Love and War (Band of Brothers) EDITING

4

The next morning, I was awake before the rest of the men at 0400 hours. Dressing quickly in my fatigue pants and white shirt, I headed to the mess hall slowly and quietly. The crickets still chirped as I made my way down the gravel path alone. Aside from the light hanging over the mess hall's door, it was pitch black outside. The sound of my boots crunching on the ground seemed louder than it was, and I worried that i might wake someone.

Until I realized someone was already awake. From my peripherals, i could see the faint glow of a cigarette near one of the barracks. Squinting my eyes slightly, I tried to make out a figure but failed. It was too dark. Maybe whoever it was couldn't see me either, and was possibly wondering who in their right mind would be awake at this hour. Turning my head forward, i continued my slow trudge towards the mess hall.

"Good morning Sergeant Stone." a raw, husky voice came from the direction of the cigarette.

Darting my eyes back to the mysterious man, I struggled to recognize him. Was it perhaps Nixon? I believe that's the officers' quarters.

"Good morning." I said wearily, shaking my head.

Oh well.

******************

Inside the kitchen, I juggled my time between maneuvering waffle makers and taking long, burning slurps of awful black coffee. Private Duncan had arrived shortly before me so I didn't have to setup at least. He busied himself with filling syrup dispensers as I slopped batter everywhere in a frantic mission to make enough waffles for Easy and Dog companies.

Still feeling a little disheartened by Sobel's unfair assignment, I strived to prove myself. Even if it meant throwing a little brown sugar into the waffle batter.

"Sergeant Stone?" Private Duncan called from the counter behind me.

"Yes?" i asked, not looking away from the bowl of batter in my hands.

"Should I perhaps cut up some strawberries for a topping?" he asked.

Private Adam Duncan was the only one who took mealtime seriously. He seemed genuinely interested in preparing food for the men.

"Uh, yeah if you can manage. They'll be here in about twenty minutes." I said.

"And maybe some blueberries?" he asked again, going to the cooler.

"Don't overwork yourself, we still have to stack plates!" i called, flipping the waffle maker.

"I've got it!"

After successfully making over 200 waffles and moving them to their warming pans, I finished setting up plates and whatnot just in time for Easy company to shuffle in, full of yawns and hungry moans.

"What's for breakfast beautiful?" George Luz asked, gathering a plate.

"Waffles, George." I replied, tossing a couple onto his plate.

"Wow, nice!" he said, smelling them.

"I'm starting to like our new cook." Malarkey said from behind him.

"Yeah well, don't get your hopes up. If I had it my way, I'd be running Curahee right now instead of making breakfast." i grumbled.

Raising his eyebrows, george scoffed.

"Not quite the housewife are ya, Sergeant?" he asked with a grin.

"Not quite." I replied with a tight grin.

I was glad to hear the joyous groans of full and satisfied stomachs as I served the last two waffles to Perconte, who managed to make this his third plate. They seemed to really like my cooking, and Duncan's toppings had been cleared out too. It was a job well done, and I made sure to praise him for it.