" You never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore."
- unknown
***
Charlotte laid absolutely still beside Bull, as the conscious and unconscious stayed in hiding. The German voices outside bounced off the walls of the inside of the barn, the occasional gunshot or two, and sometimes the bark of a far off dog, but it was the safest place for now. A small groan left Charlotte's lips as she shifted and moved around. The blood had caked her light brown hair an almost completely different color, and the dirt, smoke, and blood on her face was even more offsetting. She was pale, and cold sweat had formed on her forehead. Bull had already feared the worst when he reached her. She had shallow breathing, and the thick blood had drenched his hands as he tried to carry her while keeping the wound covered. Charlotte slowly sat up, her eyes adjusting to the darkness of where they were. She saw a figure, and her hand reached for her knife. But she stopped.
" Hey Sunshine." came the calming southern voice. It was Bull.
" Bull?" she asked, her eyebrows shooting up. " Where the hell are we? What happened?" Bull stared at the girl. Did she not remember?
" You got hit, and we got separated from Easy, but by morning these Germans will be gone and we can head back to Easy." he spoke softly and with ease, trying not to scare the young girl, but he knew by this point from what Easy had seen, nothing could scare her more. She didn't really digest the information. She stared at Bull utterly confused. She had gotten hit but where? Sure, yes, she was exhausted, and she felt somewhat sick to her stomach, with a dizzy vision, and clouded thoughts, but she felt fine otherwise. A thick cloth was wrapped around her head, her tiny braids peeking out from underneath. She felt the soaked blood seeping through the back of it, and began to feel around it. She nearly screamed when she finally assessed the situation. She turned to the southern man.
" I, I think they shot me, right in the head." she said rather breathlessly. Bull looked at her, a half eaten K ration raised to his lips.
" Do you feel ok? I tried wrapping it around, to hold the blood flow, but it seems like a graze, sunny." Bull exclaimed softly. She hoped. Then a cough came through the barn. The two froze, meeting each other's gaze, before hopping up and hurrying to the other side of the barn to peak out toward the back entrance. She felt queasy standing, but pushed forward beside Bull and peaked around. A Dutch man came through, and before Charlotte could react, Bull jumped forward pushing a knife to the man's throat. She swallowed the yelp and watched as a smaller figure appeared. A young girl had trailed behind and she watched in fear at the sight of the man, presumably her father held at knife point. The young girl stepped closer, a pure look of terror crossing her face. Charlotte stepped forward, and the young girl snapped her eyes to Charlotte. Bull slowly let the knife go before pushing the father and daughter into a hidden pen in the corner. He grabbed Charlotte pushing her next to the farmer's daughter quickly, a noise resounding from outside the barn.
Bull grabbed his weapon and faced himself toward the sound. Charlotte's heart pounded, her fatigue and dizziness washing over her yet again and the feeling of throwing up reached the pit of her stomach. A vehicle slowly moved past the barn. Charlotte let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. Bull crashed against the side of the barn letting out a grimace. Charlotte's medic instincts kicked in and she slowly moved forward reaching it the same time as the farmer. She carefully moved the cloth away from his wounded shoulder area and assessed his situation. Bull had shrapnel from what seemed to be a tank, shoved into his shoulder. She put a hand to the farmer's shoulder and nodded to him. She quickly took out her scissors and cut open a neat square in the moonlight on Bull's clothing and looked at the wound. She sucked in a breath before pouring a bit of ointment onto the wound, followed by Bull's grimace. The farmer put a hand on the girl's back and poured a bit of alcohol on Bull's wound, ending with another grimace from him. The farmer offered the two a sip, but in the end the two soldiers declined. Another wave of dizziness overcame Charlotte and this time she actually felt the bile rise in the back of her throat and it took everything not to throw it up right there. She fell against the barn away from Bull and the two others and heaved a few breaths.
" I'll get it in a second, I don't feel good." she mumbled out, taking in labored breaths.
" Take your time, Sunshine." Bull answered back eyes training the outside of the barn. She slowly sat up watching the Dutch farmer struggle with the shrapnel. She nodded to the Dutch farmer before reaching over and digging her knife into the area where the shrapnel was.
" Shit." Bull muttered followed by multiple grimaces of pain.
" Sorry." she mumbled, keeping a steady gaze on the shrapnel as it slid out from the wound. She launched it to the floor before bringing out bandages and stuffing them into the wounded man's shoulder. He looked back gratefully at the young medic who had a small, grateful smile on her lips even in the darkness of the night. A German voice ripped through the night, and as Bull shot up Charlotte was left with her dizziness, and feeling like she would throw up any second. The two civilians held each other as Bull raced toward the window, peaking out into the night. Bull turned, mixed hand signals launching from his hands as he raced toward them. Charlotte understood, there was a tank with at least 10 German officers + outside.
Bull pulled the civilians up, Charlotte following close behind as they moved farther back into the secluded barn. Bull ushered them closer to the door, peaking out before attempting to open the door and shove them out, when a whole slew of German voices entered the picture. A group of them came into the barn, their voices bouncing yet again off of the walls. Bull crept forward as the soldiers came further in, their lights scoring the entire barn. 3 left, but one remained, intensely searching the left side of the barn. He turned, and gazed around before heading back to the entrance. But he stopped cold, and bent down. A bloodied gauze was raised to his face, and Charlotte internally cursed herself as another wave of dizziness crashed over her. The soldier looked around as distant planes flew overhead. He dropped the bloodied gauzed and seemed to forget about it as he turned and walked to the entrance again, but then a rattling noise echoed from the back of the barn. Charlotte grimaced, clutching the wood as an onslaught of queasiness rocked her entire body.
" Hey-lo?" the German called in broken English, his gun and body shaking pointed toward the sound. He spoke German and crept closer, Charlotte's heart rate picking up. Another noise, likes birds echoed from the opposite side of the barn and he continued to call in more broken English. Planes, closer this time roared above. Charlotte lay against the hay, head shoved face first into the ground, eyes braced shut attempting to stop her dizzying mind from spinning. That's when she heard Bull charge, and the frightened Germans yell. She heard the fight, the sound of metal and flesh, the yells, the gun against gun, but she couldn't dare look. Her vision now clouded, a loud distant ringing in her ear following. She knew the hand to hand combat though, was coming in hand for Bull from the grunts of the frustrated German. Charlotte heard the final cries of the German pushing herself up from the sight of blurred hay. She wobbled on her feet, making her way through the barn to the civilians before crashing to their sides, passed out.
Bill Guarnere was making his rounds on the foxholes of replacements when he approached Hoobler and the multiple replacements that were near him.
" Hoob..." he called, limping forward toward the group. Hoobler looked up at the man.
" Any news of the Bull yet? Sunshine?" he asked, kneeling down and looking towards the others. Webster looked down, and away sort of sorrowfully. The replacements let out sighs. Hoobler could only shake his head.
" If there ain't no bodies, then there ain't no bodies ****in' dead." Guarnere spewed to the men.
" Understand me?" he said watching the men.
" I'm gonna look for them." Hoobler said standing up.
" Not by yourself you're not." Guarnere said, standing and meeting eyes with Hoobler. " I'll go with you. Let me get some ammo."
" That's ok..." a nearby replacement said, standing.
" Me, too." answered another one.
" Alright." Guarnere said, watching the group. " Go get them." He nodded, and then turned, leaving the group. The three men grabbed their gear and stood walking off.
" Alright. What the hell." Webster said. Charlotte was his friend too. If anything the entire company missed her smile, and it would mean the world if he at least helped to try and get her back.
" I ain't going back up there." Cobb muttered. Next thing he knew, Cobb found himself trenching through the over grown marshes in Holland. The group moved down the paths they had earlier, slowly and quietly through the night. A rolling tank etched by and the group shot down.
" Webster, us or them?" Hoobler asked. They waited in silence as the tank rolled forward.
" Not us." Webster answered, as the two moved back with the other three to the trench hole. The five men laid low as the oncoming tanks rolled by, with their laughing voices. The tanks passed by, and by that point the group were finally on their way. They were gonna get the two most favorite and respected soldiers of Easy back home.
Charlotte had collapsed next to the civilians scaring the living daylights out of the two. Bull and the farmer attempted to hide the German's dead body, as the young girl moved over to Charlotte. Charlotte was panting, sweat pooled on her forehead, and bile in her throat. Charlotte sat up and finally heaved her contents onto the ground. She couldn't take the dizziness. The young girl, scared enough, leaped back in fear as the medic threw up. Bull hurried over to the girl, but grabbed the Dutch girl and pushed her and her father out of the back door. They disappeared into the night, and before he knew it was racing back towards Charlotte who was still expelling her guts to the ground. She looked up, leaning back against the doors of the barn with a sigh. Bull crouched near her, covering the contents on the ground with hay and moving the girl to the other side.
" I just need rest." she muttered, curling into a ball, using the hay as a pillow.
" You rest as long as you need, kid." Bull answered, adjusting himself against the hay for watch duty.
Charlotte was out like a light bulb.
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