"Mother, do you ever get bored of staying in the house all day? Looking after me?"
"Why would I?"
"I don't know. It just seems pretty boring. Doing the same things everyday. Waking up, cooking, cleaning and taking care of me."
"It's not boring, Heidi. It's better than going into war, like your father does."
"But I don't want to do what you do, mother..."
"Then let's just hope that time changes everything before you're an adult."
"Do you think I could fight in the war someday? Join the army and make you and father proud?"
"You're so young, Heidi. There might not even be another war when you're an adult."
"One day, I'll be a soldier. Just like father. I can't wait to grow up."
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"Daniels, get to the field phone and call in Perez!" Turner ordered as Daniels sprinted over to the field phone with Aiello and Pierson covering him. We were outnumbered and in need of tanks to help us clear Hotel Allendorf; the last German stronghold in the city.
Daniels moved up with Aiello and Pierson. "Perez must be on his way." Turner muttered, "Let's go!" He darted into the hotel and the rest of us followed behind, firing at Nazis along the way.
"We need to clear the apartments! On me!" Turner moved up and began shooting at the enemies. We all joined in and slowly managed to clear out one apartment at a time. I raised my sub machine gun at the heads of the Germans and fired rapidly, killing a few in one of the apartments. "Just a few more to go!" Turner called out to us and kicked one of the doors open. Before the Germans could shoot a single bullet, we shot them all dead almost instantly. We moved to the next apartment door, Zussman kicked it down. I threw a smoke grenade in and began firing my gun. Turner moved to the final apartment with some other soldiers whilst we finished this room. As the smoke began to clear up, I could see a few more Germans, who were about to fire at us. Stiles quickly shot them and sighed.
"All clear!" Turner shouted as we ran over to him. We reunited with Daniels, Aiello and Pierson. "We need to clear the basement." Turner told us and we began moving down the stairs slowly. The basement seemed clear of any enemies, but something was quite off. We heard a noise from behind the boxes. "Sounds like a kid." Turner muttered, "Daniels, you still got that chocolate bar?" Turner questioned in a whisper to which Daniels nodded and grabbed it from his pocket. He held it out in front of him, waiting for a few seconds. "Bet y'all are hungry. Go on. Take it."
A little girl then appeared from behind some boxes and ran to take the chocolate bar. "Anna!" An older girl shouted and ran behind her, clutching a gun in her hands. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Pierson raised his voice slightly. I jumped back slightly, showing that we weren't going to harm them. Turner put his hand up and spoke calmly, "It's alright. It's alright. We're not gonna hurt you." He assured them and the older girl lowered her gun. "No food. My sister. Please help us." She begged but Pierson seemed reluctant. "No, no. Kraut reinforcements will be here any minute. We don't have time to be baby sittin' civilians."
Pierson stated. Turner glared at him out of the corner of his eye, "There's only two of them."
"Sir. You need to see this." Zussman approached a curtain, pulling it to one size to reveal more civilians. They seemed frightened at our presence, completely oblivious to what was happening. "Ahh, just perfect." Pierson grumbled and sat on a wooden crate. "Shit..." Turner mumbled.
"There's a German truck out there. We could use it to safely evacuate these people." I suggested and Turner nodded his head at me, wanting them to be safe. The older sister begins to panic, unaware of everything. Pierson looks at her, annoyed and confused. "I don't speak German." He muttered, glaring at her slightly.
"I speak a little German..." Zussman walked back over to her and attempted to calm her down. He spoke to her in German, assuring her that everything was going to be alright and that we will get them out of here safely. The girl seemed to calm down, grabbing her younger sister's hand.
I was stunned. I never knew that Zussman could speak German. I didn't bother to provoke him about it. I trusted him with my life. He turned to me and sighed, noticing the surprised look on my face. "My family is German-Jewish." He bowed his head slightly but I rested my hand on his shoulder, letting him know that I still trusted him.
"You speak German? When the hell were you gonna tell us that?" Pierson interrogated, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.
"I wasn't." Zussman answered, hardly looking at Pierson.
"Makes me wonder what else you're hiding from us, Herr Zussman." Pierson mocked, clearly pissed off by Zussman's secret. "Cut me some slack, Sarge." Zussman retorted and Pierson just shook his head. "Not on your life, Private. Not on your life."
I rolled my eyes and glanced at Zussman. "Ignore him, Zuss." I whispered to him and he smiled in return.
"Aiello, Daniels and Green." Turner began, about to give an order. "Start the truck before Kraut reinforcements arrive. Drive it in front of the hotel."
The three of us nodded our heads and left quickly. "Looks like it's just us three." Aiello said as we moved forward. "Looks like it." I muttered and followed behind.
"Can't believe Zussman didn't tell us he spoke Kraut." Aiello spoke and shook his head.
Daniels piped up, defending his best friend. "His family is German-Jewish. He just didn't and anyone to know about the German part."
I knew that Pierson wouldn't let this die. Pierson was going to torment him for most of the time because of his family.
"Guess we all got something we ain't proud of." Aiello turned his head in my direction, looking at me as he spoke. He continued to move forward, facing ahead. Was he talking about the dance? I rolled my eyes and dropped what he said.
"Can't believe we gotta worry 'bout a bunch of Krauts." Aiello groaned.
"They are innocent people. Have a heart." I snapped at him
"They got a kid in there. Old folks too." Daniels added. Innocent people didn't deserve to die. Especially a little girl. "Poor little girl. She probably lost her parents to these bastards." I said lowly, the thought of it just made me so angry.
"Can't save everybody." Aiello countered.
"They're civilians." Daniels began, "We send 'em to the rear. That's what we do." I agreed with him. I couldn't just leave innocent people to suffer. Only to be killed or punished. Worked to the bone. It was cruel.
"Yeah, yeah..." Aiello shrugged, I frowned and picked up my pace a little. We were outside and the truck was ahead of us now. "That's the truck!" Aiello pointed to it. "Come on."
We made it to the truck. Aiello walked to the side of the door and looked around at the truck. "Okay, just need a minute to get this baby started." He told us and opened the door before climbing in.
"Okay. We'll cover you." Daniels responded.
We headed to some of the soldiers, who were keeping a look out for the Nazi bastards. "Movement in those buildings, across the street." One of them stated before another got up to move to cover. "Panzerschreck!" He yelled, causing Daniels and I to run to cover.
"Get it movin'!" Daniels shouted over to Aiello whilst he fired bullets with his FG42. I held my BAR in my hands, firing at a Panzerschreck before he could attack. "Never started a Kraut truck before!" Aiello yelled back at him. More Panzerschrecks came charging through, about to attack the truck with Aiello inside. We killed them in an instant, trying our best to cover Aiello.
"Multiple APC's incoming!" Daniels called out to us.
"Take cover!" I shouted at everyone before heading to cover too. "It's a shitstorm out there!" Aiello yelled which made me groan. "No shit!" I shouted over to him, killing more Panzerschrecks that appeared. "We can't stay here! You gotta hurry!" Daniels exclaimed, panic laced in his voice.
"I need more time!" Aiello countered. There were too many. All carrying Panzerschrecks that could wipe us all out at any second.
"We gotta knock out these halftracks!" A solider yelled out to us. I turned my head to the direction of the truck. "Aiello! Hurry the fuck up!" I called out and shot more bullets, trying my best to prevent the Germans from killing us. "Almost got it!" Aiello shouted back, making me relax a little.
Daniels grabbed a Panzerschreck and began firing explosives at the halftracks. "They've stopped coming in! Looks like they're fallin' back!" Daniels exclaimed as he dropped the Panzerschreck.
"You got her runnin'?" Daniels asked Aiello as he climbed on the truck, holding onto the door. I climbed on the other side of the truck and held onto the other door. "Thanks for covering me!" Aiello said as he began to drive out of the area.
"I think they might be regroupin' on the north side." I told him, clutching the door tightly. "Gotta let the squad know!" Aiello responded, gazing ahead of him.
"We gotta get these folks out fast!" Daniels added, jumping slightly as we drove over broken buildings.
"That, or dig in." Was all Aiello could say in response to Daniels.
"Too risky. We don't want them caught in the crossfire." Daniels stated. We were almost there. I just hoped that all the civilians were safe. "Little late for that." Aiello spoke with hardly any emotion. "You could be a little more sincere. These people don't deserve this!" I shot at Aiello, glaring at him as he focused on driving. He looked at me from the corner of his eye and was about to open his mouth to talk, but Daniels beat him to it. "Just hurry!" He shouted as Aiello sped up. "Pierson's right, guys. We don't have time to worry about these people." I was shocked by Aiello's words. Coming from a guy who's best friends were killed at Kasserine because of that man. It just pissed me off more. "Pierson doesn't care about people dying! You of all people should know that!" I shouted out to Aiello who silently focused on driving. "There is no way these people are gonna die just because Pierson doesn't have a fucking heart! There's a little girl in there!"
Daniels piped in, "They're civilians. They need our help." I nodded to Daniels. Aiello obviously didn't realise that these people could die without our help. Would die without our help! And I was so happy Turner wanted these people safely evacuated.
"Drive through and park it on the street!" Pierson shouted an order to Aiello. Aiello made a left turn, "Yes, Sergeant!" Aiello shouted back to him.
"Alright. Get the civilians outta here!" Turner shouted as we approached the street. Daniels and I jumped off the truck and approached the civilians. "Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!" Turner motioned for them to go to the truck.
I noticed a little boy, walking alone. He looked frightened as he frantically looked around at his surroundings. Once he saw me he sprinted towards me, a smile on his face. "Mama!" I heard him shout as he clutched onto me. I kneeled down to him to pick him up but Zussman had a saddened look upon his face. "Green. He thinks you're his..." He trailed off and I took the hint and my face dropped. My heart ached for the little boy in my arms, thinking I was his mother. It was awful. A tear escaped my eye and I quickly wiped it before I could begin to cry.
Zussman tried to communicate with him in German, explaining that I wasn't his mother and that he will find her once he's out of here. It seemed like the boy understood slightly, probably due to his young age. "You'll be okay." I told him, hoping he understood what I was saying, "Everything will be okay."
I carried the little boy to the truck, almost all of the civilians were in. I set him inside and smiled at him. He looked at me for a moment before sitting with some other civilians.
"You have kids, Green?" Pierson questioned, narrowing his eyes at me. I walked away from the truck and sighed. "Not yet, sir." I replied, thinking of the young boy's parents. They could be dead. Or at least sent somewhere by the Nazis. "Oh, really? I thought that's what women do. Clean, cook and raise the children." Pierson spat. I stopped dead in my tracks and faced him. "Don't tell me you're still angry about a woman being here, sir." I retorted and looked him dead in the eye.
The older sister was about to climb into the truck, but began to panic when she didn't see her sister. "Anna?" She turned to face the building and ran to it. "ANNA!" Before she could go in there, Pierson stopped her. "Hold on. Where ya going?" He asked her, she replied in German, obviously panicking about her missing sister. "What is she saying?" He turned to Zussman for help.
"She thinks her sister went back to the basement." Zussman stated as she began to panic more. Pierson lightly pushed her, trying to move her to the truck, "Well then that's where she's staying. We gotta get these people outta here. Come on."
Daniels stepped forward to Turner, "Lieutenant, let me go."
Pierson was still trying to push the girl to the truck. "Nobody's going!" Pierson yelled at Daniels angrily.
Turner ignored him and faced Daniels, "You got two minutes." He told him, completely oblivious to Pierson's annoyed facial expression. Zussman stood beside Daniels, "I'm going with you." He said but Turner pointed his finger at Zussman. "Nope. Just Daniels." Turner added, but Zussman stepped closer. "It's too dangerous." He told him but Turner still seemed reluctant.
"I need everyone here to cover the perimeter." Turner explained and I nudged Daniels arm to get his attention, "Be careful." I told him and he simply nodded his head.
Zussman stood there for a moment, hating the fact that Daniels had to go in alone. "Yes... Sir." He muttered, looking slightly worried. Turner pointed his finger at Daniels, a stern look on his face. "You get back here fast." Turner ordered him in a serious tone.
"Will do, sir." Daniels assured him. He seemed determined to get Anna safely out of there.
Daniels walked through, clutching his sub machine gun tightly, preparing for enemies.
----------------------------------------
Daniels was taking a really long time. I could see the look on Zussman's face every time he turned to the building. He was worried that Daniels would have died in there. Whilst we were covering the perimeter and killing the enemies, one soldier held his fire and shouted to us all. "He's one of ours!" I lowered my gun and looked closely to see Daniels, holding Anna whilst running towards us. I heard Zussman sigh in relief once he saw him, causing me to smile. The same solider called out to him, "Daniels? We need to get the hell outta here!"
Another solider shouted to him after, "Get her to the truck. We got you covered." Daniels nodded his head and carried her towards the truck.
He walked by Aiello and I and Aiello looked shocked. "Christ, its Daniels." He said with relief in his voice. I smiled up at him and watched the little girl clutch her teddy bear, waiting to see her sister.
Daniels set her down gently and her sister ran over to her, hugging her tightly. "Anna!" She exclaimed. I watched them both hug one another and walk back over to the truck. "Krauts are gone. The hotel is ours." Stiles said as he walked over to us. The girl turned to Daniels, a small smile on her face. "Thank you." She spoke in English and helped her sister into the truck.
Pierson watched the situation and waved a hand. "Okay, okay. They can take it from here. Let's go!" He shouted to us all but Turner stopped him from leaving. "We're escorting them and that's final." He snapped, annoyed at Pierson's lack of care.
"Pierson's right, sir. If we go with them, chances are they'll draw fire. Seems like a risky move." Zussman explained, backing up Pierson's idea. But Turner didn't change his mind. "Private Zussman we are clearing this street. And then getting them out. Understood?" Turner seemed pretty angry. He just wanted to make sure these innocent people were out of here safe. I was with Turner, I wanted these people, these children, out of here safely. They didn't deserve to be stuck in the middle of a war. To be killed or to at least suffer.
"I understand, sir. I just think they might be safer on their own." Zussman answered and stood next to Pierson. I moved back over to the truck and checked if they were all alright.
"And if we let the Germans reoccupy this hotel, every squad that comes through here will be in danger." Pierson chimed in, he was really trying to leave these civilians to die. I rolled my eyes at his negativity and walked back over to Turner.
"This isn't Kasssrine." Turner shot back, glaring at Pierson, "We have the upper hand." I was shocked by Turner's words to Pierson.
Pierson backed off and held his hands up, "It's your show." He finally agreed.
Before we could get them out of here, shots were fired at us. We quickly moved and hid behind cover. "Defensive positions!" Turner shouted and we all fired at the Krauts, trying to defend the hotel.
I shot a few down and reloaded my weapon, Aiello stood next to me and killed a few before doing the same.
"We gotta clear the street!" Turner ordered as we tried our best to kill them all before anything bad could happen. Stiles pointed his finger at vehicles in the distance. "Enemy vehicles!" He called out and fired at the enemies.
Before I could react, German shepherds ran towards us, barking loudly as they targeted us. I shot one dead just before it could attack me.
"More coming in!" Stiles exclaimed, panic laced through his words. I continued to shoot as many Germans as I could. "Hold your ground!" Pierson shouted to him whilst reloading.
As more Germans approached us, it was getting more tense. "Keep firing!" Pierson ordered and we all obeyed.
After a few more were shot dead, I lowered my gun and looked around. "All clear?" I questioned, still looking in every place.
"It's all quiet. Garden's clear!" Zussman replied. I nodded my head at his reply and headed to the truck. Turner checked the streets and came to the conclusion, "The street's clear!" He began to walk towards us as we stood at the truck, "Everyone okay?"
Pierson followed behind, checking his surroundings, "Everyone accounted for!" They lowered the back of the truck and my gaze met the little boy's. I thought about his parents and how they could really be dead. Maybe he didn't know... That could explain why he called me his mother.
Aiello nudged my shoulder lightly, "Hey. You alright?" He asked me, I could feel his eyes burning holes through me. I glanced at him and looked back looked back at the boy. "I'm fine... Thanks." I managed to get out.
Zussman stepped forward to the civilians, asking them if anyone could drive, in German, of course. A guy stood up, who could obviously drive the truck and Zussman nodded at him. "Alright, come on!" He and Daniels helped the man down from the back of the truck.
The civilian was about to head to the wheel, but Stiles quickly caught everyone's attention. "Look out!" He shouted as bullets began firing at the truck.
Daniels and I fired our guns at a few Germans who were in front of us.Aiello shot some bullets in the direction of the enemies before turning to us, "They shot up the truck!" He called out to us.
As soon as my head turned to the civilians, the older sister was shot instantly. Anna squealed and watched her sister drop, another civilian holding her. My heart dropped to my stomach. "Fuck!" I groaned and tossed a grenade at the enemies. Anna began crying, mumbling her sister's name; Erica. Zussman hurried over and checked her pulse before taking a deep breath. "She's gone..." He sadly told us, making a tear roll down my cheek. I quickly wiped it away and sighed.
"Wake up! Please wake up!" Anna cried out as the other civilians tried to comfort her. I looked over at the little boy, who was hiding behind an old man, obviously scared by the gunfire.
Pierson stepped in and the driver started the truck. "Go! Go! Go!" Pierson shouted, ordering the civilian to evacuate them all. Turner jogged over, a stern look on his face. "What the hell are you doing?!" He yelled at Pierson, he was clearly angry at him.
Pierson turned his gaze to him for a moment, "Following orders." He answered and then glared at the rest of us. "Everybody back to the hotel. Move, move, move!" He demanded in his overpowering voice. We all watched the truck drive away, Anna's crying became more quiet as they got further away from us.
Turner was about to head to the direction of the truck's destination, but Pierson stopped him by putting a hand on shoulder. "Hey, there's nothing we can do." He told Turner but I shook my head at him in disgust, my eyes narrowed. "We could have made sure they got out of here safely." I muttered lowly, noticing Pierson's dark glare shoot to me. Turner moved away from Pierson, and walked further up. He was clearly annoyed at Pierson's cold heart. I was too.
Pierson then focused on me, then made his way to my smaller frame. "What did you say to me?" He questioned, his dark gaze focused down on me. I didn't shift away from him. I just stood there and looked up at him, glaring right at him. He shoved my shoulder, enough to make me stumble a little. "I said, what did you say to me?" He asked me again, his voice a lot more harsh.
Zussman stood a few feet behind Pierson, giving me a look that told me to leave it. I ignored him and looked back at Pierson. "Kids were in there, sir. And you didn't give a shit." I told him. My heart was pounding, I thought it was going to jump out of me.
Pierson's gaze didn't budge from me. "This is war, Green. People die everyday." He spat coldly but I didn't back down from him. "But we had the chance to help them." I retorted, trying to keep calm.
Pierson looked me up and down before moving away from me. He walked away but not before budging his shoulder into me, knocking me a little. I glared at him as he walked away. I could feel someone rub my back lightly, I turned to see Aiello standing next to me. He dropped his hand from my back and glanced at Zussman, Daniels and Stiles. "Surprised he walked away. He hardly backs down." Aiello muttered to them but I shrugged my shoulders.
I hated Pierson and his fucking cold heart with a passion. We could have saved them all...