Their Fizz- Band of brothers

The Journey to Landsberg

Waking up, Flo noticed they were in another shitty town, the men were already spilling into all the houses, turning the families out so they could kip there for the night. She stayed on the truck though, she hated this part, in the last town she had been told it was a necessity and that moaning would only cause problems. Hearing the shouts and screams as she sat in the cold night air, Flo stared up at the stars as if they would somehow transport her anywhere else, breathing out slowly she closed her eyes and pretended she was out riding with her friends as she used to, no worries, carefree, with her whole life ahead of her. Although the war was winding down, they were still in danger, Flo didn't know what was to come or if the worst was really over, she was making no plans for after the war...no point thinking about it until after she's certain there will be an 'after'. 

Go home to Alfriston, marry a local boy, be a farmer's wife, be part of the WI, teach riding lessons, watch Annie and Joey grow up,  have children of her own and stay in the village with the people she knows and loved all her life. It all sounded very idyllic, but.....was that what she wanted? After the chaos and adrenaline of the war, she wasn't the same girl who left, that idyllic scene had been what was destined for her, but now......

Well, that was the exciting part she guessed.....there was no plan. There were many new factors it would be hard for Flo to give up, such as......

"Florrie?" she heard that voice and knew after knowing him nothing would be the same. 

Opening her eyes, she saw Lt Speirs watching her from the bottom of the truck, she gave a small smile and accepted the hand he offered to help her down, "There's room in this house for you to stay, me, Randleman, and Martin are in here as well" he said leading her over to the house, once she entered she noticed a young woman around her age cooking at the stove and not looking too happy. 

"wie heißt du?" (What is your name?) Flo asked in german to the girl while taking off her helmet and putting her satchel on a side table. 

"Lina" she whispered and added "Wie steht es mit dir?" (What about you?), Flo nodded and replied "Florence, Vielen dank, dass sie uns in ihr zuhause gelassen haben" (Thank you, for letting us into your home), to which the girl just nodded and Flo started setting the table for them while the men were busy taking their equipment off and getting sorted. 

As dinner was ready, Flo taught them all how to say 'thank you in german and made them all say it to Lina, whom Flo had learned was here alone as her dad had been conscripted about 4 months ago, they had a nice dinner with Flo making conversation with Lina and the men talking amongst themselves before settling down for a relaxed night. 

***

The next day, they were all back on the trucks going further into Germany, Flo was reading 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn' as Perco had lent it to her since she had finished her book a while ago in Bastogne. They were surrounded by marching German troops who had surrendered, Flo had learned it was best for her sanity if she ignored all the jerries around her and focused on something, however, Webster planned to let out his frustrations in a different way "Hey you!" he started with "You stupid kraut bastards! That's right, say hello to Ford! And general fucking motors! You stupid fascist pigs! Look at you, you have horses, what were you thinking!?" at this point in Webster's rant, Garcia pulled him down and said softly "That's enough", although Flo agreed with everything Webster said, there was a time and a place for everything they had learned and known about the Nazis to be brought to light. Flo continued to ignore him as his rant continued, knowing that she wouldn't be able to stay silent if she focused on his words until he shouted "What the fuck are we doing here!?" and she agreed, 'what the fuck were they doing here?'. 

Flo had seen some horrific sights during her time as a combat medic, but this was something else...she looked on in horror as some french soldiers shot 3 germans by the side of the road and left the bodies to rot away, now Flo was not against Nazis dying, but as her brother was a POW, that system was something she believed in and she struggled to see the blatant disregard of the geneva convention. Turning back round in her seat on the truck, she folded her arms and looked in front of her to see Luz lighting a smoke and Liebgott smiling, she herself frowned and felt Perconte shrug next to her. Shaking her head, she thought back to Toccoa and how the boys she knew they would never have just accepted that as par for the course. She hoped those boys were still in there somewhere, although she feared they had turned into cynical men forever, she was sure Speirs had been a cynical man before he even left Edinburgh as a baby. 

***

Arriving in Landsberg, Flo wrinkled her nose, she already didn't like this place and hoped they would have a short stay here, Garcia helped her down from the truck as she heard Winters ask for patrols, clearly, he had the same funny feeling as she did, there was definitely,  something off here, it smelled like smoke but there was no fire in sight, and the locals couldn't look them in the eye, but that was nothing new. 2nd platoon was being sent into the woods, fixing her helmet back on Flo followed Bull as he wandered into the woods. 

Walking through the quiet was unnerving, she could only hear the steps of the men and herself, and none of her boys seemed spooked...well maybe O'Keefe did..but that was nothing new so Flo shrugged and kept walking without speaking her concerns about how silent the woods were. 

Bull and Luz were smoking as they all dandered at a leisurely pace, Bull wandered up to O'Keefe and startled him, "O'Keefe?"

"Yes, Seargent?"

"Why're you so jumpy boy?" Bull asked with a small smile on his face, Flo felt her own lips tug up in amusement at the look on O'Keefe's face, "I'm not jumpy sir, I'm trying...." but Bull laughed and cut him off "Can hear your heart pounding in Arkansas boy", most of the men and Flo smiled at Bull's teasing, knowing he wasn't doing it maliciously. 

Christenson turned around "Give the kid a break Bull", they continued walking as Flo played with her daisy necklace and grandma's ring as Perco decided to share his thoughts with the group "Hey George, this kinda remind you of Bastogne?", Flo smiled and stifled her laughter with her hand, as George rolled his eyes, she knew he was the wrong person to ask "Yeah, now that you mention it....except of course there's no snow, we got warm grub in our bellies and the trees ain't fucking exploding from kraut artillery, but yeah Frank it's a lot like Bastogne", when Perco responded with a little "Right", Flo knew there was gonna be a reaction from Bull who was smirking and standing very close to Perco so when Luz called out to Bull "Bull smack him for me please", she wasn't surprised at all and her grin didn't waver. 

About 5 minutes after, O'Keefe mentioned what Flo had been thinking "Sure is quiet", and even Luz responded "He is right fellas and woman", as Christenson made a signal for them to hold. Flo held her breath, waiting for the ambush, but it never came, yet still, there were no birds singing or signs of animals being near, they all took the safety off their guns and started moving forward, but the wind was making them all unsettled as Bull ensured Flo stood behind him and made Luz stand just behind Flo, as she rolled her eyes "I can fire a gun you know Bull, if they attack let me help" she whispered into the silence, "I know ya can Fizz, but lemme do what I needa do", he said moving on carefully as Christenson took the lead. 

As they moved slowly out of the tree line, Flo stopped and stared at the sight she would never forget in her life.