With her knees tucked underneath herself, Annie sat quietly in her foxhole and listened as Luz traded some of his supplies for smokes or other items he was running low on. It was morning and Easy Company was still pinned down by the German soldiers across the way, forcing the Lieutenants to begin planning an attack. They couldn't just sit there all day cowering in their holes in the ground.
Annie, however, really just wanted to get some sleep. She had been up for the majority of the night tending to poor Talbert, who only stopped moaning after she had helped Eugene load him up and sneak him out in the early hours of the day. When she hadn't been tending to Talbert, she had been worrying about everyone else. Her mind was in a constant, vicious cycle of worrying about past, present, and future patients.
When a bag of ammo dropped down at the medic's feet, she didn't even flinch; probably because she was too tired. Shaking her head slightly as if it were possible to shake the sleepiness out, Annie stood up and walked over to where Welsh was explaining the plan to the group of men around him.
"No, we don't know what they've got." Annie heard the Lieutenant say as she squeezed her way in between him and Martin. "We may be attacking a weaker force, possibly more paratroopers."
"And you know how they can be," Hoobler commented as he peered at the map over Welsh's shoulder.
Welsh flashed his characteristic gap-toothed grin. "Fire and maneuver. That's the name of the game, fire and maneuver. Dog and Fox companies will be on our left flank, moving with us. Any questions?"
Guarnere, along with the other men, shook his head. At that point, Welsh's plan was the only plan that had a shot at working. "I'm thinking Eugene, Spina, and I will stay towards the back." Annie used her finger to indicate the formation she and the other medics would take on the map. "It'll allow us to tend to the wounded while the rest of the company provides protection from the front."
"Sounds good, Private." Welsh nodded as he folded up the map and tucked it away. "Let's make 'em holler."
Glancing down at his watch, Perconte watched the small hand tick a few times before sighing. "It's nine-thirty in the evening back home. Must be-"
Before Frank could even get his thought out, a familiar sound screeched overhead. "Mortar!" Guarnere warned.
Without even thinking, Annie tossed herself into the nearest foxhole along with Welsh and Martin. "Get that OP here!" Welsh called as the first explosion sent dirt flying high into the sky. Another man just to the left of Annie tried to go for cover, but he was shot down. His body fell limp beside her but he was gone before she even had the chance to tell him to 'hang in there'.
Crawling over Annie, Welsh kept his head down as he made his way toward Luz and the radio. "Easy six, Easy red six!" he yelled into the receiver. "I've got mortars across my line. No sign of infantry yet. I'm pulling the OP in, over!"
Within a matter of minutes, the mortar squads had set up and were firing back at the Germans. Margot desperately wanted to go out to the front and set up her machine gun, but with no Smokey, she had no choice but to lay low and use her rifle to the best of her abilities. It was impossible for one trooper to carry the gun, the ammo, the tripod, and the barrels and still be expected to move at a half-decent pace.
Sprinting up to where the other men were positioned, Margot dropped down just behind a row of small bushes and watched the firefight in front of her. "Watch for silhouettes on the horizon!" Winters ordered as he made his way down the line. "Keep low!"
With Perconte next to her, Margot took shot after shot, some killing the Germans, some wounding them, and some missing altogether. "God, I wish I had my big gun right now," she huffed as she reloaded and looked down the barrel of her rifle once more.
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.
"MEDIC!"
Without giving Welsh a chance to say something back, Annie was gone again, running toward the frantic cries of Buck Compton. When she arrived, Buck was kneeling over a man who had been shot in the leg. "Everything is going to be okay." The words flowed from the medic's mouth like water from a tap. "Stay calm for me, okay? Everything is gonna be just fine."
Margot could hear Annie's soothing words from behind her, but she didn't dare take her eyes off of the horizon. Even though taking out that one tank had been a victory, it had been a very small victory in the grand scheme of things. Easy Company was still vastly outnumbered and more men were being shot down by the minute.
Then, another low rumbling, but this time from the opposite side of the field. "Shermans!" someone proclaimed as the friendly tanks appeared over the far hill. A wide smile spread across Margot's face—so wide that she could feel her dry lips cracking. The 2nd armoured tanks rolled in as a force to be reckoned with, and just like that, the odds had been evened out.
"That's right, you sorry asses!" Margot heard Luz and Perconte laugh from beside her. "Run!"
"Oh, you beautiful babies, you!" Welsh was over the moon at the sight of the artillery.
Annie could hear the cheers and praise all around her, but for her, her work was still far from over. Even if the battle itself was drawing near its end, the blonde medic would still be battling death for hours to come.
"Let's go!" Winters turned to his platoon. "Pour it on 'em! Let 'em have it, come on!"
With the tables turned, the Germans began to retreat at an impressive rate. The Sherman tanks pushed them back further and further until they had nowhere else to go. With the Krauts scattering like cockroaches, Margot let out a laugh as she aimed into the field. "Open season, baby!" she exclaimed before taking out enemy after enemy.
In a cloud of smoke, the final German tank disappeared back over the hill and out of sight. With the battle over, hundreds of cheers echoed through the hedgerow. Drawing a deep breath, Margot rolled onto her back, slumped against the log she had been using for cover, and pulled a cigarette out of her pocket. Before she could even reach for her lighter, a hand appeared and lit the smoke for her.
"Thanks." she panted before taking a long, much-need drag from the cigarette. Perconte lit Luz's smoke, and then his own. At the same time, the three inhaled, let the smoke circulate in their lungs and bring with it a sense of relaxation, and exhaled. The air in front of them turned grey and cloudy for a moment before the smoke dissipated.
While the rest of Easy Company celebrated their win, Annie was still working her way from man to man, her hands moving at the speed of light as they poured sulfa into wounds, injected morphine, bandaged limbs, and checked for pulses.
For a soldier, war never ended, only slowed down sometimes. For a medic, war didn't even slow down. Men were always about to die, dying, or dead.
●●●
Crouching among the bushes with the other Easy men, Annie kept her eyes trained on the abandoned farmhouse in the clearing. Welsh and Nixon were talking among themselves, probably about who to send. Annie knew that she most likely wouldn't be one of the chosen ones, but she was ready just in case.
"Need to take a look at that farmhouse." Welsh turned around to face his company. "Who wants to go?"
As expected, no one volunteered. Well, that was until Blithe's head poked out of the shrubbery. "I'll go," he offered. It was a drastic change from the man who he used to be; the man who would avoid conflict at all costs. Annie wasn't sure exactly what had happened, but Blithe had changed eighteen days ago during the battle on the outskirts of Carentan.
The once wide-eyed and apprehensive man now acted as if he possessed no fear at all, and Annie wasn't sure if that worried her more or less than the nervous wreck he once was.
"Anybody else?" Welsh took a shot in the dark before choosing the last two himself. "Martin, Dukeman, you just volunteered. Hubba hubba."
"I'll be lead," Blithe said as he stepped out of the bushes with Martin and Dukeman on his heels.
Welsh was impressed with the improvement he had seen in Blithe and was grateful that he had one less nervous, trigger-happy trooper to deal with. "Blithe's lead scout, move out," he ordered the three men before turning back around and bringing his binoculars up to his eyes.
As the two Lieutenants fell back into conversation with one another, Annie sat back on her haunches next to Shifty and waited. She always hoped she wouldn't be called, but she was ready for it nevertheless.
The group was silent and the only noise to be heard was the sound of the men's footsteps as they approached the house. Annie watched as the three disappeared from her sight. A few seconds passed. Gunshot.
"Here we go again," Welsh grumbled. "Covering fire!"
"MEDIC!"
Both hands wrapped tight around the strap of her medic bag, Annie burst out of the bushes like a rabbit running from a fox and darted towards the calls for her assistance. Meeting her halfway, Martin and Dukeman dragged Blithe toward the medic by his webbing.
As the rest of the company provided covering fire as Welsh had instructed, Annie dropped her medic bag on the ground before kneeling next to Blithe. Annie's left hand immediately pressed hard on the wound on Blithe's neck while the other dug into her pack for sulfa and a bandage.
"Take it easy, Blithe," Martin told his fellow trooper.
With her hands covered in blood, Annie ripped the sulfa package open and poured the white powder into the bullet wound. She heard Welsh call for the men to cease fire but she wasn't sure if she noticed when the gunshots stopped. The only thing she was paying attention to was Blithe and the way his big, blue eyes stared up at her.
He didn't say a word, but she could tell he was praying to live.
When Eugene arrived a few seconds later, he provided Annie with some much-needed help and the two medics worked fast and smart to prevent Blithe from bleeding out.
Annie didn't hear Winters tell the men that they were being pulled off of the front lines, she didn't see Welsh's panicked eyes as he stared down at Blithe, and she didn't hear Nixon grumble something about being benched.
Annie's attention was strictly on Blithe until they arrived back at the aid station where he would be loaded up and sent to the general hospital. Although she was confident in the fact that he would recover fully, she wasn't sure she would ever be able to forget the way he looked up at her with those wide, bright blue eyes.
There was something in Blithe's eyes, even after the fight outside of Carentan, that held great bouts of innocence. War would change him, just like it changed everyone else, but somehow, Annie felt that he would be okay.
Sometimes even the small comforts of knowing someone would be okay was the difference between surviving and truly living.