" It's all about finding the clam in the chaos."
- Donna Karan
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" Sarge!" Miller yelled, as Lizzie smashed into the side of the tank as the shot had rung out, sliding down the side of the medal track, and peaking out towards where the Lieutenant now lay. She noticed the blood. She needed to be there. Chaos seemed to erupt everywhere suddenly. She watched to her horror as German tanks suddenly appeared on their side riding up and quickly.
" Clear the track!" someone yelled as Webster landed right next to Lizzie. But Lizzie's focus was on the Lieutenant who was shot. As paratroopers jumped off the tanks, the tanks began moving backwards a bit as people rushed to the trenches on the sides. She watched as Webster pulled her down in the trench on the side as Bull ran forward towards the Lieutenant. The tank shot a blast forward, toward the enemy tank, shaking the Earth, but missing the Panzer. She watched as the other tank shot, aimed and blew up the tank this time. And then the men and women began firing. Lizzie peaked over the edge toward Bull and Brewer, her heart pounding wildly.
" Medic up front, medic up front!" Bull yelled. Lizzie watched as Oates shot forward, but she knew he would need assistance, so she ran up from the trenches forward, away from the safety of 1st platoon.
" Lizzie!" a few voices called out to her, but she ran forward and collapsed beside Brewer, as Oates landed on her other side, seemingly protecting her from any shot that wold come her way.
" Go!" she yelled to Bull. Bull nodded, patting their backs before hurrying away to the Company. Lizzie looked to Oates.
" We gotta move to some sort of cover!" she yelled as she pulled a bandage from her pocket to hold in place before they got to cover.
" There's some sort of deep trench ahead!" Oates called to her, as he gently checked Brewer's pulse.
" We'll have to- AGH!" Oates' body fell into her side and her bloodied hands from Brewer reached out to hold him up. He was shot in the leg and in pain.
" Shit." muttered Lizzie, quickly glancing around. No other medics were in sight. Lizzie sucked in a breath and carefully orchestrated herself in front of the two so if there was another shot, she'd be shot. She looked to Oates.
" Oates! " she yelled throwing him a bandage.
" Lizzie, I'm fine." Oates called to her, chucking the bandage back.
" Like hell you are," she said and threw the bandage back at him, hitting him square in the chest.
" I'll take care of you, just patch that up!" she yelled, before looking at Brewer. She ripped out some sulfa and poured it on the most urgent wound, his neck wound. Another shot whizzed past her and she turned angrily, about to burst, before turning back around and gently removing Brewer's helmet from his head to place on her back if a shot came her way. She looked over and watched as German's ran from the inflamed tanks, fleeing and crying out. She watched though as members from the upcoming 3rd platoon took them out, shot after shot, and she sighed in relief.
Tab was there, giving her a hopeful thumbs up and she nodded. Another medic came racing up to her, it was Mampre. He landed by her side, looking at Oates who worked on controlling his leg, groaning in pain.
" Help him!" called Lizzie nodding to Oates. Mampre watched Brewer gurgle out blood.
" Lizzie-"
" He'll be fine, please, Al, work on O." Lizzie said with pleading eyes as she pulled Brewer's bandage tighter. Mampre nodded to her and then focused on Oates.
" Shit." she muttered again before plunging morphine into Brewer's body. Winters had run up to
Hazel quickly when that first sniper round shot off and told her orders to take him out. She sat, alone, on the opposite ridge, close by to where Lizzie and Mampre were working on Oates and Brewer, in her protective gear and face paint. Her sniper was set on a bit of an odd angle, but she didn't really mind. She could see a clear shot of the sniper through her gaze, as she reached up to increase her magnification on the sight. He sat within the caved in roof of a far off, rather obscure barn that was faced towards the Southeast. She squinted her eye tighter and looked at the barrel of his gun through her own weapon. He was watching her and could clearly see her. She went to a deeper magnification and adjusted herself a bit as she watched the sniper take a shot and miss again. She shuffled her feet a bit, getting herself set straight and comfortable before she gently let her finger move near the trigger. She sucked in a breath, and steadied herself before catching her eyes right on his shiny sniper.
" Be with me Lord, through war and sin, guide me and guard me, to light." Hazel whispered, her finger tapping lightly on the trigger. Hazel then took the shot, and watched through her scope as the sniper fell back and there was even a blood squirt. Satisfied, she looked once more through the scope, aiming it again and taking one last shot at the still visible body to satisfy herself that he was dead. When he didn't move after a few minutes, she stood and raced past Lizzie.
" Sniper's taken out! You're all clear!" she yelled to her and Lizzie threw up a bloody thumbs up. Hazel looked toward intelligence, and prayed they saw her thumbs up on the dead sniper. Hazel then turned, as she watched the rest of the company race forward, and attempt to find a good place to set up to snipe.
Catherine was moving through with the mass of 2nd platoon assisting Bill with leading the platoon. Being attached to different platoons each day had it's perks. She got to work with Harry yesterday, as well as Bull, when the moved towards the bridges. And plus she got to be rotated through the men and see everyone, while still being technically attached to Battalion. Others days it could be a shit show, like when they did training in late August on 3 and 4 day trips and the platoons seemed a reck. But what else virtually was new. Bill moved the platoon against a brick wall, and nodded to Catherine, who stood near the front of the platoon, as he hurried over to her.
" First real rush." he told her, and she smirked with a wink.
" Here's the plan, take first squad around and 2nd will go over, I'll take 3rd around the other side. We'll met up on the other side. Sound good?" she asked him. Her and Bill had discussed working together plenty of times as she transitioned into her work with 2nd platoon where she had come from. Orders went from her to Bill mostly.
" Yes, ma'am." Bill said with a tip of his helmet.
" 1st squad on me!" she called, as the men in 1st followed her around the side of the brick wall.
2nd and 3rd squad moved through the vacant grave yard, as Catherine led 1st squad around it to met up with Bill again on the other side. Catherine glanced to her left at the burning tank, before stepping to the side and moving the men forward, with a nod as she brought up the rear. She was the last to slam into the side of the building before moving up past the men to Bill's side. As she approached him, he whistled and held up the hold sign. Catherine glanced over and watched as Buck led in the mortar squad's right in a little courtyard, and he noticed her and Bill and nodded to them. The tanks were slowly making their entrance into the town, a fairly slow on at that as Bill glanced over Mellet's shoulder again.
" We're moving," Bill said and she nodded as she nodded to 1st squad at the end. Bill moved the platoon around the corner and she nodded to him as she brought up the rear. Then all the sudden, a loud, ear-piercing shot rounded off from a Panzer by the sounds of it. Catherine watched smoke billow up nearby.
" Shit." she muttered as she ran up to Bill's side who had clearly seen it too. Another shot erupted and Catherine watched as a building exploded over near 1st.
" What the hell is going on?" she muttered a she looked at Bill who was looking over at it. A machine gunner opened up from the top of a building, as all hell broke loose. Catherine turned her head and watched as Kraut's flooded toward them. Bill was looking more towards the machine gunner in the building nearby. He turned to Catherine.
" Get me Grant!" he yelled, as she nodded and took off down the ranks, spotting Grant with his bazooka. Suddenly yells to fall back erupted as her and Chuck finally made it up to Bill again, and Catherine's heart hammered in her chest.
" Fuck." she whispered. Lizzie and Gene were moving through together to get the injured or nearly dead. Gene ran forward, but pressed back as an explosion ripped past the two of them. He turned to Lizzie and nodded as the two ran forward again and slammed against the wall near Peacock and a few people from first platoon. She gritted her teeth as her uniform hit against the brick wall.
" Who's hurt?" Gene asked quickly.
" Van Klinken." Hoobler said sounding winded himself. Gene glanced at her and then to Hoobler.
" Other side of that hedge." Hoobler said.
" Uh-huh." he said before the two medics jumped up, crouched and shuffled past the group.
" Oh, shit!" Hoobler yelled, before he followed the two. In that time, Bill and Catherine had set up Chuck with the bazooka to take out a machine gunner in the nearby window.
" Okay, ready." Chuck said, and nodded before, popping out from the side of the building and shooting the shot right at the window. It blew up the second it made contact and glass shattered everywhere, as debris shot out the sides. Chuck hopped back in to the little grove of the outside of the house and nodded. Suddenly an explosion shot through the window above them, and debris shot out over top of them.
" Fall back, fall back! Fall back!" Catherine yelled as she began shoving men out of the way and towards where they came from.
" Lieutenant!" Bill yelled to Catherine as she turned to him again.
" We have to move the men a different way than we came!" he called to her, and she turned and hurried up to the group of 1st squad. As Lizzie gave one final heave up to Gene to help get Van Klinken over she dropped back onto her back, to the ground as bullets flew above her.
" Gene!" Lizzie yelled, " I can't get through, I'll have to meet you around!"
" No, Lizzie, just pull through!" Gene yelled back. The bullets were fast and furious and quick. She wouldn't make it through there.
" I won't make it, I'll see you in a minute!" Lizzie yelled to him and then flipped onto her stomach, forcing herself to crawl forward down the dug out side trenches, pushing farther away from where the rest of Easy Company was slowly retreating from.
As Lizzie crawled forward, bullets flew above her, shooting into the hedgerow in an attempt to fire at the men on the other side. She needed to create a distraction, something, anything so they would stop shooting at the guys. Lizzie cursed softly to herself, and quickly pushed herself up to her feet and started sprinting through the trench, her head bobbing up and down as she did so, bullets flying behind her.
Lizzie watched the trench slowly coming to an end next to her and sucked in a breath as she grabbed the higher side, up on the road, and pulled herself up quickly, as if she were an ape flying through trees, and onto the road, sprinting down the cobblestone, her boots slamming down upon it. She saw a dip in the land; another start of a trench.
Lizzie quickly, zeroed in on it, and clutched her medic bag close to her and continued moving forward, faster and faster towards it. But then she tripped, and her body slammed onto the rocky, pebble filled ground and the air was knocked for her lungs and she choked for a second on nothing, gasping for breath.
A sizzling sound shot into her leg and she let out a groan, as she forced herself to pull forward, further and further until she reached the trench and rightfully rolled down into it and landed into a heaping pile of utter pain. Lizzie lay as explosions and gunfire rang out above her, clutching her leg, where a numbness started to overwhelm her.
Lizzie forced herself to sit up and she let out a cry of anguish into the air. Her head was heavy and she felt she was spinning on an axis, watching the world not even bother to slow down for a moment. She watched through tear filled eyes as the wound filled with blood and slowly poured onto her ODs. Lizzie bit her lip, pushing her head up and back against the dirt, squeezing her eyes shut, praying the pain would disappear, that maybe this was all a dream.
Lizzie grabbed her leg, and positioned it straight, breathing heavily as she moved her hand near the bullet wound. She had to get the bullet out and then pour sulfa on it. She had to do this quickly. Lizzie pulled a tourniquet first around her leg and then placed her fingers over the wound. Lizzie let out a shaky breath before plunging her fingers into the wound and letting out a scream. It was so overwhelming, the pain that sent her brain into a frenzy, like a crazed facade.
Lizzie pushed further and let out another scream as black dots moved across her vision quickly. She was practically close to passing out by this point, as she felt light headed and barely awake. Then she hit it, the bullet. Lizzie let out another cry between a yell and strangled cry and yanked the bullet out, as the blood continued flowing. Lizzie didn't have the energy to chuck away the bloody bullet, as she struggled to even pull out a packet of sulfa.
Lizzie fumbled a bit, but then grabbed the sulfa and tour it open with a groan with her teeth and poured it on the wound as tears flowed, burying her vision. As she poured the sulfa on, her mind went to morphine almost immediately.
But she didn't want to use that on her; that was for the men, not her.
Lizzie, reaching into her bag for a bandage and was slow in simply dressing and wrapping the wound. She feared infection, as well as amputation if she didn't get moving. Lizzie let out a groan as she tried to move, her leg giving as she did so.
Lizzie flipped onto her stomach, the bullet wound throbbing, as she let out a cry, forcing herself to pull her body forward along the scratchy grass, dragging her bag and leg behind her as she did so. She pulled again forward, but she felt light-headed and dizzy and unable to comprehend her surroundings. She tried to give one final pull, but before she knew it, her head fell into the muddy grass and she passed out in the middle of a destroyed city in Holland.
Catherine moved first squad through a clothing line of laundry and regretted it after a man fell from a shot. She narrowly avoided running straight into a brick wall, and managed to swiftly clear over it, jumping up and quickly flipping back and taking out a few Krauts in the process as they dropped to the ground. Her first shots really in battle and they were in a full retreat. Successful. Catherine grunted to herself before jumping back up and over the brick wall.
" Go! C'mon! You gotta move faster!" she yelled, the veins in her neck popping out, as the yells came from deep in her chest. Catherine crouched making sure each men afterwards made it through. She watched the Krauts coming closer with each antagonizing step. She then glanced over and noticed a radio and a man and a voice.
It was George Luz.
Chuck slammed in next to him as Bill then shuffled in.
" Fall back!" was the only thing Catherine was able to yell before a shot hit too close to home and she was sent sprinting from her crouched position. She turned and watched as Bill shoved Chuck after her and then Luz and then himself. And explosion ripped out behind them and Catherine glanced over her shoulder as Luz and Bill just barely missed it, debris shooting out everywhere.
As she ran another explosion ripped out on the left side, as wood and nails and rock shot out, slamming her roughly to the ground. The air pushed roughly from her lungs as she made impact with the ground. She let out a wonderful string of curses as Bill hurriedly pulled her up to her feet again and kept her running, The Sergeant and Lieutenant pushing through the onslaught of gunfire behind them. Explosions continued to rattle the buildings and the houses as she felt her heart rate rapidly pick up and her fear ramp up as well. The only thing she could think was that this wasn't supposed to happen. Bill stopped Catherine suddenly as Luz ran past.
" What the f-" Bill cut her off as she followed his hand pointing. She turned and watched as Malarkey and Skip slammed in a door.
" What the hell are you doing?" Bill asked as they racing up to the two.
" Help us!" Malarkey yelled, as Catherine without hesitation ran forward to provide what aid she could. The 4 slowly pushed the door out of the home and dragged it.
" What the hell do you need this for?" Catherine yelled as a bullet whizzed past.
" Buck was hit!" Skip yelled, and it was true as Gene lay tying up Buck's butt with a bandage. The 5 situated Buck onto the door.
" Go Gene!" Catherine yelled to him, watching as the medic hurriedly followed the Lieutenant's orders and moved. The 4 eventually began hauling Buck on the door towards the tanks. Random explosions from rifle grenades went off above them as the trucks waited their arrival.
Hazel was already up on the tanks with a nasty looking wound in her arm, Gene seemingly already getting to work on it, as she grimaced in pain. She hadn't gotten the sniping done like she had wanted, as she had awaited her movement progression forward but suddenly saw Joe Toye come racing back, high tailing it and knew something had gone horribly wrong. And then a grenade shell went off from a nearby German who had thrown it and lodged a bit into her arm before she yanked it out. But there was a nice blood trail that followed her trail back towards where Easy's trucks awaited.
They had definitely not been mostly old men and kids.
And now the looks of a war over by Christmas was out of the question.
Catherine and Bill helped deliver Buck up onto a truck, loading the door and his aching body up to where Gene would then move to work on him. Catherine looked around for Lizzie, the tiny medic, who wore a bright smile, and offered a helping hand. She was nowhere in sight. Catherine then saw Bill approaching her with Lip.
" Do you know where Bull is?" Lip asked her as she approached drenched in sweat.
" No, I was with Bill." she said quietly, glancing towards Nuenen, " What's wrong?"
" He's missing." Lip said, and Catherine's heart dropped as she glanced towards Bill.
" What about Lizzie? I can't find her." Catherine said as her heart started racing. Lip's eyes widened.
" Lizzie's not here?" he asked her. Catherine frantically shook her head.
" Take her to a truck, Bill." Lip said as Winters brushed past the two, and Lip followed.
" No! No, Lip! We have to find her!" Catherine yelled as Bill wrapped an arm over and shoulder and guided her away. Catherine stumbled over her feet, clutching onto Bill, with tears in her eyes.
Not Lizzie.
Catherine slowly pulled herself up onto a truck sliding in next to Johnny, her heart racing, tears threatening her vision. Lizzie and Bull. They weren't here. No one had seen them. Bill slid in beside Catherine, pulling his helmet from his head quickly and letting out a disgruntled sigh. Bill looked at Catherine, who seemed to be shaking the slightest bit. The jokes she had cracked this morning had all but disappeared and she was quiet, eyes glazed over, staring forward, horror seemingly painted as the permanent expression.
Bill gently wrapped an arm over Catherine's shoulder and he was surprised to see that she flinched the slightest bit, sparing a glance over towards Bill. But she gently settled into his gently arm that wrapped around her. She gently reached up and placed her hand over his which lay on her shoulder. She let out a shaky sigh. But everyone seemed shaken up. Catherine looked at her left hand and watched as her fingers shook and trembled.
Nuenen was up in flames and smoke as other explosions rattled off, the trucks leading the soldiers away. Catherine silently thanked Bill for his comforting arm over her shoulder as her thoughts went out to both Lizzie and Bull.
" Where's the Bull?" she heard Bill ask Martin, across her.
" Don't know." Martin managed to say. Catherine shut her eyes and let out another shaky sigh, that seemed to shake her lungs up all at once. Martin looked traumatized and Catherine could only shut her eyes and try to forget about everything.
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hey! another chapter!! i'm definitely finishing out episode 4, just because we're so close to the end of the chapter and i've really enjoyed it, with all the development and such. i hope you've enjoyed it as well. thank you all for the love and support!! :)