A Soldier of No Importance [ Band of Brothers ] 1

TEN

August came and went, Easy Company spending most of their time doing physical training. Hatred for Sobel continued to fester. Alice found herself not taking Nixon's advice. She found the prospect of talking about her childhood and early adulthood too difficult. Still, she noticed the men all tolerated her. Part of her wanted to share stories as they would each night.

As the grueling Georgia heat slowly began to subside, the Company still had their weekend passes. Friday meant the twelve mile march. As Alice stood outside the barracks by herself, decked out in her gear, she watched the men grumbling around in amusement.

When Dick called out for them to fall into formation, she meandered to her usual spot. She liked to run towards the front half, where she could hear everyone. With the sun setting, they started off down the road. The frustration building in the Company boiled over in their second hour. She had expected something, but not from Bull Randleman.

"Lieutenant Winters!"

"What is it?"

"Permission to speak, sir?"

"Permission granted.

Alice wondered what he was going to say. She just swallowed down her own saliva in the absence of water. The night, though cooler than the day, still felt hot. Their gear didn't help.

"Sir, we've got nine companies, sir."

"We do."

Bull paused. The whole company was silent as he continued. "Why are we the only one marching every Friday night, twelve miles, in the pitch dark."

Alice grimaced at the question. How Dick would answer that, she didn't know. He couldn't come out and insult Sobel.

"Why do you think, Private Randleman?"

"Lieutenant Sobel hates us, sir."

With a bite of her cheek, Alice tried to suppress a laugh at the statement. As much as she in fact hated Sobel, he did his job. Easy Company was the finest company in the 506th. She waited to see how Dick would respond.

"Lieutenant Sobel does not hate Easy Company, Private Randleman. He just hates you."

"Thank you, sir."

The whole platoon cracked up. Alice couldn't stop herself from joining them. As they all muttered varying degrees of agreement, her eyes met Dick's and he sent her a ghost of a smile. She returned it.

"Yeah but he hates Alice the most."

Alice chuckled, trying to figure out who had said it. Probably George. The others shouted in support of the statement. After their little bout of humor, the walk became less stressful. Sure, they still hated Sobel, but at least they all knew it and got it out of their systems.

Her body ached by the time they returned to Camp. As usual, Sobel stood waiting for them. In the dark they could still see the fury behind his eyes. They stood at attention as best they could. Alice looked to her right and saw Christenson, paler than usual and wobbling.

"Are you sick?" she kept her voice low.

Christenson didn't respond. He just looked at her, fear etched on his face. Her heart ached as they prepared to pour out their water. She had a feeling she knew why Pat Christenson looked scared.

As the water poured to the ground, his canteen ran dry. Her heart sank. Sobel would make him do the march again, no matter how sick he was.

"Who is this?" Sobel all but ran towards them at the back. He glared down. "Christenson? Why is there no water in your canteen? You drank from your canteen!" With a shout, he turned back. "Lieutenant Winters! Was this man ordered not to drink from his canteen?"