Evans pumped his shotgun as he followed Lucy and Corporal Blake downstairs. He was not looking forward to this, at best, they’d be out for at least three hours. Exposed. In the open, “I fucking hate you Lucy.”

“You said that already Goldfish. Try something new,” Lucy started to list off suggestions.

Corporal Blake looked back at them, “Is this High School? Seriously. We’re in a fucking war zone. You’re like fucking teenagers.”

Lucy spoke up, “I am a teenager Corporal. I’m nineteen.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“Goddammit. You two better not get me killed,” Blake opened the front door of the building and held it open. Evans went through the door and was followed by Lucy. A burst of gunfire went off in the distance. Some Shells burst to the North.

The party turned West onto the road and started walking. Blake took a quick look behind them for a moment then ordered the group forward. Evans whispered to Lucy, “I hadn’t realized how straight this road was when we moving in. If there wasn’t all this rubble, you could probably close your eyes and walk for hours.”

“Why would you want to close your eyes and walk for hours?” Lucy cocked her head at Evans, “That just sounds stupid.”

Evans shrugged. Blake rolled her eyes. Lucy unshouldered her rifle and checked the bolt. Blake scanned around. The three moved in silence for a while. About three quarters of an hour in, a burst of fire raked across their path. Evans dove behind cover.

He looked around him. Lucy was hiding behind a parked truck. He couldn’t find Corporal Blake. Evans poked his head around the corner of his cover to scan the area.

He saw a body on the ground about four meters towards the machine gun. A burst hit in front of him and Evans ducked back behind the cover. He waved over at Lucy, “Cover me!”

Evans sprinted out of cover just as Lucy popped up and started firing at the Machine Gun. He grabbed Corporal Blake’s shoulders and started dragging her to cover. When he finally got behind cover, Evans flipped Blake onto her Back. Her torso was covered with blood. Blake groaned.

Pulling his bayonet out of the frog, Evans cut open Blake’s jacket, blouse, and undershirt. Evans then felt around her torso for bullet rounds. When he found one, he pulled some gauze out of his webbing and pressed down on the wound.

Blake opened her eyes and looked at Evans, “Hey Evans, buy a girl dinner first.” She coughed up some blood, “I’m good. You should take out the gunner. Then fix me.”

“Yes Corporal,” Evans strapped the bandage into place and leaned out of his cover and find Blake’s scoped rifle. He saw it. No time to yell to Lucy. He just started sprinting, picked up the rifle mid-sprint, and dove behind a low wall. “Lucy, distraction!”

Evans waited for the machine gun to fire towards Lucy, then popped out. He aimed the scope at the Machine gunner. He slowly squeezed the trigger. The rifle kicked, Evans lowered the scope back down. The machine gunner was slumped over the sandbags. His loader was trying to move the body. Evans bolted the rifle and fired again. The loader was down. Evans shouldered the rifle and ran back to Blake. Lucy followed suit.

“Lucy, can you check her webbing for gauze. I think theres another gunshot wound,” Evans knelt next to Blake and started the slow process of feeling around Blake’s torso. He found it. Lucy put the gauze onto Blake and wrapped it tight. He looked at Lucy, “Her best bet is if we get to the Dragoons and see if they have a Medical Officer.”

Lucy nodded. Evans pulled off his jacket and laid it over Blake’s chest, “Let’s go.”

The two started running West. It was about half an hour before they encountered the forward guard of the dragoons. Evans jumped held Blake’s rifle up in the air and waved it back and forth, “Hey! Over here!”

The leading soldier spurred his horse and moved closer. Evans saw the rank of Lieutenant on the shoulder boards. The Lieutenant dismounted in a few meters from Lucy and Evans and spoke to them with an aristocratic voice, “Hello Privates, I’m Lieutenant Trafford Lansbury, Apple Company, 3rd Dragoons. How may I be of service?”

Lucy spoke up first, “We’re with the 202nd Infantry. Fox Company. We’re a few miles down the road, holed up in a building.”

Evans broke into the conversation, “Sir, We took a casualty while moving here. We bandaged her up, but shes still on the road back there. Do you have a medic?”

Lieutenant Lansbury nodded, “Lieutenant Moore is our Nurse.” The Lieutenant shouted to one of the soldiers on horseback, “Lance Corporal Marion, get Lieutenant Moore!”

The Lance Corporal took off on his horse down the line. Lucy looked at Lieutenant Lansbury, “I’m here acting as the representative of Captain Simmons. He’ll want me to meet with your Commanding Officer before you keep moving.”

“Alright, I’ll take you to Captain Czerski,” Lieutenant Lansbury then turned to Evans, “And you Private, wait here for Lieutenant Moore.” The Lieutenant mounted his horse and reached his hand down to Lucy. Lucy grabbed his hand and the Lieutenant hoisted her onto the horse behind him. The pair took off down the line.

After a few minutes, Evans saw a women ride towards him, with two horses. She looked somehow majestic in the drab army uniform. She pulled the horse along side him and looked down, “You must be the Private from the Infantry. Want to show me to the casualty?” The Lieutenant reached down and helped Evans onto her horse.

Evans hugged his arms around the Lieutenant’s waist. He was tall enough that he could see over the top of the Lieutenant’s Helmet, “Lieutenant, I’m Private Evans. You need to keep moving down this same road. We’ll get there eventually.”

“Good Private, hold on tight,” The Lieutenant spurred her horse and took off at a canter. The Lieutenant quickly glanced back at Evans face, “I’m Lieutenant Moore. You can call me Amy though.”

Evans let out a laugh, “Wait, Amy Moore? I’m Jimmy Evans!”

Amy spurred the horse to jump over a cart, “Jimmy? My word! Wait, is Jack in your company?”

“No, he’s in the 351st. It turns out that was the worst plan ever,” Evans shrugged, “Can you go any faster? We bandaged Corporal Blake up, but she still is in the middle of the road.”

“They don’t give us the best horses. Traveler is a bit old,” Amy spurred her horse again, “So I bet this must be awkward for you.”

“Why Amy? Is having people get shot awkward?”

“Well, Jimmy, I remember you had the biggest crush on me in school. It was embarrassing. And now I’m an Officer. The government says I’m better than you.”

“I’ll have you know that I’m married Amy,” Evans squeezed Amy’s torso tighter with his right arm so he could release his left, “See, wedding ring.” After a few seconds he squeezed his arm back on Amy, “So is this your first show?”

“Yeah, I actually haven’t had much training. They just needed more officers with medical training,” Amy sat up for a moment and scanned around, “You?”

“I was at White Beach. And Jack sad he was at Dry Forest.” The two then sat in silence until Evans saw Blake, who had dragged herself into a seated position, Evans jacket loosely hanging off her shoulders. Amy pulled to a stop and the two dismounted. Handing the reins to Evans, Amy went and tended to Blake. Evans tied the horses to the truck and patted both of them on the muzzle. He then went over to Amy, who was changing the bandages on Corporal Blake.

Evans picked up his jacket and cleaned off the blood and put it back on, “Is she going to be alright?”

“Yeah, but we should get her back to wherever your company is based,” Amy looked at Evans and raised her eyebrow, “You’re just putting that jacket back on?” She knelt and started walking to the horses, “Pick up the Corporal and put her on the back of Traveler. You can ride my other horse, Felicity. If I had known it was you, I would have had you ride Felicity from the outset.”

Kneeling down, Evans picked up Corporal Blake. He stood up and walked her over to Traveler. Amy helped Blake onto the back of the horse. Evans then walked over and mounted Felicity. When Amy got onto Traveler, the two took off towards Fox Company. Evans led the way.