A new medic

Chapter 9

Camp Mackall, North Carolina - June 23, 1943

"Petty. Map. C'mon," Sobel hissed. Jess heard Petty mutter 'ah, Christ,' under his breath. She sent him a reassuring glance before turning back to stare out at the seemingly empty forest. She silently cursed Sobel for his incapability to lead the Company. He may be able to bully them into being physically the fittest but when it came to navigation and field exercises, Easy Company had one of the worst records imaginable. It was all down to Sobel, as soon as he was put into a scenario of war he completely fell apart. As a result his anger was constant and even worse than it had been at Toccoa. It was only due to the leadership, calmness and intelligence of Dick Winters that Easy hadn't failed every time and the men hadn't tried to revolt. However, the relationship between Sobel and Winters had officially gone past any point of reconciliation as a result.

"We're in the wrong position." Jess glanced over to see Dick slide down into the trench and engage the panicking Sobel in a conversation. As Dick tried to convince the stubborn CO that they should stay where they were, Jess caught the eye of Guarnere. The two had become firm friends and Jess was now convinced she could read Guarnere as well as she could read Nixon. He smirked at her, gestured his head towards Sobel and rolled his eyes in frustration. Jess grinned back and nodded her head in agreement.

"Lieutenant, deploy your troops." Sobel brushed past Dick who stood frozen for a moment and then reissued the order.

"Second Platoon, move out." He hissed towards the men. Everyone looked at each other with confusion and Jess felt a rush of sympathy towards Dick. Despite everything he always told Sobel, their CO just brushed his advice aside and ordered him to carry out the most hopeless plans. Easy followed the orders without dispute however.

Their boots crunched against the leaves and dead twigs on the floor of the woods as they followed their CO towards the 'enemy.' Jess stumbled slightly over a root and grabbed onto Guarnere for balance which caused him to exclaim out loud. Dick, who was walking next to Sobel, turned at the noise and shot the pair a steely stare. Jess bowed her head slightly in shame but Bill just continued to glare at the back of Sobel's head.

Just then, the 'enemy' rose from the bushes aiming their rifles directly at Easy. They were surrounded and completely in the open. "Captain, you've just been killed along with ninety-five percent of your company. Your outfit?" Sobel relayed the desired information quickly under his breath. Jess stood next to Guarnere and they exchanged angry looks. They both knew, as they turned to follow Sobel back to the camp, that with this incompetent man in charge, they would be lucky if they even made it into the war.

Winters was packing with Nixon in their barrack for their deployment. They were discussing Sobel and his latest misadventure in the field exercises. "Ah, what are you gonna do?" sighed Nix as his friend explained what had happened. Dick shrugged nonchalantly. "Nothing, just keep training the men." There was nothing else he could do. Sobel, idiot though he was, was still the superior officer and boss of Easy Company. Dick couldn't go against him.

Footsteps suddenly sounded on the wooden floor as another Lieutenant appeared. He had slightly curly, blonde hair and as he smiled it revealed a small toothless gap in his mouth. "Am I interrupting?" he asked, pausing on the threshold and glancing between Nix and Dick. Dick stood and shook his head. "No, no. Lieutenant Lewis Nixon, Lieutenant Harry Welsh, just in from the eighty second." Harry and Lew shook hands as Dick continued to order his belongings. "Congratulations on the promotion." Welsh grinned at Nix who laughed.

"Ah, thanks, if you wanna call it that. You'll learn him pretty quickly," Nixon motioned with his head towards Dick. "No flaws, no vices, no sense of humour."

"Just like your chums up at Battalion Staff?" Dick quipped back. "What's up?" He turned his attention back to Harry, dreading that the answer would be Sobel doing something else to try and destroy them before they even set foot in a battle. "I'm hearing a lot of rumblings," Harry explained as Nix and Winters exchanged knowing looks.

"Sobel?" Nix asked. "We were just talking about that." Harry made a noise of acknowledgment in his throat. By now, it seemed as if every paratrooper at the camp had heard about Sobel's exploits. "So, he gets a little jumpy in the field?"

"Mm-hmm. He gets jumpy and then you get killed." Harry smiled at Nix's brutal summary of being under Sobel's command. "Yeah," Dick looked at the two men hesitantly. "Listen, if we discuss it, I think it should just be amongst ourselves." Lew and Harry both nodded in agreement. Best not to let Sobel hear how his own officers talked about him.

Sobel himself then appeared in the doorway. Lew, Dick and Harry spun to attention and faced him. He looked at the trio suspiciously but could evidently find nothing to criticise them about. "Second platoon ready?" Sobel turned to Dick. Dick nodded, "ready sir," he replied. Sobel scanned his eyes over his XO before continuing. "Then get them in formation, we're moving out." Dick and Harry nodded once more before leaving to gather their troops. Sobel stared at Nix for a few more moments before biting into the apple he was holding and walking away. Nix rolled his eyes in amusement and exasperation. 'Poor Jez and Dick. Sobel really is the worst possible Captain,' he thought before turning back to his remaining belongings that needed to be packed.