The Light In The Dark.

Chapter 30 - Wild Bill.

On the 31st of October, 1944 they were now situated in Driel, Holland. This was the night where their Commanding Officer, that they all actually liked, had been shot by one of the men on guard, Private Macintosh. Joyce and Eugene had been the two medics rushed to the scene to give aid to Frederick Heyliger. They had been on patrol and when asked for the password by the nervous private, he had hesitated as he forgot the correct one. Winters had gotten lucky, diving into the ditch and not getting hit.

Richard partly blamed himself for this, having told the drunken Harry Welsh they were coming. It was quite clear the man had forgotten to inform the sentries on guard. Thus being said, he decided it was best to transfer the private out of their battalion for his own sake and the sake of his men.

Joyce had never seen Eugene so mad. He had scolded the two officers for not knowing better. All she could do was offer them a sad smile. That was the last they saw of Frederick as he was sent home from war.

All the men and women were tense and on edge, being left without a CO once again. But word broke they were finally being sent off the front line after suffering many casualties. All of them were overjoyed to be able to get some decent rest.

In November they were sent to the town of Mourmelon, France. Upon reaching their destination they were allowed to shower and clean themselves and received clean uniforms to wear. After enjoying a nice hot shower they all enjoyed a nice calm meal, chattering amongst themselves and laughing.

Judith spent most of her time in France with Joe. With William Guarnere gone from their company after enjoying a joyride on a stolen bike which turned into him getting shot in the leg by a sniper, a lot of the company were quite lost without old Bill. He was the highlight of most peoples days. Eileen spent a lot of her time doing paper work and studying for their upcoming missions, whilst Joyce spent her time refining her medical knowledge with Eugene. Monique spent a good amount of time with Don.

"Easy still has only sixty five percent strenght, and most of those are replacements. Including their new C.O." Richard frowned.

"How is Lieutenant Dike doing ?" Nixon asked.

Eileen let out a chuckle accompanied with a snort.

"Three weeks in Holland and the guys are alreayd calling him Foxhole Norman." Harry Welsh spoke with a lit cigarrette between his lips, offering Eileen one once he had finished which she took.

"Well they are talking about a mid-march action at the earliest. So we train the guys for three months, we jump into Berlin and we end the war." Lewis said from where we sat.

"Oh the dream." Eileen smiled.

"The only thing holding Easy Company together is the NCO's. Toccoa men." Richard told the three in his office.

The door opened, Eileens eyes lit up as she went to hug the man.

"Sir, there's a Sergeant Guarnere here to see you."

"Look what the train brought in." Harry Welsh smiled.

"Heyy, the daredevil." Lewis joked.

"Good to see you Bill." Eileen smiled at him.

"Hey Captain." William smiled at Richard.

"Welcome back Bill." Richard shook the mans hand.

"Jesus its true. I never thought I'd see you behind a desk, sir." William joked.

"Yeah and someday he will sit behind it." Lewis spoke as he also shook Bills hand.

"Well, I just went AWOL from the hospital just to get back here sir. I hope thats not gonna cause you a problem." William stood infront of the man he respected most.