Charade (Band of Brothers)

" MOONLIT AMBUSH "

Kate groaned, winded from her impact with the ground. For a moment, she squeezed her eyes shut and heaved for breath, until she realized that she was pinned down by the man she had just killed. As she scrambled to push off the dead weight, she felt something hot and viscous trickling down her neck. Raising a trembling hand to the side of her head, she winced at the stinging sensation in her ear. Just as she had thought, her hand came away, glistening black with the blood smeared across her fingertips. The bullet must have grazed my ear as I pushed the Mauser aside. Shaking her hand to one side to flick off the blood, Kate staggered to her feet and pulled her rifle out from under the man. Within moments of the action, Talbert rushed to her side, followed closely by Shifty. 

"You okay, Nicolli?" Talbert asked, wincing at her ear.

"It's fine, just a scratch."

"You should put some sulfa powder on that." He glanced up towards the road. "But not right now; the rest of the kraut patrol would have heard that gunshot. Pretty soon we'll be outnumbered three-to-one."

"So what are you suggesting, Sergeant?" Kate rarely referred to her friend by his rank, but in this grave moment where leadership was needed, she felt it was appropriate. Talbert looked at Shifty, who held the same rank, and frowned. 

"We should carry on to our objective and meet up with the rest of Easy." It was the sensible answer, the one that followed protocol and respected all of the things they had learned throughout two years of training. But it wasn't necessarily the answer Kate had hoped to hear. Don't do it, Nicolli, Kate told herself, and bit her tongue. Both of the others looked as unhappy at the conclusion as she felt.

"I-" Damn you, why can't you just keep your trap shut? She cursed herself. Talbert and Shifty stared at her expectantly. "I don't mean to question your orders, but... The Germans will be heading this way right now. They'll pursue us for God knows how long, and if we're running with our backs to them, they'll certainly have the advantage." She stopped to clear her throat, which suddenly felt incredibly dry. "If we, if we were to circle back in their direction as they approach and outflank them, we could attack them from behind when they come off the road here."

The two sergeants stared at each other for a while. Talbert pulled at his bottom lip with his thumb and forefinger, which always showed that he was thinking deeply about something. 

"What do you say, Floyd?" Shifty asked. "I think we could have the advantage." He shot another look towards the road. "We'd better agree quickly."

Reluctantly, Talbert nodded his head. "Alright. We could get Shifty to provide covering fire while you and I, Nicolli, move in." 

The butterflies in Kate's stomach were almost overwhelming. She gripped her rifle and nodded, biting back a nervous smile. Shifty hastily took the lead as the three of them crouch-ran parallel to the road, far in the foliage. After a minute or so, they paused upon hearing the din of German boots moving down the road. The group was making its way towards the spot where their three friends had gone missing, and where the shot had sounded from. No doubt they knew the Americans would have fled, but with any luck, they wouldn't be expecting an ambush.

Shifty carried on for another few dozen feet, moving with the silence of a deer in the forest, before dropping to one knee and opening his palm, signaling to the right towards the road. Kate and Talbert followed his command and headed closer to their targets. Across the road, a hedgerow intersected perpendicular to the path, leaving one side exposed to them, but hidden to the Germans. Shifty would position himself there, while the other two began their attack from behind the enemy, just skirting the road itself. 

Finally, it was time for Shifty to dart across the road, get into position and give the signal. Kate held her breath as he moved into plain sight, the moonlight reflecting off of his helmet and the muzzle of his rifle in the dark. He ducked behind the hedgerow and aimed his rifle at the group, before looking up at the anxious pair of paratroopers. He raised his hand and waved it towards the Germans. As soon as he passed the signal, Kate followed Talbert swiftly down the side of the road. A dozen meters or so from their targets, Talbert crouched down and lifted his rifle. Kate mirrored his actions. Just before the Germans were about to enter the forest, Talbert squeezed off a shot, hitting one of the Germans in the chest. His knees buckled in slow motion as he fell forward, hands flailing out by his sides. The blood from the wound sprayed out in front of him like mist in the night. Immediately, Talbert followed with a second shot, hitting another soldier in the shoulder. It was enough to send him stumbling backwards, but he wasn't out of the game yet. Simultaneously, Shifty fired two rapid rounds, which, naturally, hit both his targets, one in the neck, and the other through the helmet. Wearing it didn't do its owner much good at that moment. In the meantime, Kate, slightly shakily, also aimed for one of her enemies. She wrapped her finger around the trigger and winced as she looked through the sights, aiming for the heart. Perhaps the head would have been more effective, but the chest gave her a wider target with a larger chance of success. She pulled the trigger and the bullet grazed the man's chest, embedding itself in his arm. Shit. She quickly followed up with another shot as the man turned around, and this time, the bullet hit the man side-on, traveling through his chest. He fell to the ground, lifeless. This all happened in a time frame of less than a few seconds. The Germans steadied their arms and advanced, looking for the attackers. Talbert and Kate fell back into the forest, and Shifty leaned back, behind his hedgerow. So far, they had five down, four to go.