" Look for something positive in each day, even if some days you have to look a little harder."

- Unknown

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The sky was blue, yet cloudy and smoky in the early mornings of June 8th, 1944. Lizzie walked beside her companions, Tab, Shifty and Smokey, as the sun yet again beat down on their necks.

June 7th, had been a rather, interesting day among the 4 Easy Company members. After their run in with the 502nd, they'd been moving towards Coup-de-Ville ever since where the sister companies would hopefully soon meet and then be able to engage in the offensive based around Carentan.

That was if they found the 506th.

They'd gotten moving with 502nd the next morning by that point, and moved through the warm, humid heat that sweltered around them, intoxicating them like alcohol. Lizzie had wondered how the other 2 girls were doing, and that wherever they were, they were safe and unharmed by the brutality of war.

" I'm guessing you were right, Smoke, we might be fighting with these guys the rest of the war." Lizzie commented as she stepped over a burnt piece of driftwood.

" Ah c'mon, Elizabeth, where'd the positivity go?" Tab called over his shoulder. Lizzie rolled her eyes.

" How long are you gonna keep calling me Elizabeth?" Lizzie muttered.

" As long as it takes to annoy ya." Tab called over his shoulder.

" Congratulations, you don't have to keep calling me that then." Lizzie said, brushing off her medic brassard a bit. Stupid dirt. She heard Tab chuckle a bit.

" You think the others are ok?" Shifty asked glancing back at the trio.

" Well, Hazel's got a sniper that can you shoot you from a 1/2 mile away," Smokey started, " and she could throw someone down in a matter of seconds."

" Yeah, yeah you're right." Shifty said, " And Catherine?"

" The Lieutenant who's smarter than everyone in the company combined?" Tab called, " She's probably got a tally going of how many German's she's killed." Lizzie smirked.

" I know the two of them better than myself sometimes," Lizzie said as she took a glance at the sky, " if anything, they're okay."

" You hear what those guys were saying yesterday?" Smokey said, pulling a smoke from his lips to blow of the stream of smoke.

" No, what?" Tab asked.

" They think if we keep moving, they can get forces into Germany and to Berlin. Berlin by Christmas. I'll be damned if this stupid fucking war finishes that way." Smokey said. 
" If we even make it to Berlin," muttered Tab.

" War won't be over by then, with everything going on in the Pacific. Some of the biggest battles aren't even won yet." Lizzie said solemnly, scratching her neck, where a bug had unfortunately bit her.

" Wise words, yet again." Tab commented. Lizzie smirked.

" It's called reading up, Tab and listening." Lizzie said, " Like the newspaper-"

" I know what that is," Tab said, " I'm just saying wise words that we should probably listen to, ya know, coming from a medic."

" What can I say? I got a knack for it." Lizzie said, " Or I just focused in school."

" I'd say both." Shifty said with a smile and Lizzie felt a grin rise on her face.

" You try paying attention in school, when you have Linda McFields watching you." Tab said.

" Linda McFields?" Smokey questioned, " Who in the hell?"

" Alright, I might've had a few girlfriends back in the 7th grade, but-"

" You were dating in the 7th grade?" Shifty asked Tab.

" Yeah, I mean look at me." Tab said.

" What?" Lizzie asked as she glanced at him, " I see about the average guy walking down the streets of Grand Rapids." Tab rolled his eyes.

" I'm just that undeniable, Elizabeth." Tab said as Lizzie smirked.

" Anyway, in the 7th grade, I was preferably saving up for a new bike." Lizzie said.

" Ooh! What color?" Shifty said.

" Baby blue," Lizzie said, " it was beautiful." Shifty grinned.

" You should've seen it, Shifty, the cutest little woven basket in the front, and there was a tiny, little bell on the front, so when you rang it, everyone could hear it. I did a whole lotta babysitting for that." Lizzie said.

" My dad got me on those bikes for me when I was kid, rode it everywhere whenever I wasn't going around and hunting." Shifty said and Lizzie grinned. Her dad, like Shifty's, was a huge part of her life, he was the one that had gotten her interested heavily in the medical field and then into military life, just like the rest of her siblings.

" You got one of those hunting dogs Shifty?" Smokey asked him, as he hauled up the machine gun on his shoulder, muttering about how he was gladly going to toss that thing straight at Alton's head once they arrived.

" Used to, his name was Chap, strong fellow, with the droopy face, more like a hound, he died of old age though when I was a teen." Shifty said and Lizzie frowned.

" He's in doggy heaven now, doing the zoomies." Lizzie said and Shifty grinned.

" A-ha, yes! I knew someone would enjoy that term some day." Tab called, striking a hand in the air. Lizzie and Shifty snickered.

" How you holding up, Smoke?" Lizzie called back towards the man who was hauling around the heavy machine gun on his shoulders.

" Ah you know, fine, I just love hauling around all this metal, I really see it toning up these here biceps." Smokey muttered.

" It's really working that fast?" Tab asked.

" No, shit head." Smokey said.

" Just curious." Tab said as Lizzie smirked.

" Just keep drinking water, Smokey, I'm sure we're close, I can see smoke rising ahead." Lizzie said pointing.

" Well, I'll be damned." Smokey said, " I can finally hand it off soon."

" Unless they get us moving again once they get there," Shifty said with a small smile.

" What in the same-hell?" groaned Smokey, as he shifted his shoulders a bit with the weapon.

" I always wondered how you medics can haul that satchel around all the time." Smokey said.

" Don't get her started on mindsets again, Smokey." Tab said and Lizzie laughed.

" I thought you enjoyed my philosophical insights?" Lizzie said, with a shrug of her shoulders. Tab rolled his eyes. The group continued into a marsh, where there was a plane on fire, slight smoke clouds billowing from it, and a rancid burning scent coming from it. Lizzie watched as Tab slowed his pace down slowly and glanced towards a figure, standing in a field by a large hedge of trees. The figure was short and slim, yet bulky looking with all the excess gear that was on his body.

It was Albert Blithe; Lizzie could tell simply by the way he looked towards the sky and arched his head. He had come in one time back in Aldbourne, complaining of a pounding headache and she had made him look up to check his eyes, to make sure it wasn't a concussion or something. She watched as Tab came to a stop and stared out with a sort of confused expression toward Blithe. He titled his head to the side to get a better look at him it seemed, as Shifty pulled his canteen from his side.

" Hey, it looks like What's-His-Name." Tab said and Lizzie glanced back towards Blithe.

" You know, from 1st platoon?" Tab questioned.

" Our 1st platoon?" Shifty asked, unscrewing the top of his canteen, as Lizzie stepped up to Tab's side and shifted the helmet up from her head a bit.

" Real specific." she muttered.

" It sure does." Smokey said, cocking his head to the side.

" Blithe." Tab called out, the name seemingly coming to his mind.

" Hey, Blithe." Tab called, louder and with force this time, " Blithe!" Gunshots rang off in the distance, as Blithe was struck out of his trance. He turned to face the group of four that stood staring at him, questioningly. Blithe approached the 4, still dazed and confused from what had previously occurred to him, taking careful cautious steps through the field.

" Thought that was you." Tab said with a slight smile as Blithe approached. Lizzie sent the man a smile. Tab moved his weapon from his left to right hand and nodded to Blithe.

" You alone?" Tab asked. Blithe nodded, subconsciously.

" You're the first familiar faces I've seen." Blithe said.

" I ain't surprised," Smokey said," They dropped us all over the goddamn peninsula."

" We've been fighting with the 502nd since we hit the ground." Tab said.

" It's been quite the long haul." Lizzie with with a forced smile.

" You?" Tab asked him. Blithe looked at Tab.

" Oh, I've been, um, trying to find Easy." Blithe said and Lizzie smiled.

" Join the club." Tab said with a nod and slight smile, before turning and walking off to his right. Lizzie gave Blithe another smile before turning and following after Tab, Smokey and Shifty right behind her. Lizzie caught up to Tab's side.

" You could've backed off the sarcasm a tad." she said as Tab glanced her way.

" Why?" he asked her, " Humor's the only way to get through this I thought." Lizzie bit back her lip, resisting the urge to roll her eyes for the 5th time today.

" You're funny." she muttered, sarcastically. Tab chuckled, as he placed a cigarette on his lips and took a smoke. She shook her head. She was funny alright, but once the real war started, funny would not be her number one personality trait.

When their group of 5 finally approached Coup De Ville, Lizzie felt relief when she began to notice each and every familiar face in front of them when they walked up. She saw George Luz, Joe Liebgott, Donald Hoobler, James Alley, the list went on. She saw Hazel talking to Chuck a smile on her face as she laughed, the sunlight shining down and making her hair golden.

" Hey fellas!" Tab called, and all eyes turned over to see that it was the group of 5 that everyone else was so earnestly waiting for to arrive.

" Well, look who decided to show up, Floyd." George called out toward the group, and smiles lit up everyone's faces. Hazel noticed the group of people coming towards them.

" How the hell are ya?" Luz asked as he shook Tab's hand.

" Hi there, Luz." Tab said, with a smile, coming up next to Liebgott who was going off about some Nazi flag he had.

" We thought we'd never find you guys." Tab said with pure joy on his face as he registered every person who stood nearby.

" Hey, Tab, get a load of this." Liebgott said, holding up the huge flag in front of him, humbly yet proudly, as other eyes glanced at what Joe had.

" You like that?" Joe asked.

" Yeah, it's the rest stuff, man." Tab said before stuffing into his pocket.

" Yeah, of course." Joe said.

" You like," Tab started, pulling a German poncho from his side, " You like this?"

" Ohhhh! Nice!!!" called George excitedly staring at the poncho.

" That's a beauty, Sarge." George called out to the man with a smirk.

" That's a nice one, Mr. Talbert." Joe called with a smile, as Tab walked away from the two, proud as a peacock

" That's a hell of a poncho, Tab." George called, as Hoobler turned.

" My Luger's gonna put you all to shame when I get it!" Hoobler called after Tab.

" Hazel!" Lizzie called catching sight of the girl. Hazel's heart dropped and as she turned she saw Lizzie pulling her helmet off, with wide eyes.

" Lizzie!" Hazel called, not hesitating to race forward and wrap her arms around Lizzie, pulling her close. Lizzie held Hazel close, the biggest smile on her face. It felt so nice to get a hug from someone Lizzie considered her sister, it felt like family. Hazel slowly pulled back and Lizzie looked around.

" Where's Cath?" Lizzie asked her. Hazel's eyes dropped to the ground as she nervously bit her lip. Hazel bit her lip when she was nervous. Lizzie's mind thought of the worst possible circumstances that were about to leave Hazel's mouth.

" She got injured in the jump." Hazel said softly, " She was evacuated back to England." Lizzie's heart fell.

" What happened?" Lizzie asked softly.

" She shattered her shoulder, supposedly her parachute opened up late and it was a malfunction. She crashed landed on her shoulder." Hazel said softly, crossing her arms, as her hand went to touch the Star of David that sat around her neck, worriedly rubbing it.

" She'll be ok though, Gene brought her in." Hazel confirmed and Lizzie felt relief. Gene. Gene had gotten her to safety. She could always trust Gene.

" Well, how are you?" Lizzie asked, placing her hands on Hazel's shoulders, " You ok? You look stressed."

" No, no I'm fine," Hazel said waving her off the worry list, and an analysis on stress, " I was just hoping to see everyone else we were missing soon. And here you are." Lizzie grinned.

" How was it yesterday?" Lizzie asked, " We figured only good could come from it."

" We took the garrison, it was 3 hours long, but we got through it." Hazel said, " And I got to see Lieutenant Speirs in action." Lizzie's eyes jumped to the size of basketballs.

" No way, the one who shot that Sergeant in his platoon?" Lizzie asked.

" Yeah," Hazel said, " but who cares. He got me ammo. And then ran back right through the fire. It was badass." Lizzie grinned.

" Well, I got to spend 2 and 1/2 days with that lovely trio." Lizzie said.

" Who?"

" Oh you know, Smokey, Shifty and-"

" Me, of course." a voice said and Hazel watched as Tab walked forward, holding his hands up grandly like some God.

" Tab!" Hazel said and Tab grinned widely.

" Hey there Tiny." Tab said as she incased him in a warm hug. He pulled back.

" Yeah, lucky me." Lizzie muttered.

" Oh come on, I was a pleasure." Tab said, rolling up the German poncho.

" Tell that to him." Lizzie said pointing to the German poncho.

" We might've engaged with a few Germans yesterday and I might've snatched a German poncho off him." Tab said as Lizzie smirked.

" Where's Mack?" Tab asked. Lizzie frowned and Hazel went back to biting her lip.

" Her parachute malfunction and she got injured. She's being evacuated back to England." Hazel said softly.

" Damn, really?" Tab said and Hazel nodded. He sighed.

" Well, I won't be surprised if she goes AWOL, you know what I mean?" Tab said and the two women laughed at his comment.

" That'd be like her." Lizzie commented and Hazel grinned.

" What'd you say her injury was again?" Lizzie said glancing at Hazel.

" Supposedly a shattered shoulder blade." Hazel said and Lizzie grimaced, her face scrunching up in utter pain.

" That's going to take a lot of time to heal," Lizzie said, " unless they mistook it for a fracture, which sometimes can happen simply because of where the fracture can occur. If not she has up to a year before her range returns to normal." Hazel felt her heart drop.

" Let's pray then that those medics were just anticipating the worst." Hazel said and Lizzie nodded.

" Hey you two," Tab said placing hands on both of their shoulders, " she'll be okay, I mean it's Catherine we're talking about, right? Takes no bullshit sorta thing? She's going to be okay no matter what happens."

" Thanks, Tab." Hazel said softly with a gentle smile as Tab grinned.

" Yeah, of course," Tab said, and then glanced at Lizzie, " someone told me that positivity is usually the best thing to use in any situation." Lizzie felt a grin spread on her face, the one where your eyes crinkled up a bit too.

The best smiles.

A genuine one.

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hey! this is the last chapter update of the day, as per usual, but i really enjoyed this chapter because i adore the group of lizzie, tab, shifty and smokey, they just bounce off each other, it's great. but even with the banter you can still see the group, is so tight-knit and loving, agh i love them :)

thank you for all your support and love, you are all so lovely!!