" Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much."
- Helen Keller
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( a/n ) hey! in this chapter you find out charlotte's birthday is the 6th, and i know it's cliche and all and there are a few other stories out there that have the oc's b-day on the 6th too, but i had ideas for mine so that's why charlotte's is the 6th of june!
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She woke up, the plane cruising gently through the sky. The humming of the motor and engine on the plan continued to hum throughout her mind. She must've fallen asleep she thought, readjusting herself accordingly. Her heart was pounding, rapidly. She looked up at Winters, a small, nervous smile on her face. He gave her a smile back and her nerves settled. She looked over at Gene who she now noticed the fear settling into. She reached over and grasped his hand in hers, gently, and brushed her finger over the fabric of the fingerless glove to calm him. He let out a shaky breath in reply.
Everyone was anxious, the nerves and riled up anxiety overflowing in the plane. Charlotte's heart pounded in her throat practically, as she fiddled with her medic band and all the straps that came with it. It was hot on the plane, sweat trickling down her forehead, and mixing with the paint on her face. She glanced at her watch; it was 1ish. It was the 6th of June. It was her birthday. She was 19. She felt a body next to her shift and hot breath in her ear suddenly.
" Happy Birthday, Charlie." Gene said over the engines roaring. She turned her head to him.
" Thanks, Gene." she called over the engines and he smiled nervously her way. It settled his nerves more. She looked around the plane at all the men. She looked over at Chuck, and he gave her a genuine smile, and she nodded with a smile back. She caught Skip's eye and smiled at him as well. They continued through the sky, and Charlotte thought back to her brother below in one of the ships, awaiting his fate.
Louis was strong, she knew that, and he could make it through, he would find a way, it's the Tarvers genes. Charlotte glanced around the plane again at all the men, memorizing the men she was with now and the great impact they'd had on her the past 2 years.
Her fear skyrocketed higher, as she tried to breathe evenly. She remembered the skills she'd learned, her tactics as a medic, and every man's plan next to her. Charlotte closed her eyes, but they immediately shot open at the sound of a bomb. Or an explosion. Something was going on outside the plane. Her heart rate picked up, and she squeezed Gene's hand tighter. All the sudden the red light flashed on, and she zeroed in, focusing immediately. Winters got to his feet, clipping his helmet carefully into place, facing the rest of the men and Charlotte.
" Get ready!" yelled Winters, his voice carrying over the engines. His hands moved in front of him as everyone held out their clips. Charlotte's hand shook, as she sat up completely.
" Stand up!" he called, everyone bustling to their feet quickly.
" Hook up!" he called, as Charlotte clipped her clip onto the wire. Charlotte was right in front of Gene and she knew he could feel the nerves radiating off her like a radio signal. She was looking at Winters, a blank, serious expression on her usually bright features.
" Equipment check!" Winters yelled. She felt Gene begin tightening her straps, and every once and a while giving her a pat on the back to calm her nerves. She checked her satchel and med band quickly, and adjusted her helmet strap as well.
" Sound off for equipment check!" Winters yelled. She heard the yells come from behind her yelling the numbers.
" Three ok!" she heard Gene yell before patting her shoulder.
" Two ok!" she yelled, her voice raw and raspy from spite, and it surprised even herself.
" One ok!" yelled Winters, nodding to Charlotte. Men were jumping from their planes but Plane 67 had yet to get their go signal. All the sudden the plane shook with such force, it sent Charlotte flying forward, and almost to the ground if Winters wasn't there. The plane bustled through the sky, rattling and shuttering at every explosion that rattled the plane. But then all the sudden the jump light turned green.
" Let's go!" yelled Winters. Winters jumped out and it was Charlotte's turn. She felt Gene pat her back and she was jumping. She felt the wind blowing against her face in a mad fashion and the sound of explosions exploding everywhere sent her heart racing faster than it already was. Her canopy provided that slight sense of comfort that she was still alive and that she was still a paratrooper.
It brought the reality back for her.
She was falling into an open field from what she could see. The explosions in the sky rocked the canopy, as it waved back and forth and made her slightly sick to her stomach. Fires were in multiple parts of the open field and in the trees where paratroopers had been taken down by gunfire, or where planes had been taken down and exploded into flames. She saw the forest edge nearby and noticed a town on fire which seemed to be a few miles from where she was at the moment.
The ground came faster and faster toward her, and she braced herself. She landed roughly on the ground in a heap and felt the bruises already forming. She let out a groan, rolling in the muddy ground and grimaced when she tangled the parachute even more. She sat up, pushing up from the muddy pit she had landed in, and reached down unclipping the chute and rolling it into a ball. She threw her helmet off her head and began undressing all the equipment from herself. She pulled the life vest from her body and removed the webbing as well.
She grabbed her medic bag and adjusted it quickly before doing the same to her medic band. Her braids had some dirt and mud crusted into them from what she could feel. She felt the grease from what felt like ages ago drying hard on her face and the mud of France mixing with it as well. She threw her helmet back onto her head and looked up from her crouched position on the ground. There was no noise except distant explosions and the rustle of the breeze against the grass.
She stayed low in the tall grass, sucking in a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. She didn't stand fully up but she moved to where the tree edge was. No one had landed near here. She thought Gene or Winters had to be close, but there was no sign of a parachute or body nearby. Fear pulsed through her veins and the feeling grew worse. The pit in her stomach dropped further and further into darkness and fear.
Nothing could've happened to them, right?
Her pulse quickened and she knew she needed to find cover. She kept her crouched position until she reached the forest and nestled herself into a bush. She needed to calm down. Her breathing rate was quick, almost wheezing and the dizziness wasn't helping either. Her mind was a mess and there was not a single paratrooper near her. She stayed in the bush, trying to control her breathing.
All the sudden she heard voices.
German voices.
And the cracking of leaves and branches. Her hands balled up into fists and the fear riddled her. Her breathing quickened further and she had to slap a hand over her mouth to calm down. She was shaking. She felt tears behind her eyes, but she was determined to not let them fall. She wasn't going to allow it. The German voices passed by quickly and soon she was alone again. She peeked out from the bush and did a double-take before sprinting across the small, road-like area and tumbling into the other side of the dense forest.
She sniffled lightly and wiped her nose on her uniform. Blood appeared on her sleeve. She lightly touched her nose and pulled her finger back noticing blood. She sighed and tried her best to wipe up the bloody nose but that only left the crusted bloodstain behind. She felt like a mess in her first hour of landing. She trudged through the forest, opening the mental layout and map of operation D-Day. She tried to think of her pathway and the towns she could've possibly landed by but her mind fell to shambles again and all she could think of was her increasing fear. She continued her trek through the forest and focused on trying to find more paratroopers.
Charlotte stopped near a rather large tree, and pulled the tiny map she'd managed to scavenge and the compass as well. She gave a look around before bending down over the map, and sticking the dull flashlight in her mouth, aimed at the map. A few gunshots rattled off in the distance and she tried not to jump. She moved the compass around, hoping to aim for the north. Getting the calculation, she wrote down her direction and observed the forest and the path that had gotten her here. She cocked a brow, slightly confused before looking back down at the map. If the coordinates were correct, she had been blown way off course, her DZ miles away by now. She tried not to scream. The assembly area had to be further then.
" Merde." she muttered, slamming the map down. She ran a hand over her greasy, black, and blood-covered face. Sweat was collecting all over her and the last thing on her mind was herself. She needed to find her friends. She clicked off the flashlight. She fell down the ground in a hot-headed humph. She was angry at herself to let her be guided this far from the DZ. Of course, she knew she couldn't have controlled it, with wind and the bombs exploding, but she at least tried to guide the parachute a bit, even though it wouldn't budge.
Nothing planned ever goes completely right.
She was going to have to thank Nixon the next time she saw him. His lectures might've just saved her life. She scrounged herself up, and got to her feet. Her medic satchel, flapping against her leg as she raced through the woods in the, hopefully, right direction of the assembly area. She came crashing through the trees when she stopped and held herself back. There was a house in front of her. It seemed abandoned and empty, but she couldn't risk it. She noticed the forest surrounded the house, except for its path that led up to it.
She made her way through the forest around the house, keeping low and out of view range from plain sight. Her head was beginning to bother her and when she reached for her canteen, it was clear of water, a blast hole through the bottom of it, water not present. She knew she was dehydrated, she knew the exhaustion and nerves were working her up more, and the stress didn't help. She sat down angrily.
" Dieu aide moi." she sighed. She had sucked in the tears for far too long. Her lip quivered, as she tried to breathe out shaky breaths, but the tears erupted like a waterfall. They came pouring down her face, streaking through the greasepaint and blood. Her salty tears touched her lips, as she helplessly tried to wipe them away. The silent sobs erupted from her chest, as she bent over, head in her hands, her entire body a shaking figure in the dark, alone, scared and innocent. She grew quiet after a while, her tears and cries subsiding. She hadn't full-on sobbed since the platoon 2 and 1/2 years. She was finally alone to let the past 2 years of tears out.
But then she slowly stood, a cold feature on her face. She had to move. It was 4 in the morning, and she needed to find Easy Company. The girl slipped the medic satchel over her shoulder before adjusting her helmet and taking a crouched approach forward. She approached a small town, and as she looked in her mind trying to figure out which town it was, she drew a blank.
She might've been a fairly smart girl, but she wasn't the intelligence officer.
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thanks for reading!