We Happy Few | Band of Brothers

Chapter 21: Okay

With her knees tucked underneath herself, Annie sat quietly in her foxhole and listened as Luz traded some of his supplies for smokes or other items he was running low on. It was morning and Easy Company was still pinned down by the German soldiers across the way, forcing the Lieutenants to begin planning an attack. They couldn't just sit there all day cowering in their holes in the ground.

Annie, however, really just wanted to get some sleep. She had been up for the majority of the night tending to poor Talbert, who only stopped moaning after she had helped Eugene load him up and sneak him out in the early hours of the day. When she hadn't been tending to Talbert, she had been worrying about everyone else. Her mind was in a constant, vicious cycle of worrying about past, present, and future patients. 

When a bag of ammo dropped down at the medic's feet, she didn't even flinch; probably because she was too tired. Shaking her head slightly as if it were possible to shake the sleepiness out, Annie stood up and walked over to where Welsh was explaining the plan to the group of men around him.

"No, we don't know what they've got." Annie heard the Lieutenant say as she squeezed her way in between him and Martin. "We may be attacking a weaker force, possibly more paratroopers."

"And you know how they can be," Hoobler commented as he peered at the map over Welsh's shoulder.

Welsh flashed his characteristic gap-toothed grin. "Fire and maneuver. That's the name of the game, fire and maneuver. Dog and Fox companies will be on our left flank, moving with us. Any questions?"

Guarnere, along with the other men, shook his head. At that point, Welsh's plan was the only plan that had a shot at working. "I'm thinking Eugene, Spina, and I will stay towards the back." Annie used her finger to indicate the formation she and the other medics would take on the map. "It'll allow us to tend to the wounded while the rest of the company provides protection from the front."

"Sounds good, Private." Welsh nodded as he folded up the map and tucked it away. "Let's make 'em holler."

Glancing down at his watch, Perconte watched the small hand tick a few times before sighing. "It's nine-thirty in the evening back home. Must be-"

Before Frank could even get his thought out, a familiar sound screeched overhead. "Mortar!" Guarnere warned.

Without even thinking, Annie tossed herself into the nearest foxhole along with Welsh and Martin. "Get that OP here!" Welsh called as the first explosion sent dirt flying high into the sky. Another man just to the left of Annie tried to go for cover, but he was shot down. His body fell limp beside her but he was gone before she even had the chance to tell him to 'hang in there'. 

Crawling over Annie, Welsh kept his head down as he made his way toward Luz and the radio. "Easy six, Easy red six!" he yelled into the receiver. "I've got mortars across my line. No sign of infantry yet. I'm pulling the OP in, over!"

Within a matter of minutes, the mortar squads had set up and were firing back at the Germans. Margot desperately wanted to go out to the front and set up her machine gun, but with no Smokey, she had no choice but to lay low and use her rifle to the best of her abilities. It was impossible for one trooper to carry the gun, the ammo, the tripod, and the barrels and still be expected to move at a half-decent pace.

Sprinting up to where the other men were positioned, Margot dropped down just behind a row of small bushes and watched the firefight in front of her. "Watch for silhouettes on the horizon!" Winters ordered as he made his way down the line. "Keep low!"

With Perconte next to her, Margot took shot after shot, some killing the Germans, some wounding them, and some missing altogether. "God, I wish I had my big gun right now," she huffed as she reloaded and looked down the barrel of her rifle once more.