Love You Till The End (Robert Zussman x Reader)

58 - Y/N L/N

March 7, 1945
Near Remagen, Germany

Every pull of a trigger, every charge forward, every near-death experience had all been leading us up to the high stake mission we would be carrying out today. We would finally be heading towards the last standing bridge that would allow us to cross over into the Rhineland; that is if we can take it from the Germans before they blow it apart. If we truly want to increase the chances of the war not dragging on for another year, we must give it our all today.

Not being able to take the bridge from the Germans puts another thing at stake for my squad: Zussman's life. We may not know exactly where he is, but since he's in the hands of the enemy, he's bound to be somewhere across that bridge. The faster we take the bridge and are able to start our search for him, the luckier we may be in finding him.

It will never stop surprising me that Pierson not only let Daniels rejoin the squad but gave in to the idea of letting us take time to search for Zussman if we cross over into the Rhineland. It's as if the man had a change of heart which is something that had always been hard to believe would ever happen. I knew deep down that there was still some good stored deep inside of him, but I guess I didn't think I'd be around him to see it put to use. He's still the same man with the cold outside demeanor, but it's nice to know he isn't all bad even if he doesn't show it so openly.

I woke up to nothing but nerves this morning because of what's at stake. I barely had an appetite and there was just a constant feeling of having to keep myself moving. If I sat still and tried to clear my head, the thought of failing the mission would creep back in and the fingers of my hand rested on my lap would once again start tapping away as if my lap were a piano. There were even a few times I had caught myself biting my fingernails. Aiello had caught me doing it during breakfast and of course, he had to say something about it.

"Since you're munchin' away at those fingernails, you gonna eat that can of ham?" Aiello had asked with a suppressed laugh at the end.

"Here, take it." I held it out towards him.

"I was only jokin'. You gotta eat something since we got ourselves a big day." Aiello pushed the can in my hand back towards me.

"Take it, I'm not hungry."

"What's gotten into you today? You've been actin' like you ate a bunch of sugar packets," Aiello said.

"Well, excuse me, I wasn't aware getting into the Rhineland would be a walk in the park," I said sarcastically. "I'm just worried that today might not turn out the way we want it to."

"There's a lot on our shoulders, I understand that, but it's best we try to remain as calm and focused as we can. If we all start panickin', that won't do the mission any good," Daniels said.

"Just think, if today goes well, we can go find Lover Boy," Aiello said, raising his eyebrows up and down a few times.

"Sounds good to me." I chuckled.

"Yeah, I kind of miss havin' the Chicagoan around," Aiello said with a shrug.

"We're gonna find 'im." Daniels stood up, holding the trash from his breakfast K-ration. "Gather up your belongings when ya'll are finished and be ready to leave."

Daniels then walked away, marking the end of what could be considered the calm before the storm. The rest of our morning was spent packing away all of our camping supplies, stocking up on ammunition and grenades, and anxiously waiting to be loaded up on trucks where we would be briefed on our way to the bridge.

While we waited, I sat alone and used the time to write a letter to my mother as I ate some of my ration bar of chocolate. I decided against telling her about Zussman or about what we would be heading into since she has enough worry on her plate with my father's declining health. Of course, I worry about him too from afar. I hate to think that if he passes away, I won't be able to be there by his side or say goodbye to him. It also isn't a nice thought to know that with me being over here in Europe with my life at risk that his death would mean that there will be another empty chair at my family's dinner table. I wish I could do more to help, but the only thing I can do is offer my mother some comforting words and send home money to help her cover my father's medical expenses and the household expenses.