Catch Her If You Can | Band of Brothers

XXIV. September 17th, 1944. France.

September 17th, 1944. France.

The good news the 506th had been awaiting finally came on September 7th, in the form of Operation Market Garden. Ike had agreed to halt the entire Allied advance so that the British General Montgomery could drop Airborne divisions along a road that ran from Eindhoven, in Holland to Arnhem, in Germany. The plan was for the 101st, 82nd, British 1st, and British 6th Airborne divisions to capture and hold strategic bridges along the road until the British Armoured divisions arrived.

If it went well, the war could be over by Christmas.

The bad news was that Sobel had returned, and he was on Regimental staff. He'd been giving Georgia death glares at every turn, and she elected to just smile sweetly and ignore him. After all, he wouldn't dare do anything to Colonel Sink's favorite officer.

Now, ten days later, Georgia found herself buzzing with adrenaline. The regiment had taken naval transports across the channel and back to France in preparation for the jump. With the wind blowing through her hair, Georgia felt truly alive for the first time since early July.

The chatter of anxious paratroopers and boisterous pilots was like music to Georgia's ears as she checked her watch. Marian would've set off an hour earlier with the pathfinders to mark out drop zones for the Brits. Georgia herself still couldn't understand the appeal of heading into combat before everyone else, but it made sense that Marian would want to do it.

"Captain Fenley!" someone called.

Georgia saw Martin looking at her and she jogged over to him.

"Sobel's back?" he asked her.

She nodded. "He's on regimental staff, so he shouldn't bother Easy too much. If he does, just tell me, Lew, or Dick, alright?"

"Alright, Captain. Make sure he doesn't bother you either," said Martin.

Georgia smiled and rolled her eyes. She couldn't exactly recall when the NCOs of Easy Company had become so protective of her. "I'll make sure, Sergeant."

They saluted, and Georgia made her way back across the tarmac. She caught sight of Dick helping some men into his own plane. He gave her a grin, and she shot one back.

She'd done this once before, and she could do it again.

Besides, there probably wasn't any water to land in this time.

Hopefully.

Georgia got back with her stick and attached the rest of her gear with the help of Matheson. After that, she hauled herself up and into the plane. They sat inside in the warm September air for a while before the engine whirred to life and the planes rose into the sky. Seeing everyone's faces clearly gave her a strange sense of comfort that she hadn't had when jumping into Normandy. As they flew across France and into Holland, Georgia caught herself smiling.

One of the pilots pushed past the seated paratroopers and took off the door. She could see green grass below her. It reminded her of her training jumps back at Fort Benning, almost two years earlier.

The red light flicked on.

"Stand up!"

She stood.

"Hook up!"

Click.

"Equipment check!"

She checked Matheson's gear in front of her and felt Sobel re-tie one strap on her main chute. Her reserve hung in front of her. Some of the soldiers had opted not to bring their reserve chutes because they were jumping low, and Georgia had nearly joined them. After all, she'd been lucky enough in combat the first time around, so why not take some risks the second time? Then, she'd recalled one of Marian's sayings. "Saying you're lucky means you've just used up the last of it." With that in mind, she'd packed her chute promptly.