In 1943 Steven Grant Rogers was enlisted to the United States Army.
Everyone knows the righteous, patriotic Captain America and his story. People might have heard of his mother, Sara, who was a nurse and died of tuberculosis. Perhaps some have even...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
France was occupied, and that was why William Rogers had been sent near the French borders.
His heart was fluttering in his chest, he kept clenching his fists, his lungs refusing to work whenever he heard another bomb going off in the distance. The sky was grey, nearly as ashen as the faces that stared out from the trucks rolling over the soil. The trucks came to a stop after it let out a loud, clunking sound. No one dared to speak, for the newbies, the sound of fire and bombs was haunting. But those who had been in the camp for some time now were used to it. It was normal for them, they had been forced to eat, sleep and fight with the sounds of dying men and shameful whimpers of pain. So, only hearing the bombs somewhere in the far, far away did not scare the experienced soldiers that much anymore.
The stoic looking man appeared again, standing behind the truck as he once again started reading out names.
And when he called Williams name, it made him yerk up suddenly. He realized his legs were sore and his back was aching from the rough truck ride. But he got out of the tall four-wheeler, holding his bag close to himself as he took in the camp, staring soldiers and tents that seemed to be placed in some sort of specific order.
The ground was wet, his boots getting muddy immediately. There was a certain smell hanging in the air, it was a mix of gunpowder, smoke, burnt soup and something more, something rotten. He imagined he would get used to it soon, because no one else but he seemed to find it disturbing.
Along with twenty-seven other men, William was left in the camp. He watched, shoulders rigid and lips in a thin line as the trucks roared to life again, rolling down the muddy ground, their wheels sinking into the soil as they kept climbing up the hill. Soon enough, the trucks disappeared, and Will felt hollow, knowing none of the men around him were Jack or Pierre.
Once again, he found himself all alone. "Rogers?" he snapped his sky blue eyes towards a bulky man. He was looking up at the stranger with redhead and clean shaved face, the stranger shook his head, saying his last name was Banner.
"I'm Rogers, sir." he piped in, studying the burly man as he turned towards him. The man slid his eyes over William for a second, before turning towards another soldier who just happened to pass by. "Lawford!" the man barked, making both William and the man passing by jump. "This one is for your commando, show him the way, I'll take Banner here to my troops." the burly man said being followed by a beat of silence. Will knew when Lawford's green eyes roamed over him, that he was being compared to Banner, being judged. So, instead of shying away like he had done before, Will raised his chin higher and stared Lawford with steel in his gaze.
He could tell there was some sort of competition going on between Lawford and the man whose name he had yet to know. Suddenly Lawford smiled, folding the piece of paper as he stepped next to William, his green eyes on the amused man before them. "Sure thing Gibs, Rogers here looks as if he's going to win the war, come on mate, let's introduce you to the world of winners," he said merrily, throwing his arm over Wills shoulder as he pulled him along, throwing one last, cheeky smile towards confused Banner and Gibs.
William felt slightly awkward as he was being dragged across the muddy grounds, flashes of Bucky ran across his mind, feeling as if the man was right next to him and he was back in the day Buck was sent to England. Don't do anything stupid until I get back, he had said. Well, that had been one hell of advice.
"I'm Johnathan Lawford, your new best friend in the field of bullet rain and Nazi-people. What's your name?" he was British, had to be.
William cleared his throat, avoiding looking at Johnathan as his blue eyes roamed around the camp. No one seemed to be paying any attention to them, the buzz seemed to have lessened once the trucks had disappeared again. "I'm-I am Will, from Brooklyn, it's exciting to be here."
He stuttered, scolding himself mentally, wanting to hit himself so hard that he would end up ten feet under. Exciting to be here, what the hell Will?! He was nervous, sensing the slight tension as Johnathan's grip on him tightened unintentionally. "Look, a little friendly advice here, mate. Don't go marching around telling you to enjoy being here, ey? It might seem fun now, but later you just might wish you hadn't enlisted. Also, if you ever need anything, I'm your guy!" his tone changed as he removed his hand, offering Will a friendly smile.
He could see Johnathan was a sincere man, his green eyes were haunted, but the smile on his face didn't falter. "Yes, of course, sorry, I'm just... I'm just very nervous, Johnathan." he waved his hand, ignoring the awkward smile on Williams' face. "Don't fret, we've all been there at some point. And call me John, so tell me, you any good with the aim? Or should we sent you as a spy? With that white hair and those blue eyes of yours, you could definitely be mistaken as German." John teased Will, choosing the path that leads a little bit away from the open, slightly deeper into the forest where some other tents were.
Will crunched his nose, ignoring the chuckling man beside him. "I can do everything, I'm tough as a stone." that statement earned a raised eyebrow and amused expression as John pulled the tent flaps aside.
Will took in the tight place, seeing a couple of beds and a bundle of clothes. Three men were inside, playing cards when the sudden light coming from outside made them glance up at the intruders. John stepped inside, leaving will standing awkwardly at the tent door. "What's this, Blinker?" the man closest to Will asked, his expression hostile. The youngest in the camp narrowed his eyes, not liking the aggressive tone.
"That, Theo, is Will Rogers, the newest addition to our unit. Take a seat Will, that grumpy man is Theo Ashmore, also known as The Swamp Fox, you wouldn't believe how good his tactics are, also, Theo? Don't forget to be friendly once in a while, helps you look younger." John said, glancing towards William who was squirming under Theos glare. "That here, " John pointed towards the man with ink-black hair, he looked up and nodded at Will. "is Elliot Meyers, he is the godly man, has long speeches with God. Don't tell him, but I'm pretty sure he is the reason we have been alive for so long. Or well, most of us." Will noticed how fast the small smile dropped on Elliot's face. But John didn't give him much time to think about it when he introduced the last man.
"And that's Jack Hoare, but we call him Pappy. It's funnier than Jack. He is the brains of the unit when Captain is not around, so you would do good to listen to him." John finished, picking up some cards to join the small game Theo and Pappy were having. Jacks curious look was unnerving, he was analyzing William from head to toe, that was sure.
"If a nazi comes at you, what do you do?" was the first thing Pappy asked, not breaking the eye contact even for a second. Even Elliot stopped writing in his journal and peeked up, curious as to what Williams answer would be.
"I..." John shook his head, looking down at his cards when Pappy broke the eye contact. "Wrong." his tone was strong and disappointed, confusing Will even more. "What? You didn't even give me time to answer!" he noticed Theo rolling his eyes as he placed seven of diamonds on the table. "if you think so long, you will be shot down faster than Blinker here could grab his gun. The right answer would be shoot, lad. If you are hesitant even for a second, you will be a goner, understood?" Will nodded, his throat dry as he looked down at the sitting men. Pappy's narrowed eyes found Wills again, "Understood?" "Yes, sir." his pulse was going up again, making his feet and hands tingle uncomfortably.
"Good, now sit your ass down kid, let's see if you can play." hesitantly, Will placed his bag down and sat between John and Pappy, ignoring Theos heated glare as some lonely bombs went off in the distance.
***
And here's another chapter folks :) tell me what you think of it, thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed it. Lots of love xx
