A Brand New Hope (Band of Brothers)

-*Silent Night*-

Ricky wandered through the vast field with the rest of Easy Company, a wave of sadness flowing through her. She missed Brice already, even if he only left an hour ago. He didn't deserve being taken off the line, to be locked away in a hospital. But Ricky knew it was for his own good, and if it would keep him safe, she would respect that. But she knew that Brice would break out of the hospital somehow, and then show up out of the blue, that same old small smile on his face, his hands ready to work. 

Ricky fell into step beside Johnny, who she hadn't had the chance to speak to at all. The last time she spoke to him, she was still in England. 

"Hey Johnny." Ricky said softly to the man beside her. Johnny looked over at her, a small smile on his face. 

"How we doing, kiddo?" Johnny asked. 

"Hanging in there, I guess." Ricky stated, her eyes focusing on what was in front of her. The rain softly landed on her helmet. "Life's a problem in my hands." 

"Why do you say that?" the older man asked the young sniper. 

Ricky thought of what her family life was like, and how spread out they all were. She shook the thought away, muttered a quick 'I don't know', and sped up so that she was now beside Perconte, wanting to hear what he had to say. 

"Hey, Luz? How far we going?" the Italian asked. Ricky bit back a small chuckle, worrying it would set off Perconte. 

"Oh Jesus, I don't know Frank. Until they tell us to stop?" George huffed at his friend. Ricky smiled a little, falling into step beside him. 

"High ground," Hoobler said, joining the conversation. "There's higher ground up ahead." 

Frank huffed. "Okay, genius, answer me this: Why is Easy Company the only company who's either at the front of an advance, or like now, exposed at the far edge of the line?" 

"It was General Taylor himself, Perco. He knew personally that your pasta loving ass was in this company, so he made sure that you were always in danger, just for you. Hey, he might even break some spaghetti in half as a snack for you." Ricky interjected, earning a few laughs from Luz and Hoobler. Even a few men who weren't even apart of the conversation mustered a little chuckle. 

Perconte slapped her on the side of the head. "Shut it, Ginger." he grumbled. 

"To keep on your toes." Hoobler said helpfully, hoping that this would finally settle Perconte's original question. 

"No, that's not what I'm saying." Perconte said. Ricky rightfully groaned to herself, earning a glare from the man. "I'm saying that we're never in the middle. And we're the fifth of nine companies in this regiment. Able through Item. Think of it."

Just as Hoobler was about to speak, a ring of shots rang out, and Ricky threw herself onto the ground, her eyes scanning the area around her. The Germans had of course spotted the Americans passing through, and were not happy on their approach. 

"Get in the hedgerow!" Ricky heard Welsh yell over the gunfire. Bombs began to drop, and Ricky began to crawl fratically towards the bushes, careful to keep her head down.

Around her, men began to drop. Ricky prayed in her head that Oliver and Judas were alright, as she hadn't seen them since they moved out. She knew that they were somewhere around the front of the group, and it made her worry that she couldn't see them anywhere. As she clawed her way closer to the hedgerow, Ricky swore that the Germans had a hating for her, since she could feel the wind of the bullets sweeping over her head, centimeters from ending her life once and for all. She managed to crawl her way into the bushes, and kept her head down from any bullets.