Bitter Pill to Swallow

Chapter 12

"Move, get moving!"

He was a complete madman. That was the only explanation as to why Dick Winters was standing in the middle of the road, screaming at them all to get up and get moving, all while the Germans were spraying the road with machine gun fire. Valerie got up and started running down the field, dodging bullets as the whizzed by her head. She spotted Shifty by a chicken coop and ducked in beside him, panting breathlessly.

"Shifty, sniper on the second floor left," she directed, squeezing herself further in against the coop to give him more room. With a quick shots he'd taken them out. Then the machine gun fire started to come their way, and she could feel the chicken wire digging into her back as she pushed herself back against it. Eventually it stopped, and they were able to move out and link up with Lipton. They had Shifty firing at the windows, but thankfully nobody returned fire.

"Lip," she called as they continued through the town, "with me. We're gonna clear that warehouse up there." He nodded and followed her, ducking around corners and racing as quick as they could. When they got to the end of the stairs Lipton grabbed the grenade from his jacket and ran up, Valerie on his heels. He'd just thrown it in when the mortars started dropping.

"Get the hell outta the street, they've got us zeroed," Valerie and Lipton screamed as the raced away from the warehouse, waving frantically at everyone to find cover. As she was running she spotted Gene in the middle of the street tending to a wounded soldier, but she didn't have time to worry about him. She had to hope he'd be OK because she had her men to worry about.

"Move it for chrissakes," she shouted, moving away from Lipton and shoving a few of the guys in the direction of a nearby corner. From behind her she heard an explosion, and to her horror when she turned around she spotted Lipton flying back and hitting the wall with a thud.

"Lip," she cried, racing over to him and reaching him at the same time as Tab. She dropped to her knees beside him, checking him for wounds. He was panicked, and when she saw Tab ripping his pants she understood why. She was relieved when Tab told him he was fine, and she could see some of the tension leaving Liptons face at that.

"I got him Lieutenant," assured Tab, already helping Lipton to his feet. She nodded and raced off again, joining up with Smokey and Mellet.

"Smokey, Mellet," she ordered, "get your MG up to that window and rain hell on 'em." They nodded and raced off into the house. The Germans were fleeing the town, and she fired at them as they ran out from behind a house towards the flooded fields. She watched them go, feeling a fleeting sense of victory at the sight of them running.

~~~~

"Chrissakes Dick I knew you were brave but I didn't know you were goddamn reckless ," she scolded him, crossing her arms as she walked up to him, "could've easily been picked off standin' in the middle of the road like that. What were you thinkin'?"

He glanced up at her in surprise, eyes widening at her tone. "I had to," he stated plainly, "people needed to get moving or we'd have been eaten alive. Harry would have been killed."

"It was reckless and dangerous," she scoffed, her jaw tensing, "you could have been killed and then where would we..."

She was cut off by a loud ping, and her brows furrowed in concern when he hissed in pain and hobbled to the wall and leaned against it. She dropped her arms and jogged over to him, giving him a once over.

"Where are you hit?" She asked worriedly, her prior annoyance completely forgotten,"is it bad?"

"My shin," he hissed, wincing in pain and huffing in annoyance. She knelt down and pulled up the hem of his pants, tutting when she saw the piece of shrapnel lodged in his shin.