Bitter Pill to Swallow

Chapter 18

"Are you ready for a ceasefire on the cold shoulder yet?"

Valerie scoffed and shook her head. "That depends," she replied tersely, glancing sideways at him, "are you ready to apologise for being jerks in Eindhoven?".

"C'mon Val," he sighed, "We're not an occupying force, it's not our place to come in and police the Dutch. You can't be mad over something that we couldn't control, regardless of how crap it was." Deep down she knew he was probably right, that they really couldn't have done anything even if they'd wanted to.

"I guess you have a point," she conceded, her shoulders sagging slightly. She peered at Lew from under her helmet and rolled her eyes at the pleased look on his face. She'd found that ever since she'd gotten to know him properly it had been awfully hard for her to ever stay mad at him for too long. She had an awful soft spot for Lewis Nixon, and damn if he didn't know it and exploit it.

"Well that's great Val," he grinned cheekily, "now if you could tell Dick the same thing and kiss and make up with him then that would be the cherry on the cake."

Valerie bristled at the mention of Dick and the idea of apologising to him in any capacity. "Yeah I think I'll pass on that if it's all the same to you." She had not spoken to Dick since their argument in Eindhoven, and she had absolutely no intention of breaking the silence anytime soon. Even if he hadn't been able to do anything about those poor women, he was still a massive hypocrite.

"Why are you being so hard on him Val? he asked, giving her a look of disbelief, "he's taking it pretty hard you know."

"Oh is he?" she said tersely, "well how unfortunate for him because I don't want to talk to him right now." Valerie crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat, looking out at the passing countryside. Sure it was petty, but she didn't care. In fact she wouldn't even care if she never spoke to him again.

Lew didn't have time to respond as the convoy of trucks began to slow as they approached Nuenen. The air around them had grown thick and charged, and Valerie thought it was all a little too quiet. There was a brief moment where everything seemed to be moving in slow motion, and then all hell broke loose.

Valerie jumped out of the jeep and roared intro action, gathering her platoon and leading them into the fray. Bullets pinged by their feet and skimmed over their heads as they ran into the town.

"Shifty," she called as they ducked by the side of a building, waving him forward, "sniper in the upstairs window at the end of that street, think you can spot him?" Shifty peered around the corner and nodded, lining up his rifle and taking the shot with ease.

Things only got worse after that. The whole plan went to complete shit. The German army were swarming in all around them, pushing them back with ease. All around her she could hear the shouts of her comrades piercing through the constant gunfire and explosions. She tried her best to keep her men on the move and out of harms way, ducking around walls and buildings to avoid being out in the open.

"C'mon Valerie, we're pulling out," Talbert called as he came round the corner of the building she was taking refuge behind "goddamn Tigers, we're sitting ducks here."