"I want to be like you, dad. I want to be able to shoot a gun."
"Heidi, you're only sixteen. You can't learn this stuff."
"Please? I'll do anything! I'd love for you to teach me."
*sigh* "Fine. But you are not to tell mum."
"I won't! I'm so excited!"
"First, you need to stand behind the line, here."
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It's been three days since my father passed away. And I can't stop having dreams of him. I guess these dreams are better than my same old nightmare from my previous lover, James.
Right now, we were in action. I had no time to think about this. I needed to focus.
"Move, move, move!" Turner screamed as German MGs fired at us non stop. We sprinted to the gate and hid behind the small fence as cover. I looked up and noticed that the MGs were out of my reach. They were on the roof of a huge building that was quite some distance away from us. "Sir, we're gonna have to move up again!" I shouted over the gunfire but Pierson yelled back at me instead. "You don't make the decisions, Green!" I gestured to the MGs in the far distance and glared at him. "Then I guess you should try and take them out for yourself! I can't reach!" I yelled back at Pierson with sarcasm and he scoffed.
"Everyone move up!" Turner shouted, obviously he had listened to me. I followed with Zussman and we both hid behind a truck. Aiello, Daniels and Stiles followed after shortly and hid behind another. I moved to the side of the truck and aimed my sniper rifle at the first MG. I tried my best to aim for his head. I squeezed the trigger and watched him fall.
I aimed my scope at the next MG and tried to steady my aim. As I pulled the trigger, I realised that I missed.
"I'm not good at this."
"This is your first lesson, Heidi. Aim for the same bottle. I know you can do it."
"Okay, dad."
Memories came flooding back to my head. I aimed my scope once again and aimed for the same guy. This time, the bullet hit him, killing him in an instant.
"I did it!"
"See? Practice makes perfect. Now turn a little to your left."
I moved over a little to my left and aimed at the next Nazi. He was rapidly firing his MG in almost every direction. I sucked in a deep breath and focused as best as I could.
"Take the shot, darling."
I pulled the trigger. A few seconds later, the MG had stopped. I smiled to myself and aimed at another. As he lifted his head, I shot him quickly.
"You're getting better! Steady now... Make sure you focus on your target."
I aimed at the final MG and waited for the enemy to lift his head. Once he did, my bullet pierced his skull. I lowered my sniper and reloaded.
"Come on!" Aiello grabbed my arm and pulled me with him to more cover. We hid behind the cover and waited for Turner's signal. Aiello tossed a grenade at the Nazis ahead and crouched with me.
"Keep your head down." He told me in a somewhat soft voice. I did and watched him look over the broken debris. "Turner's moving. Let's go." He said after a few minutes of waiting.
I followed behind and switched to my M1 Garand. I shot a few in the head and continued to move up. Turner stopped behind the sandbags and motioned for me to move over to him. I hid with him and Pierson as they both fired rapidly at the enemies. I looked over the sandbags and killed three enemies in front of us.
Turner shot the remaining few and stood from behind the cover. "Rally on me!" He shouted to everyone and sprinted to the broken house. We all ran over to him and waited for him to make a decision.
"Alright. Perez should be here anytime now. We need to secure the Church." He said and pointed to the almost shattered Church ahead. I nodded my head and checked my ammo.
Perez eventually showed up so we could move to take the Church. I followed behind one of our tanks for some protection. The tanks fired at the Church and stayed behind for back up support. "Let's go!" Pierson yelled at us and I instantly sprinted ahead with him. "Green, toss a smoke in there!" He ordered me so I didn't hesitate to do so. I tossed a smoke and a grenade through the window to hopefully wipe out the rest inside. Pierson signalled for us to enter and I shot a few once I was inside.
We cleared out the first room easily, thanks to Perez. I kicked the next door open and fired my BAR at every enemy in my sight. I made sure it was clear before moving to the next room. Zussman and Daniels took care of the rest downstairs.
I crept up the stairs with Aiello and Pierson and we killed the Germans in front of us. "Aiello, get on that MG!" Pierson shouted and Aiello obeyed. Pierson then turned to me and pushed me ahead slightly, so that I was near the broken ledge.
"Take them out!" He ordered and motioned to the snipers who were in the windows. I ducked down and aimed my sniper at one of the Nazis. I shot him with no hesitation and moved to the next target.
"Hurry it up, Green! Turner needs to move up!" I mentally rolled my eyes at Pierson. I shot the bullet at the next one and watched him fall from the window to the hard ground. I aimed my scope higher so that I could hit the next Nazi and quickly pulled the trigger. He went down in an instant and I pulled away for a moment to reload.
I looked through the scope once again and looked for anymore enemies in the windows. I couldn't see any at first, but then one got my attention. He was aiming directly at us. I didn't hesitate to shoot him in the chest. He dropped to the ground and I searched for anymore. I couldn't see anymore so I lowered my rifle.
"Clear?" Pierson asked from next to me and I nodded in response. "Let's go." He told Aiello and I as we followed him down the stairs. We made our way to Turner, who had everything under control.
The rest of the Krauts surrendered once they had realised they were outnumbered. "On the floor!" Daniels yelled at them, raising his gun at them. They slowly fell to their knees and lifted their hands up.
"Good work, First Platoon. Let's go." Turner led the way back.
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"I can't believe you're not that hungry." Stiles said to me as he finished his leftovers. I was eating a little, but I just didn't exactly have an appetite. "Hey, I've eaten some of it. I lost my appetite." I defended myself and he held his hands up in defence. Once I was finished with it, I gave the rest to the others. Aiello and Zussman were still hungry so they split it.
"You have to eat, Green." Daniels told me as he shook his head. I sighed and chuckled a little, "I'll eat tomorrow... I'm fine, but I appreciate the concern." He smiled and stood so that he and Stiles could take the bowls away when everyone finished eating.
I was left alone with Aiello and Zussman for some time. They were talking about something and I was hardly paying attention to the conversation. I was too worried about my mother and how she was doing. I bet she had never felt so alone in all of her life.
"You okay?" I snapped out of my thoughts and glanced at Zussman who was staring right back at me with a look of concern. I nodded and tugged at a smile. "Always." I answered and he nodded. But Aiello wasn't buying it. One of his eyebrows was raised as he looked at me suspiciously. He turned back to Zussman and continued their conversation, but he would constantly glance at me.
Daniels and Stiles soon returned to the tent and joined in the conversation as I simply sat there, listening and laughing as they joked along.
I pulled out a cigarette from the box and lit it, blowing smoke from my parted lips. I listened to the conversation as it turned to them fantasising about women... Except Daniels of course.
"Oh come on, Aiello. I thought you had something for Marlene Dietrich." Zussman nudged his shoulder lightly as the others laughed. Aiello rolled his eyes, "She's an attractive woman. There's better out there." He tried to defend himself. I inhaled the smoke before blowing it out slowly. "Out there? Ooo, someone's going soft." Stiles mocked, causing him to receive a piercing glare. "Shut it, College." I shook my head at them and eventually disposed my cigarette, putting it out with my foot.
"So, give us an example. Who's better out there?" Zussman asked him with a smirk plastered on his pale face. Aiello groaned in annoyance. "I was just saying. I don't exactly have an example." He explained and crossed his arms.
"Anyway, I'm gonna go wash. You coming, guys?" Daniels asked and looked at the others. They all nodded and stood up. "See ya later." They said as I waved them off. I was gonna wash too. Luckily, a lake was nearby and soldiers used it to clean themselves with. It was behind loads of trees, which was an advantage for me.
I decided to walk around for a little. I exited the tent and wandered the camp. "Green!" I stopped still for a moment and turned my attention to the group of soldiers sat on the crates. Andrews motioned for me to come over to them with a smile. I walked over to them and greeted them. "What's up?" I asked Andrews and he chucked, crossing his arms.
"Thompson, here, was wondering if you could look at his wound. He injured his leg in the mission earlier." He explained and I glanced at the wounded soldier, Thompson. "I heard you had some medical experience..." He muttered, his face scrunched up in pain. I raised an eyebrow at Andrews, he was smirking. I shook my head before helping Thompson up.
I helped him to an empty tent for first aid use. I helped him sit on a wooden chair and lifted his clothing up to reveal the wound. A piece of shrapnel was stuck in his leg, blood trickling down. "You should have gone to a medic as soon as you came back." I told him as I began to clean up the blood. He looked down at me and grinned, "My bad, ma'am." He said with a silent chuckle.
Once I had cleared up the blood, I looked up at him and sighed. "This is gonna hurt." I warned him and grabbed a pair of pliers from the table. "You ready?" I asked him and he nodded his head. I focused on the piece of shrapnel and didn't hesitate to yank it out from his leg. He groaned loudly in pain as blood flew out but I quickly disinfected the wound. I cleaned up the blood once again and wrapped a bandage around it. "You need to go see a medic. You may need stitches." I informed him but he tilted his head in confusion. "I thought you have medical experience?" He questioned and I corrected him. "Some. I have some medical experience. I don't know anything about stitches." He nodded his head and I helped him stand.
"Thanks, ma'am. I owe you." He smirked and made his way to the medic tent, limping slightly. I rolled my eyes and headed back to my tent.
As I entered, I noticed the boys were all stood in the tent. But they were half naked. Daniels had just thrown his vest back on along with Stiles. But Zussman and Aiello were just standing there, completely shirtless. Aiello had a lit cigarette in his mouth as he leaned on the table. I gulped and quickly left before they could notice me. My face heated up at what I had just seen. I mentally cursed myself for my red cheeks.
I decided to go and wash now. I headed to the lake which was empty. Thank God. I looked around to make sure I was alone before removing my clothes. I let my hair fall down as it touched my lower back. I gently walked into the lake, wincing at the cold water on my skin.
I cleaned all of the dirt and blood from my body. The blood must have been from Thompson. I washed my hair as best as I could and cleaned the rest of my body. Once I was done, I dried myself off and quickly threw my clothes on. My hair was dripping wet so I squeezed the water from it and brushed through the knots with my fingertips.
I made my way back, hoping that they were dressed now. I peeked through and noticed that they were decent. I headed inside and they all turned to look at me. "There you are." Aiello said as he pulled out another another cigarette. I smiled and zipped up my jacket quickly. "I had to go help someone. He had a wounded leg. And then I went to go clean myself." I told them and and they nodded.
"Green?" I turned to the flap of the tent and saw Thompson standing there. "Thanks for earlier. Remind me that I owe you something." He grinned and I shook my head. "You don't owe me anything. Just be careful with your wound." I responded and smirked. "Oh I'll be careful, Miss." I rolled my eyes at him and watched him leave.
"Ooooh! He likes ya!" Zussman taunted playfully and I laughed. "Well I don't like him." I retorted and crossed my arms. "And besides, I don't even know him." I added.
"Well he wants ya to." Stiles piped up and I shook my head. "No thank you. He's not even attractive."
Aiello scoffed and turned away, "But Crowley is, right?" He asked sarcastically, which made me raise my eyebrow. I looked at the others who just shrugged. "Well, he wasn't bad." I told him truthfully.
Aiello still didn't look at me, he just rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He spat and left the tent.
I looked at Zussman with a look of confusion. He tried to hide his smirk and raised his hands. "I don't know what's got into him." He said. I sighed and watched him walk further away until he was out of my sight. "I don't either." I mumbled.
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"I wonder what he's doing." Stiles muttered. Aiello had been gone for a while. I was a little worried about him. Daniels sighed, "I'm sure he's fine." He tried to convince Stiles.
I frowned and looked down, "Maybe I upset him." I suggested but Daniels chuckled. "Nah. Aiello never gets upset. He hides his emotions with his ego."
I decided to go and find him. I dusted myself off and walked to the flap of the tent. "Wish me luck." I joked before leaving to find him.
I headed behind our camp and looked everywhere for him. "Aiello?" I asked loud enough for him to hear me. I moved closer, walking by the huge trees. He wasn't there. I sighed and turned on my heel to go somewhere else.
I decided to try and look around the night guard tent. No one would be in there yet as it was still daylight. I slowly approached the tent and found him sat there, a cigarette between his fingers and a bottle of whiskey in his hand.
"Aiello?" He didn't answer, or even look at me. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest. "Frank?" His gaze focused on me all of a sudden. His facial expression was just blank. I sighed and lowered my arms. "Did I upset you?" I asked him but he didn't answer. He looked away from me and continued to inhale the smoke from his cigarette.
If I did, I'm sorry. I didn't know-"
Aiello cut me short. "Know what?" He snapped and flicked the cigarette somewhere. He glared up at me with his dark eyes and sighed. "I'm not upset. I'm never upset. You clearly don't know me." He spat and I just stood there, shocked by his words.
"Of course I know you..." I trailed off and looked at the ground for a moment. I didn't know how to react to any of this.
He didn't say anything to me. I pursed my lips and looked away. I was so confused. Was he annoyed because of Crowley? I was probably not going to see him again anyway. Besides, I only said he was quite attractive.
"Yeah, right." He scoffed and took a swig of the alcohol. "You know what?" He stood up and walked closer to me. I looked up at him and gazed into his brown orbs. His face softened for a short moment but then his blank expression returned.
"Forget everything." He grumbled, tossing the bottle to the side. "Forget the dance. Forget the nightmare shit. And forget that kiss we nearly had." He said in a harsh tone.
I was taken back by his words, but I tried to hide it. "Fine." I looked away from him. "If that's what you want." I muttered, but I knew that I wouldn't ever forget any of that. Aiello had something about him. I couldn't put my finger on it, though.
The daylight slowly began to fade away. I glanced at Aiello for a split second before turning away to leave. I didn't look back at him.
As I made my way back to the tent, I watched Turner assign night guard shifts. He spoke to two soldiers before walking away. Turner glanced at me and smiled and I returned the smile as best as I could.
I returned to the tent and sighed. Stiles looked up at me with a hopeful look. "You were gone for a while. Did you find him?" He questioned. I looked at Daniels and Zussman for a second before sitting with them. "Oh, I found him." I replied and shot a fake smile. "He's fine." I told them and they nodded. I mentally sighed in relief because they didn't bother to question anything.
I laid down in my sleeping bag, listening to Zussman's story. He always had something to tell us. That's probably why I really liked him. He knew how to make you smile, without even saying much. He's tried to flirt with me a few times but I let him down softly. He says that we're good friends. I see that too. With all of them.
"What you thinking, Greenie?" I raised a brow at Zussman. "Greenie? That's a new one." We it's laughed. "And I'm not thinking of anything... Zussie." I smirked, he shrugged and smiled.
"Well, I'm gonna call it a night." Stiles yawned as he removed his glasses. We nodded and agreed to as well. "Aiello will be back soon." Daniels said before laying down. I gave a fake smile. "Yeah...." I mumbled before closing my eyes. We said our 'goodnights' and in an instant, I heard Zussman snore. I giggled quietly before I tried to get to sleep. I had moved my sleeping bag away from Aiello's because of today's 'clash'.
A few minutes later, I heard someone creeping through the tent. I thought it was Aiello so I didn't bother to look. Stiles and Daniels were probably asleep as they never budged.
"Green?" Aiello whispered but I ignored him, pretending to be asleep. I heard him sigh.
"Heidi?" He whispered again but I ignored him the second time.
He gave up and must've fallen asleep.
The dance obviously didn't mean anything to him. Nothing meant anything to him. I'd never thought he would be like this. I shrugged it off before trying to sleep.