The Soldier of Stars [1] - Band of Brothers

9 | reality

" Sometimes the memory of someone is better than the reality of them."

- Steve Maraboli

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Hazel sat on a barrel, cleaning her rifle up when Sergeant Coleman came streaking in like a lightning rode towards where they were set to practice more hand to hand combat.

" You ready?" he asked quickly and Hazel raised a brow, confused. Usually he entered, with a hello, and asked her how she was.

" Are you ok?" Hazel asked him.

" Fine," he answered. Hazel could tell when someone wasn't ok. She was observant, you had to be as a sniper, and that was normally underestimated of her. Hazel met his eyes and gave him a look.

" Sergeant Jenkins approached me again," Sergeant Coleman said.

" Again?" Hazel asked him.

" I told him off, per usual. The guy just pisses me off. It's like he won't even give humans a chance." Coleman said as he shook his head, " He's a prick." Hazel lulled her head side to side with a faint nod.

" Has he said anything to you?" Coleman asked her. She nodded and Coleman raised a brow.

" The usual. Said I should go home, I don't belong here, nothing I haven't heard." Hazel told him as she turned and grabbed her rifle.

" Hazel-"

" I knew when joining that no matter what happened, even if I got the Bronze Star for some heroic battle, that this would remain controversial. There would be theories and rumors. We, as women, had to accept that." Hazel told him. Coleman nodded.

" I just question one thing," Hazel said and Sergeant Coleman glanced at him.

" If he's so pissed about us, why hasn't America heard about it?" Hazel asked him.

" What do you mean?"

" All men of the military were briefed about this, that if they told their families, they could be sentenced to death." Hazel said.

" He probably fears death," Sergeant Coleman told her, and Hazel smirked slightly.

" In war if you fear death, you become it." he told her and Hazel nodded, " Accepting death is the only way you survive." 

As May approached with warmer weather just behind it, so did information on some of the battles in the Pacific, or the sinking of ships in the Atlantic from U-Boats, with information flying rapidly through the newspapers on the front page of each and every big name paper in every country. 

Lizzie came in with the paper that evening, the title U-Boat Hysteria displayed at the top of the page, typed across it. The U-Boats practically controlled the Atlantic, it was a miracle that the girls had gotten across when they could.