"Hey, Frank, I was just thinking about you," Madison said.

"Yeah? 'Sup guys," Perconte observed the room. "I like what you did with the place, George."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I did good, huh?" Luz asked. "How you feeling?"

"As long as you keep your hand off my ass, I'll be fine," Perconte replied.

"Here, have a Hershey," Luz threw a candy bar to Perconte who caught it with ease.

"Hey, he gets a fucking Hershey Bar?" Liebgott looked like a puppy who was kicked one too many times.

"Well, he got shot in the ass," Luz explained.

"That's fair enough," Madison looked at Liebgott, who gave her a small glare of disbelief and betrayal mixed into one.

"Fuck that!" Liebgott said. Madison turned back to Luz.

"Hey, do you have any mints or anything? Maybe some crackers? Something to help a poor, sick girl?"

"Yeah, sure," Luz nodded as he pulled out a pack of gum and saltine crackers, handing them towards her.

"Thanks," she said as she opened the cracker packet and ate one. She picked up another cracker and offered one to Liebgott. "Want one?"

Liebgott tore the cracker out of her hand and shoved it into his mouth, munching on it angrily. Madison blinked several times, but didn't say anything. Her attention turned back to Perconte when he spoke up.

"I heard the Krauts are finished," Perconte said, walking closer towards the group.

"Yeah, well, just to make sure we have to row across the fucking river tonight. Grab a few, and ask them in person," Liebgott countered.

Perconte looked at him for a moment. "You kidding me?"

Liebgott gave a small shrug and tsked. "Wish I was. Welcome back, Frank."

"Oh, Jesus, that reminds me. Web? I need you to run these to OP 2 for me. Grenade launchers for the night patrol," Luz explained, picking up a box and extending it out for Webster. "Any day now, Web."

"Hey, hey, hey, did you hear what happened during D Company's patrol last night?" Smith asked.

"No," one of the men said.

"Replacement lieutenant blew his foot off," Smith explained. "Stepped on a Schu mine. Fresh here from West Point. Had to come back empty handed."

"No shit," Luz muttered. "He's a friend of yours, Lieutenant."

Madison turned around in her seat to look at Lieutenant Jones. He didn't look too pleased. He looked uncomfortable. Madison couldn't help but feel bad for him. She knew that the man was getting so much ridicule for being fresh meat in the company.

Thinking about that made her think about Webster. She shut that part of her mind out.

"Hey, E. Vest, what you got in there? More Hershey Bars and Lucky Strikes for your rear end—"

"Do you ever shut the fuck up?" Madison snapped at Cobb before he could finish his sentence. "God, you're so horrible. Leave the kid alone he's just trying to do his fucking job like the rest of us are."

Before he could fire anything towards her, Madison stalked out of the room in a bad mood.

"Jesus Christ, you see what you do?" Luz asked Cobb, throwing the rest of the supplies in a box and exiting the room as well. Vest, Webster, and Lieutenant Jones followed him out while the men began to raid the boxes.

* * * * *

Madison found Roe with the medic supplies, counting.

"Hey, Doc," Madison made herself known.

"You should be resting," Roe chastised, not even bothering to look at her.

"I took a shower. I feel better," Madison explained as she stood next to him. "We still short?"

"Not as bad as we were before," Roe answered. Madison nodded.

Just then Spina had stepped into the room. "Hey, Doc, we're set for patrol tonigh—hey Maddie, feeling better?"

"Yeah, thanks for asking," Madison nodded. "So, what's the detail? I'm sure that none of us aren't going out, right?"

"Correct," Roe answered. "We're to stay behind. They shouldn't be in any trouble, so we have the night off."

"There's always trouble," Madison stated, eyebrows furrowed.

"You're right about that, but there's nothing else that we can do. Just go back to bed, alright?"

"Can't I just rest down here with you two? I'm going to be all alone up there. All of second platoon is on patrol, and I'm going to be all by myself."

"That's fine," Roe answered. "Spina, go show her where she should be laying down," he emphasized the last part. Madison sighed.

"You just want me to be miserable, don't you?"

"It's for your own good."

* * * * *

The young medic had slept for most of the day and when night came, she was wide awake.

Madison knew that she probably should not be outside loitering and smoking a cigarette while the enemy was just across the river and her friends were currently over there during a patrol. However, no one on her side was out monitoring and after all, she was just a little girl, what could she do?

Looking out towards the other side of the river, she could see nothing. It was quiet and it appeared that the patrol was going smoothly. Key word: was. Madison couldn't see what the men on patrol were doing, it was dark and she was too far away, but it didn't look or sound too good when heard a grenade go off, with German and American firing immediately after.

Madison thought nothing of it, at least at first. She was smoking away, wondering what she was going to write to the families of Muck and Penkala. She had told herself she was going to write to their families, Faye Tanner included, when she had the chance.

However, as each second passed, something started to build inside of Madison. It wasn't the sensation of vomit, rather, it was that horrible gut feeling of something bad happening. She gulped, muttering a curse word before throwing the remaining of her cigarette down and putting it out with her boot. Just in time, too.

"We need a medic!" came the yells of Johnny Martin. "Medic!"

"Martin!" Madison yelled out as loud as she could, running to where he was. "Martin!"

"Klein! Over here!" Martin called out. Madison turned, barely seeing his silhouette but ran towards him anyway.

"Who got hit?"

"It's Jackson," Martin replied as he led the way. He all but threw Madison into the building where everyone from the patrol was in, along with the POWs they were able to capture. Madison ignored them and went straight for Jackson, who was being looked after by Webster, Popeye, and Lieutenant Jones.

"Out of the way!" Madison cried out as loud as she could over the rumbling building. "Let me through!"

The men parted and Madison was able to get to Jackson's side. Roe appeared not too long after her, putting bandages on his neck to help stop the bleeding.

"What happened to him?" Doc asked. Him and Madison both took one good look at Jackson and knew it was trouble: half of his face was torn and swollen. Specks of blood appeared from his face to his throat. He was flailing miserably. God, it was awful.

"Grenade!" someone yelled. Suddenly Jackson grabbed onto Madison as if she was his lifeline. It was so sudden and was done with so much force that the young girl almost lost her balance.

"I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die!" Jackson was shouting. It broke Madison's heart each time he said something or made a gurgling noise.

"You have to calm down, Eugene, or else Doc and I can't really help," Madison said in a calm voice. She put one hand on his forehead, smoothing his hair back. "Can you help us?"

Immediately, by what seemed to be from Madison's touch, Jackson started to calm down. She noticed from the corner of her eye that Skinny Sisk pulled out his lighter and ignited it; Roe's orders.

"Look at the flame for me, okay?" Madison asked Jackson. She saw his eyes flicker towards it. "Good. Stay calm for us, okay?"

It all fell silent for a good couple of seconds.

"The stretcher's here," Roe told Madison. She nodded.

"We're getting you out of here," Madison told Jackson. He nodded as best as he could. Swiftly but carefully, Madison took her hand off him and let the men place him on the stretcher. Almost immediately, as he was starting to be carried out, Jackson was yelling again.

"I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die!"

Another shell hit the building, and the men who were carrying Jackson had to put him down. Madison immediately grabbed Jackson, almost cradling and shielding him, as he started to choke up again. It wasn't good.

"Jackson, calm down! Come on, Eugene! You're not going to die, I'm not going to let you die!"

You can't die. We can't lose you over some lousy patrol for POWs.

Jackson, the poor boy, was fighting for his life. Everyone in the room could feel it. Unfortunately, when the next round hit, Jackson went completely limp. Lifeless. He was another E Company soldier that was gone; lost to the horrors of war. Madison could only stare at him, not yet believing it before checking all of his pulse points. Her next words were hard to let out.

"He's dead."

Immediately, the room went silent, as the shells and firing outside continued. The men watched as Madison carefully laid Jackson back down on the stretcher. He died in Madison's arms and on the floor in a basement of a war-torn house in Haguenau.

Madison stared at the face of her newly deceased friend. Eugene Jackson was a good man, a good kid. Like Madison, Jackson had lied about his age when he joined the army at sixteen. Madison was the only one who knew about it and in return, Jackson knew that she was underage. They had bonded over it and if they had gone to school together, they would have been great friends.

It was rather depressing for Madison to watch as the twenty-year-old died and for what? Information. Lousy information, if Madison had anything to say about it.

Madison prayed to God for both Jackson and those POWs who were still in the room. She prayed for the higher ups too because by God if those POWs did not have viable information, she was going to murder someone.

* * * * *

It was early morning, daylight had started peeking out. Madison was back sitting in her original bunk she had taken when they had first entered the village. Her sickness seemed to be going away and besides the feeling of stuffiness, she was fine.

For the first half hour, Madison just sat in her bunk, feet on the floor, silent and praying. She prayed for Jackson, as well as all the lost in the past few months. She found herself praying for Bill and Toye, who were most likely in a hospital somewhere in England slowly recovering from the loss of their legs. She prayed for her brothers and her sister, her parents, all their relatives and friends. Finally, she ended it by asking God to end this goddamn war.

"You pray in German?"

Madison looked up to see Perconte staring down at her. She shrugged.

"Sometimes, yeah. In bits and phrases and frustration, mostly," she answered, but nothing else was said about it. Perconte instead changed the subject.

"We're having another patrol tonight."

Madison's look on her face said it all. It was a mix of exhaustion, disbelief, and frustration.

"They want another patrol?"

"Apparently, we did so good that Sink wants us to go back out there," Liebgott added in, smoking away.

Madison's head dropped into one of her hands.

"You have to be kidding me."

"'Fraid not."

"They're going to kill us all."

* * * * *

Madison often found herself in a peaceful state of mind when she spoke with Shifty. She was sitting in a corner with them, as most of the men in the room sat around at a bar together.

"What are you writing down?" Shifty asked his friend, as she was writing, scribbling out a line or two, then wrote again.

"This is a letter to Faye Tanner, Skip's girl," Madison didn't tear her eyes away from the letter. "I'm writing to her, Skip's family, and Alex's. I'm thinking of doing it with Hoobler's too."

"That's a lot on your shoulders," Shifty commented.

"That's because there is a lot on my shoulders," Madison replied, looking up at him this time. She narrowed her eyes as she noticed the cigarette in his hand. "I didn't know you smoke."

"I have been for a while."

"Oh."

It was quiet between the two for a moment.

"They're planning on doing another patrol," Madison brought up again, quiet enough for only Shifty to hear. She knew he was one of the men on patrol from the night before.

"I heard," he nodded. "I imagine we're to venture farther in."

"I'm pissed. It'll just be worse. I don't want any more casualties," Madison had unintentionally started to tear up. It was from pent up frustration, something she was having trouble with for a while. Shifty put a hand on her shoulder.

"It'll be okay, Maddie. I promise," Shifty spoke softly. "I can't imagine how hard it is for you, as a medic and all. You have more of a bigger role than us regulars, I think. Always busting around for us, we're proud to have you as our medic. You know that, right? You're the best around."

Madison couldn't help but smile. She wasn't sure what to say about it, either. All she could say was:

"Thank you. You don't know how much that means to me."

"Whatchu lookin' at, Webster?"

Madison and Shifty, like all the men in the room, stopped what they were doing and turned to Cobb. Judging by the bottle in his hand and the glassy look in his eyes, the man was drunk.

Webster made no reply. Cobb smirked at his silence.

"Yeah. That's what I thought, college boy."

Madison glared at Cobb. She'll admit, she may have been heated at Webster for the past few days, but her anger had subsided with him. Cobb was just one of the worst people Madison had ever had the chance of knowing, if she had to be honest. While Cobb had his moments of being a good and capable person, he was mostly just rude and cruel and took his anger out on everyone. Madison wanted to say something, but Lieutenant Jones beat her to it.

"Are you drunk, trooper?"

"Leave me alone," Cobb said.

That was not going to fly with Lieutenant Jones.

"Answer the question."

"Yes, sir. I am drunk, sir," Cobb answered. He paused before speaking again. "I'm drunk, sick and tired of fucking patrols, taking orders—"

Both Madison and Martin interrupted Cobb at the same time.

"Shut up."

Cobb glared at them both. He looked back at Martin first.

"Taking his side, Johnny?"

Martin turned back around in his seat, but he still answered.

"Yeah. I am."

Cobb took a gulp from his bottle, before turning back to Madison.

"And of course, you're siding with the West Pointer. How am I surprised? You fucking bitch."

"Hey!"

Almost all of the men stood up as soon as the insult flew out of his mouth. The tension in the room was thick. Lieutenant Jones snapped again.

"That's enough!"

"Fucking bitch, my God, I don't know how the hell you made it here! Look at you!" Cobb was shouting at Madison, getting dangerously close to her. "You got in here the easy way, didn't you? No wonder why everyone in the division called you Easy's Girl. You know why they say that? Or are you too busy opening your fucking—"

SMACK!

Everyone stopped what they were doing, stunned. It took everyone a moment to realize what had happened. Madison was standing up, red in the face and Cobb was clutching to his face. She had slapped him. Hard.

"I think you should stop talking, if you knew what was good for you," Madison stated in a cool, but threatening manner. She looked towards Lieutenant Jones and Martin. They stared back.

"Get him out of here."

Lieutenant Jones had promised Madison that she was not in trouble for slapping the living daylight out of Cobb. It surprised her, but she welcomed it. She knew it was not professional but quite frankly, she was sick and tired of Cobb. She was tired of his complaints and tired of the insults he would throw at her or others. She'll admit, he was not the first to say nasty things to her and, undoubtedly, he would not be the last to say them either, but she was sick of it. Even if it was unprofessional, it felt good to slap him. It's like what Alfonso Verona, her papa's best friend, would say: talk shit, get hit.

Cobb would later be court martialed, but it wasn't all because of the verbal assault towards Martin, Madison, and Jones. He had also tried to assault Lieutenant Foley. When Foley reported the incident to Sink, the colonel had said:

"You could have saved us a lot of trouble. You should have shot him."

* * * * *

"That was quite a show."

Madison, who was busy treating Foley's wrist, looked up to see Webster standing in the doorway. Madison did not reply. Instead, she looked back to Foley, looking at him one more time.

"Alright, Lieutenant. There's nothing much else I can do here. Come back in a few hours for more antibiotics, alright?"

"Alright," Foley agreed, standing up. "Thank you so much, Klein."

"It's no problem," Madison gave him a small smile, waving him off. "It's what I'm here for."

Foley passed by Webster as he exited the building. The two nodded at each other before Foley went on his way. Webster looked back to Madison, who was tidying up a little. He sighed and tried to talk to her again.

"You feeling better?"

"Yes. According to Doc, I'm back to my regular health. He's letting me do things now," Madison answered. She had yet to turn around and face Webster.

"You can step in, you know. I have a feeling that you want to talk to me," Madison added.

Webster nodded, stepping into the room more. Neither soldier said anything for a few moments.

"I want to apologize for making you upset the other day," Webster broke the ice. Madison froze, turning her head to face him.

"You're apologizing?"

Webster nodded.

"Yes, I am. I've thought about what you said, and how the others have been treating me since I returned to the company. I should have realized that my remarks were ignorant. You were right, I should have realized that if I didn't see a man, that he was gone."

Madison glanced down to the ground, taking in his words. She looked back up to him.

"I think I can accept your apology," she said. "I can tell that you're sincere about it. I feel like I should apologize for my...outburst. I was really upset that you brought Skip up." She felt her throat tightened up at the thought of it. "It was just so recent that..."

"You did nothing wrong about getting upset," Webster reminded her, as he set his rifle down. "You had every right to get angry with me."

"I know. I just...it's so hard, you know? God, those times in the woods were the roughest part in the war. We lost so many men. I couldn't save them." Madison could feel the tears coming. She got mad at herself for it. "God, all I do is cry, don't I?"

"For good reason," Webster told her. "You seem like the type of woman who cries when she's angry a lot, and I think that's what it is right now. You're angry that so many men have been lost. You're angry that we're still here."

Madison gave a small huff of laughter.

"Yeah, a little bit. You're right, Web. You're absolutely right."

"But you know what? You're prevailing. You're one of the strongest people I know," Webster told her. Then he added, "It's not your fault that those men are dead. You can't blame yourself for that. I know Muck, Penkala, and Hoobler wouldn't want you to blame yourself over their deaths."

Madison wiped away her