August 20, 1944
Near Argentan, France
Our time to rest was now coming to an end. As Zussman, Daniels, and I unloaded a supply truck, we waited to hear what our new mission was going to be. The only thing we knew so far was that we're going to be teaming up with the SOE--British Special Forces. We hadn't really fought alongside the Brits much since I've been in service, so I felt it was going to be interesting working with them.
What's important to me right now is that I'm feeling better enough to get back into combat. My wound still feels sore, but it's slowly going away, allowing me to move a lot more comfortably. That doesn't stop Zussman from trying to help me though and if it wasn't for everyone else getting ready for our upcoming mission, they'd probably tease him about it since our secret is out.
"Sorry to be a pain in the ass, but I'm gonna have to take that from you. Let's not hurt that wound of yours," Zuss said, smiling at me as he took a big box out of my arms that I had just unloaded. I noticed he looked anxious the whole time we had been unloading the supply truck, so I decided to just unload the small things to not drive him nuts.
"Somethin' big's happenin'," Daniels suddenly said with a sigh. He was looking anxious as well, but for a different reason; We all had a feeling that we'd be fighting Krauts again pretty soon.
"Gotta be. Davis is here," Zuss said, looking over at Colonel Davis as he continued to unload the truck.
The Colonel was walking with Turner and Pierson, probably explaining our mission to them. I felt myself becoming nauseous as I looked at them, so I went back to unloading the supply truck, trying to get myself to stop wondering about what was to come soon.
The fighting that happened back in Marigny left us all pretty shaken up. It's scary thinking about how close we all almost lost our lives. We experience that all the time, but it's not really something we get used to. It's more so something we just have to learn to accept. We all don't know how long we have today, tomorrow, or the day after that. That's just the way it is.
All of a sudden, a couple of jeeps pulled up. I watched as a man and a woman jumped out of one of them and started walking towards Turner, Pierson, and Davis. I'd never seen them around before, but I couldn't help but feel quite intrigued to see another woman around. She was wearing simple army attire: a coat, pants, and boots, similar to what the man she had arrived with was wearing. The only difference was their uniforms weren't a dark green like ours, but instead more so of a tan color which was odd. The woman was resting a gun on her shoulder as she talked to Turner and Pierson which made me think she was going to be joining us in combat.
"Who the hell are they?" Zussman asked.
"I'm gonna guess they're with the SOE," I answered.
* * *
"Reminds me of the time we parachuted into Vercor," the woman said as we crept closer to our target, "Ambushed that Gestapo* patrol."
"You're just an old romantic," the man joked. Just hearing what the woman had said made me think that she and the man had sure done a lot to try and stop the Germans.
Their names are Crowley and Vivian. Turns out I had been right about them. They're both members of the SOE. Their different colored uniforms made a whole lot more sense once we heard their strong British accents.
When I was introduced to them, they both looked very surprised to see me there, especially Vivian. She and I had a chance to talk when we were getting ready to set off for our mission and she had a lot of questions for me, mainly about how I managed to join the Army. She explained how she and a few other women had gotten lucky enough to be allowed to join the SOE. She had heard of the Soviet Union allowing women to become snipers, but she didn't think she'd ever find an American woman in the United States' armed forces. She didn't think the US would allow something like that and she apologized in case she offended me, but there was nothing to be offended about. I still find the fact I'm in the Army hard to believe myself.
All was quiet, as we all stood still in crouched positions, looking at the German base we were going to clear. The sun was going down which was perfect since we were going to be sneaking into the base. We were going to have to creep in quickly and quietly and take out the Germans without causing too much of an uproar. We all had silencers for our guns which is something I've never really used before.
This mission felt a bit odd to me, not only because I haven't been in combat for quite some time, but also because the way we were approaching the mission felt new to me. It's not like I haven't snuck up on the enemy before, but most of our combat over the past few months required us to charge towards the enemy. Now, we were going to have to lay low and do our best to not get caught.
The whole point of this mission is to stop a train headed for Paris that the Germans loaded up with artillery and tanks. Getting rid of this train will help weaken their forces. This is important since the more we weaken their forces, the faster we can get them out of Paris and then hopefully out of France. With the Germans in control of it, Paris isn't the so-called "city of love" anymore. It's become a damn war-zone.
"Alright, there's our target," Crowley spoke up. I turned my attention to him, ready to hear our orders.
"Hey, you gotta give those Krauts some credit, train's right on time," Pierson said. The sun provided just enough light to see that the train was on the tracks near the German base quite a distance away from our position.
"Biggest train I've ever seen," Daniels let out a small chuckle, "Thickest armor too."
"It's a panzerzug*," Vivian explained, "Those V2s* have a range of 200 miles. More than enough to hit Paris. We can't let it reach the launch site."
All of a sudden, Pierson shushed us and pointed forward.
"Enemy movement up ahead."
We watched as a truck pulled up to the base. I could see Krauts from our position approaching and standing around it, probably making sure whoever was driving it wasn't an intruder. As soon as I spotted the enemy, I quickly grabbed my silencer from out of my bag and quietly put it onto my Thompson M1928.
"Alright, Vivian and I will take them out. Turner, that will be your signal to advance," Crowley told Turner. The Brits quietly moved ahead and Turner turned towards us.
"Daniels, since you, Zussman, and L/N were so gung-ho* at Marigny, you'll provide them with fire support," Turner whispered. I glanced at Zussman who gave me a slight nod of what felt like reassurance. He could probably tell I was nervous about getting into combat again.
"Come on," Pierson whispered eagerly at Turner.
"Alright, let's go! Everyone stay low."
"Suppressors on!" Pierson ordered in a voice that was way too high for our current situation. I was feeling worried I was going to be the one to screw up and reveal to the Krauts that they weren't alone. If anything though, I should be worried about Pierson.
We crept closer and arrived at where Vivian and Crowley were. There were a few Krauts ahead of us and Daniels was immediately ordered by Vivian to take the one closest to us out. He approached the Kraut slowly before covering his mouth and stabbing him in the neck. I reached for my knife on my waist belt, making sure it was easy to grab since it was going to come in handy for this mission.
Crowley then ordered Daniels to shoot the officer that was in the truck. We had a good view of the officer from behind the rocks and bushes we were hiding behind. It wasn't going to be too hard for Daniels to shoot him since the officer had the window down. The challenging part was that the rest of us were going to have to act quickly since there were still a few Krauts around the truck. Once Daniels starts shooting, we were going to need to start as well in order to not get noticed.
I aimed for a Kraut near the front of the truck before Daniels started shooting. Finally, Daniels took out the officer and I put my finger on my gun's trigger before the Kraut I was aiming at could turn around. Everyone else unleashed their fire and we were able to successfully take out the Krauts without them making noise to warn the rest of the Krauts inside the base.
"Turner, take a few soldiers and go around the house," Crowley ordered. I spotted the house that Crowley was referring to which was to the left of where we were standing. I began to follow Turner towards the house until he turned around and let out an order.
"Daniels, L/N, stay with Crowley."
"Good luck in there. I expect to see you once this is over," Zussman whispered to me and gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze before running after Turner. There was no time to tell him anything since Crowley started telling Daniels and me to keep moving. I quickly caught up to Daniels and we climbed into a low window of the house the Krauts had left open that Crowley had just crawled into.
Crowley shushed us as soon as we stepped foot into the house and found ourselves in a hallway. I immediately held my breath and took every step very carefully. As Daniels and I stood out in the open in the hallway, a Kraut came from the left side of the house and walked into a doorway in front of us. How he didn't notice us is beyond me.
Once I realized no other Kraut was coming, I decided to take care of the situation before he could notice us. I quietly scurried towards him with my hand on my knife. As soon as I reached him, I covered his mouth with my hand and dealt with him the way I had seen Daniels use his knife earlier.
"Well done. Let's move," Crowley said before quickly running through the hallway to our left. I put away my knife and wiped my bloody hands on my uniform as I began following him again.
When we got outside of the house, we were met by Vivian who had just finished stabbing a German soldier that had been standing outside of the house we were in. It was one hell of a sight I didn't expect to see, especially since I had no idea where she had come from.
"The sniper is yours, Daniels," Vivian said nonchalantly as she got up from the ground. I looked ahead to see a Kraut standing with a sniper. He wasn't there long because Daniels snuck up on him and took him down quietly. Now that the sniper was down, we could move up without being spotted by them since we were going towards lower ground to get to the center of the base.
"Stay low and advance slowly."
I ran towards the fence Daniels was crouching behind where he had killed the German sniper and I crouched down alongside him. Since our position was on higher ground, I was able to take a peek over the fence and see a good view of the center of the German base. I wanted to see what we were dealing with before going into this risky mission to see if I could plan out what I should do.
There were a few trucks in the center along with a fire that I assume the Krauts had started to stay warm. I couldn't see too many Krauts, so I felt confident that we would be able to clear the center out. The only problem is we have to move quickly and quietly at the same time if we want to get to the train on time without getting hurt or killed, so we can stop it.
"Follow me," Daniels suddenly said and we both started to head down the little hill we were on. As soon as we got down, we both crouched as low as we could and headed to the left side of the center, using the nearby fences and bushes as cover. Daniels took out two Krauts that were standing to the right of us and we were able to advance. There was plenty of cover where Daniels and I were at since there was a lot of furniture laying around and a huge truck to hide behind.
I had a feeling that the Krauts had taken a lot of this furniture from the homes of French citizens. A lot of the furniture looked very valuable and I couldn't help but feel bad for the French people. I was guilty of stealing food and drink, but I had never stolen belongings. It just isn't in me to do something like that. The French people had already lost enough thanks to this war and I didn't want to contribute even more by stealing their valuables as if that's going to help me get back to the states.
From the cover of a sofa, I peeked ahead to see a lot more Krauts. Many of them were standing in groups, talking amongst themselves which made me think that if I was quick with my aim, I would be able to take at least one of the groups out. My plans changed as soon as I spotted a Kraut standing all by himself to the left of our position. There was a truck parked right next to where he was standing which would allow me to not be seen. I quickly sprinted towards him and covered his mouth before jumping onto his back since he was taller than me. I took out my knife and stabbed him in the neck as quickly as I could before he could start biting my hand. When I turned around to face Daniels after laying the Kraut on the ground, he looked a bit shocked. He then gave me a thumbs up and turned his attention back towards the groups of Krauts ahead of us, probably trying to figure out how to deal with them.
Most of them were standing in front of a stone wall that had a gate. I could see the roof of a house behind the stone wall and I had a feeling that most of the Krauts were behind it. I could feel us running out of time and what worried me the most is that we had no idea what we were going to face once we pass that stone wall.
It wasn't until I noticed an archway next to me that I realized we wouldn't need to enter through the gate to get past the stone wall. I walked slowly towards it and saw that it was an opening to get to the other side of the wall. I moved my hands, trying to get Daniels' attention. When I finally caught his attention, I waved him over and he cautiously sprinted towards me. He peeked at the other side of the archway and let out a sigh of relief.
"I sure hope this makes our job a lil' easier,' he whispered.
"You can say that again."
When we went through the archway and crouched behind a small stone fence, there weren't as many Krauts like I thought there'd be in front of the house. There were only about three of them and it wasn't too hard to take care of them. One of the Krauts nearly yelled out for help though, but Daniels was able to silence him before any more Krauts could come and find us.
As hard as it was to not get noticed, I sure was enjoying using a silencer instead of shooting round after round of ammo. I had plenty of ammo left which was going to come in handy if we eventually got caught.
Just as I was about to head into the house, I didn't realize a Kraut standing in the hallway. His eyes widened and I quickly took aim at him and pulled the trigger without even having to think about my actions. It never fails to leave me a bit stunned whenever I'm able to act quickly without thinking.
As Daniels and I walked through the house, there was a very eerie feeling surrounding us. The house appeared to be empty now, but voices could be heard outside and I couldn't help but worry that a Kraut was going to walk in at any second. It wasn't until I realized that the voices outside were more like yells that I knew something wasn't right.
As I listened to the commotion outside, Daniels and I soon learned the house hadn't been empty as a Kraut standing in the dark in front of us was suddenly shot down. There was a lot more commotion now; Gunfire, yelling, and the whistle of a train could be heard which made Daniels and me quickly run outside to see what the hell was going on.
"Change of plans. We've been spotted," I heard Vivian say as soon as we stepped out of the back door of the house. I quickly took off my silencer and began shooting at the Krauts in front of us. A lot of them were near a building that looked to be a post office. Grenades were getting thrown and the explosions started up. The train's whistle was very loud now, but I couldn't see it moving yet.
"Crowley! Train's leaving!" I could hear Turner yell from behind me as I sprinted for a small stone fence for cover.
"We can't let it get away!" Crowley yelled out.
Hearing Turner's voice immediately put the thought of Zussman into my head as I remembered that they had left together when we split up. I hadn't seen or heard Zussman, so I couldn't help but worry. I hadn't even seen Aiello or Stiles who had also gone with Turner. I wasn't worried about them for long because my focus immediately went to the explosions that were starting up again as the Krauts began throwing more grenades at us. I put my gun over the stone fence and blindly began to shoot towards where I felt the Krauts were firing at us, hoping to at least hit a few of them.
"It's starting up!" I heard a familiar voice yell along with the train engine getting louder. When I turned around, I saw Aiello coming towards me along with Stiles following behind him, saying, "We gotta move!"
All of a sudden, somebody dived down right next to me to use the stone fence as cover which made me jump, but I let out a sigh of relief once I saw who it was.
"Shit, sorry. You alright?" Zussman asked as if there wasn't gunfire going over the tops of our heads.
"Well, you scared the crap out of me, but I think I'm okay!"
Zussman began to chuckle as he reloaded his gun, but he wasn't laughing for long. Pierson had spotted us and began to yell.
"Zussman, wipe that smile off your face! You and L/N need to get off your asses and put those guns to good use!"
I decided to take the risk and popped up from behind the stone fence, taking down just about every Kraut I aimed at. Even if they were still standing, my comrades would have them on the ground in seconds.
Just when we thought we only had to worry about Krauts, I began to hear loud barks. When I turned around, I saw a few dogs charging towards us. I shot and killed one as it came rushing towards me and the boys took care of the rest which I was glad about because I couldn't help but feel a bit of guilt.
It was taking too long to clear the post office and I began to panic. I wasn't the only one because Crowley started warning us that the train was going to get away if we didn't hurry which led to Turner yelling at us to move up. Even Pierson was having a hard time dealing with all the gunfire coming from the Krauts because I kept hearing him mutter out words of frustration.
"We'll never make it!" Stiles said and I was worried he was going to be right. I was doing my best to make every shot count, but the Krauts were just as quick with their aim as I was. Every time I would get out of cover, I would immediately feel bullets fly right by me and also knock off pieces of the stone fence we were using as cover.
"There's still time!" Zussman said, trying to encourage us to keep fighting. I thought to myself that if we've already made it this far, we should keep trying to advance.
All of a sudden, I began to hear the train moving and I could feel our panic rise. There were still quite a few Krauts shooting at us near the post office and I was beginning to get very impatient. I decided that I would put my grenades to good use and it looked like the rest of the boys had the same idea. We all threw our grenades towards the post office and the air was filled with explosions and screams. All the noises around me quickly became muffled for a moment as my ears began to ring. When my ears stopped ringing, I noticed there wasn't as much gunfire happening anymore.
"Cut through the post office!" Pierson ordered just as Daniels took out the last Kraut. It was now clear and we were able to sprint towards the post office without anyone getting in our way.
At least we thought there weren't any more Krauts until we got into the building and we were met by Krauts coming out of hiding from behind furniture. The train began to whistle again as we tried to clear the post office and I could feel a slight rumble coming from beneath my feet since we were very close to the train tracks now. I could see that the train was moving much faster as I looked out one of the windows. Thankfully, it didn't take too long to clear the post office and we were finally able to focus on stopping that damn train.
Turner then ordered Daniels to kick down the door at the other end of the post office. I took a moment to catch my breath as we waited for him to get the door down. It didn't last long because all of sudden I heard a huge explosion and Turner yelled, "Look out!"
The explosion had caused us to all lose our balance a bit, but Daniels had been hit the hardest by the impact. When I looked over at him, he was on the ground. I could barely see him though because the building was filled with smoke and the Krauts were still firing at us with what seemed to be a rocket launcher of some sort. I had feeling we were getting fired at with those V2s Vivian had told us about.
Zussman pulled me down to the ground with him and we hid under a table, trying to avoid getting hit by big pieces of debris that were falling all around us. As soon as they stopped firing at us, we quickly got up and ran out the door. Daniels was still on the ground though, probably a bit stunned since he had nearly been blown to bits, so Zussman had to go back and get him off the ground.
We couldn't waste any more time. All the fighting we had just done had wasted so much time that could've been used towards stopping the train. By the time we got outside, the train was already pretty far away from the post office.
"Everyone in the jeeps, now!" Pierson barked out and I quickly jumped into a jeep along with Daniels and Zussman. I took hold of the machine gun in the back of the jeep, getting ready to shoot at any of the Krauts on the train since they were bound to fire at us once they see us.
Daniels stepped on the gas and drove towards the direction the train had gone, sending Zuss and me from side to side as he tried to avoid running into anything in our way. We caught up with the train very quickly and the Krauts were ready for us. As we tried to get closer, some Krauts on the back of the train began to shoot V2s at us.
"Hang on!" Daniels suddenly yelled and we all went flying forward as he took the jeep over a cliff. Zussman groaned loudly as the front of the jeep hit the ground first. I felt a slight pain go through my body because of the impact, but I was able to shake it off right away. I turned my focus back on the train which was nowhere to be seen, but its whistle could still be heard.
"Can you see it?" Daniels asked.
"There it is!" Zussman informed him as we drove by a cliff and caught up with the train tracks again, "Hit the gas!"
It was no smooth ride as we got closer to the train, not only because we were driving over lots of bumpy land, but also because the Krauts started to fire at us again. Since we couldn't get close enough to the train, I wasn't able to put the MG to use which allowed them to keep firing. It didn't help that the train was going over a bridge which gave them the higher ground. Luckily, Daniels was able to dodge every rocket they fired at us. The impact of the rockets was strong though which sent the jeep flying up a couple of times.
"I'm gonna puke!" Zussman suddenly yelled out, "I shoulda drove!"
"Now's your chance! Take the wheel!" Daniels yelled back at him as he let go of the wheel and started climbing into the back, "L/N! Jump in the front!"
As I jumped into the front seat next to Zussman, we hit a bump and I nearly went flying over the front of the jeep if it wasn't for Zussman managing to grab hold of my arm and pulling me back into the seat. I was left a bit stunned and I could tell Zussman was as well as I heard him let out a sigh of relief. If we weren't being fired at by a train full of Krauts and if Zuss wasn't putting all his might into the gas pedal, we probably would've found what had just happened a little funny.
"You're welcome," Zussman teased, looking at me with a smirk on his face.
"Eyes on the road, soldier," I told him, smiling at him.
"Ha! You call this a road?"
Zussman struggled for a moment to take control of the wheel, but he managed to get us close enough to the train to where Daniels could spot out Krauts. He took hold of the MG just as a boxcar* we were near slid open to reveal a Kraut with a gun in his hand.
"Light 'em up!"
Daniels unleashed a line of bullets before the Kraut could shoot at us. As soon as Daniels killed him, I suddenly noticed a few Krauts on top of the boxcar and warned Daniels. He had them falling off the boxcar in seconds.
As Zussman was trying to get the jeep to the front of the train as fast as he could, there were a lot more boxcars filled with Krauts to deal with. It felt like Daniels had to constantly keep his finger on the trigger of the MG. He was practically taking care of the Krauts by himself because of how good he was at it. I began to help him by taking out the Krauts he missed before they could wound any of us, but I hardly had to help because his sharp aim hardly missed.
"They're throwing grenades!" Zussman warned as I began to hear the sound of something hitting the sides of the jeep. I watched carefully, preparing myself to act quickly if a grenade happened to get inside the jeep. Luckily, the Krauts weren't very good at throwing and well, with Daniels firing away in the back, most of them were down before they could even throw the grenade in their hands.
"Tank!"
I heard a screeching noise and looked to my right to see one of the tanks on the train aiming at us. Just as the tank shot at us and hit a tree instead, we split apart from the train as its tracks made it turn left and we continued to go forward. All I could see were hills where the train should've been. Since the train was going through the hills, I figured once we reach the end of the hills, we're bound to meet up with the train once again which could give us a good opportunity to stop it.
Not only can we not have that train reach Paris, but we also can't have Daniels spending time shooting all the Krauts on the train. If we can't reach the front, he's bound to run out of ammo which would leave us in an even worse position.
"We gotta get to the front of the train!" Zussman said.
It didn't take long to meet up with the train tracks again, but the train had been too fast for us. We were unable to meet up with the front of it which meant we had to get past quite a few boxcars before we could reach the front. Daniels began to shoot at Krauts again and Zussman and I did our best to point out their positions for him. At one point, Daniels ended up blowing up one of the gas tanks.
"Get us outta here!" Daniels cried out. I could tell he was panicking and I couldn't blame him since we had just escaped death plenty of times.
"They can't hit us if we get in close!" Zussman said as he moved the jeep closer to the train tracks. We began passing by a lot of the tanks the train was transporting and they started to fire at us, but luckily they were unable to hit us.
I could hear the train's whistle getting much louder now. I knew we were getting closer to the front of the train which made me feel relieved, but also nervous. We hadn't really discussed what the hell we were going to do once we reach the front of the train.
All of a sudden, one of the tanks fired at the ground in front of us which caused Zussman to lose control of the wheel and steer away from the train. The tanks continued to fire at us since we had become an easy target. Even though they weren't directly hitting us, the impact of the explosions all around us sent the jeep going up and down and side to side which made it very hard to stay inside of it. I hung on to the side of the jeep, hoping the door wouldn't open and I wouldn't end up flying out successfully this time.
We were going so fast it felt like the wind was really going to sweep me out of the jeep. I looked over at Zussman to see him leaning forward, trying to pick up the speed even more. There was so much pressure on his shoulders because losing control of the wheel could send us tumbling since the land we were driving on was so damn bumpy.
Zussman was eventually able to get in close to the train again and just when we thought we were safe from the tanks, I looked at the top of the boxcar we were near to see a Kraut on top of it. Zussman frantically warned us just as the Kraut threw a grenade into the jeep. The grenade landed by my feet and I reacted in no time.
"I got it!" I yelled out, grabbing the grenade and throwing it out just as Zussman pulled out his pistol and shot the Kraut. The Kraut screamed and his body fell off the boxcar and bounced off our jeep. The grenade exploded as soon as I threw it which made Zussman lose control of the wheel again. When I looked ahead, I realized how close we were to the front of the train now.
"Fuck!" Zussman cursed as the jeep swerved back and forth. It seemed like the jeep was going even faster and as it passed up the train, it swerved to the left causing the train to crash into us. I grabbed hold of my seat as tightly as I could and looked up to see the front of the train towering over us. The screeching of the train's wheels on the tracks was loud and sparks were flying all around us.
"Jeep's comin' apart!" Daniels warned us as pieces of the jeep began to fly all around us. I knew we'd only get a chance at surviving if we jumped out of the jeep.
"Jump!" Zussman told Daniels and me before I could suggest the idea. I watched as Zussman climbed towards the back of the jeep and jumped off. He disappeared into the smoke that the train's wheels were leaving behind. I immediately began to worry about him because I wasn't even sure if someone could survive such a jump, but I knew I had to take the risk myself because I sure as hell didn't want to get crushed by a train.
"Good luck, Daniels!" I wished him luck on his jump as I went towards the back of the jeep and jumped off, screaming. My body felt weightless as I flew through the air until the impact of the ground came quickly and I was sent rolling fast. I managed to stop myself and heard an explosion nearby.
I looked up to see the train had went off the tracks and was coming apart. All I could do was lay there in a panic and hope I wouldn't end up crushed to death as boxcars, gas tanks, and artillery went flying past me. I was frightened, especially since I had no idea if Zuss and Daniels were okay.
Pieces of wood and debris were flying all around. There was smoke everywhere and the sounds of the explosions and things crashing into each other were deafening. I could feel the ground beneath me rumbling. I felt like I was spinning as I laid there on the ground with my head pounding because of the impact of the jump I had somehow survived. I could hear the sounds all around me slowly becoming muffled and then my sight became blurred. I let out a groan as everything went dark.
* * *
"Where the hell are you, L/N! Have you found her, Daniels?"
"Nah, not yet!"
"Well, keep lookin'!"
I could hear yelling in the distance, but my hearing was muffled and all I could see was darkness, so I couldn't tell who was yelling. My body was motionless and I was left wondering if I was dead. I could feel a strange heat all around me. Where am I? Who the hell's calling me?
"L/N! Daniels, I found her!"
The voices got closer until I was gently being shaken by who I assumed was an owner of one of the voices. Finally, I gasped and sat up grabbing my chest. My sight came back to me to reveal Zussman sitting right next to me and Daniels standing over me. They both had relieved expressions on their faces.
"It's okay, L/N. You're okay," Zuss told me, taking hold of my hand. I couldn't believe this was happening.
"I'm alive? How did I- How did we-"
"Trust me, we're wonderin' the same thing," Daniels interrupted me.
Zussman helped me up and I winced as I felt my body ache including my wound from Marigny. Once I was up, that's when I realized why there was so much heat. There were pieces of wood on fire all around us. I bent down to pick up my helmet and we looked around in silence for a moment. I stood staring at all the destruction. It was almost a bit hard to believe we had caused this with only a jeep.
"That's one for the books. I hope Stiles had his camera," Zussman broke the silence.
"I hope so too. I made sure to smile when I jumped off the jeep to give him the perfect shot," I joked, making Daniels and Zuss laugh.
"If what we just did doesn't make Pierson get off our asses for five damn minutes, then I don't know what will," Daniels said. All of a sudden, I heard gunshots and we all dropped to the floor, looking for something to hide behind. I then looked to my left to see a Kraut coming towards us with a gun in his hands.
"Look out!"
A few more gunshots were heard and he fell to the ground even though none of us had shot him. In fact, I didn't even know where my gun was at. I looked around me and found it in a patch of grass nearby just as someone rushed towards us. I turned around to see it was a woman this time.
"Follow me. I'll take you to your platoon," said the woman. She had a French accent and none of us moved because we were too damn confused.
"I'm sorry, who the hell are you?" Zussman asked.
"A friend. Now hurry!" the woman said and she rushed off. We all got up and began to follow her. I quickly loaded up my gun with ammo, which I didn't have much of, as we walked into the wreckage. It felt more like we had entered a whole new world because of how smoky it was. All the pieces of the train and the things it had been carrying were scattered all around us.
The Krauts were popping up and down from behind anything they could use as cover and shooting at us. I was feeling pretty damn pissed at this point. I didn't want to spend more time allowing the Krauts to put up a good fight while we run out of ammo. We had just survived nearly getting crushed by a train and I did not want to let myself die now.
Together we were able to kill the Krauts hiding without getting hurt. Even though we were out in the open, we moved quickly so they couldn't get a good shot. As soon as a Kraut would pop up, someone else or myself would be aiming at them before they could pull their trigger.
We continued to follow the French woman even though we had no idea who she was. We were ducking under gas tanks, being careful not to hit our heads and watching our steps so we wouldn't trip over something and hurt ourselves. I hoped we would find a way out of all this wreckage soon since the smoke was making it a bit hard to breathe.
We eventually met up with a group of Krauts that made it pretty damn hard to get a good shot. It seemed like they were keeping their finger on the triggers of their guns which meant they would run out of ammo soon. When their gunfire started to slow down, we all started unleashing our gunfire at them. When there were only a few Krauts left, they started running away. The smoke made it hard to see them, so we couldn't aim very well which allowed them to get away.
"They're making a run for it!" I heard a man's voice say in the distance. I didn't recognize the voice, but I figured he was one of us which I hoped meant we were going to meet up with our platoon very soon.
We ran ahead and were met by a forest which I was glad to see because we had finally managed to get the hell out of the maze of destruction we had just walked through. There were only a few Krauts left and one of them ended up unleashing a dog at us. After clearing the area, we ran left since that was the direction the Krauts had tried to run to get away from us.
"Your platoon is through here," the French woman informed us as we approached a clearing in the hedgerows just ahead of us. Even though she hadn't bothered to kill us yet, I wasn't sure if I could trust her. I noticed she had an armband around her arm that looked familiar, but I couldn't see it very well in the dark.
After climbing over a log to get past the hedgerows, we found ourselves in some French village. There were American soldiers waiting near a jeep that had its headlights on. We approached the jeep and Crowley came out from behind it and into the light with documents in one of his hands.
"I believe these men and this woman belong to you," the French woman told him.
"Ah, I see you've met Rousseau. She's with the Maquis, French resistance," Crowley explained.
"She killed a Kraut that was gunnin' for us," Daniels told him. Crowley's face didn't look too happy to hear that.
"You could at least try to capture and interrogate them first."
"That would be more trouble than they're worth," Rousseau said nonchalantly which made sense. After all, they did take over her country.
"Looks like you did some damage," Turner suddenly told Daniels, Zussman, and I as he walked up from behind us.
"The train was supposed to be stopped, not destroyed," Rousseau looked at Turner. She sounded annoyed.
"Yeah, I'm sorry that uh, things didn't go exactly as planned, but on the bright side, we just alerted every goddamned German outpost in the whole area, so we gotta get moving, come on," Pierson said, walking up from behind Crowley and Turner. For once, I actually agreed with him.
"Not until we finish the mission!" Rousseau interjected, "Isn't that right, Major?"
"We'll need your help in securing intelligence from the wreckage," Crowley told Turner.
And that's how we learned that we were going to have to go back to the wreckage and dig around for any useful information. I wasn't too happy about that, but there was no use in complaining. We have to do it whether we like it or not. I just hoped this task would be worth it and we'd actually find something useful.
Crowley went on to explain that if we wanted to get the Germans out of Paris, we needed to attack from the inside before attacking from the outside. He showed us a picture of the building that a lot of the Nazi superiors were using as their headquarters in Paris. He wanted us to look through the wreckage to try and find the documents of actual Nazis so he and Rousseau can sneak into the headquarters. They were still thinking up what they wanted to do after that, but it actually sounded like a really good plan to me.
After Crowley finished talking, we all split up and took a moment to rest. The boys went off talking about the train crash, but I stayed behind and went to talk to Rousseau.
"Hello, Rousseau. I'm Private L/N," I introduced myself, holding my hand out, "I'd just like to thank you for saving our lives back there."
"No need to thank me," she shook my hand and glanced at my uniform, "Ah, so you're the American woman I heard about."
"Yup, that's me. People are usually more shocked than you are to see me," I laughed, thinking back to the confused expressions on people's faces, mainly men, that I had seen quite a lot.
"I think that's a good thing. People aren't used to seeing women do things like us. Let them be shocked and let us continue to do more than what they expect us to do," she said with a smile before glancing behind me. "It looks like someone wishes to have your attention."
I looked behind me to see Zussman looking over at me. He tried to act like he wasn't looking at me but failed terribly and I couldn't help but chuckle. I smiled at him and he smiled back at me with a slight blush on his face, but the moment didn't last long because Aiello noticed and started nudging Zussman. I turned back towards Rousseau, shaking my head with a smile on my face.
"You two are lucky to have found love in a world full of hate. Cherish that," was all Rousseau said before walking off, "It was nice meeting you, Private L/N. Au revoir*."
I walked over to the boys and stood next to Zussman, thinking about what Rousseau had said. I hadn't even told her that Zussman and I had something between us, yet she figured it out.
I listened in on the boys' conversation, joining in a few times until we were ordered to eat something. We were going to be digging through the wreckage soon and they didn't want us to go on an empty stomach. I walked off with Zussman to find a place to sit and eat. We started heading for a white fence that was near the hedgerow we had entered through since nobody was over there.
"You alright? You've been a lil' quiet than usual," Zussman looked at me with a worried expression on his face.
"I'm fine. It's just that I still can't believe all we've been through today."
"Yeah, me neither, but hey, we're still here. That's what matters."
"You're right, Zuss," I said as we arrived at the fence. I looked over at him. "And I couldn't be more happy about that."
"Y'know, I really hope this war ends soon. I don't wanna let all these plans I have in my head for us go to waste," he told me as he leaned against the fence.
All I could do was smile just thinking about all we could do if we get back to the states. The possibilities seemed endless, but the "what if's" always managed to lurk in the shadows. What if something happens to one of us? What if we both don't make it back? I pushed those thoughts out of my head as I wrapped my arm around Zussman's. He gave me a quick peck on my forehead as we looked at the train wreckage below us, trying to enjoy this moment of peace that was going to end soon.
~ ~ ~
* "Gestapo": was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe
* "panzerzug": a railway train protected by armor
* "V2s": short for V2 rockets, technical name Aggregat 4, was the world's first long-range guided ballistic missile
* "gung-ho": extremely enthusiastic, extremely keen to participate in military combat
* "boxcar": the North American term for a railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to carry freight
* "Au revoir": means "goodbye" in French