" Onward then, to glory and some such nonsense."

- Brandon Sanderson, Words of Raidance

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The following morning, brought a warm, humid heat, and the twittering of bugs that lay in the hedgerow and flooded out fields. It was D-Day plus 7, and the battle at Carentan felt long behind them. Lizzie and Gene had gotten back late in the night after taking Tab to a field hospital, and making sure he was evacuated to safety.

Lizzie sat next to Gene and Luz in a foxhole, where her and Gene were able to gather their wits and the supplies. Lizzie's hair was in a low messy bun, with some hairs framing her face, as she felt the sweat begin to encase her body. She had trouble sleeping last night after the whole thing with Tab, even thought it had been an honest mistake. Still, hearing the cries of terror weren't exactly what she hoped to fall asleep to last night. Not too far away sat Welsh with a handful of the NCOs, going over multiple plans it seemed. She couldn't exactly hear what they were saying, but she supposed that if the NCOs of Easy knew, that Easy would be in good hands.

Hazel had been escorted away from the front lines by that of Lieutenant Winters, as she sat with the rest of the mortar squads that were up on a grassy hill, where they could make just the right calculations when firing. When Hazel had arrived up at the grassy hill she immediately caught sight of Skip, Malarkey and Penkala and happily moved over towards them after WInters had showed her the anticipated position she would be in when the attack was initially made.

" Hey there Tiny Parker!" Skip called out towards her as she approached with the giant sniper in her grasp.

" Hey, how're you all doing?" she asked as she slowed her pace nearing the trio.

" Fine as we'll ever be." Penkala said and Hazel grinned at him, " You?"

" Managed to get some rest in all that rain last night, even though Lieb couldn't stop the snoring at about 0400, thought he'd start waking up those Germans across the way." Hazel said as the trio broke into chuckles at her comment.

" The guys got a set of vocal chords let me give you that." Skip said, " I'm pretty sure you heard about Lieutenant Welsh though."

" Yes, the only constant in this war so far." Hazel said with a nod as her helmet shifted. The trio grinned.

" Ain't no way that's water, I'm surprised he still has stuff in there." Malarkey said and Hazel snickered, " He's hauling around that reserve chute though, I mean he can't start shoving those Vat 69's down in there can he?"

" No, Nixon would've gotten them before he could even get his hands on those." Penkala said as the group continued laughing.

" Hey, Tiny, heard you shot one of those Krauts right through the head, with a pistol?" Malarkey asked her eagerly.

" Yeah, I did actually, after I saw Lip go down," Hazel said with a nod, pulling the sidearm from its holster and holding it out in front of her, " during cold weather training, Thermes had me firing these daily, even at 0100 sometimes on those 3 day missions. He usually said that he hoped it woke up all the 82nd boys." The group snorted and chuckled together watching the girl talk.

" Was Thermes really that bad?" Skip asked.

" Eh, I mean, he surely wasn't Sobel, he actually had a clue of direction. He was very much about the whole I'm your leader, I'm doing everything with you. 5 miles runs even by week 13 were with him in full gear, half gear, all that stuff. But he usually pulled this siren thing in the middle of the night even, and we'd have to drop to the ground and get in between the beds and stuff. He liked to call that a 'fun evening'." Hazel explained and the trio stared wide eyed at her.

" A fun evening?" Penkala asked her and she nodded with a small smile.

" It seems whenever we were out past 2300, it was called a fun evening, no matter what. He put on this stupid posh accent too, Thermes was a character." Hazel said as the group chuckled, " But he prepared me, really well, for all of this, I feel without him, those group of women I trained with to become Viragos would've never gotten where they are today." The 3 mens' eyes turned soft.

" Have you talked to any recently?" Skip asked her.

" I only know where they come from, their homes, once we were broken up in December of '42, we didn't know where we'd be stationed to keep in contact. I hope I can see them again at some point. They truly were the ones that got be through that training besides Catherine and Lizzie." Hazel said with a grin.

" Well, I hope that you do get to see these oh-so-lovely ladies again, because they sound wonderful." Skip said.

" They were." Hazel said, " And now I'm here with you guys and I'm grateful." The trio smiled.

" We're glad you're here too," Penkala said, " I mean you were already intimidating, but now that we've seen you in action, I mean I would not want to be a Kraut." Hazel smiled shyly at them.

" No doubt about it, I'd be terrified." Skip said as the group broke into chuckles.

" Hey, you all might want to get in your positions, it looks like this thing is gonna crank up within seconds!" one of the Sergeants in the other mortar squad called to them.

" Will do." Skip called before turning back tot he girl, " Good luck, Tiny." Hazel gave a mock salute, one that many members of Easy were picking up in play from Lizzie Elliot as a way to show the person you heard them, but you'll see them again. It was a cute little comforting mechanism. Hazel moved straight through the grass towards a shaded region that provided a clear shot towards the battlefield where she could easily scope and shoot. Hazel slowly got down on her knees and she pulled the rifle from her shoulder and set its position up clearly. She brushed off a few specks of dirt before pushing to her stomach and adjusting the front bipod a bit. She looked through the scope, a bit foggy from the dry humidity, before squinting her eye and watching down on the battlefield.

Her gaze was quiet as usual, moving about the entire field, eye watching every move a person visible made. She pulled the poncho on over herself and pulled it up and over her helmet and her head, until only her eye was visible through the bush and through the scope. She sat waiting, the finger near the trigger, waiting for the first explosion to finally ring out. Hazel sat behind the weapon for a while, waiting silently, not even moving as bugs landed atop her poncho or the wind brushed against her body. She sat utterly still, for if she moved, any German who moved on that field could then possibly see her.

That's when a whistling sound echoed overhead and she watched as a mortar was shot up and into the sky, flying directly towards the hedgerow where Easy Company sat. Hazel knew it was time for weapons to be drawn. She heard Easy's gunfire open up from their side of the hedgerow and slowly began to watch the battle unfold in front of them. Hazel was silent as she caught sight of her first victim, as the world seemed to shake with suck force that she wasn't sure the ground was capable of.

" Lord be my strength through war and sin, lord guide me and guard me." she whispered a tiny prayer that seemed to stick when she now fired this rifle. She slowly pulled the trigger and watched as the sniper went sailing straight forward into the German's head, knocking him quickly to the ground. No emotion filled her face, as she pulled the bolt back, locking the new piece of ammo into its place, ready for firing.

" Strengthen me and guide me to light, guard me and guide me, lead me to light." Hazel whispered softly, biting back her lip, as she squinted her and pulled the trigger again, holding the knock back that wanted to fire from the weapon altogether. The man was dead. Hazel watched in the chaos as mortars from Easy's mortars teams shot to the opposite side, and paratroopers ran forward and shot towards the German's lines before running back.

All the sudden, Easy's MG's opened up as German heads appeared on the horizon. All she could hear was the fire fight, and guns shooting off round after round, men screaming, others yelling orders through the explosives going off in the background. Hazel watched with narrowed eyes as German tanks began rolling into view.

Hazel pulled back from the scope for a minute, adrenaline pumping through every fiber in her being as she watched those tanks roll forward quicker than they ever had before. Hazel forced down the nervous smirk that twitched on her face and tensed up her body as she held her sniper steady, taking aim at the gunner on the top of the tanks that rolled forward.

Whispering a tiny prayer, she took aim on the gunner of the closet tank, knocking him out of the top of the gunning position and watching him fall straight to the ground. She watched in horror as the tank slowly began turning towards where she had been lying. Hazel forced herself not to stress, but focus on the large spit of gun on the front of the tank, taking aim right down the center of it.

Once the tank locked in position, Hazel whispered a short prayer that left her lips in a breath of air, as she pulled the trigger and watched as the bullet went soaring through the air right into the main gun of the tank, blowing it up from the inside, a fiery explosion following, as bits of the tank shot up into the air, engulfing it in flames of red, orange and yellow. It was spectacle to see, and to watch, the crackling sound that followed, one of accomplishment.

Now if it were only that easy with every tank she fired on.

But the tracks were easily accessible. She remembered the lectures Sobel had led on tanks, and their 'pressure points' that were on them; the track along the bottom was one of them. Blow a portion out, the tank is done for.

And that's where Hazel took aim next.

If anything it would help the rest of the paratroopers quite literally on the front line. Hazel slowly adjusted her position and began taking aim on the tank. Once she ran out of rounds, she discretely loaded them back into the bolt before slamming it shut and taking aim yet again, slowly growing closer to the success that came with breaking the track on the tanks.

Lizzie was moving back in the lines, up and down, straight through people as bullets flew past her head, whizzing and sizzling as they made impact with what was behind her.

" Medic!" someone cried as she crashed in next to someone who's finger was hanging on by mere skin at this point. Lizzie quickly clasped her hand, gently, around the finger, and was able to wrap what she could up with some bandage and move the person back from the line. They would lose their finger and need stitches to cover it up; that was her rather quick consensus. Lizzie cleaned up a bullet wound next, fishing the bullet out from the person's leg.

" It's going to sting!" she called over the fire fight, as the person screamed.

" I'm sorry! Just keep your eyes open!" she yelled as she pulled sulfa out and poured it into the wound with ease. She flung the sulfa packet to the side and then wrapped the wound up with a bandage as an explosion shook her core. Lizzie managed to pull that person back behind the line before turning and jumping away as an explosion exploded right near her. Her heart was racing as she ran behind the lines, listening for the screams that she awaited to enter her ears.

It was a horrid thing to think, that you were awaiting the call of someone who was in complete utter pain and nearing death; it seemed it were sin to think that. But Lizzie knew that with each call, she was making sure that she were closer to keeping them alive, than letting death keep them in his grasp. She knew the call that was made all the time, was the call she had prepared months for, years for. So, she continued running through the lines, the bullets flying all around her, and moving onto the next paratrooper that was hit and waiting for aid.

Hazel watched through her scope carefully as Harry Welsh led the rather frantic looking McGrath onto the field with his bazooka to take aim at the Panzers that were currently rolling onto the field. Hazel took that as the opportunity to move her position. She slowly crept up a bit more, near a larger shaded area, where she could see perfectly through the trees and leaves to the bright battlefield. She set up her position with ease and then leaned down looking straight through her scope again as she watched the battle unfold and the German tanks roll closer.

Hazel pulled the poncho over her body and stayed methodically still, as she fell into her routine. Hazel was gently in her stalking that she normally went on about, whispering her silent prayers as she took a shot from her weapon. The silent prayers left her lips in whispers and were soon gone to the wind as she took that shot that ended a man's life. But she took the shot; always. Hazel watched a German race forward and Hazel placed her finger right beside the trigger.

" Lord please be with me through war, guide me and guard me." she whispered, and gently tapped the trigger as she got a perfect head shot on the man. But Hazel barely moved, pulling that bolt back and loading in again.

Lizzie grew desperate as the calls for a medic increased. She ran up to a guy who was yelling medic over his friend and shoved him out of the way. She immediately began pouring sulfa to his head wound as the friend sat dazed staring at her.

" Don't just stare! Get out there!" Lizzie yelled, her voice cracking as the soldier scrambled off and she focused back on the downed man who was sobbing and crying out in utter pain at this moment, pleading for his mother. Lizzie's heart broke as she plunged morphine into his leg and he slowly quieted.

An explosion went off right near her and she curled protectively over top of the man before getting her own all clear and continuing to wrap him up. She then jumped up at the sound for another medic call and patted the man on the shoulder before racing through the lines again. She saw the man, hands covered in blood, arms shaking in the air, crying out, his cries painful to listen to.

" Hey," Lizzie said as she collapsed by him and located the bleeding wound, a bullet in the leg, it wasn't the artery; he'd live. Lizzie quickly placed her hands on the bullet wound, before pulling one off to reach into the medic bag and pull the bandage out to begin making a sort of tourniquet. She was out of those. He screamed again.

" Hey, it's okay, I'm right here," Lizzie said putting a bloodied hand to the side of his face, " Right here, I'll make sure you see your momma again, okay?" He nodded with a groaning pain. Lizzie pulled the sulfa packet apart with her teeth, just like she had seen Gene do the one time and began pouring it on, before whipping out the morphine that always sat at the ready. She gently pulled it out and then stabbed it into the opposite thigh watching as the man slowly relaxed.

" It's okay." she whispered, as she began wrapping the bloody leg wound, " Everything will be okay."

Hazel could see that the Germans were gaining land as they moved closer to where the paratroopers were located.

Suddenly out of nowhere, a huge explosion rocked the Panzers. Hazel looked up quickly from her sniper having seen the explosion and searching for who had shot it. Hazel couldn't help as tears peeked the corners of her eyes seeing the 2nd Armored making its appearance. She couldn't help but let out a tiny whoop leave her lips. She couldn't get over how badass the Shermans looked, moving across the field with the mere act that this was an inconvenience to them.

A smirk grew on her face as she turned to the Germans and watched as chaos ensued on their side, not exactly expecting them to appear. Hazel shot German after German as they died in front of her, all assisted through tiny prayers. A new confidence and excitement invigorated Easy Company's side, as wild yells like an ancient war cry erupted from the paratroopers. There was a certain quickness as German after German was taken out with a new certain quickness that many people didn't believe Easy was capable of. The Germans began to retreat suddenly. Hazel took off more quick fired shots after that as adrenaline similar to her 2 previous battles filled her body, and she began killing each person with every single shot. But she told herself that each time a bullet left her weapon, a prayer would follow, it made it easier to then live afterwards.

Each breath she held, steadied her scope and killed someone in the end. Hazel watched through her scope as the Panzers retreated with the straggling Germans which she took out with her sniper. The sniper suddenly shot back into her jaw and she let out a groan.

" Too fast." she muttered, as she pulled the ammo into place and settled into her slot again. Hazel watched through her scope as Germans yelled out to each other as they dragged injured comrades back from the line calling out to others to help as the last desperate plea for help. Hazel felt for them, she couldn't imagine her friends getting hit and being shot at while she attempted to pull them back; but it was war, something everyone had to accept would happen.

The Shermans broke through fully and had the Germans then in full retreat. Hazel felt herself release her tight grip on the sniper and let out the tension that had built up inside her with a sigh. Hazel slowly removed the poncho from her body and sat up, drenched in sweat as she did so, removing the helmet that was covered in sweat. She sat back and sighed, wiping the sweat away, even though it made her face itchier. She glanced back through the trees towards where the mortar crews were and then she glanced towards the battle field, where the Shermans slowly pushed forward onto.

Hazel let out a quiet sigh, as images flashed through her mind thinking of the battle field that had just been in front of them. She reached up and scratched her head and glanced back towards the way she had come. She probably had to move. Hazel slowly stood up, lugging the rifle up and into her arms, before holding the poncho close to her and heading forward again. Hazel slowly stepped out of the dark foliage and approached the mortar crews.

" We're already on the move again," Penkala called to her as she approached, " but supposedly to a place where we'll be setting up foxholes. Maybe we'll even get a bit of food tonight." Hazel offered a small smile and nodded. A night without the overlying stress of a battle the next day would be quite lovely she felt.

And that is was ultimately happened.

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hey! thanks for reading! i just wanted you all to know that i always appreciate each and every comment, vote and read i get from you all, i always am thankful and grateful for each and every one and you all deserve to be told that! thanks!