I was one of five women chosen to serve our country, fighting side by side with the men, and only some of us had come home. Being surrounded by friends and enemies, having to choose who you can save, who you can love, and how to survive is something...
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I woke to the sounds of men laughing and talking just outside of my cover. Reluctantly, I opened my eyes, blinking to adjust to the early morning sunlight seeping through the tree canopy overhead. The heavy rain stopped sometime during the night and even the temperature started to warm up with the help of the rising sun.
I sighed, feeling the heaviness on my body from sleep deprivation. My tired eyes burned as I blinked, begging for just a couple more minutes of sleep but I knew that wasn't possible. Stretching the kinks out from my back and neck after being inside the poorly dug foxhole, I yawned, pushing myself to my feet to peer cautiously over the edge.
I concentrated on the voices surrounding me, only to realize none of them sounded familiar. Panic seized me until I remembered Lieutenant Speirs repositioned me closer to Dog Company near the back of the line instead of where my own Company hunkered down further in.
One of the D Company men glanced over to where I was peering out. He stared at me as he was walking back to his position, asking, "So, what did you do to piss him off?"
I furrowed my brow as I met the man's gaze. "Excuse me?"
"What'd you say to Lieutenant Speirs last night?" the man questioned, sitting on a stump next to his friend.
"I don't understand..." I stated truthfully. "I didn't say anything to him."
"Well," the soldier stated, "He's been a hell of a lot tougher on all of us since he put you in there last night." He took a bite of his breakfast, speaking with a semi-full mouth, "What did you do to him?"
I shook my head, shrugging. "I didn't do anything..."
Before the man could hammer me with any more questions, bullets ricocheted off the trees, snapping the branches off as they zipped through the air. I sank into my cover as the men returned fire. Someone down the D Company line shouted, "Tanks!"
No sooner did the warning pierce through the air, did the sound of the blast boom overhead, shaking the world around us. I squeezed my eyes shut, praying I'd live through this attack. I felt the ground quake under me like the world was splitting in two. This was the first time we had been attacked by tanks and I was terrified. I could feel my heart beating hard behind my ribcage as I trembled from fear, completely frozen in place.
My heart lurched into my throat when I heard an anguished cry above me. The pained screams were recognizable as someone who was hit - and from the sounds of it, it was bad. I forced myself to my shaky feet, clawing my way out of the cover I was ordered to stay in, only to be greeted by members of Dog Company who appeared shocked to see me crawling on my stomach towards them.
I shouted over the battle, bringing myself to my knees to remain a smaller target, "Who's hit?"
They blinked away their shock, motioning for me to follow. The questioning soldier from earlier shouted into my ear over the sounds of the battle, "Our medic was hit! He's there!" He pointed to the body a few feet away before moving back to the line to return fire.
