas! And almost time for those five jumps!" Oliver said happily. The three boys began to talk about their past Christmas parties, while Ricky stayed quiet.
"What's up, Ginger?" Judas asked, looking at her with concern.
"I don't celebrate Christmas, remember?" Ricky said.
"Wait, you don't?" Oliver asked, looking confused.
"Oh right, you guys don't know. I'm Jewish, so I don't celebrate Christmas, I celebrate Hanukkah." Ricky said.
"Oh shit, I didn't even know that." Brice said.
"Yeah. Hanukkah started yesterday. Me and Lieb have been giving each other stuff." Ricky smiled.
"Oh, guys? I have a question to ask you all. How would you like to come down to my neck of the woods for Christmas? I know since I've talked to you guys, you've all wanted to go to Utah." Oliver proposed.
"Really man? Your folks would let that happen?" Brice asked.
"Yeah, my mom really wants to meet you three, and she said I could invite you guys to Utah this Christmas. I know now that you don't celebrate the holiday, Ginger. But would you be interested to come?" Oliver asked the red head.
"I would love to, Castor. Thanks for the invite." Ricky smiled.
"Great! Spades and Jerry?"
"I'm in. I wasn't planning on going home anytime soon anyways." Brice said.
"Jerry?"
"Oh fuck yeah!" Judas shouted.
Ricky laughed. She could always write to her family whenever she wanted, even if she was in Utah. She was excited to go, and she couldn't wait to meet Oliver's family. It would be Ricky's first time ever celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah without her family, and it made her sad. But she always got her family in her cornor of the world, and that would never change, no matter what happens. They were going to get their jump wings soon, and Ricky couldn't be more pleased. She had made it this far, and she didn't give up. Not now, not ever.
Hey y'all! Remember how I said that I would try and have Currahee done by the end of the month? Well, I don't think that's gonna happen anymore, haha. But since I got sick yesterday, I've been writing like a beast since I get to miss school today. Hopefully going to have another chapter posted later today!
-Fargo <3