A Soldier of No Importance [ Band of Brothers ] 1

FORTY FIVE

Alice didn't sleep more than a few hours. She got up before the sun on the morning of the fifth, wandering in and out of the silent aircraft. Originally, she'd been set to jump in Meehan's plane, but that morning they'd shuffled the men around a bit. Instead, Sergeant Evans jumped in Meehan's stick, and Alice would go with Harry Welsh's men. It made her feel better, knowing she'd be jumping with Easy's enlisted, not its Battalion officers and staff.

But that was about the only thing she felt better about when she woke up the day they'd be jumping. In addition to the jittery fear she'd felt yesterday, now a deep despair had settled in her stomach. The slight excitement had disappeared. Instead it'd been replaced with pure anxiety.

Two members of Easy had her more worried than others: Bill Guarnere and Gene Roe. The former needed to sort his anger and sadness out on his own, but Alice had noticed Gene becoming more and more distant, even more than usual, since their move to Aldbourne and especially Upottery, and it worried her. She wanted to talk to him before the jump.

This time, when the afternoon came and the men prepared their equipment, they were met with brilliant blue skies without a single cloud, and a bright sun to light their way. Most of them got ready in silence. In contrast to the previous day, where they'd been attempting to keep the mood light with jokes and banter, they seemed to have all lost that desire now that the jump was yet again approaching.

Alice left her pack with the others in her plane, and wandered in her full gear around the 506th's staging ground. Lieb had cut her hair the day before, so it just barely peeked out from under her helmet. Moving through D company, she tried to find Ron. Finally she caught sight of him a bit away from the others, standing beneath the plane wing near the body of the C-47. He stood smoking, staring down at a letter.

"Are you ready?" Alice asked. Picking her way through a pile of Dog's Second Platoon packs, she moved next to him. "And your men?"

"Ready as they'll ever be," he muttered. Glancing up from the letter, he folded it back up and stuck it in a pocket. "You?"

She took a cigarette he offered. Pulling out her lighter, she let the flame get the smoke going before answering. "There's no going back now."

"You wouldn't go back for any reason even if it was an option, Alice."

"Yeah, yeah you're right."

Ron shrugged. He looked over his men who stood talking in hushed tones, or rifling through packs and adjusting weapons. Then he turned back to her. "And Easy?"

Alice breathed deeply through her nose. She also stared out over the airfield, over the thousands of paratroopers crowding the tarmac. "They're ready."

"Good. Then there won't be any problems."

Her frown grew at his statement. "You better not die before we meet up in Normandy, Ron, or I'll kill you myself."

"Die?" He grinned, a rare occurrence in recent months. But clearly the idea of dying had him amused. "Those bastards will all wish I'd stayed here in England, Alice."

She snorted. "Yeah, I don't doubt it. But I'm serious."

He didn't respond as she backed away to head to Easy Company. He just shrugged, still smiling. When she turned away, she felt marginally better. Ron's cocky attitude helped calm her nerves.

Alice found Skip Muck, Don Malarkey, and Alex Penkala sitting together when she reached Easy. She moved over to them. The usually rambunctious trio sat quietly.

"Your gear ready?" Alice asked them.

"Hey, Lieutenant." Skip nodded. "All packed up and ready to go on vacation." Sarcasm practically dripped from his words.