" She wasn't sad anymore, she was numb, and numb, she knew, was somehow worse."

- Atticus

✰✰✰

The next morning, the air was fresh, the sky was bright and then sun was out, and then there was Easy who was slowly getting ready to move out.

Hazel walked into the APO where she could send off the letter she'd written to her mother that morning. Her hair was in two braids, it kept it off her skin in the heat of the day that was quickly approaching with each minute, and she wore her OD set, the front unzipped, as if she were a merry child. When Hazel stepped inside, Vest was inside cleaning up the rest of the packages and boxes that he had inside.

" Hey, Vest." Hazel called as she walked inside with a small smile. Vest turned from where he stood with some letters.

" Hey, Hazel, you gotta letter?" he asked her. She was frequently visiting APO even back in Mourmelon to send letters. She always had one stashed away to send to her mother back home.

" Yeah, hopefully this finds her well." Hazel said handing the piece of wrapped up paper to him.

" It will don't worry." he said with a nod and a smile. The door then opened and both Hazel and Vest turned to see it was Speirs.

" Hazel, I was wondering where you were this morning." he said as he entered with that mischievous smile on his face that Hazel could match equally intention.

Ronald Speirs had been surprisingly like a big brother of sorts to her, almost like a father figure, something she hadn't had. And they got along more than Hazel ever would've thought.

" Sending a letter to my mother." Hazel said leaning back against the counter as Speirs shoved the box onto the counter, " What about you, sir?" Speirs smirked and then placed two smoke cartons on the counter before sliding up next to her.

" I've just about cleaned this place out of every mildly shiny thing." Speirs said, " And of course-" Hazel watched Speirs pull out a tiny figurine from his OD pocket and placed it in her hands. It was a deer.

" Figured you'd like this," he said, " sure it was sort of stock piled at the bottom of this box, a little crushed, but still ya know.."

" A deer." Hazel finished for him and Speirs nodded with a smirk.

" I figured there's more of that lying around, decided to grab it." he said and Hazel smiled.

" Thank you, sir, I appreciate it, it's so cute." she said and Speirs smiled leaning back against the counter as the two stood, looking out the window.

" You still have 5 boxes lying around this entire town don't you." Hazel said quietly as Speirs gently tapped his fingers on his rest.

" Quite possibly," Speirs answered as Hazel chuckled, " Oh come on, you'd do the same." Hazel glanced up at him.

" Yeah right, sir, I don't strive for that sorta stuff." she answered and Speirs smiled.

" Right, right," Speirs said, with a laugh as Hazel grinned. She pushed up from the counter and pocketed the tiny deer.

" I have to be on my way," she said, " I have to load up my things still in the trucks." Speirs nodded to her.

" You know where we're going?" she asked him.

" Yep, we're moving towards the Alps." Speirs said as he pushed up from the counter and cross his arms, " Warmer weather, the mountains, Hitler's glorious retreat, sign me up."

" I'd figure your name was first on the list, sir." Hazel said and Speirs chuckled.

" You know me well, Parker." Speirs said. Hazel grinned with a small chuckle.

" I'll see ya," she called as Speirs gave her a nod before she stepped out into the bustling streets.

People were packing up their things and loading onto trucks, there were moving out in an hour, and people were doing last minute things in the small town. Hazel looked towards the bright blue sky with a tiny smile.

There was a bit of hope.

Hazel made sure all her things were packed up by the time the group was ready to leave and that the attachments for her rifle were all with her. She walked over towards a truck where she could see other members of 2nd platoon, but stopped when she heard yelling. She glanced over and saw Nixon, throwing down his helmet from his head against the truck in front of Winters, Lip and Catherine. Hazel bit her lip before turning and continuing over toward the truck again. As Hazel approached she smiled up at Tony who took her bag and hauled it back where the others were.

" Hey, Perconte." a voice came, " You got a lighter?" Hazel turned and saw it was Speirs with a cigarette, unlighted hanging from his mouth.

" No, sir, I don't smoke." Perconte answered, as the group saluted, but Speirs didn't seem to entirely care about that, " Hey where we heading?"

" We're going to the Alps, let me see that lighter." Speirs said again. The Alps?

" The Alps?" Perconte asked as he pulled out the lighter and handed it to Speirs.

" Yeah." Speirs said.

" That near Berlin, sir?" Bull asked him.

" No."

" That's In Bavaria. Birthplace of national socialism." Webster said as George came and stood beside Hazel, throwing a ball around in his baseball glove.

" So that mean no drop into Berlin?" George asked.

" No drop into Berlin. Hitler ordered the Waffen SS to hole up in the mountains and repel all the invaders. He wants them to start a guerrilla war." Speirs said as George looked genuinely disappointed that there was absolutely no way they'd be dropping into Berlin.

" Invaders?" Bull asked, " Damn I like the sound of that."

" They'll die the last man trying." Speirs said.

" You think we can end the war before that?" Hazel asked him as she turned and took hold of the back of the truck.

" Who knows." Speirs answered before he started to turn away.

" Sir." Perconte called as Hazel pulled himself up and into the back of the truck.

" What?"

" My lighter." Perconte said. Speirs sure had sticky fingers. Speirs, conflicted, glanced down at it a few times before throwing it up to him.

" Alright, nice lighter." Speirs said.

" Thanks." Perconte said as Speirs walked away. Hazel smirked, as she pulled herself up and into the seat beside Liebgott.

" Waffen SS, huh?" Perconte called as Hazel looked up in the daylight and watched him turn and call to the group.

" Hey, looks like you're gonna get your wish anyway, O'Flannary. Those guys...fucking crazy." Perconte said to O'Keefe who sat innocently nearby, just as Blood on the Risers began being sung by all the paratroopers.

" It's O'Keefe." O'Keefe said quietly as Perconte went and took his seat with a smirk. Hazel looked at O'Keefe with a small smile. Perconte had told the group about what O'Keefe had said about wanting to drop in and fight the Germans.

But for Hazel at least, the war was not about fighting, it was about getting out human in the end, with the scars to prove it.

The war had taken so much of that away from everyone that Hazel sincerely hoped she may never have to fire her weapon again.

But he was a replacement, he wouldn't know better.

They eventually moved out through the German countryside through the large, cascading mountains and forests, singing Blood on the Risers, its joyful yet entirely cynical tune rung out from the mouths of every paratrooper.

Gory, Gory what a helluva way to die

Gory, Gory what a helluva way to die

Gory, Gory what a helluva way to die

he ain't gonna jump no more

The risers strapped around his neck

connectors cracked his dome

Suspension lines were tied in knots around his skinny bones

the canopy became the shroud he hurdled to the ground

he ain't gonna jump no more

Gory Gory what a helluva way to die

Gory Gory what a helluva way to die

Gory Gory what a helluva way to die

he ain't gonna jump no more

He hit the ground, the sound was "SPLAT", his blood went spurting high

His comrades, they were heard to say "A HELL OF A WAY TO DIE!"

He lay there, rolling 'round in the welter of his gore

And he ain't gonna jump no more

Gory Gory what a helluva way to die

Gory Gory what a helluva way to die

Gory Gory what a helluva way to die

he ain't gonna jump no more

When the singing finally seized, and people moved seats around, Hazel found herself sitting criss cross with a book in her hands, the sun beating down on them a bit as they sat there, and the sweet smell of the German mountain air intoxicating. Hazel flipped through the pages of her book, biting her lip every so often as she sat there.

" There's gonna be good times, Web. When we get home, I mean." Joe said looking at Webster who sat beside him.

" First thing I'm gonna do is get my job back at the cab company in Frisco. Make a killing off those fucking sailors coming home, you know?" Joe said to Webster who was eating his food, seemingly rather peacefully, making a rather grand attempt at listening to Joe.

" Then I'm gonna find me, a nice..." Joe trailed off as his eyes wandered over to where Hazel sat with her book, eyes soft as they skimmed the page quietly.

" A nice girl, with big blue eyes," Joe said, his eyes trained on her still, as Webster watched him, " and a smile to die for. With 2 dimples, one in each cheek, and freckles that cover her nose...." Joe froze for a moment, before looking away and back at Webster who was still listening and waiting.

" And I'm gonna get us a house, a big one." Joe said as Webster nodded, but didn't miss the way Joe glanced back over towards Hazel who turned the next page in her book.

" So what about you Web?" Liebgott said.

" I guess I'll finish school first and then, uh-" Liebgott cut Webster off.

" Wait a minute, finish school?" Liebgott questioned, " You mean all this time you've been talking about Harvard this and Harvard that, and you ain't even finished?"

" For one thing, I haven't told you anything." Webster shot back, scooping up more canned food.

" Oh." Liebgott muttered.

" Yes, yes, I haven't finished." Webster stated. " So the fuck what?"

" Alright, we'll let it breathe a little, Jesus." Liebgott muttered, " Fuck "

" It's just the way you always talked, you know?" LIebgott said back to him. " We all figured that..." He left it at that.

" Hey you know what, you're right. So the fuck what?" Liebgott said. The two grew silent.

" So, what did you study?" Liebgott said, but Webster spoke at the same time.

" Hey, bud, um." Liebgott urged Webster on, " Literature."

" Get outta here, you serious? I love to read!" Liebgott said perking up.

" Do you?" Webster asked seemingly a bit surprised.

" Yeah. Dick Tracy, Flash Gordon mostly. Yeah, fuck." he said, before shoving a Lucky Strike between his teeth. Hazel looked up with a smirk towards Liebgott and Webster, having heard the last bit of their conversation.

" Comic books?" she asked them, as she shut her book. The two looked over at her as she looked at them with a small smirk on her face.

" What's wrong with that?" Joe said defending himself.

" Nothing." she answered as she leaned back against the truck. Joe smirked.

" Why? What the hell could you possibly be reading?" he asked her.

" Pride and Prejudice." she said with a smirk, Webster smiled.

" That's a good one." Webster said and Joe raised a brow.

" You know that?" he asked him.

" Yeah, of course, classic literature." Webster said. Joe raised a brow.

" Right, fuck." Joe muttered, pulling the cigarette from his lips as he watched Hazel smile at Webster.

Joe narrowed his eyes slightly.

He watched as Webster eventually went over and the two of them began talking about the book.

And Hazel was laughing at what he was saying.

Joe sat like the angry hot head he was, watching his best friend laugh at what Webster was saying.

He should be the one sitting there making her laugh.

But he held himself back and looked away, before leaning back and looking to the sky, shutting his eyes.

That night, they stayed in the residence of the German people of a little down near the middle of Germany. Everyone burst inside to different rooms. Hazel was shoved in just behind Speirs, and just felt herself breath for a minute once she got in the room. Hazel walked in and sighed as she removed her helmet, hearing the frantic speech from the German woman and her family.

" Tell her she's got five minutes." Speirs said as Hazel looked away. Liebgott started translating in German rapidly. people continued bursting into different apartments of the complex, as footsteps echoed around the entire building as person after person marched in and yelling continued to grow around the entire apartment complex. Hazel looked over and watched as Liebgott continued translating to the woman and to Speirs.

" Sir, she says they've got nowhere to go." Liebgott called. Hazel's eyes softened watched the child at the mother's hands staring up at Joe and the weapon he held in his hand.

The child was probably terrified.

A man coming in with olive drab on, a weapon that could kill someone in his hands, speaking a different language, invading on his home, a home where he most likely felt safest.

" But the house next door is-" the woman interrupted Joe with more angry, panicked German coming out in a slew of words. Hazel watched with sad eyes.

" We're only gonna be here one night. You've got four minutes!" Speirs yelled at the woman, angrily. Joe immediately started translating again back to the woman as she protested again. It was like a yelling match of the two different languages and their translations back and forth and to different people. They were quickly rushed out of the home, as well as the rest of the German people that were in the apartment complex.

Hazel didn't sleep well that night.

The following morning, Easy was moving again. As they moved, they're massive amount of firepower moved in on either sides of the surrendered Germans. Hazel leaned quietly against the inside of the truck, her eyes downcast as she stared at her boots.

" Hey, you!" a voice yelled. Hazel slowly looked up weakly.

" Hey you!" Webster yelled again as he stood up, hanging out of the back of the truck, " That's right, you stupid kraut bastards!" Hazel watched the German officers and generals look back towards where Webster was yelling from. Her heart sunk as her head pounded.

" That's right! Say hello to Ford and General fucking Motors!" Webster yelled, his voice sounding pained and utterly angry, " You stupid Fascist pigs. Look at you! You have horses! What were you thinking?!" Garcia was the one to yank Webster back into his seat quickly.

" That's enough, Webster." Garcia told him, " Give it a rest." Webster put his head in his hands and Hazel watched him from under the brim of her helmet and the warm glare of the sun.

" Dragging our asses half-way around the world, interrupting our lives, for what!" Webster yelled as he stood again. Hazel's heart sank as she glanced to Skinny and George. No one even could really say anything as it happened. There was nothing to say. Everyone was truly just tired of fighting.

" You ignorant, servile scum! What the fuck are we doing here?! Huh?!" Webster yelled.

Everyone seemed so ungodly numb though.

It seemed no one could even react to what Webster was saying because deep down everyone felt almost the exact same way.

They drove through more of the German countryside, watching Germans get shot in the head by Frenchmen, or by British soldiers. It was clear those soldiers had lost at the cost of their lives.

But Hazel was numb to death and to violence.

Any gun shot she heard, she barely even glanced over.

A shot echoed off and she slowly looked up from next to Liebgott. O'Keefe had a big reaction, as more of the veterans only sat up a bit to glance over more at O'Keefe than the sound of the gunshot. O'Keefe quickly looked back and towards the veterans. Perconte shrugged, with half a smirk on his face. O'Keefe looked up and towards where Hazel, Joe and George sat. Joe smirked at him, as George lit up his cigarette. Hazel just laid back again, and shut her eyes. She couldn't deal.

O'Keefe looked scared though, Hazel saw the fear that had swarmed in his eyes.

But this was war.

In the early afternoon, Easy with the rest of 2nd Battalion was pulling into the town of Landsberg. Hazel slowly opened her eyes from the rest she had attempted to take and began to see the tiny homes and little gardens that made up the town. People slowly came out on the edge of the street and began looking at the American vehicles that began emerging the streets.

Hazel slowly stood up, and grabbed her helmet as the back gate dropped and men could get to the ground. Hazel's feet slowly touched the ground and she let out a quiet sigh as she looked around. She slowly followed to where 2nd platoon would be bunking, it was like the attic of a pub, but cots lined both sides of the room, with blankets strewn off of them, pillows on the ground.

" Well," Catherine said looking around, " it's home for now." Hazel slowly walked over to a bed and let out a sigh as she removed her bag from her shoulder and her helmet from her head.

" Winters is sending out 1st on the first patrol, we'll be up next." Chuck said as he stood next to Catherine. Catherine nodded.

" Let's go help unload." she said and stepped around him as the two of them headed outside. Hazel glanced at Joe who sighed to himself but headed out along with Webster and Babe.

Lizzie found herself on the patrol, with George, Frank, Bull, Christenson, O'Keefe and Joe Lesnewski. She clutched the medic satchel on her shoulder close to her, as her eyes wandered up towards the sky above.

It was eerie in the quiet forest.

There were no birds chirping, or insects chirping, especially considering how close it was to summer at the current time or year.

All Lizzie could smell though was a questionable scent that burned her nostrils every time she got a whiff of the dank scent.

Lizzie's eyes surveyed the forest again, it was so quiet.

But so were all the guys on the patrol.

Lizzie walked beside Christenson, her hands squeezed so tight around the medic satchel band, that her knuckles were white. Her footsteps were slow, and cautious as her eyes narrowed at even the slightest bit of movement through the woods. The woods should smell of pine, instead it smelled of what could only remind Lizzie of death.

" O'Keefe."

" Sarge." O'Keefe was quick in his reply to Bull.

" Why the hell are you so jumpy, boy?" Bull asked him with a smirk.

" I'm not jumpy." O'Keefe promised, " I'm fine." Bull merely laughed, as Lizzie glanced at Christenson next to her.

" Can hear your heart poudning in Arkansas, boy." Bull commented.

" Jesus Christ, give the kid a break, Bull." Christenson laughed out. Lizzie smirked to herself before she looked back out at the trees again.

" Hey George?" Perconte asked.

" Yeah?" George answered sounding bored.

" Does this kinda remind you of Bastogne?" Perconte asked him. Lizzie rolled her eyes. If anything, Bastogne was the last possible thing she wanted to be thinking about at the current moment. Lizzie slowly glanced back and met George's eyes with a curious raised brow. George made a pouty face.

" Yeah, now that you mention it." George said, " Except, of course, there's no snow, we got warm grub in our bellies, and the trees aren't fucking exploding from Kraut artillery, but, yeah, Frank, other than that, it's a lot like Bastogne."

" Right?" Perconte said.

" Bull, smack him for me, please." George said, and Lizzie turned around again a small smirk on her face. She heard the gentle smack of Bull's hand and the helmet.

" Thank you." George said, clearly annoyed. Lizzie couldn't blame him. They were all exhausted and completely and utterly done with this stupid war that they were all trapped in. The group continued through the forest.

Lizzie couldn't pull it from her mind that the woods didn't smell like the pine scent that it usually gave off. Instead it was a foul scent that became stronger as the group continued to move forward with each step. Lizzie looked up towards the sky and could see the bright blue of the atmosphere from where she stood, as well as the sun that peaked down through the peaks of the forest toward them as the American soldiers moved through underneath the bright sky. Lizzie looked down and bit her lip again somewhat worriedly.

" Hey," a voice said and Lizzie looked up to see it was George beside her. Lizzie offered a tiny smile before looking forward again, upturning her nose.

" Do you smell that?" she asked quietly, looking at him with big, worry filled eyes. George's eyes watched her softly. He turned his head, pulling the cigarette from his lips as he did so, and breathed in.

" I do." he said quietly. Lizzie was afraid to say the thought she had in her mind of what the smell was, but the fact she had been around the severely wounded and injured more times than a 22 year woman should normally be around, was a dead give away. It smelled like rotting bodies, with the scent being carried by the wind.

" It smells like, um..." Lizzie stopped.

It had been good for so long, there was no death, no immediate sadness, no hate, no bombings, no sickness and no sleeping in foxholes. But between the scent, the uneasy feeling and the pounding in her heart, Lizzie felt that whatever situation they were in would lead Easy Company back to that breaking point.

" Like what?" George said softly. He was looking at her, his feet still cautious on the ground, cigarette pulled from his lips, eyes staring at her, with a serious expression written across his face.

Worry.

Concern.

Pain.

Anger.

The list could go on.

" Like bodies, George." Lizzie whispered, keeping her voice low. George watched her.

" Bodies?" he asked her. She nodded, gulping softly to herself.

The scent was poignant, a memory in her mind that reminded her of the aid stations back on The Island; they had been filled with trauma and fear and pain, and dirty, infected wounds that stunk up the entire aid station. She remembered the cries of pain from the men that had been in there. They'd always be stuck in her brain, in her far memory, circulating. Lizzie sucked in a breath and braced herself, tensing up. George gently grabbed her elbow as she glanced at him.

" Lizzie," George said softly. She shook her head. Something felt wrong. Something seemed off, completely off. She felt uneasy. She couldn't describe it.

" It sure is quiet." O'Keefe said and Lizzie glanced back towards him.

" He is right, fellas." Perconte said, evident worry even in his own voice. Lizzie and George stopped side by side with the rest of the patrol, watching as Christenson held up his hand for them to stop. it looked as if there was an eerie amount of smoke or fog rolling in front the direction the scent had wafted from.

Lizzie kept looking to the sky.

Not a single bird flew through.

Birds were always in forests.

What was going on?

Everyone was tense, looking around, their alerts set to the highest level of attention, eyes searching as they spun on their own two feet. The men started locking their weapons, moving a bullet into position as they did so. Lizzie looked to George.

The joking manner from yesterday having disappeared from his expression as he met Lizzie's eyes.

Christenson waved them forward, and the group continued with careful steps moving through the forest, as the scent became heavier and thicker. There was a clearing appearing up ahead, as the trees thinned, more sunshine peaked through, and blue sky became evidently more visible.

Lizzie's eyes widened, and with each step her knees felt weaker and weaker. Then men's weapons slowly lowered with each step as well. The smoke brushed over their faces, and Lizzie slowly felt her jaw drop in anguish. Her hands fell to her sides, as she felt like her heart had been stabbed over and over again, repeatedly. She felt her knees tremble, and she grabbed George's arm beside her, as she started feeling sick to her stomach. She grasped his arm tightly, as she slowly put a hand to her mouth.

What was going on?

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bro, okay, my heart first of all :( we start out all happy, and then we go to this and it makes my heart ache. the final chapter of the day will not have a gif out of respect for the seriousness of the topic of the chapter, as i did this with sunshine soldier as well, thank you for respecting my decision :) thank you for reading and enjoying, i appreciate you all!! <3