I was one of five women chosen to serve our country, fighting side by side with the men, and only some of us had come home. Being surrounded by friends and enemies, having to choose who you can save, who you can love, and how to survive is something...
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I watched the sunrise the next morning with Speirs, who remained beside me all night as promised. As soon as the morning sun made its appearance, climbing higher over the horizon, he left me to attend to his duties. I was incredibly grateful to him for his silent company that night as it made getting through the night easier. It was the best gift he could have given me.
We were ordered to make our way to Eindhoven. The march was quiet and forlorn as everyone remained shaken up from the events the night before - I was one of them. I didn't want to talk to anyone about how I was feeling or what I was going through. Despite being asked every ten minutes if I was okay, I knew I had a job to do and it meant I couldn't take the proper time to mourn my beloved friend. If I started to mourn her now, I wasn't sure I'd be able to stop, so I answered the same every time - I would be okay.
It wasn't much longer before we saw the massive city of 100,000 sitting on the horizon in the near distance. Winters gave the order to halt as he turned to Lieutenant Brewer. "Lieutenant Brewer," Winters ordered, "put your scouts out and take off." As Brewer organized his platoon, Winters looked at me with sympathy-laden eyes. "Do you want to go with them or sit this one out?"
I blinked at his words. I knew he meant well - he wanted to give me a chance to get my head on straight and not be distracted but I also didn't want special treatment when I knew the men wouldn't be given the same luxury should their friends die. I muttered, "Do I really have a choice?" Winters must have heard me because stared at me with concern. I sighed, shrugging slightly as I replied, "I'll go. I'll be careful."
Gordon was next to me and chimed in, "Don't worry, sir. I'll watch out for her."
Winters nodded as he headed back to the front. I glanced at Gordon who smiled sadly at me. It was at this moment I realized Gordon and I grew closer as friends. We suffered a mutual loss together and we had a better understanding and appreciation for one another. I no longer cared if he considered me his sister because I saw him as my brother.
Brewer looked over us and gave the order to move out. He did everything by the book - the scouts headed out in the front of the main group with no bunching together and they moved fast through the fields. It wasn't long before the rest of us were given the order to follow. Gordon kept his word to Winters and stayed next to me as we ran through the vegetable gardens and freshly plowed fields towards the city's limits.
We took cover behind a large wooden garden hutch just outside the city. Glancing around the corner, we could make out Brewer marching in front of the scouts. He wore his map case on his hip, his binoculars around his neck, and to make things even more obvious, he was standing above the rest of the men at six feet.
"He looks like a field marshal on parade, don't he?" Gordon commented. I couldn't disagree. It was obvious he was the officer of our platoon the way he carried himself.
Before I could reply, we heard the faint shouts echoing from the radio, "Get back! Fall back! Fall back!"
Gordon glanced down the line toward the radio op. "Was that Winters?"
