We Happy Few | Band of Brothers

Chapter 54: What Would You Have Done?

"I'm gonna miss you, Shifty." Annie squeezed the man in her arms tight before finally letting go and allowing him to breathe again. "Thank you for never getting shot and making more work for me, thank you for always being there to save our asses when we're getting picked off one by one by another sniper, and above all, thank you for being you. I will always remember you as the best marksman I've ever known."

"Well, I'm gonna miss you too, Annie." Shifty smiled wide as the blonde medic stepped away and Margot took her place.

Just like everyone before her, Margot hugged the sweet, quiet man for what was more than likely going to be the last time. "Feels like it was just yesterday I met you in Toccoa." She recalled the very first time she had ever spoken to Shifty. "Now look at you, going home to Virginia to leave the rest of the war up to us. You know Shifty, we won't do nearly as well without your help."

"I don't think that's true." Shifty was as humble as ever. "I'm about as good a shot as anyone."

Margot chuckled but didn't correct the man, even though she and everyone else knew he was wrong. Shifty Powers would always be the best shooter Easy Company had ever seen, and along with that title, the most kind as well. 

With a final goodbye and a last wave, Shifty walked off to say his farewells to the officers before heading home. There was a warmth of joy that spread over the company as they watched Shifty disappear around a corner; a joy that came from knowing that at least one of the Toccoa men had made it safely through the war and would be going home. 

That was what Margot, Annie, and the rest of the company believed at least, until the horrible news came in that while riding in a truck on his way to the boat that would take him home, Shifty's vehicle had been hit head-on by a drunken corporal from another regiment, breaking the sweet boy's pelvis and arm and giving him a bad concussion. 

Instead of going home, Shifty Powers would be spending the next few months in a series of hospitals, effectively setting the number of men who had returned home safely back to zero. 

What made it worse was that Shifty wasn't the only casualty in Austria. 

 ●●●

Sitting in the back of the jeep with Webster by her side, Annie looked over the shoulders of Liebgott and Skinny and watched as the small herd of sheep grazing just outside the old wooden cabin in front of them mulled about, enjoying the warm afternoon.

The only thing Annie knew about the outing was that they had located the home of a man who had in some way been involved with one of the many camps found in Germany. The woman didn't know much more than that, but after seeing the look of pure rage on Liebgott's face after he found out, she knew she had to tag along to make sure he didn't do anything rash. 

Annie had witnessed first-hand what those camps had done to Joe, and by God, she wasn't going to let the memory of them affect him any more than they already had. 

"Lieb, I fucking hate this." Webster shifted in his seat, his eyes still peeled on the cabin that had shown no movement in the time that they had been observing it.

"Oh, Jesus Christ." Joe huffed from his spot in the passenger's seat. "They fingered him. You were in the fucking room, Web. One of those Polacks who was at the slave camps said this is where the guy lives, right here."

Webster sat forward a little. "Which camp?"

"Whatever camp."

"Okay, so say this really is the home of some guy responsible for the camps." Annie placed a hand on Joe's shoulder to get him to look at her. "Even if you could prove it, that makes this guy a prisoner of war. You can't kill him."