Author: tfielding38

Link Up

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“Little One!” Major Anson called from downstairs, “A Mister Simmons is here to see you!”

Evans finished up the last stitching on the flag, fixed his uniform, and ran downstairs and saluted, “Captain Simmons. Good to see you sir.”

Captain Simmons returned the salute, “Good to see you Private.” He then turned to Major Anson, “Nice to meet you Ma’am.”

Major Fitzroy came over, “Thanks for the sewing Evans, Elise and I still do not know how to do it. We’ll have to look for a new runner who can.”

Evans saluted the Majors, “Thank you very much Majors.”

The Captain shook the hands of the two Majors and turned to Evans, “Company is waiting outside Private. You may join them.” As Evans left, the Captain sat down. Evans was treated to a small cheer when he got out the door.

Tiscornia was leaning on an armored car with his arm around Giuliano. Chilcott was standing next to them with Sergeant boards on his shoulders. Newey and Head were sharing a flask. Turner and Ustinov were on the ground playing cards. A few other privates Evans didn’t recognize were sitting around. Most surprisingly, Cain was sitting on the hood of the truck, smoking.

Evans spoke first, “So I’m not dead if you were wondering. And Cain, how are you doing?”

“Good,” Cain pulled up her shirt showing a long scar from a bayonet, “Plus I’ve got a cool scar. And according to the doctor, I’ve got a bit of the bayonet still in me. Cool huh? And I heard you knocked up Zwev. Nice.”

Chilcott butted in, “About Zwev… If you haven’t sent a letter yet… We got a days leave, and I may have… went to inform her of your death personally… Sorry… If you are worried, Zwev was very sad when she heard.”

“I just sent her a letter yesterday. Knowing the Army, it will get to her in three months,” Evans then gestured to Chilcott’s shoulders, “Congrats on the promotion… And what’s with these fancy trucks?”

Chilcott smiled, “No more scouting and recon. We’re attached to the Cavalry now. So this should be fun…”

“And what Chilly didn’t mention, we’ve got a few new kids, and one guy who is… you know, smart,” Tiscornia turned his head and yelled back, “Pastor! Over here!”

“Yes Dominic.” After a few moments, an older private walked over. He appeared to be in his late thirties. He extended his hand to Evans, “Hello my child, I’m Private Lewis. As young Dominic mentioned, I have spent the last eighteen years as a Pastor, but I am open for something new.”

“A Pastor? No offense Pastor Lewis, but why are you here?” Evans bobbled his head back and forth, “I mean, you’re university educated. Couldn’t you be a chaplain, or at least an officer? You know, and not be miserable all the time?”

The Pastor smiled, “A Pastor is supposed to help spread the word to those in need. And I feel like God is most needed by the young men and women on the front. And is their a better way to spread the word than to be miserable with you.”

“Eh, good enough,” Evans shrugged, “Hey, does anyone have an extra weapon for me? I’ve lost mine in all the chaos.”

“I think Cavalry has some extra,” Chilcott put his hands on his hips, “I’ll ask the new LT when she comes around.” He paused for a moment, “So did Chambers ever manage to get to you? 401st didn’t hear from her either.”

“Yeah… She almost made it all the way back. Last I saw, she was being operated on in a front line hospital. Lost a lot of blood. I checked, and she didn’t pass through the hospital here,” Evans put his hands in his pockets, “So… What happened to Lieutenant Stoddart?”

“He was transfered to special forces. He’s going to be in the miners. And impressively, our new Lieutenant is Lieutenant Demi Kestel. She’s supposed to link up with us here.”

“Yes I am,” a short Lieutenant, about 160 centimeters walked up. The soldiers snapped to attention to salute, but she waved them off, “We don’t need salutes here. I already now I’m better than you. Now, first thing first, which one of you is Private Evans?”

“I am Ma’am.”

The Lieutenant reached into her pocket and pulled out an envelope, “You’re a Lance Corporal now soldier. You’ll be under the command of whoever Sergeant Chilcott is. I expect you to be in Uniform by tomorrow.” She then yelled out, “Second Platoon Fox Company! Fifteen Minutes until All Company meeting!” She then handed a piece of paper to Sergeant Chilcott, “Here’s a roster Sergeant… I’ll get your name later. Farewell soldiers.”

Sergeant Chilcott looked over the list, “Hey, Maria, Dom, Evans, Pastor. I’m in charge of you guys. Pastor and Nazarri are under Evans. Delage and the new girl Laker are under Tiscornia.”

Evans was still somewhat in shock, “Wait, did I get promoted by The Demetria Kestel?”

“Yeah, Lady Demetria is our new Lieutenant,” Newey peered over at the Lieutenant, who was talking with a few cavalry officers, “And she is way hotter than she looks in the newspapers.”

“You are talking about the heir apparent to the Duchy of Medway, not some random woman on the street,” Cain was visibly annoyed.

“But look at the tits under that uniform. And you’re just annoyed because you Medwayens actually care about your aristocrats,” Newey took a drink from his flask and went back to staring at the Lieutenant, “So what the hell is she doing on the front instead of aiding some general?”

“We Medwayens take pride in our warrior heritage. We gave you all a run for your money in the Unification Wars.” Cain took another drag on her cigarette and leaned back on the truck.

“If I recall correctly, we won that war,” Newey stuck his tongue out at Cain.

“If I recall correctly,” the Lieutenant tapped Newey on the shoulder, “We were outnumbered four to one in almost every battle, but we still won most of them.” She then turned to Cain, “And you Private, it will be nice to serve with a real warrior.”

“Thank you Lady Demetria, it is an honor to serve under you,” Cain then kneeled in front of the Lieutenant and bowed her head, “I am Private Hannah Cain Ma’am.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you Miss Cain,” the Lieutenant put her hand on Cain’s shoulder and turned to Newey, “And you Lance Corporal. If you weren’t far below my stature, I am way out of your league. Look at my body, my beautiful, voluptuous body… Now look at your body. Especially the face. I win.” She then turned to Evans, “And why I came back here. I’d like to be the first to congratulate you.” She pulled out another piece of paper and started reading off of it, “Private James Evans of the 202nd Infantry division has been recommended for the Medal of Ethslin, Fourth Class for his actions on the night of 7 September 1326. Recommending Officer is Lieutenant Jane Ricci.” She looked up, “I guess you’re having a good day.” The Lieutenant then turned and left once again.

Newey nodded, “I like her.”

The Majors

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“So, Private Evans… Where are you from?” Major Fitzroy pulled off his glasses and fiddled with them.

“Um… Halton…” Evans gestured to the door, “I should get back to the 202nd. There might be a truck going in their direction.”

Major Fitzroy looked at his watch, “You can wait here, the 202nd is passing through here in two days. I remember because that Colonel with the funny name is in charge. Heh… Darling.” He then shrugged, “So what do you do in Halton?”

“It’s a small town. I’m a farmer.”

The Major’s eyes lit up and he leaned forward, “A Farmer! How Quaint. So you must now all about plants. Or I guess you call them nature growers.”

“No… That’s not a real thing sir.”

Major Anson yelled from upstairs, “Ben just thinks he’s all colloquial because his wife used to be poor!”

“Marjorie worked in the factory my father owned when we first met,” Major Fitzroy smiled, “It’s just like that operetta, The Gentleman and his Lady. Have you seen it Private?”

“I live on a farm Sir, we don’t have any theaters near by,” Evans shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“Really? If you are ever in Newacre after the war, come find me, you can visit my box and we will take in a show!” Major Fitzroy was visibly excited. He noticed the ring on Evans’ finger and pointed, “And you can bring your Farm Wife! How wonderful.”

Major Anson came downstairs, “You don’t have to call it a Farm Wife Ben. It’s just Wife.”

“What do you know about wives?”

“I have 6 years experience as one, and my 4 children are a testament to my popularity in the position,” Major Anson walked to the jar, pulled out a cookie and offered it to Evans, “So do you want another cookie little guy? I can’t believe someone as young and small as you is married. And in the Army.”

“I’m 19 Ma’am, and I’m 25 centimeters taller than you,” he paused for a moment, “And yes I’ll have a cookie Ma’am”

“Aww,” Major Anson pinched his cheek and handed him a cookie, “You remind me of my oldest. He’s five.”

Major Fitzroy put on his glasses and started doing some paperwork, “Do you have any little farmlings with your Farm Wife?”

Evans smiled, “Not yet sir… I think… Anna is pregnant. If that’s what you mean by Farmling.” Evans reached into his breast pocket and pulled out the picture of Anna in the Mauve dress, “Here’s a picture of her. She’s wearing a dress in that fancy new color Mauve sir.”

Major Anson leaned over and looked at the picture, “Ooh, I have a Mauve dress. It is a lovely color.” She nodded, “I think I’ll wear it to dinner tonight… Little Evans, do you have a cleaner uniform? We are having guests over for dinner, and I will not have you wearing that ratty thing and embarrassing us.”

“Ma’am, I only have the things I’m wearing right now,” Evans looked down at his uniform. He hadn’t taken it off in over a week. It was covered in blood and sweat, and it reeked of death. It was ripped all over. Evans looked down at the hole in his pants where the bullet had passed through. At least most of the blood wasn’t his.
“Alright,” Major Fitzroy furled his brow, “I think we might have an enlisted uniform somewhere around here that is about your size. You will have to sew your stripes on, and, since you will be doing sewing anyways, and you do not have anything else to do today, Elise and I will give you some items to sew.”
Major Fitzroy led Evans upstairs to the radio room and showed him the sewing machine and the uniform. The room was mostly empty except for the radio set up, the sewing machine, a bed, and a trunk labeled “Major Anson”. All the windows were boarded up, and the only light came from some candles around the room. Evans started working on the uniform. When he was finished, he quickly changed into his new uniform. He then started to work on things that the Majors had brought him. Over they day, the two occasionally brought him food and water. Major Anson would use the radio on occasion to call the staff headquarters.
It was long, boring work. Mostly repairing the Majors’ uniforms, occasionally repairing a flag or pillowcases. While was eating lunch, he wrote another letter to Anna. He then got excited. After this long time in Urbs, he could finally send all his letters. Then he went back to work.
At about six forty in the evening, Evans was getting tired. He had been awake for almost an entire day by this point. Major Anson came up, “Our guests are coming over soon, and I need to change, so don’t look back at me. The only living man who has seen me with my clothes off is my husband. If you look at me, he will still be the only living man. What I’m meaning to say is that I will murder you little one. Besides that, thank you for the suggestion for mauve.”
Evans shrugged and continued to work. After a few minutes, the Major tapped him on the shoulder, “I am dressed now. I need your help.” Evans turned around. The Major gestured down to her boots, “It’s hard to get these things off on my own. I hate boots.”
Kneeling down and gripping the boots, Evans averted his eyes from her dress and yanked, “Why do you wear them Major? You don’t seem to wear the rest of your uniform.”
“I wore down the general so I could wear something pretty instead, but he was a stickler on the boots,” the first boot finally came off. Major Anson pulled her sock off, waggled her toes, and held out the other boot. She smiled, “I can’t wait until this war is over. I get to wear all my own clothes. I can eat real food. Play with my children. Make another one. It will be a good time.”
Evans pulled off the other boot, “So you aren’t going to work Ma’am?”
“Of course I am Private, peacetime army allows you to be pregnant. And it’s a fun thing to do for nine months,” When the next boot came off, she pulled off the corresponding sock, “I think I will try for a blonde one this time. Brown hair is boring.” She stood up and walked to pick up another pair of shoes, “I am done with you little one. Go downstairs and set the table for four, General Maxwell is apparently very excited to hear about your adventures.”
Evans saluted and then ran down the stairs. There was a Lance Corporal in the kitchen preparing food. Evans walked up to him, “Um… Hi, I’m Evans, I was ordered to set the dishes.”
“I’m Lance Corporal Sandes, dishes are in the cabinet above my right shoulder,” the Lance Corporal finished what he was doing and pointed it out, “So you’re the new runner for the Majors? Good luck with that, they’re crazy.”
“I’m not their runner. I’m in the infantry, I uh… got separated from my unit and ended up here. It’s a long story,” Evans pulled some dishes out of the cupboard and went to the next room.

Roadblock Assault

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They were about 200 meters from the roadblock when Lucy fired the first grenade. Evans heard the snap of the blank over the engines roar, saw it soar overhead and slam right on target. Flames erupted from the armory. The soldiers at the road block turned around just in time for Lucy’ second grenade to impact towards the center of their group. The remaining soldiers opened fire at the truck. Evans aimed the car towards what looked like the weak spot in the roadblock. He then drew his pistol and started to fire out the driver side window.
Another rifle grenade soared overhead. A rifle shot shattered the front window and impacted next to Evans. He heard a grunt to his right as Lieutenant Ricci opened fire.
The driver’s side mirror was blown off when Lucy opened up with the Auto Gun. Evans could barely see the roadblock now, the window was too cracked. But all in all, the plan seemed to be working pretty well. He took the pistol and started to smash the window.
They were only a few meters away now. Evans yelled, “Brace for impact!” The truck hit the roadblock. Evans heard a smack next to him. The truck broke through. It stalled for a moment. In that brief pause, Evans heard a clatter behind him.. Evans got the truck in gear and floored it.
After they were suitably far away, Evans pulled to the side of the road and shouted, “FUCK YEAH! THAT WAS FUCKING AWESOME!”
He was met with silence.
Evans looked to his right. Lieutenant Ricci was slumped over on the dashboard, not moving. Fuck. Lucy has some more bandages in the back. He slid out and ran around back. When he jumped in, he saw Lucy lying dazed on the bed of the truck. She looked up at Evans, “I think I’m dead Goldfish. Been fun.” She rolled over. Evans pulled out his flashlight and pumped it. She was lying in a pool of blood. Fuck Fuck Fuck.
Evans quickly turned Lucy onto her back, ran to back to the cab of the truck and floored it. Not stopping until he saw someone wearing a forest green uniform with a rifle ahead of him. He slammed on the brakes and ran out, “I NEED MEDICAL ATTENTION NOW!”
A soft voice called from the truck, “And the nearest radio or telephone. I’m Lieutenant Jane Ricci. Now please, before I pass out again.”
The soldiers eyes widened and he called out to the nearby building, “SERGEANT WINTERS! WE NEED A GUIDE!”
A private ran out to the building and saluted Lieutenant Ricci, “Where to go Ma’am?”
Evans grabbed him and pulled him into the truck, “Guide me to nearest medical place with a radio or telephone. FUCKING NOW!”
“Uh right. I’m Private…”
“DON’T CARE!”
“Sorry… straight down this, take the third left, and keep going. There is a roadblock at the Medical Station.”
Evans floored it in the truck. It felt like an eternity. The Private next to him was trying to wake Lieutenant Ricci.
A few soldiers were standing in front of the roadblock. One stayed back with his rifle, and another, a Corporal, calmly approached, “Password?”
The private from the previous roadblock leaned over Evans, “Bison.”
Evans then took over, “We need two Stretcher bearers right now!”
Lieutenant Ricci slightly opened her eyes and coughed out some blood, “I can walk, I need your radio.” She slipped out of the truck and started to stumble towards the building marked with a red “X.” The Corporal ran towards the Lieutenant and started helping her, he then called over some stretcher bearers. Evans guided them to the back and dragged out Lucy, who groaned softly.
The stretcher bearers ran into the building. Evans yelled back to the Private, “You can go! I don’t need you!” He then ran after the Stretcher Bearers. They entered a well lit room and yelled to a doctor. A small alarm went off. Evans looked down at Lucy. Her face was completely pale. Her jacket was entirely soaked in blood. A Nurse forced him out of the room.
Lieutenant Ricci stumbled towards him, “Evans, I need you to drive me. Radio is down. Let’s go, now.”
“Lucy’s in there Ma’am, she might die,” Evans gestured over his shoulder towards the operating room.
“And a whole hell of a lot more people will die if we don’t fucking move now,” Lieutenant Ricci coughed out some blood, drew her pistol, and pressed it onto Evans’ head, “Now I’m going to ask you one more time, before my pistol accidentally goes off.”
“You can’t drive yourself Ma’am?”
“Well, even if I wasn’t occasionally passing out from blood loss, I don’t know how to drive.”
“Right Ma’am,” Evans held his hands up, “Just let me leave some information about Lucy in case… In case she doesn’t make it.”
“Quickly Private, They might notice I’ve been shot and try and help me,” Lieutenant Ricci holstered her pistol. Evans pulled out some paper and wrote Lucy’s information on it. He slipped in and handed it to a nurse and then went back outside. Lieutenant Ricci put her arm over his shoulders, “Let’s go.”
Evans helped her back to the truck. The sun was starting to come up. He picked her up and put her into the cab of the truck. He then went around and sat in the drivers seat, “So where do we need to go Ma’am?”
“Yes, first, straight down this road, I’ll give you turn by turn directions. If I pass out, just hit me a little bit.”
Putting the truck into Gear, Evans started driving down the road. The soldiers at the roadblock quickly raised the arm and got out of the way. He heard Lieutenant Ricci counting to herself as they passed each road. After five blocks, she tapped him, “Next left, then immediate right.”
Evans followed her directions for ten minutes. They slowly started to pass a further and further bustle until they finally reached a row of buildings with a large flag hanging over the center. Evans stopped the car.
He pulled Lieutenant Ricci out and helped her to the building she pointed out. All the windows were boarded up. Using his free hand, he knocked on the door.
There was a clatter, followed by a few seconds of silence. A slit opened up at eye level. A pair of blue eyes stared out. The door opened. A short blond Major was standing there. His Jacket was unbuttoned, revealing a rainbow tie. He pulled his glasses off, pointed at Evans, and looked at Lieutenant Ricci, “Jane, who is that?”
“It’s a kid I picked up on the go,” Lieutenant Ricci pulled her arm off Evans and started limping in. Evans followed behind her. The Lieutenant sat on a chair, “So Ben, where is Elise? I have news, and it’s about her pet thing.”
The Major nodded and yelled to the stairs, “ELISE! JANE IS NOT DEAD!”
“Yay!” There was a patter of feet. A diminutive woman wearing goggles appeared from the stairs. She was wearing a blue, obviously non-uniform dress and a pair of black combat boots, “Ooh, and a new kid.”
Lieutenant Ricci took a breath in and out. The two people sat in chairs across from Evans and the Lieutenant. Lieutenant Ricci gestured to Evans, “This is Private Evans, I met him while wandering, the 198th decided to leave me.” Lieutenant Ricci then pointed to the Major and the woman in the blue dress, “And these are the Majors. Elise Anson and Ben Fitzroy.”
Major Anson reached into a jar and pulled out some cookies and offered them to Evans. Major Fitzroy cocked his head at Lieutenant Ricci, “So why are you bleeding?”
“I got shot,” Lieutenant Ricci pulled up her jacket and pointed to her bandaged wound. Major Fitzroy tried to poke it, but Major Anson slapped his hand. Lieutenant Ricci then pulled out her map, which she had marked up, “Air Artillery, about here when I saw it last night. It was still cabled into position though, it looks like it will be moving within the week. We should move those new artillery pieces into place about here and start sending feelers along the front to check for any other ones.” She then pulled out a notepad and opened it up, “This is a sketch I made, I saw three guns on each side, and a larger piece in the front.”
Major Anson nodded, grabbed the map and sketch, and skittered back upstairs. Major Fitzroy put his feet on the table, “So Jane, I need you to fill out the paperwork for your undeath. We sent it in after the 198th out without you, and it’s your fault that you aren’t dead.”
Lieutenant Ricci gestured down to her bloody jacket, “I’m going to next door to the medical building now. You can do that yourself Ben.” She then got up and started to limp out of the building.

Moving at Night

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A few red and green flares went up in the distance. A white flare followed seconds later, illuminating some buildings a dozen blocks away. The gunfire rattled a bit. Evans shrugged at Lucy, “Well, if there is one thing this war has gotten us, it’s free fireworks shows.”

“Yeah, pretty lights are always nice….” Lucy pulled a folding periscope out of her pocket and started to polish the mirrors, “I especially like it when they aren’t near me.”

Lieutenant Ricci walked into the room. She played with her skirt for a moment before drawing her pistol. Weighing it in her hand, she dropped the magazine and loaded two more bullets in. After holstering her pistol, she went through the magazines tucked into her belt until most of them were loaded. She then pulled out her binoculars and looked at the airship. Sighing, she tucked the binoculars back into her webbing and looked at Lucy and Evans, “I think we should get going soon. We’ll move until about three and then hunt for someplace to stay, assuming we haven’t found our lines yet. We’ll stick to back alleys and try to just head straight west. When we cross streets, one at a time and at a sprint.”

Evans nodded and patted down his webbing. Noting that everything was in place, he picked up his Auto Gun and checked the magazine. He then slung it over his shoulder and fitted his helmet on. He then picked up the Vledscan rifle in the corner and handed it to the Lieutenant, “Lucy and I picked this up for you, hopefully you won’t need it. It’s got ten rounds in the magazine and twenty more on the sling. You do know how to shoot a rifle right?”

Lieutenant Ricci shouldered it and smiled, “Yes, it’s Intel officers that have to teach the infantry how to work enemy weapons in the first place.” She gestured to the stairway, “Shall we be going now Privates?”

Lucy and Evans nodded and followed the Lieutenant downstairs. When they arrived at the front door, Evans opened it slowly, Auto Gun at the ready. The street was dark except for the light cast by the moon. Lieutenant Ricci followed behind him, pistol drawn, electing to keep the rifle holstered. Lucy followed next, with her bayonet fixed to the end of the rifle, and shovel slid into her webbing for quick use. The three made their way to the nearest alleyway pointing West and started walking, sticking to the shadows.

They quickly came to their first street and stacked up by the edge of the building. Evans poked his head out and looked around. He gave a thumbs up behind him. Lucy sprinted across the street. She momentarily disappeared into the alleyway before popping back out with her rifle and waving her hand. The Lieutenant moved next. With one hand, she held out her pistol, and with the other, she pulled her skirt up so she wouldn’t trip. When she got across, Evans took off.

Continuing this leapfrog pattern, they managed to move five blocks without incident. At the sixth block, they ran into trouble. Lucy was able to make it across fine. She waved to the Lieutenant, who started running. A shot rang out. The Lieutenant tumbled. Evans waved to Lucy. She scanned the area for the sniper and started firing. Evans ducked low and ran to the Lieutenant. He dragged her behind the nearest cover, an Ethslin Army truck parked on the road. He heard another shot.

“Fuck,” Lucy collapsed onto the ground. Evans started to show signs of panic. He first looked after the Lieutenant, since she was closest. He ripped open her jacket and looked for bleeding. He then grabbed his knife to cut open her blouse and undershirt to get at it. He reached into the Lieutenant’s webbing and pulled out her bandages. After bandaging the wound, he quickly fired a burst down towards the sniper and sprinted to Lucy.

Lucy had crawled up to a seated position by the wall and was unbuttoning her jacket. Evans helped with the last two before cutting open her blouse and shirt. Lucy attempted to point at her chest and said deliriously at Evans, “Like my breasts? See how great they are?”

Evans ignored her and started bandaging the wound on Lucy’s waist. She laughed at him, and then coughed out a sentence, “Oh come on, I bleed like every month, it’s nothing to worry about.”

After finishing, he pulled the periscope out of Lucy’s jacket. He unfolded it and scanned the buildings. He saw the glint of a rifle scope. He slowly pulled back the periscope. He had one shot. Evans grabbed Lucy’s rifle and took a deep breath in. After he counted down from ten, he turned around the corner and fired a shot.

…

Taking the fact that he hadn’t been shot at as a sign that he had been successful, Evans started to drag Lucy towards the truck. He lifted her up into the covered bed and handed her his Auto Rifle, “I’m going to drive us out of here, if anyone chases us, shoot them.” He pulled out his loaded magazines and slid them into her waistband, “And don’t die on me, alright?” He started to crawl out of the truck before he went back to Lucy and buttoned up her jacket, “Wouldn’t to offend anyone’s sensibilities.”

Evans then went to the Lieutenant. She was trying to hide her pain while drinking from her flask of whiskey. Evans helped her hobble into the passenger seat of the truck. He then walked around to the drivers seat and attempted to start the truck. It took two tries, but it finally started. He slowly started to drive the car down the road, attempting to avoid attracting any more attention than the firefight had already brought.

It didn’t work. Evans heard a few rifle shots. He looked in the side mirror and saw a rifle platoon taking up positions. He heard a burst go off from the Auto Gun. Evans started driving faster, taking the first westward turn he could. He then floored it. After a few minutes, he quickly pulled to the side of the road and looked around the truck for something to identify it. He went around to the back of the truck and jumped into the bed.

Lucy smiled at him, Auto Gun in one hand, Jacket in the other, “Sorry if I offend your sensibilities, I’m way too fucking hot, I’m right above the engine.”

Evans started rooting through some of the boxes, “I see you’ve regained your pluck.”

“Hey, you know what rhymes with pluck?”

Finding a flag, a long rod, and some rope, Evans chose to ignore Lucy and started stringing up a flagpole so he could be identified. After he was done, he got back in the driver’s seat, “I found a flag in the back Ma’am. It’s from the 198th Infantry. I put it up so we don’t get shot by our own people.”

Lieutenant Ricci coughed at him, “But now it will be obvious to the Vledscans.”

“Very Fucking obvious Ma’am,” Evans started the truck again and started driving. It was quiet for a few minutes, until Evans spied some lights in the distance. Roadblock. From the looks of it, it was Vledscan. Evans idled the truck and went to the back again. He whispered to Lucy, “Any weapons back here? Especially some explosives?”

She nodded and gestured to a crate, “Some rifle grenades in there, and three rifles under my seat.” Lucy smirked at Evans, “Why, we run into something fun?”

Evans nodded, “You feeling good enough to fire off some of those?” He crawled up to the rifle grenades and started priming them. Lucy nodded and slowly stood up. She pulled out her knife and cut a slit in the trucks covering that she could aim the rifles out of. She then slid back down, took a drink out of her canteen, and buttoned her jacket.

Lucy then pulled out the three rifles and loaded a few blanks into each and passed them to Evans, who fixed a grenade to each. He shrugged at her, “What, it get cold all of the sudden Lucy?”

“Last time I fired a rifle grenade topless, I had a bruise for a month,” She then switched out the magazine on the Auto Gun and drank a little more water.

Evans handed her the three loaded rifles and scooted the crate with six more primed rifle grenades, “I’ll have to hear that story later.” He then went around front of the truck. Lieutenant Ricci was sitting in her chair inspecting the roadblock with her binoculars. She looked pale. Evans offered her his canteen, “Don’t want to die before the fun starts Ma’am.”

She accepted and took a drink, “See that building near the left, that’s the armory. If we can blow it up, they should be distracted enough for us to drive straight through the roadblock.” The Lieutenant opened her jacket and looked down, “You have any more bandages?”

Evans nodded and wrapped her wound with some bandages before heading back to give the final information to Lucy. He checked his magazine and then sat down in the drivers seat and started to drive as fast as the truck could go.

Airships

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“Private. Wake up,” Evans felt someone shaking his shoulder. He heard a bubbling noise coming from a few meters away.

“Uh, Fuck off Newey,” Evans rolled over, “Gimme five more minutes.”

He felt the blanket being yanked off of him. The voice, now clearly female and annoyed called to him again, “Private Evans, Wake up now.”

Remembering where he was, he stood up and saluted, “Morning Lieutenant, sorry for my insolence Ma’am.”

“Morning Private,” Lieutenant Ricci returned the salute and offered him a ceramic cup that smelled like coffee, “I had to let your horse go last night. It was making a lot of noise.”

Evans groggily grabbed the cup of coffee, “Thanks Ma’am. And I feel like that was probably for the best Ma’am.” Taking a sip, he picked up his jacket and helmet, “So whats on the docket for the day Ma’am?”

“I’ve got a map of the city and a compass, we’ll find out where we are, so we can move out tonight,” Lieutenant Ricci handed the Auto Gun to Evans, shut off the portable stove, and gestured for him to follow her, “Let’s grab some food and head upstairs.”

“Yes Ma’am,” Evans followed the Lieutenant up to the third story of the building. As the Lieutenant started to look out the window, Evans put his hand on her arm, “Wait, I’ve got a little periscope.” Evans crawled forward, pulled a periscope out of his pocket, unfolded it, and looked out the window. He scanned the street, nothing. He then moved to the buildings and… Evans folded the periscope and put it in his pocket.

Evans stood up and stared out the window, “Holy Shit.”

Lieutenant Ricci looked at Evans, “What is it?”

“I have no fucking clue Ma’am,” Evans stared at the mysterious object, “It’s like a cloud, but not… natural.”

“Shit,” Ricci pulled Evans away from the window, pulled out her notepad, and looked out, “We need to get down to Army Group Headquarters right away.”

“What is it Ma’am?”

Ricci quickly wrote something on to her notepad, “There should be two officer’s at AGH. Major’s Anson and Fitzroy. If all goes well, I can deliver it, if not, bring this to them.” She looked at the object in the sky, “Do you know what a hot air balloon is?”

“I’ve heard of them,” Evans looked back out at the terrifying behemoth in the sky.

“Well, this is like that, except of hot air, it is filled with hydrogen and bristling with artillery guns. Some of our spies reported these were moving into the area, but not so soon. They probably are prepping for a big push. We have to sneak back to our lines. If we don’t get this information back, Urbs could be lost. So we will probably keep moving at night. We will leave at sundown, a-”

Lieutenant Ricci was interrupted by a familiar voice, and the crack of rifle fire, “COME ON YOU FUCKERS! I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU YOU BASTARDS!”

Evans picked up his Auto Gun and looked outside at the road. He saw a lone soldier being closed in on by a squad of Vledscan infantrymen. He looked down at the cart of hay below in the street near the building. He looked at Lieutenant Ricci, “I regret this already Ma’am.”

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Private Lucy Chambers pulled the trigger, and another Vledscan soldier fell to the ground. She ducked down behind the brick wall and bolted her rifle, just missing another volley of fire from the Vledscan soldiers.

One of the soldiers made a break for a low wall closer to her, but Lucy brought him down with a shot to the chest. She yelled out, “COME ON YOU FUCKERS! I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU YOU BASTARDS!”

She then hid behind the wall and bolted her rifle and waited for a break in the fire, she could probably take out one or two more before they got to her.

Breath in, breath out. Wait, what’s that in the window down the block?

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

“Oh Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii…” Evans ran forward and jumped out the window, wildly firing his gun into the air, aiming for the cart.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Lucy and the Vledscans both stopped firing for a moment to watch the man jump out the window. The soldier was wildly firing his Submachine gun into the air. She took the opportunity to reload her rifle while they were distracted.

She managed to wing one of them in the shoulder while he tried to take advantage of the distraction.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Evans loaded a new magazine into the Auto Gun and started limping towards the firefight. This was without a doubt the worst decision he had ever made. He reached the end of the road where the firefight was taking place. He poked his head around the corner and surveyed the situation.

Lucy was pinned down behind a pillar by a small group of Vledscan infantry with Rifles. They were slowly trying to advance, overturned cart to overturned cart.

Ducking low, Evans gritted his teeth and sprinted to the pillar next to and slid next to Lucy, “OK, I might be starting to see your whole sidekick thing, but…” Evans popped up and fired a burst into an advancing soldier and ducked back down, “I think I’m the hero, saving you from all your troubles.”

Lucy popped up and shot one of the soldiers. She ducked back down, “You jumped off a building for me.”

Evans fired another burst, “Yes, and I regret it immensely. My leg really fucking hurts.”

Lucy stood up and fired two shots, “They’re retreating.”

Standing up, Evans fired the rest of his magazine at the retreating soldiers, taking down one of them. Lucy shot the other two. Lieutenant Ricci ran over with her pistol drawn, “Private Evans are you alright? And who is this soldier?”

Lucy saluted, “I’m Private Chambers Ma’am, from 2nd Battalion of the 202nd Infantry. I was sent to link up with the 401st after Private Evans here disappeared.”

Evans gestured the way the Vledscan soldiers had come from, “Ma’am, Should Chambers and I clear these bodies and scout out the area while you work on our location?”

“Sounds good Private, Come back to the building in two hours,” Lieutenant Ricci turned around and returned to the building.

Evans and Lucy both loaded fresh magazines and started walking down the street towards the bodies. They picked up the closest one and started carrying him to a building with a broken window. Lucy looked at Evans, “So that Lieutenant, how is she?”

“She’s not Infantry, in case you didn’t see the skirt. She said Intelligence officer.”

“Of course I saw the skirt, not an idiot.”

The pair started to swing the body. Evans counted down from three and they tossed it into the building. They slowly worked their way from body to body until the street was clear. Evans gestured to the building where they dumped all the bodies, “So, you want to wait in there until the two hours are up? See if they have anything to drink?”

“Sure, what the hell,” Lucy led the way into the building, climbing through the window over the bodies. She walked into the back room and started rooting around the cabinets.

Evans followed her and sat on the counter, “So what happened to the company after I left?”

Lucy frowned, “Lot’s of wounded and killed. Don’t ask me who. Captain Simmons actually sent me to tell the 401st that we were pulling back. Lieutenant Moore stayed behind with the wounded to surrender to the Vledscan forces,” She pulled a bottle of whiskey out of the cabinet and yanked off the cork, “Well then.”

The two passed it back and forth for a while. Evans eventually broke the silence, “So, Lucy, there’s something I’ve been wondering for a while… It’s an awkward question.” Evans kicked his feet back and forth and looked down, “So, how are you not… um… pregnant? I can’t imagine you brought enough stuff for all that.”

There was a pause. Lucy pointed at the scar on her face. She pulled up her shirts and jacket, revealing a long scar on her waist, “Same shell that got me up here got me down there… Doctor says theres almost no chance I can… I figure that means I have some chance. I really want to have kids. But I guess there isn’t. Doctor said that they might need to remove it. Something called a historiography. That’s kind of why I do it. Because it’s the last chance I have.” Lucy grabbed the whiskey bottle and took a few gulps.

Evans looked at his watch, “Let’s head back early. See if the Lieutenant has anything for us to do.”

Ricci

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Lieutenant Ricci dropped the magazine and fished around in her skirt pocket. Three measly rounds. She ducked down behind the wall and loaded them into a magazine. This was the end. A platoon of riflemen, all coming for her. She slammed the magazine in, took a deep breath.

A loud staccato pierced the air. She heard the clop of hooves. She looked to the right. A lone horseman appeared through the fog. He reared next to her and looked down, “Evening Ma’am,” The horseman fired off another burst, “Do you know how to ride side saddle?”

” Um…” Lieutenant Ricci holstered her pistol, grabbed on the saddle and hoisted herself up. She put one arm around the horseman and held on. The horseman spurred the horse and cantered out. He drew a pistol and fired a few rounds downrange.

After they moved out of range of the platoon, the horseman slowed the horse to a canter and angled his head back towards Lieutenant Ricci, “I’m Private Evans Ma’am. 202nd Infantry. And whom might be?”

“I am Lieutenant Ricci. Staff Officer. As you can see by my skirt,” Lieutenant Ricci swished her skirt a bit with her left hand and tried to look through the fog. She could barely see down the block, “Where are you headed Mister Evans?”

“I was sent to hook up with the 401st Ma’am,” Evans slowed the horse to a trot and started to look around, “I’ve been lost for about a day now. The lines have been changing too fast. We should probably find some place to hide Felicity and sleep for the night.” Evans stroked the horses mane.

He pulled the reigns back and looked back at the Lieutenant, “You want to hop down Ma’am? I think this house looks promising.”

The Lieutenant slid down and drew her pistol, and thumbed the hammer. She turned to Private Evans, “You have any extra magazines for the Benett?”

Evans had dismounted Felicity and was tying the reigns to a fence post. When he finished, Evans reached into one of his magazine pouches and pulled out two. Handing them to Lieutenant Ricci, he swung his Blaire Auto Gun out in front of him. He checked the magazine and moved to the door. He turned the knob and threw it open. He waited a few seconds, took a deep breath, and burst in to the room and swept the muzzle around. Nothing. He waved Lieutenant Ricci in. The two cleared the bottom two floors.

The Lieutenant looked at Evans after they finished the two floors, “It doesn’t seem like anyones been here in a while. We can check the rest after you hide your horse.”

Evans nodded and moved downstairs, “So what is a staff officer doing out here?”

Lieutenant Ricci shrugged, “As you said, lines change. I was an Intel officer for a staff headquarters, when an attack hit. The unit I was attached to held them off. When the unit fell back, I had to stay behind to destroy all our code books and the radios. By the time I finished they had taken over the position and I had to hide in a dresser.”

“Ah,” Evans pulled open the front door with his left hand and aimed his Auto Gun with his right. He gestured for the Lieutenant to move outside. She obliged and he followed soon after. He set up a firing position next to Felicity while the Lieutenant untied her from the fence post.

The Lieutenant moved into an alleyway and around the back of a building. A few seconds later, she ran back out. Evans nodded and moved back indoors. Lieutenant Ricci followed him and locked the door behind them. The Lieutenant looked around at the dusty entry room, “We should try and find something to eat and a place we can sleep tonight.”

“Right Ma’am,” Evans shouldered his Blaire Auto Gun and moved ahead, “I think I saw a kitchen this way, why don’t we check for food there.

The kitchen was small, only a few cupboards next to a coal fired stove. Evans started rooting through the cupboards. He paused a moment to put his Auto Gun on the counter. After a few seconds of rooting, he had a small collection of cans on the table and a few candles. He opened a few up and prepared a rudimentary dinner.

For dinner, the two had chosen an inner room of the house, so the passing patrols couldn’t see the candlelight. It was quiet for a few minutes while Lieutenant Ricci scarfed down the food, she hadn’t eaten for days. After she had eaten her fill, she started talking, “So Private Evans, you’re married?”

“Yeah,” Evans played with his ring and smiled, “Anna’s pregnant with our first child back in Seahaven. She moved out there because the 202nd was spending a lot of time at White Beach, and as soon as we get the apartment, bam. Vledscan’s pull back and the 202nd is sent to Urbs.” He reached into his breast pocket, pulled out a photograph, and passed it to the Lieutenant, “Here’s a photograph.”

Lieutenant Ricci looked at the small pocket sized photograph of a young woman in a dress smiling at the camera. She looked up at Evans, “Anna is quite beautiful Private.”

Evans smiled a bit more, “Yeah, I can’t wait to go home and see her again. How about you Lieutenant? Anyone in your life?”

The Lieutenant took a drink from her canteen, “No… I had thing, but he left me when I joined up.” She then reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a flask and took a sip, “He wanted me to keep my current job instead of joining up. But you know what, I am glad.” She shook her head, “Sorry, it’s just that… I don’t know.”

Taking a quick swig from the flask, Lieutenant Ricci pulled a pad of paper from her skirt pocket. She then pulled a pencil out of her jacket’s breast pocket. She looked up and Evans, “So, about tonight. I haven’t slept in days, so you’ll take the first watch. Now until one. I’ll take one to five. We can have breakfast. We should wait throughout the day and move out at night. I’ll want you to take a look around from the roof of this building.”

Lieutenant Ricci offered the flask to Evans, who declined. She shrugged, took it back, and moved to the corner of the room, where she curled up to sleep, using her jacket and helmet as a pillow. Evans picked up the picture of Anna and leaned back in his chair, with his Auto Gun on his lap. Every half hour or so he took a walk around the building, staying low around windows. There were no patrols that he could see. He found a blanket on one of his walks around the house and draped it over the Lieutenant.

Eventually, one finally arrived. He tapped the Lieutenant on the shoulder, “Lieutenant, time for your watch Ma’am.”

Yawning, Lieutenant Ricci brought up her hand to wipe her face. She sat up, pulled on her jacket, and put her helmet on. She pushed the blanket off of her. She held out her hand towards Evans.

Evans grabbed her hand and pulled her up. Evans slung the Auto Gun and saluted, “Ma’am request permission to go to sleep.”

Returning the salute, Lieutenant Ricci responded, “Yes Private, I’ll take the Auto Gun as well.” She reached out and grabbed the Auto Gun from Evans.

Evans shrugged and pulled off his jacket and helmet. He packed them together to use as his pillow, pulled the blanket up, and went to sleep.

Happy Birthday

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The sun was rising over Urbs. Evans and Lucy were sitting on the top of the Company’s building. Evans opened up his bag and pulled out a something hastily wrapped in newspaper, “So I went to this great boutique and the owner recommended this.”

Lucy ripped open the present, smiled. She picked up the brown scarf and draped it around her neck, “Do I look beautiful Goldfish?” Lucy sat down on Evans lap, put her arm around him, and leaned in close to his face, “Does it make you want to ravish me?”

Pushing her off him, Evans shook his head, “Still no Lucy. I did also get you a bunch of chocolate, some dried fruit, and…” Evans pulled a flask out of his bag, “Some whiskey. All these things I definitely didn’t steal.”

“And we should drink this whiskey fast. If an officer comes up we could be in trouble,” Lucy grabbed the flask and drank for a few seconds. She passed it to Evans who took a quick drink.

After they had finished, Evans gestured towards the back end of the roof. Evans pointed to a plank laid across the roof, “I found a record player, so I set up a semi soundproof room in the next building. So, Miss Chambers, care to dance?”

Lucy smiled and followed Evans across the plank. They made their way down into the building, to a room with mattresses pushed up against the wall. In the center, there was a table with a phonograph. Evans walked up and winded it for half a minute. It started to play a light waltz.

Evans shrugged and grabbed onto Lucy. As they started to dance, Lucy asked something to Evans, “So how did you set this all up? Seems kind of heavy.”

“Yeah, I traded some of the chocolate I’ve found for some help. I also have Head covering my watch,” Evans attempted to dip Lucy, stumbled, and yanked her back up, “So how did you get off duty?”

“Well thanks to my reputation, a bunch of men are glad to do me favors,” Lucy stifled a sneeze, “Plus, the Captain doesn’t really use me as much since we’re all in the same building. So with that guy from 1st Platoon covering for me, I’m free for another two hours.”

“Yeah, I’m good for three hours,” Evans dipped Lucy almost successfully, until he lost grip and dropped her on the floor, “Oh shit, sorry.”

Lucy dusted off her uniform and stood up while Evans wound the phonograph some more. She laughed, “So how about a punishment system. Step on my feet you owe me a kiss. Stumble, we get a little handsy. And so on and so forth until you drop me again, and then we flip down a mattress.”

“Still married,” Evans grabbed Lucy again and they continued dancing.

“Wouldn’t be a punishment if you weren’t,” Lucy jokingly made a sweep at his legs.

“So this is a challenge then, I try and dance well, and you try and trip me,” Evans dipped again, making sure not to drop her, “Fine, I’m going to win,” he spun her around, “And how are you going to know if I step on your toes, I can’t feel anything through my boots.”

“Well for example, you just did it,” Lucy turned her head and looked at Evans, “So you owe me one kiss.”

“Doesn’t count, I didn’t feel it,” Evans attempted to spin her around again, “And I definitely would have felt it, because my foot would…”

There was a loud explosion from outside that shook the room. The phonograph fell onto the floor. Lucy shrugged, “Well I guess you win this argument.”

Evans nodded and the two sprinted out of the room. By the time they got to the roof, two more explosions had gone off. A pitched firefight was developing. And to top it all off, the plank to Fox Company’s building had fallen off.

Taking off first, Evans took a running leap and cleared the two meter gap. He turned around and watched Lucy slam against the side of the building. She flailed wildly against the lip until she managed to just barely grab on to the ledge. Evans ran over and grabbed her forearms.

Bracing his feet against the wall, he leaned back, and slowly dragged her over the wall. She helped him back to his feet, hugged him, and whispered into his ear, “The lengths you’ll go to not have sex with me.” She then stomped on his toe, kissed him, and ran to grab her rifle and kit.

Rolling his eyes, Evans went to his rifle, put on his kit, and ran downstairs to report to Sergeant Campbell. Evans found Corporal Hardin first, “Evans! We need security around back! Drop off your rifle here and go pick up an Auto Gun in the stairwell. There should be extra ammo with it. MOVE!”

Evans nodded, put his rifle down, and ran into the stairwell. Someone had left an Auto Gun with a bandolier of magazines. Evans picked up the bandolier and put it on. He then picked up the Auto Gun and checked the magazine. It felt full. He put it back in, bolted it, and leaned against the wall.

There was an almost constant roar of gunfire from outside. Evans wished he could help. If he was fighting he wouldn’t have to worry. He tried to listen for any orders being yelled back and forth. Someone asking for ammo. Anything.

But the din of gunfire was too loud. Lucy ran upstairs. She nodded at him, and went through the door past him. A few seconds later, she ran back out and went upstairs. She sprinted back downstairs.

That’s the way it went for what seemed like an eternity. The Company and remaining Dragoons fighting and dying, Lucy delivering important messages, and Evans, just standing there. He pulled out a cigarette and was about to light it when Lucy ran up to him. She stood on her toes and yelled into her ear, “LIEUTENANT MOORE! ASK HER FOR HORSE! THEN TALK TO CAPTAIN! I’LL TELL YOUR PLATOON!”

Evans nodded and ran to the dressing station, where Amy was running from patient to patient. She saw him and ran over, “What do you need Jimmy!?”

“Captain wants me to borrow a horse Amy.”

Amy nodded, “Yeah, take Felicity, she’s in the alleyway out back.”

Evans ran downstairs to the Captain’s office. There was a note pinned to the door with the Captain’s handwriting, “Evans, Need you to link up wit 401st. They ar nearest unit. North of our position, unknown distance. Avoid main roads. Heavy enemies.”

Shit. Evans left the office, and went to the bottom floor and ran out back. He looked at the few horses tied up. He recognized Felicity’s coat and went to untie her. Evans slung his Auto Gun, mounted Felicity, and spurred her down the alleyway, away from the firefight.

Medical Duties

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A few of the more heroic of the dragoons managed to sneak forward and recover a few casualties. Lieutenant Moore had requested that Evans assist her in the casualty center. Evans ran upstairs and saluted, “Amy, I’m sorry about your company. It sounds like you guys had it pretty rough.”

Amy shrugged, “I didn’t know any of them that well. I was thrown into the company at the last minute.”

Evans shrugged. After a few seconds, he stood to attention and gave a mocking salute, “Well what do you need me to do Lieutenant Moore?”

“Get a few beds ready for the incoming wounded,” Amy went to check on a few of the soldiers, “How many unwounded from my company?”

“About twenty. Your Captain was killed, and Lieutenant Lansbury took charge,” Evans looked sadly at Amy, “As I said, you guys had it very rough. Straight into an ambush.”

Her face went pale, Amy sat down on an unoccupied bed, “When you said rough, I didn’t think it was that bad.”

Evans sat down next to her and tried to console her. They sat there in silence for a few minutes before the first casualties came in. It was hard work for hours getting all the patients stabilized. Evans slumped down against the wall. He didn’t bother wipe the blood off. He watched Amy move from patient to patient.

Someone slid down next to him, “Hey Goldfish.”

“Hey Lucy,” Evans pulled a cigarette out of his jacket and lit it. He offered one to Lucy, who refused, “The dragoons really caught hell.”

“Really ruins my whole happy, just had sex feeling,” Lucy stared at the cots, “I think your uniform might have more blood than dye now. I should get back to the Captain.” Lucy stood up and left the room.

Evans sat for a few minutes before he put out his cigarette and stood up. He walked over to Amy and saluted, “Permission to join the hunt for wounded Ma’am?”

Amy hugged Evans, “Be safe. It’s bad enough with all these people I don’t know.” She then went back to tending to the wounded soldiers.

Evans leaned his rifle against the wall of the medical room and went downstairs. He drew his pistol and loaded a magazine. It was dark outside. There was a candle light flickering under a makeshift tarp. He ducked underneath and saluted Lieutenant Lansbury, “Sir, I’ve been released from my evening duties and would like to join the search Sir.”

The Lieutenant nodded, “Thank you Private. We have another patrol going out now. Go to the overturned cart, Lance Corporal Booth and Private Hindley are getting ready now.”

Evans saluted and left the tent. He slowly worked his way to the overturned cart that he had seen earlier. He whispered out at the two silhouettes, “Hey, I’m from Fox Company, I’m here to help. I’m Evans.”

The taller silhouette whispered with a masculine voice, “I’m Lance Corp Booth.” Evans could make out the taller silhouette pointing to the shorter one, “She’s Private Hindley. What gear do you have with you?”

Thinking for a moment, Evans responded, “Benett Pistol, Bayonet, and flashlight. I used up all my dressing at the aid station.”

“Sounds Good. You’ll take the rear. Hindley has a rifle and Flare Pistol, so she’ll take center. I’ll take point with my Benett Pistol. Stay low, and if a flare goes up, close one eye and freeze in place. Then wait until the flare goes down. When we get there, we will move to the East side of the square. Don’t make any noises,” Booth pumped his flashlight for a moment and used it to look at his watch, “We should move out now.”

Booth shuttered the flashlight and clipped it back to his jacket. The three took off in the moonless night towards the square. Every few minutes, a flare went up. Occasionally a machine gun burst would follow. When the flares were down, Evans could barely make out Hindley, who was only two meters ahead of him.

It was half an hour before they had managed to slowly snake their way to the square. Evans could make out Hindley’s shadow lowering to the ground. Following her lead, he started crawling behind her. They slowly crawled from body to body, checking to see if anyone was alive. Evans got into the habit of aiming his watch towards himself when he heard a flare. The hour passed quickly with only dead soldiers.

They were by a dead horse when a flare went up. The flare was followed by a burst of machine gun fire that thudded close by. Evans took cover behind the dead horse. Booth and Hindley joined him behind the horse. A few more rounds thudded into the horse. Booth, figuring stealth wasn’t that important anymore, yelled over the gunfire, “When This Flare Goes Down, We Run!”

Evans nodded and fired a few shots from his pistol wildly towards the machine gun. The flare slowly dipped. Without waiting for the flare to go out completely, the three took off sprinting.

The bullets were whizzing past Evans head. He wasn’t paying attention to the two dragoons. He just kept running. He stumbled over something. It might have been a body. Another flare went up. Evans closed his left eye and dived behind a dead horse. He waited. The flare went down. Just as Evans started to run, there was a short flash of light followed by a loud roar. Fuck.

He ran behind a low wall and slumped down to try and catch his breath. A shadow came around the wall. Evans pounced on it’s source, knocked the rifle away, and started to beat it with his pistol. Evans dropped the pistol and grabbed for his bayonet. The shadow kneed Evans in the groin and forced him over. Cringing in pain, Evans froze. The shadow applied more pressure to his groin. He heard a knife being drawn.

Another flare went up.

Evans stared into the bloody and beaten face of Hindley, poised over him with her knife. There was a flash of recognition on her face before she dropped onto him to hide behind the wall. Evans yelled into her ear, “Sorry! I thought you were Vledscan!”

Hindley spat some blood out, “You didn’t notice the tits and the bun!? At least I was fighting someone who could be an enemy!”

“So what happened to Booth!”

“I have no fucking clue!” She rolled off Evans and grabbed her rifle. Evans grabbed his pistol. Hindley pointed to a nearby storefront, “When it goes down, grab my hand, and we’ll run over there.”

The flare finally went down. Evans grabbed onto Hindley and she sprinted to the store. They reached it just in time for another flare to go up. A few machine gun bullets conveniently smashed the window, so Hindley and Evans jumped through, careful of the shards of glass. The pair slowly crawled their way to the back of the store. There was a washroom in the back with no windows.

Evans unclipped his flashlight and pumped it a little. He looked over Hindley’s bloody face, “Shit, I really fucked you up. I’ll clean you off a bit.” Hindley sat down in a chair while Evans grabbed a washcloth. He slowly dabbed the blood off Hindley’s face. The machine gun fire that chattered outside was slowly petering out.

After he was done, he drew his pistol and opened the back door. It was an empty alleyway. Evans and Hindley worked their way back to Fox Company’s building. Booth wasn’t there.

Advance

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Evans dismounted Felicity tied it’s reigns. He then started helping Blake off the horse. Four soldiers from First Platoon exited with a stretcher and pulled Blake inside. Amy and Evans followed. Captain Simmons was waiting for them. The two saluted. Returning the salute, Captain Simmons extended his hand to Amy, “I’m Captain Simmons, CO of Fox Company, 202nd Infantry.”

“Lieutenant Moore, Medical Officer of Apple Company, 3rd Dragoons,” Amy shook the Captain’s hand, “The rest of the Company will be a bit behind us, Jimmy… Private Evans and I took off ahead to pick up the Corporal. Captain Czerski will want to talk to you.”

“Very well,” The Captain turned to Evans, “Evans, can you take the Lieutenant to our casualty station?”

“Yes sir,” Evans turned to Amy, “If you’ll come with me Ma’am.” He went to the stairs and climbed to the casualty station. When they entered, Amy immediately got to work on the wounded soldiers. Evans waved goodbye and walked back up to his platoon.

Tiscornia saw him coming in and waved, “Evans. Whats going on out there?”

“Blake got hit, we contacted the Dragoons, oddly enough their medical officer is a girl from my hometown. I took her to Blake while Chambers went to a meeting with their Captain. Amy says Blake is going to make it,” Evans paused for a moment, unslung the scoped rifle, and stared at it, “Shit I left my shotgun out there.”

Shrugging, Tiscornia gestured at the rifle, “I think that will be more useful anyways, we’ll probably stay here for a while.”

“I just had this whole cool ‘Adventurer’ look going, See, I’ve got this whole Ammunition sling that’s useless now. And when we go into combat, I’ll have to do things,” Evans shrugged and slung the rifle over his shoulder and moved over to where Newey, Ustinov, and Hoste were on watch, “Hey guys, I’m back.

Ustinov handed the binoculars to Hoste and left, “Fucking finally Evans.”

“I’ve got Blake’s rifle now,” Evans looked through the sight at the Dragoons, who were making there way slowly down the road, “You know, I would have thought the horses were to make them move faster, but they seem to be going at walking speed.”

“Yeah, but they’re almost here. Another, ten minutes maybe,” Newey lowered the binoculars and handed them to Hoste, “So, is that Blake’s blood all over you?”

Evans looked down at his jacket and pants, seeing that he had not done the best job at cleaning himself off, “Yeah. She was shot twice by a machine gun. I cut clothes off, put the bandages on, and felt sort of bad leaving her topless in the middle of the road, so I covered her up with my jacket. So I’m going to smell like blood for a while.”

Newey laughed, “You can still smell things? I stopped doing that months ago. Is there anything good to smell out here? I’ve always hated cities, the country is where real life is.”

“Real life is in the country? I’m from a small town and it’s shitty,” Evans elbowed Newey, “Cities are great. If you do something stupid, no one cares. If I did something stupid in Halton, everyone would know and constantly give you shit about it.”

Hoste spoke up for the first time in their conversation, “Like marrying someone you’ve known for a month?”

Nodding approvingly, Newey patted Hoste on the back, “I’m so proud of you Hoste. Insulting Evans like that.”

The three stood around quietly for a while, waiting for the dragoons to move in. Hoste eventually spoke up again, “So Lance Corporal, you always give Evans shit about his wife, does that mean you’ve got some girl your to scared to fuck?”

Newey didn’t respond for a thirty seconds. He unslung his rifle and leaned it against the wall. With a quick blow, Hoste was on the ground. Newey turned to face Evans, shook his fist, and said, “I need to go make an excuse to leave for a bit.” Newey grabbed his rifle and left the room.

Evans helped Hoste up, “Newey’s best friend was a Lance Corporal in our platoon. She got killed at White Beach.”

The two stood in silence for a while. Newey eventually came back, but refused to talk to either of them. It was clear that he had been crying. Evans looked down at the company of Dragoons that were gathered outside. Their Captain walked inside for a few minutes. After a few minutes he came out again. The company moved out, leaving a few carts behind.

Another few minutes passed and Lucy came up and tapped Evans on the shoulder, “Hey Goldfish, how goes watch? Anything more exciting going on?”

Turning to Lucy, Evans raised an eyebrow, “Don’t you have a job to do?”

“Yeah, I’m supposed to be helping Lieutenant Moore settle in. She said that she didn’t need me, so I decided I’d chill with you to shirk my job. Captain doesn’t usually do anything important this time of day.”

Hoste turned around, “Are you the Captain’s runner? I’m Private Hoste.”

Lucy looked Hoste over, “Hey, when do you get off watch? And do you want to fuck?” Lucy turned back to Evans, “So your friends with that dragoons Lieutenant? Fancy.”

“Yeah, she’s from my hometown. I used it to have a crush on her as a kid,” Evans glanced out the window and looked outside, “So whats up with the dragoons? Why are they leaving?”

Butting in, Hoste tapped on Lucy’s shoulder, “What did you say?”

“Yeah, your kind of attractive, and I want to fuck you, but the adults are talking now,” Lucy turned back to Evans, “Apparently their Captain has orders to move up a few blocks after they resupplied us. He left Lieutenant Moore here so they could send back the casualties.”

“Well they’re all going to get killed. Glad Amy doesn’t have to do it,” Evans gestured to Hoste, “And he’s really old, like 26.”

Lucy looked at Hoste, “Wow, so you’re almost twice my age.”

Hoste squinted at Lucy, “That would make you thirteen years old. And I watch ends in about,” he looked at his watch, “Forty Three minutes.”

“Wait… Shit, I guess that would be thirty eight. I’m not really good at math,” Lucy turned back to Evans, “And back to you, my birthdays coming up, you should do something special for me.”

“Three things. One, we are in a war zone, I don’t think it’s appropriate. Two, What the fuck would I give you, the only personal items I have are pictures of Anna and my letters. Three, isn’t there anyone else… Oh God you’re my best friend,” Evans shouldered Blake’s rifle and pulled out a notepad, “This is going to be the worst party ever, and when is your birthday?”

“I’m expecting something in two days. If it’s not there, I’ll be angry. Bye!” Lucy turned around and left.

A few seconds later, Newey laughed, “Seriously Evans, what is up with you and hot chicks? You’ve got your own personal harem going.”

Unslinging Blake’s rifle, Evans responded, “You realize I’ve only ever slept with one woman. The one I’m married to. And Lucy just asked to fuck Hoste later. So not really personal.”

“Yeah yeah, I know about Chambers. Just sort of suspicious that your self admitted best friend is the,” Newey made air quotes, “Fox Company Bicycle.”

“Will you shut up Newey. I’ve always hated you,” Evans hit Newey on the shoulder.

“Aww, I hate you too Evans. And for what its worth, I didn’t come up with that nickname. I’m pretty sure Smithy from First Platoon came up with it,” Newey grabbed the binoculars from Hoste and leaned out the window, “I’m trying to see where the Dragoon’s are going. I hope Captain Simmons won’t make us go help them when they get killed.”

About fifteen minutes passed before heavy gunfire opened up. Fifteen more minutes and the dragoons came galloping into view. A few of them firing over their shoulders. Evans could only see about twenty soldiers of the original hundred soldiers in the company. They quickly dismounted and set up positions, ready to fire.

Lucy shouted into the room, “DUTY SOLDIERS MOVE OUTSIDE! NEXT WATCH MOVE OUT AS WELL. EVERYONE ELSE, READY FOR FIGHT!”

Shit. Evans ran down the stairs, followed by Hoste and Newey. Giuliano, Nazzari, and Hunt followed down the stairs as well. They meet up with soldiers in the other platoons outside the building. The dragoons were already starting to fire downrange. Captain Simmons came outside at the head of the Machine Gun Team, “Set up positions by the Dragoons. MOVE!”

Lance Corporal Giuliano took charge of the Second Platoon contingent, “Let’s go, set up by that overturned cart!” The six ran forward and started firing.

After what seemed like an hour, the Vledscan forces were repulsed. Evans stood up and looked around. Lucy looked at him and smiled. Evans looked confused, “When did you get here?”

“Right after the Captain,” Lucy looked at her wristwatch, “Your watch has been over by like… Ten minutes. So I’m going to grab Hoste and have some fun. Catch you later Goldfish.” Lucy grabbed Hoste and pulled him to a nearby storefront. Evans moved with the rest of the company and dragoons back into the building. Luckily, in the firefight, they had managed to take no further casualties.

Dragoons

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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.