Updated 05/06/2022.

* * * * *

"Cap, we got four dead and eleven injured," Lipton reported. This seemed to satisfy Winters.

"Okay, let's move them out." He and Nixon started to get up, but Lipton sprung his hand out against Winters's chest, stopping him.

"Oh, and sir? Randleman and Klein are missing."

* * * * *

They had to leave Randleman and Klein behind. Winters didn't want to do it, but there was no choice in the matter. They had to retreat.

Retreat.

The men had never retreated before. It was evident in their wide range of expressions that they weren't used to it. Usually, the men were shaken up post battle but this time, it was different.

Some looked back to the tiny town that they failed, as the jeeps were taking them away. It was clear to anyone that a battle had taken over. The thick, black smoke rising in the sky and buildings destroyed, half or whole.

But what really shook the men to the core was hearing that Bull and Madison weren't anywhere to be seen. They were worried for them.

* * * * *

Bull had watched the entire scene.

Bull was crawling in the trench. He had been separated from everyone else, or at least he thought so.

"MOVE IT! COME ON, WE'RE LEAVING!"

Bull's ears perked up to the screams of Madison Klein. As quick and subtle as he could, he raised his head just high enough to see what was happening. Men from Easy were all running to leave this hell of a town, and Madison was right behind them. She seemed to be trailing off. She had jumped behind one of the walls and was pulling somebody up.

"Cobb, get up! We're getting out of here, let's go!"

In astonishment, Bull watched as the small woman pulled up Roy Cobb and helped him over the edge and pushed him forward, causing him to run. Bull couldn't help but be shocked by these actions. Two people who were not getting along...

Before he could finish his thought, there was a sudden BOOM! and there was fire and shrapnel erupted. Bull watched in horror as Madison got hit by the shrapnel, and fell to the ground. She had hit the ground so hard that Bull was able to hear her head hit the pavement from where he was positioned. It did not look nor sound good. Bull could only stare at his friend's unconscious body for a few moments before he was able to spring into action.

In a quick manner, Bull checked his surroundings before jumping up from his hiding spot, running to his knocked out medic, picking her up and running back to the trenches. When he got to the slope, he had slipped and both he and Klein went down. Bull had almost crushed Madison but luckily, he was able to prop his arms up on either side of her, so he was just hovering over her. That was good.

Now that Bull had gotten step one done, he now needed to check to make sure Madison was still alive and look over any possible injuries she would have.

First: heartbeat. Bull ghosted his hands over any and all pulse points. He couldn't feel it in her wrists but was able to find one on her neck. Bull gave a sigh of relief. If she had died, he wasn't sure how he, or anyone else, could handle it.

Second: injuries. The big man from Arkansas didn't know too much about medical help, but he knew how to spy for wounds. He found evidence that her head took a great load of impact. There was a dent near the temple of her head and there was a visible bump, along with bruising. There was a cut that intercepted one of her eyebrows, and Bull figured that there was going to be a scar there. He looked over the rest of her body and found that blood was starting to stain her uniform in her right shoulder, her side, and there was some bleeding in her thighs. He wasn't sure what to do about that until they were someplace safe, which led to the next step: getting them both out.

Bull's only option was to crawl his way in these trenches until he could get somewhere, but how could he when he had to carry Madison to safety as well? He was stuck, but then he remembered something: Madison kept the clips from their parachutes. He wasn't sure why, but right now, she had just helped them out, and she was knocked out into the next life!

Miraculously, Madison still had her musette bag and an additional pack. He rummaged through both bags until he found a few pairs of those carabiner clips that Madison kept on her. It took a few tries, but Bull had somehow managed to get Madison clipped to him. This was to make sure that his friend would not fall off him as he traveled the trenches. Once he made sure that Madison was as secured as she could get, he started moving.

* * * * *

Madison jolted awake.

The seventeen-year-old had no idea where she was. The last thing she could remember was running, and then darkness. She started to shift around, trying to get up. Apparently, she was too loud, because she felt a large hand on her mouth. This alarmed her. She grabbed the stranger's hand and looked up to see...wait, was that Bull? Madison kept her hand on his as she tried to get her vision focused on him (she was dizzy, and her head was hurting like hell), but he helped her out and was speaking quietly.

"Maddie, it's me."

It was Bull. She nodded slowly enough to let him know she was fine, and Bull took his hand off her.

The young medic looked around, trying to figure out where they were. They were in a damp, secluded place of sorts. It was dark where they were but near the two ends, there was light.

What was going on?

"We got separated from Easy," Bull spoke in the quietest tone she had ever heard. "We're hiding right now. We need to wait the Krauts out, so we can escape."

Madison could hear him, and somewhat understood what was happening. They were not with the company. They were hiding from the enemy and needed to wait until it was dark out.

"Okay," Madison croaked. She began to rub her temples, but immediately stopped. She felt excruciating pain in her shoulder and her head. "Bull, what happened?"

"You and the others were running, leaving the town," Bull began. He knew they could get caught, but if he didn't tell her now he was sure that she would get upset. "There was an explosion and you were knocked out from it."

"Oh," was all Madison could respond with. Then a couple moments later, she said, "I think I have a concussion."

"You might," Bull agreed. "You got hit by shrapnel, too."

"Fuck."

* * * * *

Someone was shaking her.

"Maddie, get up, we gotta get moving."

"Mmmm. You shouldn't have let me sleep," Madison moaned, as she slowly got herself up. It was difficult, but she managed to get onto her hands and knees, ready to crawl. She tried ignoring the dizziness and nausea as much as she could, not wanting to show any signs of weakness.

Nighttime had taken over occupied Holland. Even with the slight ringing that was in her ears, it was quiet. Madison waited for Bull to give her the signal and together, they ran out into the night. It was hard for Madison. She was having a hard time keeping her balance and she was stumbling; her vision even more blurry than before. When Bull turned his head to check on her, he ran back for her. He picked her up (something that Madison disliked, but she could afford to swallow her pride this time) and together, they entered the barn safely. Madison dropped to her knees almost immediately, trying to capture her breath; she was trying not to vomit. A moment later, she felt Bull's hand on her shoulder, a sign of comfort, and he helped her move into one of the pens.

Madison and Bull were huddled together. Madison watched as Bull took off the American flag around his arm, putting it in one of his pockets. She followed suit. It was silent between the two before Madison spoke up quietly.

"Bull? Are we...are we considered to be missing? M.I.A.?" For a moment, Bull didn't say anything, but then slowly began to nod. Madison wanted to cry right then on the spot. Bull must have sensed her distress, because he had offered her a chunk of chocolate that he had, and she took it. She began gnawing on it and watched as Bull prepared for any outcome. Then, faintly, she heard the creaking sound of a door open.

Oh, Scheiße.

Bull sprang into action. He had gotten up from their hiding position and ran out into the clearing. Madison didn't see it happen, but she suddenly heard the sound of a body hitting one of the wooden beams. Not thinking, Madison quickly shot up to see what happened. Bull was holding a man against the pillar, weapon against neck. Everyone was frozen for a moment before someone else came in. It was a young girl, who had to be around Madison's age. The man said something, but it was clear enough to Madison to know that they were only civilians, who probably owned the barn she and Bull were hiding in. The young Dutch girl moved closer to Bull. It was clear that she was afraid. Bold, but afraid. Madison couldn't help but begin to grin, finding admiration for the girl.

"Bull," Madison spoke as loud as she could. "I think...I think they're good." She looked at the man. "Sprechen Niederländisch? Duits? Englisch?"

The man seemed to understand some of what Madison had said, because he had replied with,

"Nederlands!"

Before anything else could be said, they heard the roar of a tank just outside. Bull quickly pulled the man and his daughter over to where Madison was, pulling them towards her as Bull got in position, in case he needed to attack.

Madison couldn't help but stare at the farmer and his daughter. They clung to each other, desperate and afraid. It seems to appear that the two only had each other. She couldn't help but think of her own father at that moment. God, if they sent an M.I.A. notice to her parents...well, Madison wasn't sure what they would do. But as soon as those thoughts came, she shook them away. She can't afford to think about that now. Then she noticed that the Dutch girl was staring at her, gasping.

"Papa, kijk! Ze is gewond."

Madison didn't understand a thing the girl had just said in that moment, but in the next she saw the girl's father crouching next to her, inspecting her thighs, sides, and shoulder. That was when Madison realized what the girl was so alarmed about: she was soaked in blood! Her eyes widened, then she looked back up to the Dutch man, who had a look of concern on his face.

"Je bent gekwetst."

Madison didn't really know what the man had said, but she nodded along anyway and patted at her blood soaked side and thigh. The man's face gave away that he was concentrating hard. A moment later, he took out his flask. She wondered what he was going to do.

Madison watched the man as he went to her side, lifting one of the flaps of her uniform. He tore the side of her undershirt before he found what he was looking for. He poured some of the content in his flask (alcohol, Madison finally remembered the word) onto it. Madison hissed, then almost screamed as he pulled out the biggest piece of metal that was there. Thank God for all, she kept quiet. He also helped with her shoulder but her thighs and calves...she decided that could wait later, as she saw Bull coming back to sit down. It was then that she noticed that he was in pain as well. She immediately went to work, as she started to rip the fabric to get to the injury that was apparent in his shoulder.

"What happened?" Madison asked as she finally pulled at the fabric of Bull's uniform enough to see a dark red spot where his source of pain was at. It looked disgusting.

"Shrapnel hit," Bull replied.

Madison stopped inspecting it. She knew she had to get the metal out and patch him up before anything worse could happen. But how? As she tried to think up a solution, and quickly, she felt someone tapping on her own shoulder. She turned around enough to see that it was the man who had grabbed her attention.

"Was?"

The man handed her the flask. She wasn't sure what he was trying to do for a moment, before she realized that she could use it the same way the man did for her. Madison took the flask from him, giving him a grateful smile, before turning back to Bull.

"Alright, I'm going to pour some alcohol into your wound. You ready?"

"Go ahead."

Madison started her operation. She poured the substance where the metal was. Bull groaned, but so far, he was fine. She gave the Dutch man his flask back and he took it, taking a swig from it. He offered the two Americans some, but both declined. Madison then started to dig in her friend's flesh with her hands. Soon enough she located the shrapnel.

"Aha," Madison grinned to herself. She tried to pull it out but was not successful. Her fingers were too slippery to get it out. Her grin faltered. How the hell was she going to get it out now? Bull seemed to sense her thoughts, because he pulled his knife out and handed it to her.

Madison took it, inspecting it before she all but stabbed her own friend in the shoulder, finally getting the shrapnel out. Then as fast as she could, she bandaged it with the help of the Dutch man and his cloth he had pulled out. All seemed well until they heard someone speaking rapidly in German outside.

Bull ran off to see what the commotion was about. Madison didn't even try to go after him. Her head was still hurting like hell and her now shrapnel-freeish spots were still sore. It was less than a minute later when Bull came running back.

"They're coming," Bull told Madison. She sprang up almost immediately, helping Bull drag the Dutch family of two away from their spot, heading to the back. There was a door, and the unspoken plan was to get the civilians out of there, out of harm's way. Madison would never forgive herself if she let that man and his daughter get wounded or killed. The man was shaking their hands, telling them, "Danke, danke," over and over, but it all soon fell silent as they heard the Germans coming closer to the barn. They all ducked down just in time for the soldiers to enter the barn.

The two Dutch and two Americans all crawled away from each other, hiding in different positions. The father and daughter were together, but Bull and Madison were separated from each other.

Madison could feel herself stiffening up. She was terrified. She got the knife that Joe Toye had given her so long ago out, getting ready in some sort of fighting position, if she really had to get physical. She knew she didn't have much of a chance, but she had to get ready for the worst case scenario, right?

One by one, Madison watched from her hiding spot as the Germans left the barn. All that was left was one, who was taking a restroom break. Madison couldn't help but roll her eyes, internally anyway. When the man was done, he got himself situated and started to walk out.

Yes, yes! Go! But then the man stopped, as he saw something on the ground. Madison froze in fear once more when she saw what he was holding.

It was the cloth that Bull had used, fresh with blood. It must have fallen and no one noticed. Madison wanted to cry. They had fucked up so bad. She watched as the German looked up, possibly distracted by the engines of the plane overhead. Eventually, the man dropped the cloth and started to walk out. Go...go...

Clank!

Madison returned into her hiding position fully. Someone must have accidentally knocked into something.

"Hallo?" the German called out. "Ist jemand da?"

Madison had to cover her mouth with her free hand clenched into a fist. She was about to cry. This was it. She was going to die. She started to mentally recite a prayer, as she heard someone inch closer, and closer...

"Sie!"

Madison jumped up immediately. The man had found her, his gun pointing directly at her head, ready to shoot. Madison thought she was going to piss herself. Her fear had amplified. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. FUCK!

"Fuck!" Madison eventually voiced her thoughts and swung her knife at him. (Looking back at it, she realized it was a stupid, but brave, move.) She had gotten lucky, for she had slashed his arm that was supporting his rifle. She got lucky again and kicked him in the shin. However, her luck soon ran out.

The German had shot his hand out to her and wrapped it around her neck. His other hand joined in after. Madison found that she couldn't breathe. She couldn't think. All she really could remember was that she was being strangled, her vision turning black, and that her only thought was that this was the way she was going to go.

The next thing that happened to her was that she fell to the ground, and the German was yelling. It took her a good minute to gain back her senses, and she looked up to see that Bull was stabbing the man with his bayonet. She watched as he did it, and soon enough the soldier who strangled her was dead.

"Bull, stop," Madison's hoarse voice was barely even heard by her friend. "Bull. Stop. Bull!"

Bull looked up to see his young friend. She looked like she had gone through hell and back. He looked back down to the soldier. He was gone. He had killed him. Good.

* * * * *

Bull and the Dutch man dragged the German corpse into a pile of hay, covering him up. Afterwards, Bull shoved the farmer and his daughter out. As soon as he was able to, he went back to Madison, who was leaning against one of the wooden pillars, staring off into nowhere.

That poor girl...

He sat down next to her. For a moment, neither of them said a word. What was there to say?

"You saved me."

Madison's voice was still hoarse, courtesy of the German soldier strangling her.

It was silent between the two friends. Bull wasn't really sure what to say to her.

"I shouldn't be here."

Bull turned his head to look at her. He thought that in a way she was right, but she was also wrong, too.

"You have every right to be here with us," Bull said, but she only shook her head.

"No," the young girl croaked out. Her throat was burning, but she was going to finish her thoughts.

"I'm just a kid," Madison stared down at the ground. "I'm only a kid."

Bull had a feeling that she really meant what she was saying. "What do you mean by that, Maddie?"

Madison looked up. Bull took note that tears were building up in her blue eyes. "I-I'm a kid, Bull. I was a kid when I signed up. Well, I didn't really sign up, but I brought myself into this mess. But I was a kid then, and I'm still a kid now. You know...I...I'm not twenty years old, right?"

Bull studied her. Now that she mentioned it...she looked more like a young teenager more than anything. Before she received the hand-print bruises around her neck and all the other injuries, she looked like a small child more than anything.

"Are you saying that you lied on your papers?" Bull asked her. He knew the answer, but he wanted her to confirm it.

"Yeah. Do you wanna know how old I really am?" Bull nodded. "I was born in 1927. You do the math."

It took Bull a moment to think about it but once he figured it out, all he could say was:

"You have a right to be here."

Madison could only stare at him in response. Was he saying what she thought she was saying? She half-expected him to flip his lid like Guarnere had. God, just thinking about her friends made her want to cry.

"What?"

"You have gone through so much, yet you refuse to give in," Bull explained. "Never in my life would I have known that when we first met, you were a fifteen year old girl. And I know that most