《The Infinity Islands》 Chapter 1 ¡°What the hell is this?!¡± I looked around me bewildered, taking in my new surroundings. I was in a boat with walls on all sides but no ceiling, surrounded by men in old-fashioned US Army gear. ¡°This can¡¯t be right,¡± I muttered, and turned to the man to my right. ¡°Where am I?¡± I asked him, tilting my head, my helmet clinking with my glasses. Helmet? The man ignored me, just staring straight ahead, unmoving. Unmoving? He wasn¡¯t even breathing. I stood up and looked to my left, over the side of the boat. I saw half a dozen boats just like mine, and a few more when I looked to the right. But why weren¡¯t they moving? I could see the water splashed up in our wake, but it was just floating in the air, motionless. I just stared into the water for a few minutes in a daze. A hand on my shoulder finally broke me from my reverie, and I turned as someone began to speak. ¡°Hey, kid. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve got a lot of questions, but let¡¯s wait until everyone wakes up, alright? I only want to say this once.¡± I nodded slowly as I took in the man¡¯s appearance. He was a bald, middle aged white guy, but he was just massive; almost seven feet tall and built like the proverbial brick shithouse. Like everyone else in the boat, including me, I realized then, he was wearing a World War II era US Army uniform. Muscle man returned my nod and walked down the line, shaking the other soldiers on the boat. Some of them woke up, or were already awake, while others just continued to stare forward motionlessly. All in all, fifteen others woke up, leaving seven guys still staring forward. ¡°Alright everyone, listen up,¡± muscle man began, as he stood at the front of the boat. ¡°You are all dead.¡± This was met with murmurs, a few jeers and one ¡°What the fuck are you talking about, old man?¡± Muscleman narrowed his eyes and glared at the man, then the jeerers, then the murmurers, just for good measure, I would guess. ¡°What I am fucking talking about is, you died, and now you¡¯re here. I don¡¯t know how it fucking works. If it makes you feel any better, and I should hope it doesn¡¯t, the same thing happened to me, too.¡± How could I be dead? I remember going to sleep¡­ But that¡¯s it. What happened¡­? ¡°As it turns out, death isn¡¯t always the end for us. Some people end up in places like this, to do a Mission. I don¡¯t know how people are selected for these Missions, so don¡¯t ask. These Missions, and I¡¯d say this is the most fucked up part, take place in the worlds of movies, TV shows, cartoons and even comic books and novels from back home.¡± The guy glared at everyone again, to quell the incredulous denials that were already arising. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you believe me, and I don¡¯t really care. Most of you are probably going to die again anyway. If you haven¡¯t already figured it out, we¡¯re in a movie right now. Any guesses as to which one?¡± ¡°Saving Private Ryan?¡± A younger man- no, a teenager, asked nervously. A chill went down my spine as I realized he was probably right. This definitely looks like the beach landing scene on D-Day, that starts right after old man Ryan visits the graveyard in the beginning of the movie. ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Muscleman nodded, a grim look on his face. ¡°This Mission will be brutal, especially for a Team full of rookies like ours. Take a look at those fancy watches you¡¯re wearing, they¡¯ll give you our Mission¡¯s objectives.¡± Startled, I held up my hands, to find there was indeed a ¡®fancy watch¡¯ on my left wrist. It had a square screen, maybe four inches per side, that displayed the time and date, as well as a countdown, with about ten minutes left on it. It really was June 6th, 1944, according to the watch. I tapped on an M-shaped icon at the bottom of the screen, and the Mission information was there, just like muscle man said. MISSION WORLD: SAVING PRIVATE RYAN PRIMARY GOAL: SAVE PRIVATE RYAN (100 Points) If Private James Francis Ryan is still alive at the end of the Mission, all Players are awarded 100 points. SECONDARY GOALS:
  1. Kill German Soldiers (1 Point per soldier kill) (5 Points per officer kill)
  2. Destroy German Tanks (10 Points per tank)
  3. Capture German Soldiers (2 Points per soldier captured) (10 Points per officer captured)
TIME LIMIT: EIGHT DAYS MISSION FAILURE: PRIVATE RYAN DIES FAILURE CONSEQUENCES: All Players immediately leave the Mission world, all rewards are voided, and this Mission world is locked permanently. I learned a lot from that thing, but honestly it brought up even more questions than it answered. What the hell are these points? I didn¡¯t know what they would do, but I knew that I wanted them, and as many as I could get. What happens when we leave the so-called mission world? Do we go back to Earth? Some kind of hub-world? If failure locks this world, what happens if it stays unlocked?I looked back up at the muscle man, but he just glared at me before I could ask anything. ¡°We only have ten minutes until the Mission really starts- and these boats start moving. I won¡¯t answer any questions, but I¡¯ll tell you all a little more. First I¡¯ll tell you about the most important thing in your new life, assuming you manage to survive this: Points. When we get home, you can spend your points. The possibilities are pretty much endless- you can buy weapons, super powers, even magic swords and all kinds of other shit. Most importantly, at least for a rookie, you can increase your stats. Strength, dexterity, things like that. I¡¯ve emphasized strength and constitution with a bit of dexterity, and I have a few guns with infinite ammo. I will not be sharing them,¡± he said, throwing around his customary glare once again. Strength and constitution though, huh? That explains the muscles so massive they show through the uniform. He continued then, ¡°Back to the Mission at hand though, this blows my last few out of the water. We have to go through the whole movie here, but there won¡¯t be any time jumps like in the movie. Saving Private Ryan spans from June 6th to June 13th. We¡¯ll be here for eight days, as long as nothing goes horribly wrong.¡± Eight days? I hadn¡¯t seen Saving Private Ryan in a few years, but I was pretty sure the first and last days were the most dangerous by far. Then a thought struck me. ¡°If this really is Saving Private Ryan, is Tom Hanks going to be here?¡± ¡°I said I wouldn¡¯t answer any questions! But I was about to get to that anyway, so I¡¯ll tell you now.¡± HIs glare intensified and was focused solely on me. ¡°The fact is, I don¡¯t know yet. It depends, really. In Jaws, we replaced all of the main characters and were on the boat by ourselves, but in X-Men all of the characters were there. I would guess that he is, but he¡¯ll be Captain John Miller here. Tom Hanks hasn¡¯t even been born yet in this world. That¡¯s another thing; this world was created just for our mission but it is still a real world, in some sense. This isn¡¯t some little dimension limited to Normandy, France; it is a fully fledged world, currently in the middle of the second World War, and it won¡¯t go away just because we leave at the end of the Mission. We can even come back here, as long we succeed. We¡¯re just about out of time now, rookies. I¡¯ll offer you one last piece of advice: don¡¯t hide. Don¡¯t run away. Get out there and kill as many Nazis as you can, if you want to make something of yourself after we get home. Points are the only things that really matter now.¡± With that, he readied a modern-looking assault rifle, and took up a position in the third row. I checked myself for weapons, finding a rifle, a pistol and a bayonet, along with plenty of ammo. I was pretty sure the rifle was an M1 Garand, but I had no idea what kind of pistol I had. I held the rifle in my hand, finding it to be much heavier than I had expected. I almost dropped the rifle when I thought about what we were about to do, and my heart started racing. I got back in my seat and tried to calm myself down, but it didn¡¯t help much. I had barely sat for a minute when time suddenly started up. As the boat finally began to move, the sound of our boats cascading through the water reached me, drowning out the few conversations the other ¡®soldiers¡¯ like me had started. I stared forward, determination slowly settling in. I really only had half an idea of what was going on, but there were two things I desperately wanted at the time. The first was to not die (which generally is my main goal, now that I think about it), and the second was to acquire as many points as possible. We quickly approached the shore, and several of my fellow soldiers began to vomit, the nerves and the unsteady motion of the boat getting to them. Maybe I did too, but I will never admit it. Certainly not. All too soon it was time, and the front of the boat opened up into a ramp, the first row of soldiers immediately charging out. They were met with a hail of gunfire, and the first four soldiers of our boat were gunned down in seconds, before they could even disembark. Not waiting for my turn, I hopped over the side, dropping into the channel. The soldier in front of me, one I recognized as another of the ¡®Players¡¯ from before, had the same idea and jumped just after me. As I fell into the water, I realized it was a lot deeper than I thought, and my military gear was much heavier than it looks in the movies. I was still okay, though; I was a swimmer in high school. I couldn¡¯t really swim while I was weighed down so much, but I had pretty good breath control. The other guy, though, was having trouble right away. With the gear weighing us down we sank down real quick and had to walk along the bottom for a bit, but he was struggling to make any progress. I waded my way over to him and grabbed his left arm, pulling him forward. He nodded gratefully, then went limp. As soon as his body went slack I looked to my right, where the water was turning red. ¡°Fuck!¡± I tried to shout, sounding a lot more like ¡°ugg¡± followed by a few bubbles. He¡¯d been shot! Two rounds had gone through the water and pierced his chest, the light in his eyes swiftly extinguished. The four men that had died barely a minute before on the boat were ¡®normal¡¯ soldiers, actual residents of this world, and I didn¡¯t really see them as ¡®real¡¯ people at the time, so I wasn¡¯t nearly as affected then as I was now. This guy was just some guy, like me, a guy from a relatively peaceful era thrust into a notorious battle for no apparent reason. I just stared at him for a few seconds, before I came to my senses and let him go. His body just drifted around in the water, still weighed down by his gear. I made a mad underwater dash towards the shore, bullets constantly shooting past me me. Most of them were pretty far off, but one passed barely an inch from my left leg and another actually dinged off of my helmet! I sped up even more, feeling my lungs start to burn. It really was much more exhausting than just swimming normally would be! The water got shallower and shallower until I finally could stand with my head above the water, breathing in for what seemed like the first time in hours. The clamor of the battle made me briefly consider diving back down, just to give my already-ringing ears some respite, but I shook it off and steadily advanced towards the shore. There were hundreds, maybe thousands, of US soldiers all around me, and I¡¯d completely lost track of anyone from my boat. Nothing left but to go forward, then. I gulped, and made a mad dash towards the beach. A mortar went off several feet behind me, blasting me forward and into the sand. I shot back to my feet, coughing and hacking the sand out of my mouth, disgusted at the iron-taste mixed in. I charged forward and dove behind the first real cover I could find. I fell in with a group of nine other soldiers taking cover behind a collection of three of those giant metal X-things in the water. I later learned that they are called Czech hedgehogs, and are anti-tank barricades, but what they were didn¡¯t really matter to me at the time. Bullets glanced off of mine every few seconds, and I took in the scene around me, huddled up with two other guys, trying to keep low and behind the metal. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. It was pure pandemonium! I could see men dying all around me, the water of the channel quickly turning red. One soldier, a sergeant I think, came to our impromptu squad and ordered us to advance. He ducked behind my barricade and shouted the order. ¡°We¡¯re sitting ducks out here! Get up the beach! Get up the beach! Forward, now!¡± I took a nervous breath and, left with no real choice, we abandoned our brief safe-haven and charged forward. I was in the middle of the group, and I felt true terror for the first time since I¡¯d jumped out of that boat. Even with the heavy load I hadn¡¯t been too uncomfortable in the water, and behind the barricade we had been relatively safe, but now we were essentially running through no-man¡¯s land. A spray of machine gun fire dropped three of my group, including the sergeant. One of the privates quickly got back to his feet, two fresh holes in his right arm, while the other had been hit in the chest and died before he hit the ground. The sergeant was hit in the side of the neck and lay there bleeding, trembling and reaching one hand out towards me, the other covering the bullet wound. ¡°Medic!¡± Someone called, and I rushed forward to grab his outstretched hand, pulling him behind another barricade. He didn¡¯t think he had the strength to lift his arm anymore, the hand clutching his neck slowly sliding down. I held my hand over the wound, trying to apply pressure. Or something. I really had no idea what I was doing. I kept shouting for a medic, but none came. The rest of my ¡®squad¡¯ took cover with me, one of them working on the other wounded soldier¡¯s arm. ¡°Medic!¡± I called one last time, as the light faded from the sergeant¡¯s eyes, and his arms finally went limp. I stared at my hands, trembling and covered in blood, for a solid five seconds before I came to my senses. The rest of my ¡®squad¡¯, now reduced to nine of us, wore grim but determined expressions. I got up, grabbed my rifle, and charged forward, leaving our cover once again. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± I yelled, and the other eight men were right behind me. A couple dozen yards to our left there was a sudden blast of flame! I quickly glanced towards it and saw two soldiers consumed by the flame, writhing in pain as the blast grew bigger. ¡°Keep moving!¡± I yelled, as I glanced back at my ¡®squad¡¯. We¡¯d lost three more while I wasn¡¯t watching, only five of them left. Another of our men was hit while I was looking at them, a bullet blasting through his forehead, spraying a grotesque pink mist behind him as he fell. I turned around to keep going, but then a sudden explosion from behind me rocked me off me feet. I landed face first, the sand getting in my nose and mouth, again. I raised my head, coughing, and nearly gagged at what I saw in front of me. A human arm, severed several inches above the elbow, lay not a foot away from me. A dazed-looking, one-armed soldier was slowly walking back and forth, looking for something. I called to him, but I don¡¯t think he heard me. As I stood up, he bent over and, after a few tries managed to pick up his severed right arm. Then he just walked off! Wait! I remember this! The fire, then they one-armed guy! Tom Ha- Captain Miller should be nearby! ¡°Take cover!¡± I yelled back to my ¡®squad¡¯ as I dove behind another Czech hedgehog. There were only two of them left at this point, and they took cover on either side of me. I actually recognized one of them- the teenager that was the first to suggest what movie we were in. The other one seemed familiar too, but I couldn¡¯t quite place him. He wasn¡¯t wearing a ¡®fancy watch¡¯ so maybe¡­ Could he be one of the important characters? He certainly wasn¡¯t Tom Hanks or Vin Diesel, so I couldn¡¯t be sure. The only other actor that I knew was in the movie was Matt Damon, but he was Private Ryan so he wouldn¡¯t have been here anyway. In the relative safety of our cover, I scanned the water behind us and, sure enough, there he was! Tom Hanks is here! Uh, Captain Miller! Captain Miller broke out of his stupor and rushed up the beach, his gun wrapped in a plastic sheet, and moved in with another group that were behind a larger barricade. I couldn¡¯t hear what they were saying over the gunfire, explosions and screams, but the man Miller talked to dropped some metal box thing, picked up a weapon, and they moved out. ¡°Hey!¡± I said, tapping the teenage ¡®Player¡¯ ¡°Over there!¡± The teen looked over and his weary eyes lit up and he tried to stand up, then he clutched at his arm. So he was the one hit early on? ¡°What is it?¡± The other soldier asked, and he saw where I was pointing. ¡°Captain! Captain Miller! Over here!¡± He raised his arm, and motioned Miller over. ¡°Reiben!¡± He began to make his way to us, when his head suddenly turned to the right. ¡°Briggs!¡± He shouted, and ran over to one of the many, many wounded men on the beach. I glanced at the other ¡®Player¡¯ and Reiben, nodded, and we went to Miller and Briggs. ¡°I know this scene!¡± The teen spoke up, just to my left. ¡°Miller drags the Lieutenant forward for a bit but then he gets blown up!¡± Now that he mentioned it, I guess there was a scene like that. ¡°Fuck! Let¡¯s get him out of there fast then!¡± I sped up, and Reiben and the teen followed suit. ¡°Captain!¡± I shouted as we got near them. ¡°Get me out of here! I¡¯m hit low! God!¡± Briggs was down, but in my inexpert opinion he¡¯d probably have been fine if there was a medic around. Captain Miller called, but no medic came. The three of us arrived soon, and Miller looked up at us. ¡°Reiben! Get Briggs out of here! You help him!¡± The Captain said, the last part directed at me. ¡°Yes, Sir!¡± The three of us said in unison, as Reiben and I grabbed hold of Briggs. Miller stayed to argue with some other guy, but I was pretty sure he¡¯d be ok. The main character can¡¯t die at the beginning of the movie, right? We dragged Briggs forward and, somehow, made it to the area Miller and the rest of the main characters met up at in the movie, the sandy hill just below a bunch of barbed wire and one of the pillboxes. We went prone against the sand hill and Reiben called for Wade, the medic. Wade was working on another patient with two other medics. He glanced over and nodded at Reiben, but continued working on the man in front of him. Miller ran by then, and joined us. He said something to a Radioman, then turned towards us and yelled, ¡°Who¡¯s in command here?!¡± ¡°You are, Sir¡± The teenager yelled after a brief delay. ¡°Sergeant Horvath!¡± ¡°Sir!¡± ¡°You recognize where we are?¡± ¡°Right where we¡¯re supposed to be, but no one else is!¡± Captain Miller turned back to the Radioman and told him something again, then a few more soldiers joined them. Mellish, Caparzo and Jackson, they said. They started talking about their medic, Wade, and tried to draw his attention again. Once again, Wade ignored them and continued to work on his patient, but then the wounded man took a bullet in the head. ¡°Fuck! Just give us a fucking chance, you son of a bitch!¡± Wade kept ranting at the German machine guns, as Mellish ran to get him. When they got back to the hill, Wade and an older medical officer took one look at Lieutenant Briggs and started working on him right away. Miller and Horvath quickly discussed the situation and made sure we were in the right place, then planned out our next few steps. ¡°Gather weapons and ammo!¡± Captain Miller shouted, Sergeant Horvath relaying the order, so Reiben and I, along with a few of the other guys that I vaguely recognized as other characters from the movie, moved back. We basically looted our dead and dying comrades, grabbing up as much ammo as we could carry. I was about to turn back around when something caught my eye. Two of the men on the ground around me were wearing the dark watches that I had- they were ¡®Players¡¯ from the real world like me. One of them was certainly dead; half his face had been blown off and his torso was riddled with bullets. The other one had half a leg blown off and at least one gunshot wound, but he was still barely alive. He was a young-looking asian guy, maybe a teenager, I thought. ¡°Help me¡­¡± He muttered, his unfocused eyes staring straight up, tears leaking down his face, blood streaming out of his nose and one of his ears. ¡°Why¡­.?¡± ¡°Reiben!¡± I called, seeing him nearby, ¡°Help me with him!¡± I had crouched over the asian ¡®Player¡¯ and tried to drag him up the beach back to Wade and the other medics, but it was slow-going on my own. ¡°Okay!¡± He sprinted over to us and we each grabbed a shoulder, pulling him straight to the medics. ¡°We¡¯re all back sir!¡± He shouted, as we dove under another wave of machinegun fire. Miller called for the bangalores then, everyone ready to get moving. Bangalores are basically big metal tubes with a torpedo in them, I learned a few seconds later. As they set them up, a stray bullet deflected off the helmet of the guy next to me. His stunned expression as he grabbed his helmet triggered another memory of the movie, and I pulled the guy down by his arm, pressing him to the ground. Not three seconds later, another shot fired right where his head had just been. I shook him a few times to break him from his reverie; he took a deep breath and readied his weapon. Miller and Horvath lit the fuses on their bangalores right then. ¡°Fire in the hole!¡± Miller yelled, and it was carried down the line. We all went down and took cover. BOOM! The explosions rattled my brain a little, but with that we could finally move on! ¡°We¡¯re in business! Other side of the hole, go!¡± Shouted Sergeant Horvath, and we advanced, vaulting over the mound of sand and through the newly-made hole in the barbed-wire fence. We quickly found ourselves pinned down by a German machine gun crew, behind the ruins of the bunker Miller had just blasted. Miller issued several commands to his guys, and I figured I was pretty much just along for the ride at that point. I laid down covering fire with my M1 Garand as the real soldiers got to work, the PING! of the empty clip ejecting itself surprising me. Luckily I had seen some of the others reload the same kind of gun, and it wasn¡¯t very complicated. Pretty soon the only ones left behind the wall were Miller, Horvath, me and one of the other guys. ¡°Jackson! You see that impact crater? That should give you complete defilade from that machine gun position. Get in there and give me some fire discipline. You go with him,¡± Captain Miller said to me at the end, nodding towards the crater in question. ¡°Wait for my command.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Jackson and I said, as we got ready to move. Jackson kissed his cross necklace, while I took a few deep breaths. ¡°Go!¡± The Captain shouted and jumped out, drawing fire towards himself, as we ran past Sergeant Horvath, booking it for the crater. A stream of bullets trailed me, mortars blasting holes all around us. Jackson dove forward and rolled into the crater, and I slid down, firing a few shots towards the enemy¡¯s position. Jackson readied his Springfield rifle, and said a prayer so quiet I could barely hear him. As soon as one of the German soldiers came into view, Jackson fired, blasting a hole through the man¡¯s chest! He stumbled back, probably dead behind their sandbag barrier. After another prayer and another shot, the sandbags were blasted apart and tumbled down the hill, another German soldier rolling down with them. The rest of Miller¡¯s guys lit him up on the way down, and I even fired a couple of shots before I heard the PING! again. I reloaded, faster that time, but he was dead for sure by then. Captain Miller ordered everyone forward then, and men from all over the beach rushed to the hole we had made in the German defensive line. Jackson and I moved up quick, joining Sergeant Horvath, Private Reiben, and the rest of their group as they converged near the next bunker. The Sergeant took one of Reiben¡¯s grenades, pulled the pin and lobbed it into the bunker. We all crouched behind a wall until the after the explosion. A chunk of concrete bounced off of my helmet, but otherwise we were all okay. Reiben and I crept out as the dust settled, our guns trained on the bunker¡¯s entryway, less than ten feet away and in a trench a few feet deep. A German soldier ran out and turned towards us, so we each fired at him twice, dropping him with three shots to the chest; one of mine had gone a bit wide. Two more Germans ran out then, this time turning left out of the door and trying to run away from us. I fired twice at the one to the right, Reiben doing the same to the one on the left. We dropped into the trench, and I was ready to storm the bunker, but the Captain called over someone called Doyle. I glanced over to Doyle, and couldn¡¯t stifle my grin in time. He had a fucking flamethrower! Someone threw another grenade through the doorway, then Doyle stood by the entrance and torched the place. The whole bunker went up in flames! We got out of there quick, jumping into a longer trench a few feet ahead. We briefly exchanged fire with a group of German soldiers, but they surrendered before anyone on either side got hit. Some of our guys went over to secure them, but I moved on with Captain Miller and the others. I really had no idea what unit I was from or what I was actually supposed to be doing, so I just stuck with them. Next we surrounded another bunker, that several German soldiers were running through, and opened up on them like a firing squad. I had fired four shots, killing two of the enemies myself, before I once again heard the now-familiar PING! of my spent clip ejecting itself. By the time I had reloaded, Sergeant Horvath had given a cease-fire order. Most of the surviving German soldiers had surrendered or been routed by now, and it seemed like we were done for the time being. Captain Miller was talking on his radio so I stepped forward a bit, as some of the other guys stepped into the trench, looting the dead enemies. To the side I saw two more German soldiers climb out of a trench, one unarmed and the other dropping his rifle right then, both putting their hands up. I vaguely remembered them from the movie; some other American soldier shot them. Well, I wasn¡¯t going to have any of that; if I captured them I¡¯d get more Points! I pointed my Garand in their direction, then motioned to my right. They nodded and walked that way, hands still raised, while I followed behind. I had them walk until we got back to the trench the other soldiers we had captured were in, handed them off to a Sergeant over there, and rejoined ¡®my¡¯ group with Captain Miller. The battle was winding down at that point so I sat on the ground, my legs hanging into the trench, and tried to think for the first time in what seemed like hours, the adrenaline rush finally waning. My hands started shaking, and I tried to calm myself down, but it just wouldn¡¯t stop. I¡¯d tried to tell myself that none of this was real; that since, according to that big guy from the boat, this entire world was created just for us to go through this movie, this Mission, the people I had killed and the people dying all around me weren¡¯t really people. That was bullshit. Their screams, blood and tears were as real as anything I¡¯d ever seen. I swore then and there that if I ever found out who or what threw me into this fucked up war, I would end them. Chapter 2 As the battle finally ended, I sat with my head in my hands and took several deep breaths, just feeling numb. This had been, obviously, the most absurdly dangerous (or was that dangerously absurd?) day of my life to date, but I was just thankful to have survived it all. By my count I had killed four German soldiers, assuming none of my wild shots had happened to hit anyone. That was four Points, supposedly, plus four more Points from the two soldiers I had captured near the end of the battle. Eight Points? I really had no idea whether that was good or not, or how valuable such a seemingly small number could really be. How much did it cost to raise a stat? One Point? Ten? A hundred? There was no real point in thinking about it, anyway; I didn¡¯t even know what all the stats were or what base numbers they used. I was broken out of my thoughts of the Point system when someone sat down beside me. I looked to my right and it was Reiben, the soldier I had been with for most of the battle. ¡°This your first time?¡± Reiben asked me, putting a hand on my shoulder. I nodded and tried to force a smile, and he continued. ¡°Well you did good today¡­ What¡¯s your name anyway? I¡¯m Private Richard Reiben.¡± ¡°Lee¡­ Uh, Private Lee Quinn,¡± I said, double checking my shoulders for my rank. I really was a private, as expected. ¡°Good work today, Quinn. I really mean that- you stepped up. You were the only one from the 29th that I saw up at the front with us. But you should go find you unit soon; we can take the front from here.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ Right. ¡±Rangers lead the way,¡± right?¡± I sort of half-chuckled and got to my feet, looking around the battlefield. ¡°Rangers lead the way, huh? I like that. See you around, Quinn.¡± ...Did I make a mistake? That¡¯s the Rangers¡¯ slogan, isn¡¯t it? Maybe they hadn¡¯t coined it yet? Whatever. He said I was in the 29th, so I figured I¡¯d better find them. I had a blue and grey yin yang patch on my shoulder, presumably the 29th¡¯s insignia, so I just looked for others that matched. They were everywhere, actually, as soon as I left the front line. Since I still didn¡¯t know what company or even regiment I belonged to, I decided to look for the other ¡®Players¡¯ from my world, easily identifiable by their fancy watches, as the muscle man had put it. I found the teenager and the now-one-legged asian guy right where I¡¯d left them: at the edge of the beach, now with several more medics but several more patients as well. They looked like they¡¯d been well taken-care of; the asian guy was out cold but the bleeding had stopped and he was still breathing. He was rather pale, but his breath was even. The teenager was actually on his feet and helping the medics out as best he could, though his right arm was now bandaged and in a sling. ¡°Everything alright over here?¡± I asked him as I approached. He stared at me for a few seconds before his eyes lit up in recognition. ¡°Hey! I was wondering where you went¡­ Is the battle over?¡± He nodded towards Medic Wade, apparently finished with whatever task he had been assigned, and walked over to me. ¡°Just about, I think,¡± I answered. ¡°The Rangers will take it from here, so they tell me. Is¡­ Is your arm okay?¡± ¡°Should be, yeah. One of the bullets just grazed me and the other went all the way through, so they didn¡¯t have to do too much. Hurt like hell, though, at least until they gave me the morphine. So, uh, what¡¯s your name, anyway? I¡¯m Zach.¡± ¡°Lee. This whole thing is nuts, huh? Have you seen anyone else from our boat, besides him?¡± I nodded towards the wounded guy, still unconscious on the beach. ¡°I¡¯ve seen two of them dead; one on the beach and another from right when we got off the boats. There were seventeen of us to start with, yeah?¡± ¡°Right¡­ I was with two others from our boat when you got there, back when we were hiding behind the hedgehogs. One of them was... shot, at the same time I was. The other one got blown up, I think¡­ You¡¯re right, this is nuts!¡± He let out an exasperated sigh, staring at his feet. ¡°Damn¡­ That leaves 10 unaccounted for, then. You haven¡¯t seen the big guy around, have you? The one that explained the situation to us? Now that we have some time, I hope he¡¯ll answer a few more questions¡± ¡°If he¡¯s even still alive, you mean.¡± ¡°Yeah, if he¡¯s even alive¡­ Christ. We should try to find him, and anyone else from our world. Work together, figure out what the hell we¡¯re supposed to do now. You in?¡± I asked, glancing at Zach once before turning my gaze back onto the beach. It was absolutely littered with bodies, with a few medics walking among them, presumably searching for any more wounded that could still be saved. ¡°...I¡¯m in. Let¡¯s go.¡± I just nodded, and we walked back to the beach, in search of our ¡®comrades¡¯. Our first stop, though, was the man whose face had been blown off that I had seen when I found the asian soldier. I wanted to see if I could get the black watch off of him. ¡°Have you tried taking your watch off yet?¡± I asked Zach, as we stared down at the dead man. ¡°Yes, I did. It doesn¡¯t come off.¡± He waved his right hand in its sling, then winced. ¡°Now that I think about it, your watch is on your left hand? It just defaults to the non-dominant hand, I guess?¡± ¡°You¡¯re a lefty, then?¡± He just nodded. ¡°Well, let¡¯s see if we can get the watch off of him. I don¡¯t know if having an extra would do much, but it couldn¡¯t hurt. Probably¡­¡± I knelt down next to the corpse and grabbed his arm, pulling at the watch; there was no buckle or clasp, so the only option was to pull. And nothing happened, the watch sticking to his wrist even in death. ¡°Figures. Well, we probably couldn¡¯t do much with it anyway. Best to just leave him alone, then.¡± We might¡¯ve been able to get at the watch if we¡¯d cut off his hand, but I didn¡¯t even want to think about that! We wandered Omaha beach in our mostly unsuccessful search; we did find two more of them, judging by the watches, but they were long dead, one riddled with bullets, the other body headless. We didn¡¯t even try to remove their watches, though Zach did pick up one of their M1 Garands and a bit of ammo. Apparently his old one had been lost when he got shot. In any case, this left eight of our guys MIA. Unfortunately we weren¡¯t able to find anyone else before several US ships, carrying tanks and a few hundred more soldiers, arrived by the beach and began to unload. ¡°We¡¯ll never find anyone in a crowd like that, Zach. Let¡¯s just go back to the front before they spread out. If the musclehead survived he probably booked it for the front lines; he should be all about the points, yeah?¡± ¡°You¡¯re probably right. He¡¯ll show up eventually, if he¡¯s still alive.¡± Zach nodded and followed me as went up the beach again, watching out for anyone familiar. I honestly didn¡¯t remember the faces of any of the other guys on the boat, excluding the big guy, but I kept my eyes peeled anyway. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Hey! You two!¡± I glanced to the left and, lo and behold, there he was! ¡°Good to see more of us made it.¡± Muscle man approached us, grinning widely. Zach and I shared a quick glance in confusion, somewhat put off by his 180 degree change of character. He was a total dick the first time we met him, but now he was all smiles. What the hell? ¡°Uh, we¡¯ve been looking for you. Have you found anyone else? There should be seven more, I think,¡± I said, as he stopped a few feet from us. ¡°Sure did. I had six of them with me for most of the battle. Only two of them made it the whole way, though. They¡¯re sitting around back there.¡± He pointed his thumb backwards, where a blonde man, probably in his early thirties, and a college-aged guy with short, dark brown hair were leaning against part of a broken bunker. They looked exhausted, but the younger one still raised his hand and waved at me, with a bit of a smile. I waved back, then turned back to the big guy. ¡°There¡¯s one of us over with the medics. He, uh, lost most of his leg. We saw the bodies of the other six. That leaves one unaccounted for then, huh?¡± I scratched my head after some quick mental math. ¡°Sounds like it. He¡¯s probably dead on the beach somewhere anyway, so let¡¯s get the crew together and I can explain more about what¡¯s going on. If the other guy lost a leg we probably can¡¯t bring him over here. Want to go to him then? Wait, was he even awake?¡± ¡°He was out cold, last I saw him. I doubt he¡¯ll be able to do much anyway; we should leave him alone for now. Let¡¯s just have our meeting over there,¡± I said, pointing to the other two guys, still sitting near the ruined bunker. He nodded, so Zach and I followed him over. ¡°First of all, I¡¯d like to congratulate the four of you. Good job making it this far. You guys must be worth keeping around, if you kept your heads long enough to make it through the first battle!¡± He laughed then, though no one else did. ¡°Alright, then,¡± he said and glanced at each of us, ¡°Let¡¯s do some introductions. I¡¯m Keith Norton. They made me a Corporal here, apparently,¡± he continued, turning his shoulder towards us so we could all see his double chevron insignia. ¡°Back in the old world I was a cop, but I¡¯ve been away from Earth for awhile now. This is my fourth Mission, and there¡¯s one every two weeks, but the time spent in the Missions doesn¡¯t ever count towards that.¡± ¡°So even though we should be here for eight days, we¡¯ll get a two week break after?¡± I asked, incredulous. ¡°That¡¯s right. Two weeks to kick back and relax. Or two weeks to train and prepare for the next Mission, if you¡¯re not a dumbass.¡± He laughed again, and this time the older blonde guy even joined in. ¡°I¡¯ve been wondering for awhile now,¡± Zach started, ¡°Where do we actually go between the Missions? And you said we can return to the worlds our Missions were in?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a very good question, but we¡¯ve digressed a bit. The rest of you tell us who you are and what you used to do.¡± He motioned for Zach to start. ¡°Uh, okay. My name is Zachary Michaels, but I usually just go by Zach,¡± the teen began. ¡°I¡¯m a junior in high school. Or, was, I guess. I¡¯m sixteen. Uh, I spend my free time playing video games, but I run track too. That¡¯s about it, I guess? Uh, Lee, you want to go next?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± I nodded and began, ¡°I¡¯m Lee Quinn. I¡¯m twenty two and I was supposed to graduate this semester. I¡¯m an English major at Arizona State-¡± ¡°You¡¯re from Arizona too?¡± Zach interrupted me, tilting his head. ¡°I¡¯m from Phoenix. You live in Tempe?¡± ¡°Uh, yes. That¡¯s quite a¡­ It¡¯s not a coincidence, is it?¡± I asked Keith, an eyebrow raised. ¡°Right. I figured it was still like that. Everyone that shows up here was in Arizona when they died. One of the older guys thought there were teams for other states, or maybe regions or even countries, out there like ours. Continue on, though. Back to introductions, Lee.¡± ¡°Right.¡± I¡¯d definitely have to ask him about that older guy later. ¡°I study¡­ studied English and French at school, mostly. I used to do competitive swimming, but I wasn¡¯t good enough at it to get a scholarship, so I quit and got a job. I¡¯m a server at a diner, now. I like science fiction, so I guess that would be my main hobby? Novels, movies, TV shows, video games, even a bit of anime. Like Zach said, I live in Tempe for school, but I¡¯m also from Phoenix originally. I think that¡¯s about it?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go next, then,¡± the blonde guy spoke up. ¡°I¡¯m Davey Wexler. I¡¯m a high school math teacher over in Kingman. You know- the place where you stop to get gas and a burger on the way to Laughlin or Vegas,¡± he said with a self-deprecating grin. He was right, though; I¡¯d only ever been to Kingman on the way to and from Vegas, and I¡¯d only ever gone into the gas station convenience stores. ¡°I coached the baseball team too, but we¡¯re never any good.¡± He sort of half-chuckled at that, and rubbed the back of his head. ¡°I think that¡¯s about it?¡± He looked at the last person, the college-age guy with the brown hair. ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll go now!¡± He stood up, a bright smile lighting up his tired face. I noticed then that he had a small mole just under his left eye. ¡°I¡¯m Miles, Miles Porter. I¡¯m twenty, and I¡¯m a music major up at NAU. I¡¯m from Boulder City, over in Colorado, though. I haven¡¯t been around AZ all that much, but I really like Flag. Uh, hobbies would be¡­ well, I play clarinet, guitar, piano, and I sing a bit, too. Other than that¡­ I like making friends, I guess? My life has pretty much revolved around music forever, so most of my buddies are musicians too. I think that should do it for an introduction¡­ So, uh, what now?¡± ¡°Alright. Zach, Lee, Davey, Miles. Now, I¡¯ll tell you all a bit more about your new lives! You guys want to hear more about what happens between Missions first?¡± Davey, Zach, and I all nodded Keith finally began. ¡°After the Mission officially ends we¡¯ll have up to an hour of freedom in the Mission world; you can talk freely with the residents of the Mission world. You probably haven¡¯t noticed yet, but you simply can¡¯t talk about our worlds, old or new, to the locals. If you try to your mouth just locks up, and your hands will shake if you try to write or even sign information that isn¡¯t allowed.¡± ¡°I see. There must be ways around that,¡± I said quietly. ¡°I don¡¯t fully understand the system yet, but surely knowing the story in advance can help. But how can we share that knowledge with the characters?¡± ¡°Sometimes you can just ignore them, and do everything yourself. Or take command, and make up some excuse about why you know things. Neither of those will work here, I¡¯d bet; no way a Ranger Captain takes orders from a Corporal and a handful of Privates. But we¡¯re going off topic, again¡­¡± He brought back one of those death glares he¡¯d displayed on the boat, this one just for me. ¡°Just let me talk.¡± I nodded and motioned for Keith to continue. ¡°We can leave at any time during that hour; there will be an option on your watch. One thing I¡¯ve heard about, though, is you can bring characters back with you, if you pay up some Points and they agree to it.¡± ¡°Back to where?¡± Asked Zach, annoyed. ¡°Back to the Island! The ¡®Infinity Island¡¯, one of my old teammates used to call it.¡± He got a far-away look in his eye for a second, but it quickly passed. ¡°What happened to him? Your old teammate?¡± Davey asked, showing quite a bit more interest in the conversation than Miles, who seemed totally zoned out. ¡°Magneto threw him off a tower,¡± Keith answered with a sigh. ¡°Poor guy never stood a chance. I told him the robotic arm was a stupid idea, but he just wouldn¡¯t let it go¡­¡± ¡°That would do it then,¡± I said. ¡°So, what is the Island? Our home? A hub-world?¡± ¡°Something like that, yeah. A bit of both. It¡¯s like a tropical island; nice and warm outside all year round. It¡¯s about six square miles, I think, so we have a good amount of space. Every Player- that¡¯s what we¡¯re called, Players- gets to create their own home wherever they want on the Island. You can get a pretty nice one for free, but once your Points start rolling in you can go nuts with the upgrades. Even the free one is a fully furnished, three bedroom house, though. Waste of Points upgrading that, if you ask me. There are ways to upgrade the Island too, I think, but I never really looked into that. I¡¯ve spent all my points on my stats and weapons, anyway.¡± ¡°I guess we should get to that now- the Shop. You can access the Shop from anywhere on the Island, with your watch. See that little greyed out S icon in the corner? That¡¯ll be lit up when we get out of here. Like I mentioned right at the start, you should just upgrade your stats for a while. The ¡®average¡¯ human has a ten in each stat, and it costs ten points to raise a stat by one. The standard Mission reward is 100 Points, but there is usually some kind of side mission, like killing and capturing the nazis in this world. Things like that actually tend to stay open even after we finish the Mission; we can come back here later and probably get more Points just by killing more nazis. It costs Points to come back, but it should be worth it.¡± ¡°What else can we use our Points for? Stats, houses, weapons, upgrades to the Island, and visiting the worlds we know are all great, but that can¡¯t be it, right? Didn¡¯t you say you had a gun with infinite ammo?¡± I asked, considering the possibilities. ¡°Not ¡®a¡¯ gun, several guns. You can buy just about anything with Points; weapons, ammo, armor, clothes, food, cash, and pretty much anything else. There is a lot of sci-fi super-tech stuff, and a bunch of magic shit too. I prefer to run and gun the old fashioned way, so I can do without that stuff. Probably the most important things, though, are your class, bloodline, and mutations. I haven¡¯t bought a bloodline or mutation yet, those things can be irreversible and they¡¯re pricey as all hell, but my class is Soldier. Having a class boosts its related stats, and lets you learn related skills much faster. I was a decent shot before but, and I don¡¯t mean to brag, much, I¡¯m a total deadeye now. There are all kinds of classes out there, and I haven¡¯t looked through too many of them. Soldier suits me, and class changes are pretty simple, if a bit expensive, so it¡¯s not that big of a deal if I find something better later. Soldier is a cheap class, after all. Only 100 Points, which is a steal for the stat boosts alone.¡± That was so much to take in! Keith had mentioned magic swords and super powers on the boat, but this was just unreal. Everything about the situation was unreal, of course, so this didn¡¯t seem like much of a stretch. I was still thinking when Miles spoke up, proving he actually had been paying attention. ¡°I guess we should just wait and see, right? When we get back we can look through the Shop ourselves. There¡¯s gotta be something that suits each of us, right? Maybe I could become a bard! That would be sick,¡± Miles grinned, his eyes shining. ¡°That¡¯s probably what we¡¯ll do, then,¡± Keith said, ¡°But don¡¯t get ahead of yourselves! We¡¯ve another week in this hellhole before we can leave, and the real Mission starts in three days. We need to get in on the rescue, or else we¡¯re fucked. No way I¡¯m leaving Ryan to these guys,¡± he continued, motioning towards the random soldiers around us. I froze at that, and I think the others did too. We¡¯d all spent so long thinking about what we¡¯d do when we got out, we forgot about the Mission! Our Mission was to save Private Ryan, not survive D-Day! Fuck! Chapter 3 ¡°So, how are going to do this,¡± I asked, as we all came back down to Earth. ¡°We have to get into Captain Miller¡¯s squad? Do we just volunteer?¡± ¡°We basically have a whole fire team here¡­ No way they would let me go, though,¡± Zach sighed, holding his wounded arm. ¡°I can hardly move it, much less hold a gun. I would just weigh you all down¡­¡± ¡°Hey don¡¯t worry too much about it, kid. You can stay and take care of the other wounded guy- he can get his leg fixed back on the Island,¡± Keith revealed. ¡°Maybe try and find the one missing Player, even if they¡¯re dead. Did any of you meet Miller out here? Or anyone else from the movie?¡± Keith looked at me and Zach expectantly, Davey and Miles both shaking their head. ¡°I was with a Richard Reiben for most of the battle, and I briefly met Captain Miller and the sniper. Jackson, I think,¡± I said, thinking back on the last hour of chaos. ¡°Wade is the medic in the movie, right? He was the one that treated my arm and I talked with him a bit. I met Miller for all of ten seconds. That¡¯s about it, right?¡± Zach continued, scratching his head. ¡°Yeah¡­ Wait, we saved Lieutenant Briggs! Did you see if he made it or not?¡± I asked Zach, wide-eyed. ¡°Oh yeah! Last I saw he was stable. I guess we could use that as an in?¡± Zach looked from me to Keith, then tilted his head. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°You saved Lieutenant Briggs?¡± We nodded and Keith pinched between his eyes, closing them and groaning. ¡°You changed the story. Fuck!¡± We stepped back as he punched at the wall, cracks spreading in the cement around his fist. ¡°Changing the plot can have absurd consequences, especially this early in the Mission! It''s the fucking butterfly effect, man! Did you change anything else?!¡± ¡°I think that was the biggest thing¡­ Uh, you know the scene where a bullet hits a guy¡¯s helmet, someone calls him a lucky bastard, then he gets shot again anyway?¡± He nodded, and I could already tell he knew where I was going. ¡°I pulled him down after the first shot hit his helmet. As far as I know he should still be alive.¡± ¡°That¡­ That probably doesn¡¯t change much,¡± Keith admitted with a sigh. ¡°Anything else?¡± ¡°One more thing, I guess,¡± I continued as he winced. ¡°There were two Germans trying to surrender. In the movie I¡¯m pretty sure they get shot, but I took them prisoner instead. I don¡¯t think the guys that were supposed to shoot them ever showed up, unless I was just early.¡± ¡°That¡¯s actually pretty good,¡± Keith admitted, nodding. ¡°You¡¯ll probably get extra Points for that one. For all three, really, but you¡¯re playing with fire here. Especially the first one. What do you think our greatest advantage here is? Over this world¡¯s inhabitants?¡± We were all silent for several seconds, before Davey spoke up. ¡°We know the plot?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Keith replied. ¡°And any small change in the plot can have huge consequences. Don¡¯t ever forget that.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be more careful, then¡­¡± I muttered, before I spoke louder. ¡°But I¡¯m not going to just let people die if I don¡¯t have to. And if I¡¯ll get Points for it, well, then that¡¯s even better.¡± ¡°Rescues are usually okay,¡± Keith sighed, ¡°At least in this Mission. But going forward we need to discuss changes beforehand whenever we can. Got it?¡± ¡°Okay,¡± I answered. ¡°What do we do now?¡± ¡°We plan, and we wait. The rescue doesn¡¯t start until the ninth, so for now we just lay low and rest. Follow orders if you get any; we¡¯re still technically part of this army, but don¡¯t do anything stupid.¡± ¡°They¡¯re gonna set up a base here soon, right?¡± Miles asked. ¡°Should we help with that?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll probably have to. Wait for someone to order it.¡± We chatted for the next ten or so minutes, mostly discussing the potential ramifications of my rescue missions. We came to the conclusion that Briggs surviving was the most impactful, but agreed that even that shouldn¡¯t change much. He was seriously wounded, after all. That¡¯s about as far as we got before some young lieutenant came along and ordered us to help construct the base camp, so we got started on that straight away. Zach went to find the medics and see if the one-legged guy was awake yet, as well as check on Lieutenant Briggs. The officer could see he was wounded, so he let him go. The rest of us were led back to the beach and ordered to help unload the ships. We made dozens of trips over the next few hours, primarily hauling oil drums and supply crates up the beach. The powers-that-be had designated the least damaged of the nearby abandoned bunkers as the command post, so the last few batches of crates ended up there. After our last trip, we were ordered to set up the command post. Miles opened one of the crates, and we all groaned as its contents were revealed: hundreds of empty burlap sacks, and five shovels. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. We began filling up the bags right away, two going further inland to fill them with soil, while Miles and I brought half of the bags down to the beach to shovel sand in. Many other soldiers on the beach were gathering our dead; I was glad I didn¡¯t have that job, at least. Filling and carrying the sandbags was boring and repetitive, but it wasn¡¯t actually that difficult. Sand is pretty easy to shovel, after all. Once we¡¯d gotten a few bags ready we started alternating, one of us always shoveling sand and the other carrying the bags back up the beach and building one of the small sandbag walls. Davey and Keith were doing the same, getting another wall set up. It was dark by the time we were done, and we were finally allowed to get some rest! Keith sent Miles to bring back Zach, while Davey and I set up our ¡®camp¡¯. Really, we just cleared any rocks out of our small section of the beach and laid down five blankets, but that was good enough for me. Miles and Zach returned as we finished, a third soldier in tow. I noticed right away that the new guy was wearing one of our watches- it was that one missing soldier! So he was alive after all! Next I saw his helmet; he was a medic. No, wait. She was a medic. ¡°Hey guys, I found the missing Player! This is Cora,¡± Zach said, grinning as the rest of us stared at them. ¡°Everyone is accounted for now!¡± ¡°Uh huh. Uh, Keith, do we have any extra blankets?¡± He just nodded and drew another blanket from a bag; we had been allowed some of the gear we brought ashore. He spread out the other five blankets, adding in the new one. Our ¡®camp¡¯ was really just a collection of six blankets laid out wagon-wheel style, but it was home. Sort of. ¡°Cora, was it?¡± I asked, and she nodded. ¡°I¡¯m Lee. Did Zach explain the situation?¡± ¡°I think I got the gist of it,¡± she said, in slightly-accented English. Maybe Eastern-European, I thought. ¡°We can not do much until we get back to¡­ the Island, Zachary said?¡± ¡°Right. For now our hands are tied; we have to go along with the movie¡¯s plot for now.¡± She looked at my hands incredulously, then shrugged. ¡°Okay. This is where we are sleeping? Outside?¡± She sighed, as she glanced at the blankets. ¡°Do you see any hotels around here?¡± Keith asked, practically scoffing. ¡°We¡¯re lucky we get to sleep at all.¡± ¡°I see your point,¡± She admitted. ¡°Zachary told me about all of you earlier; which one is which? You are Lee, yes?¡± She asked me, so I nodded. Keith and Davey introduced themselves next. Presumably she was introduced to Miles when he went looking for Zach. ¡°They made you a medic here? Are you actually a doctor? Or a nurse or something?¡± She seemed about my age, way too young to be a real doctor. ¡°I am a paramedic. Or was, I suppose. This is all very¡­strange.¡± She sighed again, taking off her helmet. ¡°We should go to sleep now.¡± ¡°No arguments here,¡± I stated, the others reciprocating. I removed my glasses, sighing at the grime that now encrusted the lenses, then shoved them in a pocket. We each claimed a blanket, quickly settling down. Zach was to my left, Keith to my right. I placed my helmet above me, and sighed, trying to process the day¡¯s events. I stared up at the night sky for a few minutes, momentarily entranced by the bright stars, more visible than I¡¯d seen in a long time. It wasn¡¯t long before the fatigue of the day overwhelmed me, and I drifted off. --- BOOM! I shot up as the explosions began, confused and disoriented for a few seconds before the events of the previous day crept into my sleep-addled brain. There was another explosion, this one much closer to me and even blasting sand over my shoulders! I spun and dove to the ground, immediately donning my helmet then covering my ears with my hands. The Germans were shelling the beach! I slowly looked around to check on my companions, finding most of them to be in similar positions to me. Neither Davey nor Keith were there, however, and Miles was sitting up and clearly still half asleep. I motioned for him to get down and he looked at me funny, until the next explosion went off, about fifty feet north of our position. The blast jolted him and he, too, dove to the ground, hands over his ears. There was really nothing we could do from the beach but stay still and wait it out, and I shouted something to that effect at my allies. Their artillery barraged us relentlessly, never letting up for more than thirty or so seconds. The shelling had begun at the crack of dawn and only began to wind down as the twilight ended. There hadn¡¯t been an explosion in over thirty seconds so I raised my head, only to see a blast go up not forty feet in front of me. Ten seconds passed and the next blast was twenty feet closer. I could hear the third shell coming before I saw it; it was headed straight for me! I lay there on the ground in silent resignation. Time seemed to slow down as my eyes followed the artillery shell, the harbinger of my own death charging down to me from the sky. ¡°Ah... ¡° I whimpered, as the shell impacted, cascading into the beach not a foot from my face. The artillery shell¡­ didn¡¯t explode? I was alive? No explosion? A dud? I was alive! It was a dud! Tears streamed down my face and my heart beat out of my chest. My entire body was covered in a cold sweat, like I¡¯d just run a marathon aroundthe arctic. All the while, my mouth had deformed into a crazed grin! I had never been so afraid, so emotional, or so deliriously happy to be alive. The cognitive dissonance from experiencing all three at once pushed me into such an intense mental state that I nearly passed out. I held on, though, and slowly regained my senses. The shell that should have killed me was the last one fired; we hadn¡¯t been attacked for several minutes by the time I could actually think again. I shakily sat up and removed my helmet, dropping it into the sand. I touched my face with one hand, picking up a handful of sand with the other, letting it run through my fingers. I laughed and I cried, as I realized once again that I was truly alive. ¡°Are¡­ Are you okay? Lee?¡± Cora asked me, the female medic kneeling on top of her blanket, wide-eyed. Zach was situated between the two of us, and he sat up then, panting, tears streaming down his face. He looked back and forth between us for several seconds then leaned back, staring into the sky. ¡°I¡­ I think so¡­¡± I sighed, wiping my eyes on my sleeve. ¡°Are you all okay? Miles?¡± I called out, and the younger music student sat up. He made a peace sign and wore a fake smile. ¡°Nev¡­ Never better! Haha¡­¡± We all sort-of laughed with him, then I got to my feet, observing the damage. Our army had faced many casualties in the strikes; dozens of men lay dead and dying all over the beach. ¡°Did you guys see¡­ Did anyone see Keith? Or Davey?¡± I asked, finally starting to regain my cool. ¡°Davey was gone when I woke up. Keith had to, uh, take a piss, he said.¡± Zach answered, as he dumped sand out of his helmet. That seemed like a good idea, so I followed suit. ¡°We should just¡­ I guess we should just wait here?¡± I asked, the others nodding. ¡°They know where we are¡­¡± ¡°Speak of the devil,¡± Zach said, as Keith dashed straight to us. ¡°Devil? What do you mean?¡± Cora asked, confused. Before Zach could respond, Keith spoke up. ¡°Ho-ly shit! Everyone alright?!¡± We all just nodded weakly, as he rejoined our circle. He nodded, apparently satisfied. ¡°Wait, Davey ain¡¯t back yet? Where the hell did he go, anyway?¡± ¡°Was someone talking about me?¡± We heard, and we all turned to see Davey trotting towards us, carrying a small crate. ¡°What¡¯s in the box?¡± Miles asked, and Davey slid the top off. ¡°Breakfast!¡± He exclaimed, revealing six juicy red apples, six full canteens, several slices of meat, and two loaves of bread. The revelation was met with full-hearted joy, and we all dug in. ¡°Finally some good news!¡± Keith shouted heartily, taking a big bite out of his apple. We talked some more as we ate the food, but we were all much more reserved. Well, except for Miles. That guy always wears his heart on his sleeve. I laughed for a moment; I¡¯d better not let Cora hear me say that, I thought. Maybe it just hadn¡¯t felt real yet yesterday. But waking up and finding we were still stuck in this god damned war was all the proof we needed that this was our new reality. Chapter 4 ¡°Your fireteam is all that¡¯s left of 2nd Platoon?¡± Captain Burr, the commander of the 29th Infantry Division, 116th Infantry, Fox Company, asked us gravely. ¡°Everyone else is KIA? Even Lieutenant Paxton?¡± Burr was a tall, tough looking officer with an old scar cutting across his left cheekbone. ¡°Haven¡¯t seen him since we got off the boat, sir,¡± I said. ¡° Haven¡¯t run into anyone else. Our medic is back at basecamp, and we have two wounded. Besides that, it¡¯s just the four of us.¡± ¡°Christ. I¡¯ll probably fold you into 1st Platoon then; 3rd Platoon¡¯s losses were minimal. But today I want you to go on patrol. Join up with Squad One from 1st Platoon, they¡¯re down to about half strength. Sergeant Lane has his orders already. Just report to him, immediately.¡± ¡°Yes, sir!¡± We all replied, then left to find the members of 1st Platoon. ¡°How did you figure out our unit, anyway, Lee?¡± Keith asked me, as we headed for Fox Company¡¯s 1st Platoon¡¯s camp. ¡°It shows up in one of the tabs on the watch. In the Mission section, there¡¯s a tab for the Players¡¯ backstory in the Mission world. Did you never notice that?¡± I asked, somewhat taken aback. I found it just by fiddling around with the thing after breakfast, while we were wondering what we were supposed to be doing. Keith said he¡¯d been a Player for two months, and he¡¯d never found it? ¡°I guess not¡­¡± He muttered, then scoffed. ¡°Whatever. Let¡¯s get this show on the road!¡± Impressed with his high-class deflection technique, I agreed and we increased our pace, nearing the 1st Platoon guys. They¡¯d been set up about half a mile down the beach from where we¡¯d slept the night before. ¡°We are looking for a Sergeant Lane?¡± I called out, as we approached the men I assumed were the 1st Platoon. ¡°I¡¯m Lane. Who are you?¡± A tired-looking blonde man asked, as he put his helmet on. ¡°We¡¯re 2nd Platoon,¡± Keith began, ¡°Or what¡¯s left of it, anyway.¡± ¡°Jesus. Just the four of you?¡± The sergeant asked, wincing. ¡°We¡¯ve got two wounded, and our medic is okay,¡± I answered, Keith nodding. ¡°Everyone else is KIA or MIA.¡± ¡°Damn. And I thought we had it bad¡­ Okay. You are all with my squad, then. We¡¯re going on patrol soon.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what Captain Burr said,¡± Keith replied as we joined up with Lane¡¯s squad. They had a corporal and five privates, aside from Sergeant Lane. ¡°Maxley, you stick with them,¡± Sergeant Lane said to a young private. ¡°Introduce yourselves quick. We¡¯re heading out in five minutes.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± Private Maxley nodded, and came to introduce himself to us. ¡°I¡¯m Private Shane Maxley. I¡¯m, uh, the only one left from my squad, so¡­¡± He seemed younger than Miles, probably a teenager, but he must have had a year or two on Zach. He was maybe 5¡¯8¡± and his wide blue eyes and freckled-face were topped off with short, bright orange hair. ¡°Welcome aboard, Maxley,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m Quinn. The other guys are Norton, Wexler, and¡­ Uh, Porter,¡± I finished, having a bit of difficulty remembering Miles¡¯ last name. Our group chatted with Maxley for the next couple of minutes, finding him to be a funny and intelligent, if a little awkward, kind of guy. We were also allowed to restock from the 1st Platoon¡¯s supplies, replenishing ammo and refilling our canteens. Keith, Davey and I even picked up a few grenades and Miles swapped his M1 Garand out for a BAR. Soon enough it was time to head out, though. Sergeant Lane had assembled his squad, so we were all set. ¡°The Rangers and a few other units are still advancing the front line as we speak. Command reckons there are pockets of Germans hiding out all over the countryside. We¡¯re headed east, patrolling a section of our territory and hunting them down while the big guns are busy winning the war. We are to capture any officers if we can, kill any that resist. Got it?¡± We each nodded or replied in the affirmative. ¡°Good. Let¡¯s move out.¡± --- I¡¯d been admiring the French countryside for the previous ten or so minutes of our patrol, before two scouts belonging to the other fire team came running back to us in the main group. ¡°We¡¯re about¡­ Half a mile¡­¡± One of them began, out of breath as the other bent over, hands on his knees. ¡°Half a mile from a German pillbox. I could only see one guy inside.¡± ¡°Stay alert. I doubt he¡¯s really alone out here. Do they have a machine gun? How many windows?¡± Sergeant Lane asked gravely. ¡°Looked like one machine gun, Sarge. A big window to the north, two small ones on the other sides. We didn¡¯t see the east wall, though. Do we, uh, call in the Air Force? Have them blast the thing away?¡± The other scout asked, having normalized his breathing. ¡°The Air Force ain¡¯t gonna bomb one guy in a bunker out in the middle of nowhere,¡± Keith, or Corporal Norton, answered. ¡°Right. We¡¯ll take care of it ourselves.¡± Sergeant Lane nodded. ¡°Good work finding the thing Hayes, Johnson.¡± They nodded and filed in, our squad moving forward, slower this time. As the small pillbox came into our sight, we slowed down. We had been approaching it from the west, so we went a bit further south, to try to stay out of its line of fire. There were still two window slots on the south side of the structure, but they were too small and too high up to fit a machine gun through. As we closed in on the miniature fort, a few shots rang out! ¡°Scatter!¡± Sergeant Lane shouted, as Private Johnson cried out in pain and fell to the ground. Miles and I dove behind a large rock, and I peeked over it to check out the box. There was a rifle sticking out of the small window, firing off a shot every few seconds. The others all managed to find some kind of cover, though a few of them were just lying in tall grass. The rifle was retracted, presumably to reload, so several of us tried to charge the pillbox, me included. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Another wave of gunfire, this one from the other window, stopped us short. This one was some kind of submachine gun; the closest of us to the pillbox, the corporal from the other fireteam, was riddled with bullets in seconds. ¡°Fuck! He¡¯s not alone!¡± I called out, diving to the side and rolling over twice. I sat up, my back to a big tree, and tried to watch for the others. Presumably the other guy was reloading while the submachine gunner fired on us, as the rifle came back out again, firing a few more shots in Maxley¡¯s and Davey¡¯s general direction. They had slid down into an old impact crater, while the others hid behind an assortment of trees and large stones. Several of us fired back, but most of our shots just ricocheted off the building. ¡°Miles! Give me some suppressing fire!¡± I yelled back at Miles, still behind our old rock. ¡°Wait for the SMG to reload!¡± He gave a thumbs up and we waited. We had no idea how many Germans were in there, how much ammo they had, or when and if any more were coming. I figured it¡¯d be better to just get the fight over with ASAP, rather than wait till their ammo ran dry. ¡°Now!¡± I shouted, as the SMG finally withdrew. Miles popped up, concentrating his fire on the left window, before the rifleman had time to line up a shot. I made a mad dash for the west wall of the pillbox, grabbing hold of one of my new grenades. I ducked down with my back against the wall I pulled the pin and chucked the explosive through the west window, repeated the process for good measure, then ran like hell. It was a good thing I did, it turns out; they had managed to toss the first one out of the box, blasting a hole into the ground and scorching the west wall of the small structure. The second grenade, however, went off inside, just as I¡¯d hoped. The south wall and part of the west wall were blown apart, the roof collapsing immediately. I slowly walked to the ruined pillbox, affixing my bayonet to my rifle. One of the Germans was clearly dead, both of his legs blown off and his upper body torn up by shrapnel. The other was bloodied and burned, but still alive. He struggled to raise his right arm, a pistol in his shaking hand. I stabbed my bayonet into his chest, then pulled back and stabbed again for good measure. He groaned and went still. I heard a whimper, followed by a string words I didn¡¯t understand. In the far corner of the destroyed mini-fort sat another Nazi soldier, this one wearing a cap instead of the grey helmets the other two wore. An officer, then. He was partly buried in rubble and covered in concrete dust. He raised his hands and, presumably, pleaded for his life. I kept my rifle trained on him, and motioned for him to get up. He slowly rose to his feet, the rubble falling away. I noticed his sidearm then, strapped to his belt. I pointed to that next, the rifle still trained on his chest. He nodded fearfully, shakily removing the holster from his belt and placing it on the ground. I had him walk outside now, slowly, where the rest of my squad had congregated. I claimed the officer¡¯s discarded sidearm, and even I could recognise it: a Luger! I unloaded it, wrapped the gun and the ammo up tight in a cloth, and gently set them in my pack. By the time I had finished, the rest of my squad was ready to go. They had tied the Nazi officer¡¯s hands behind his back, and we were ready to march back to camp. Johnson had been hit in the side and was still critical, so Sergeant Lane had Keith, clearly the strongest among us, carry him. Corporal Heller, I found out his name had been, was long dead, having taken a shot in the neck along with one near his heart and two in the abdomen. Private Hayes volunteered to carry him back. Sergeant Lane had his other men carry the machine gun and all the ammo they could carry. The mood was subdued as we retraced our steps, very little in the way of conversation occurring. We made haste back to camp but, despite our best efforts, Johnson bled out on the way. Maxley and I handed the prisoner off to the MPs, and we reconvened at the 1st Platoon¡¯s camp. Sergeant Lane was noticeably absent; he¡¯d gone to HQ to report the presence and destruction of the pillbox. We sat down and had a quiet meal, mentally exhausted by our brief but intense patrol and firefight. Sergeant Lane returned as we finished the meal, visibly angry. ¡°Everyone get some rest. We¡¯re on duty again tonight. Guarding the perimeter, they said.¡± ¡°Even though we just lost two of our guys?¡± Asked a disgruntled private, one whose name I still wasn¡¯t sure about. ¡°They don¡¯t care, Wendon.¡± That settled that one. ¡°Everybody¡¯s lost a lot here. Just hunker down for now. Our watch starts at dusk.¡± We couldn¡¯t do much more than grumble, so we tried to get any rest we could. Maxley and Miles even managed to fall asleep, while Davey, Keith and I discussed our situation a bit more. ¡°When do we get to the real story? The rescue mission?¡± I asked, a little concerned at our lack of progress so far. ¡°The day after tomorrow. They get the mission on June 9th, D-Day plus 3. I hadn¡¯t realized we¡¯d get dragged around like this until then, though. Our ¡®duties¡¯ as soldiers here are a wholly unnecessary risk to our Mission as a whole. If any of us had died there, or bite it tonight or tomorrow, the rest of us are fucked! It¡¯s already gonna be a tough sell getting an army fireteam into a squad of rangers.¡± Keith was pissed, his expression making it clear enough even if he hadn¡¯t said anything. ¡°Hey Keith, how do you know so much about this movie anyway?¡± I asked; I¡¯d thought he was suspiciously knowledgeable for a while now. I¡¯d seen the movie three or four times, but his understanding of it seemed to go way beyond mine. ¡°Do you get to hear it in advance? On the Island?¡± ¡°Yes, we do. I told you there¡¯s two weeks between Missions, right?¡± We both nodded at that, so he continued. ¡°After the first week the new Mission is revealed, and we get the second week to prepare. Anything from the old world can be bought with enough points. DVDs, TVs, even computers and an internet connection.¡± My eyes widened at that, but he stopped me before I could say anything. ¡°It¡¯s read-only, of course. No chance of sending any information back. I¡¯ve watched the movie a dozen times at least, and read all the info I could find. IMDb is a godsend for us, really.¡± ¡°I can see that,¡± I sighed, wishing I could have done some real preparation for this. ¡°I¡¯ll join you with that for the next time.¡± If there is a next time, I added silently. ¡°Me too. Preparation is the key to success, after all,¡± Davey added. At that we were joined by Zach and Cora, who had been helping out the medical team all day. ¡°Hey, Lee, guys, guess what!¡± Zach asked, much brighter than he had any right to be. ¡°Our seventh guy woke up!¡± He continued, before any of us could guess. ¡°Good,¡± Keith said. ¡°Did he tell you his name?¡± ¡°Jae-jin Choi, he said. Usually he just goes by Jae.¡± Cora answered, taking a seat. Zach sat down next to me soon after. ¡°We told him a bit about what is going on. We were not sure how much to tell him. He can not do anything with only one leg, obviously.¡± She took her helmet off then, and I got my first good look at her. It had been dark when we met and this morning was so chaotic that not much actually registered. She had olive-colored skin and fairly short black hair. Her eyes were dark green and she had a smattering of freckles across her reasonably cute face. She probably would have been very attractive, if it weren¡¯t for all the dirt and dried (and some not-so-dried) blood staining her uniform. ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± I said. ¡°This world is probably fucked up enough without knowing just how deep the rabbit hole goes,¡± I sighed, then immediately regretted my word choice. I glanced at Cora, who tilted her head and looked a bit and confused. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s discuss strategy, since we¡¯re all here.¡± Everyone agreed so we went over the events of the movie in order, starting from June 9th. ¡°The main points are:
  1. June 9th - Captain Miller¡¯s team get their mission and leave.
  2. June 10th - Captain Miller''s team fight in a skirmish in Neuville.
  3. June 10th - They rest for a few hours in a church in Neuville.
  4. June 11th/12th - They run into a group of Airborne troops and learn Ryan¡¯s location.
  5. June 11th/12th - They attack a German MG-42 position.
  6. June 13th - They meet Ryan and fight the final battle at Ramelle. Most of them die.
¡°That should do it. Our first order of business is getting into the mission. We ain¡¯t rangers, and only a couple of us have even met Captain Miller.¡± He eyed me and Zach before he continued. ¡°Any ideas?¡± ¡°I think the best chance we¡¯ve got is to hang around the rangers on the ninth and volunteer as soon as Miller tells them about the mission,¡± I said, shrugging. ¡°The only other way I can think of is going AWOL. That should be a last resort; I¡¯d feel a lot better if we travel through wilderness with seven US Rangers, rather than just us. We¡¯re not even real soldiers¡­¡± ¡°Hey Lee,¡± Zach started, ¡° You said you studied French, right? Are you fluent?¡± ¡°Just about fluent, yeah. I did a semester in Paris. My accent isn¡¯t perfect but I could get around with just French.¡± I replied, seeing where he was going with this. ¡°Great. Anyone speak German?¡± He was met with silence, all of us glancing back and forth at each other. ¡°Damn. None of us speak German?¡± ¡°I do¡­¡± We heard, and we all turned only to see Private Maxley sitting up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. ¡°You guys need a, uh, translator or something?¡± He yawned and scooted towards us a bit, to join the conversation. ¡°Who are you?¡± Zach asked him, then glanced at Maxley¡¯s hands. Zach seemed confused after that. ¡°Private Shane Maxley. Sergeant Lane assigned me to this team. You¡¯re one of the guys that was wounded, then?¡± Maxley asked, then nodded at Zach¡¯s right arm, still bandaged and in the sling. ¡°Right. Uh, I¡¯m Zacha- Private Zachary Michaels. Good to meet you, I guess¡­¡± Zach said, nervously. ¡°T4 Cora Siskou,¡± Cora said, with a deeper tone than she usually spoke with. ¡°Medic.¡± She¡¯d put her helmet back on when Maxley spoke up, and kept her head down. I hadn¡¯t really thought about it until then, but she must have been hiding her sex from the real army that whole time. That certainly wasn¡¯t an appropriate time to ask about it, though. Maxley waking up had pretty much killed any discussion about the movie¡¯s plot, so we just made small talk and waited. Pretty soon the sun began to set, and Sergeant Lane returned. ¡°You¡¯ve had enough rest,¡± He said, nudging Miles awake with his boot. ¡°Or so Captain Burr tells me anyway. Get your gear and get ready. We head out in five.¡± Chapter 5 We quickly got together, all of the survivors from Lane¡¯s squad falling in line. Cora and Zach returned to the field hospital while the rest of us set off, Sergeant Lane once again in the lead. ¡°They want us guarding two machine gun positions placed on a road between Omaha and Gold Beach. They¡¯re each at the top of different hills, so we¡¯re splitting up when we get there. Hayes, Wendon, Ford, you¡¯re with me. Maxley, stick with Corporal Norton. If there¡¯s going to be a smaller group anyway, it should be with me.¡± We all nodded or spoke in affirmation, so we followed the Sergeant into the night. We arrived at the pair of small hills within half an hour, meeting no resistance along the way. As we approached the hill, someone from the hilltop called out, ¡°Flash!¡± I stopped in my tracks, readying my rifle in confusion, before Keith grabbed my shoulder. He shook his head at me, then motioned towards Sergeant Lane. ¡°Thunder!¡± Lane called out, not stopping his advance. ¡°We¡¯re here to relieve you guys!¡± ¡°Well it¡¯s about damn time!¡± They had five guys in a little sandbag fortification, with one machine gun pointed south down the hill. We reached the top of the hill soon, and their leader continued. ¡°The next hill¡¯s a bit smaller than this one. There¡¯re¡­ Nine of you? Probably want five on this one then.¡± He gave his name to Lane followed by a rundown of the situation so far. Not much had happened, apparently. They¡¯d heard a bit of gunfire to the south an hour or so ago, but hadn¡¯t seen or heard anything since. ¡°We¡¯re out of here then, Sarge.¡± He gave a wave then he and his guys headed back down the hill. ¡°They¡¯ll send someone to relieve you in about six hours. Or, they should anyway.¡± ¡°Right,¡± Sergeant Lane muttered, rolling his eyes. ¡°Norton, Quinn, Porter, Wexler, Maxley, this one¡¯s yours. Do not leave the hill unless absolutely necessary. Nothing gets past you. Got it?¡± ¡°Understood,¡± Keith replied, as I nodded. ¡°Good luck, Sarge.¡± Lane smiled weakly at that, the dark circles under his eyes more prominent than ever, then took the other three privates and headed east, for the next hill. The beginning of our watch was as uneventful as expected, the only blip in the first two hours being the previous team from the next hill passing by on their way back, about fifteen minutes in. ¡°I can¡¯t see shit,¡± Miles said, looking through a pair of binoculars the previous crew had left there. He was next to me while I manned the machine gun. Maxley was a few feet away on the other side, squinting into the darkness. Keith and Davey were ostensibly watching the sides, but I didn¡¯t think they were doing much of anything. ¡°Wait. I think¡­ Yeah, there¡¯s someone out there,¡± Miles said, quietly. ¡°Check it out.¡± He handed me the binoculars and I removed my glasses so I could look through them. ¡°Where?¡± I asked, seeing only the night sky and the now-familiar dark landscape. He pointed, so I focused on where I thought he meant. ¡°Oh, damn. I see him. One guy. Running, stumbling a bit. Limping, I think.¡± ¡°Hey, K- Norton. What do we do? There¡¯s someone out there. I think he¡¯s hurt.¡± ¡°Well, shit, I don¡¯t know. What¡¯s he wearing? Can you tell?¡± Keith asked, shrugging. ¡°Too dark,¡± I shook my head. ¡°Fuck it. Maxley, let¡¯s go get him. If he¡¯s not one of us, he¡¯s probably French or German, right?¡± ¡°Sure,¡± The kid said, eager to help. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± I handed Keith the binoculars and put my glasses back on. I readied my rifle and vaulted over the sandbag wall, Maxley following suit. We snuck out of the fort, Miles and Davey taking up the machine gun and Keith watching us through the binoculars. We slowly crept down the hill, towards the last place we¡¯d seen the mystery man. He¡¯d seemed to be heading in our direction. He soon came into sight, but it didn¡¯t seem like he¡¯d noticed us yet. ¡°Flash!¡± I tried out, and he jolted straight up, raising his hands. ¡°Les am¨¦ricains?!¡± He called out nervously. French, then. ¡°Oui! Venez,¡± I called back, and he approached us nervously, at a slower pace than his previous one. ¡°My men are trapped! Help them, please!¡±A tall, thin man with black hair cropped short cried out in French, stumbling as he neared us. Like I thought, he was wounded- he had bruises on his face and a gunshot wound through his left leg. It was a wonder the guy was walking at all. ¡°You are with the R¨¦sistance?¡± He confirmed that he was, so I continued. ¡°Where are they?¡± ¡°Two kilometres south. They are- agh¡­¡± He clenched his leg, his face scrunched up in pain. ¡°They are in an old chateau. The Nazis surrounded it. I do not know how much longer they can hold it! Please¡­ There are civilians inside too.¡± He begged, his expression one of despair. ¡°... We will. I promise¡­¡± I sighed, and explained the situation to Maxley. ¡°You in?¡± I asked him at the end. ¡°Hell yeah. What are we waiting for?¡± ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s get him back up the hill. Uh, how are you called? I am Lee Quinn.¡± I asked the French soldier. ¡°Captain Lucien Auclair. Is it¡­ Only two of you?¡± He asked, and I shook my head. ¡°No. There are three more on the hill. Come with us. Euh, should I carry you?¡± I asked, concerned about his leg. ¡°Non.¡± He replied simply, forcing his posture to improve and marching to the hill by the power of pure determination and his still-shaking legs. Maxley and I just glanced at each other, shrugged, and followed him up the hill. ¡°Flash!¡± I recognized Keith¡¯s voice, so I gave the reply. ¡°Thunder! Why do they do that, anyway? Why thunder?¡± I asked, as the three of us rejoined the group. ¡°Germans have trouble with the ¡®th¡¯ sound.¡± Surprisingly, Maxley was the one to answer. ¡°That¡¯s probably why.¡± ¡°Oh. That makes sense. They must use words with lots of L¡¯s in the Pacific, huh?.¡± Maxley just shrugged. ¡°Whatever. Corporal Norton,¡± I started, as we vaulted back into the makeshift fort. ¡°This is Lucien Auclair. He¡¯s a captain with the French Resistance. He says his men and several civilians are trapped in a manor house a couple of kilometers south of here.¡± ¡°Well shit. Let¡¯s get them out of there, then,¡± Keith said, eagerly. I was a bit surprised he cared, honestly. ¡°We can¡¯t leave this thing unmanned¡­ Porter, you stay on duty with the Capitaine over here.¡± ¡°Uh, sure. I¡¯ll bandage up his leg then?¡± Miles asked, scratching his head. He opened up a first-aid kit the previous squad manning our position had left behind. Keith seemed satisfied with that so I asked Auclair for more precise instructions, and then we headed out. We went as fast as we reasonably could, but we still took it slow since we could hardly see anything. We would occasionally mark a tree on the way south, so we¡¯d be able to find our way back. After about twenty minutes we found a small road, so we knew we were in the right place. We quickly got off the road and moved along parallel to it, the night our only cover. Davey and Maxley stayed to the left side of the road, Keith and I on the right.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°Hey, Quinn,¡± Keith whispered, soft enough that only I could hear. ¡°Take this.¡± He handed me a pistol in its holster. ¡°Unlimited ammo,¡± He whispered conspiratorially. ¡°Don¡¯t even have to reload. I handed some out to Miles and Davey while you were gone; figured something like this might happen.¡± ¡°What do you mean? Something like this?¡± I asked, my voice as soft as his. I attached the holster to my belt, carefully placing the one I already had into my pack with the Luger. ¡°This is a Side-Mission!¡± Though he kept his voice down, he was visibly excited; he even pumped his arm, joyfully. ¡°Something extra that wasn¡¯t in the movie. This is our chance to earn a shit-ton of Points. Just check your watch. The Missions tab.¡± He smirked, apparently rejoicing the fact that he could lord his superior knowledge of the black watch over me. I rolled my eyes, but followed his suggestion anyway. I opened the Missions tab and, just like he said, a few new lines had appeared under the main Mission¡¯s description. The page now read: MISSION WORLD: SAVING PRIVATE RYAN PRIMARY GOAL: SAVE PRIVATE RYAN (100 Points) If Private James Francis Ryan is still alive at the end of the Mission, all Players are awarded 100 points. SECONDARY GOALS:
  1. Kill German Soldiers (1 Point per soldier kill) (5 Points per officer kill)
  2. Destroy German Tanks (10 Points per tank)
  3. Capture German Soldiers (2 Points per soldier captured) (10 Points per officer captured)
TIME LIMIT: EIGHT DAYS MISSION FAILURE: PRIVATE RYAN DIES FAILURE CONSEQUENCES: All Players immediately leave the Mission world, all rewards are voided, and this Mission world is locked permanently. SIDE MISSIONS:
  1. MISSION: RESCUE CAPTAIN AUCLAIR¡¯S MEN AND THE FRENCH CIVILIANS
  1. 3 POINTS FOR EVERY SOLDIER RESCUED
  2. 5 POINTS FOR EVERY CIVILIAN RESCUED
¡°I see. That¡¯s good to know,¡± I muttered, returning the watch to its home screen. I looked up then, something ahead of us catching my eye. ¡°Wait,¡± Keith said, barely above a whisper. ¡°Guys, stop, you see that?¡± He asked a bit louder, so the guys across the road could just barely hear. Of course I could see it. Torchlight off in the distance, and a large building. ¡°You guys ready to do this?¡± ¡°Hell yeah,¡± Maxley replied, as Davey nodded nervously. ¡°Let¡¯s get this show on the road,¡± I added, before we advanced. I¡¯d always wanted to say that! We crept toward the lights, moving as slowly and silently as we could. By my count there were eight Nazis in the area: three standing in a line holding torches, two hacking away at the massive front door with hand axes, and two fully armed and standing to either side of a self-important-looking Nazi officer. His outfit, his posture, and his expression all screamed ¡°Mr Big Deal¡± to me. He stood there, upright and rigid, with his hands pressed together behind his back, fist to fist. He stared straight at the door with a grave and serious expression, like he was trying to drill through it with his eyes. He wore a similar grey uniform to the officer I¡¯d captured in the ruined pillbox earlier in the day, but this guy¡¯s hat was even fancier. ¡°Light ¡®em up on three,¡± Keith whispered, as we silently spread out and took whatever cover we could. I had my back against a particularly large tree, and watched Keith from there. He held up a fist then, slowly raising his index finger. ¡°One,¡± I murmured, gulping. This was really the first time I would be on the side initiating combat; I felt a nervousness building up that I hadn¡¯t felt since I jumped off of that boat, what felt like a thousand years before. I took a few deep breaths to try and calm myself down. I worked. Sort of. ¡°Two outs,¡± I snickered quietly, as Keith slowly raised his pinky. Before he finished counting, however, one of the Nazis cheered as his axe finally smashed apart one of the boards of the door. He stuck his axe through the hole and lifted, presumably trying to remove a bar holding the doors shut. Keith¡¯s middle finger hurriedly joined the others, then it was go time. ¡°Forks up,¡± I laughed openly as we all opened fire. Seeing the familiar hand sign in the middle of a fucking war was just too much. Keith mowed down two of the torch-bearers with his BAR, while the third one dropped his torch and dove for cover, the trees and the darkness his shroud. I had taken a few shots at the officer, but I¡¯d been way off target. One of the hand axe guys took a shot to the gut before the last torch was snuffed out, our battlefield fading away under the cover of the night. I fired two more shots towards the house, before I winced at the PING! of my clip being ejected. I fumbled for a few seconds, trying to reload in the dark, before I gave up. I set the rifle against the tree and drew the sidearm Keith had given me several minutes prior. It felt good in my hand, not that I really knew what a good handgun was supposed to feel like. ¡°Now what?!¡± I heard Davey yell, the shots ceasing. ¡°Fuck! They made it into the house!¡± Keith roared, then continued: ¡°We¡¯re going in after them! Follow me!¡± Left with no real choice, I ran after him, pistol in hand. I got about halfway to the building, however, before I was knocked to the ground! I dropped the handgun and was completely disoriented, barely able to recognize the scenery. I¡¯d been tackled and, while it didn¡¯t register right away, it was by the one torch guy that had gotten away. Apparently he hadn¡¯t quite made it inside before we stormed the castle. I heard the sound of steel sliding out of a sheath, and barely raised my left hand in time to protect my chest and my face. The Nazi¡¯s combat knife pierced straight into my left palm! I cried out in agony, the pain far worse than anything I¡¯d ever felt before that moment. He tried to push down on me, using his entire body mass to press the knife further. The blade slid through all the way to the hilt soon after, my arm barely able to hold him up. I gritted my teeth and groped around for my new handgun, a cold sweat running down my entire body. I could feel the Nazi¡¯s sweat, too, dripping down onto my face as he pushed the knife closer and closer to my chest. My left arm felt weak, then numb, and just as the knife had begun to break the skin on my chest, I found the gun. I found and switched off the safety with my thumb, then jammed the barrel into the guy¡¯s gut. I unloaded on him, firing round after round into my stunned attacker, until he went still after more than a dozen shots had rung out. Finally using both arms, I thrust his body away and shot to my feet, the knife still stuck through my hand. I quickly decided not to remove it there; I had no idea what the proper extraction procedure was. I looked up to the night sky, my entire body shaking, amazed and overjoyed to be alive, yet still in harrowing pain. My left arm was sore beyond anything I¡¯d ever felt before, and the knife¡¯s sharp touch was ever present. There was even a small wound on my chest, maybe a quarter of an inch deep, that was steadily leaking little drops of blood. I shakily looked back to the ground, my eyes finally used to the dark again after having my night vision ruined by the torchlight before the skirmish started. Lying before me was a dark-haired young man, maybe a few years older than me, an expression of mixed terror, excruciating pain and disbelief forever frozen on his lifeless face. I grabbed his helmet off the ground and slid it over his face, putting the man and our fight behind me. Finally done with the shocking ordeal, I stepped over his body, to get back to the real mission. Or, real Side Mission. Whatever. I crouched down and stayed low as I crept over to the entrance. Leaning against the wall just outside the door, I peeked into the large entrance hall and recognized Keith and Maxley on the left side of the room, taking cover behind what seemed to be a hastily constructed sofa barricade. I silently swore when I saw Davey lying on the ground towards the center of the room, face first in a pool of his own blood. It wasn¡¯t much solace, but another of the Nazis lay dead flat on his back next to him, his own hand axe buried in his chest. That reminded me of the one that had been shot before the lights went out; I looked to my feet and there he was, axe and all. Breathing raggedly I picked up the axe and, my left arm essentially useless, slid it into my handgun holster. It wasn¡¯t a great fit, but it worked out alright. I got as low to the ground as I could, watching the Nazi officer and his two goons, all standing on the landing of one of the room¡¯s two staircases, trading fire with Maxley and Keith. One of them had hauled a big piece of metal - maybe a table - up the steps and they took cover behind that. One of the Nazi guards had emptied his rifle, and ducked behind his cover to reload. I figured that was the best chance I¡¯d get, so I crept into the room, swiftly ducking into the shadows on the right side. There was another staircase on my side of the room, and I believed I¡¯d gotten in below their notice, so I crept towards the right-side stairs. They were all tunnel visioned on Maxley and Keith, probably believing they were the only ones we had. They never did get a good look at our whole team, after all. I did have one grenade left, I realized at that moment, but I didn¡¯t want to risk bringing the whole house down on us. So I bucked up, took a deep breath, and sneaked onto to the first step. I slowly slinked up the stairs, silently praying I wouldn¡¯t get done in by a squeaky step. About two thirds of the way up it happened- the board under my left foot creaked. I froze on the spot and slowly turned my head towards the Nazis, hoping against all hope that they hadn¡¯t heard it. Surely the gunfire could drown it out, right? Of course not. The officer¡¯s gaze shot right to me; he narrowed his eyes, bellowed out in German, and pointed at me. I opened fire on them before they could, as I actually had a decent vantage point by then. The odds were stacked against me, though. I was effectively a one-armed amateur with a pistol. They tried to angle their steel table to block both me and Keith¡¯s position instead of shooting back right away, so I charged the rest of the way up the staircase, crashing through the first door I could find. CLANG! I saw stars for a few seconds, unable to form a coherent thought, after something slammed into my helmet. When I came to, in front of me stood a mortified-looking middle aged woman holding a frying pan in one hand, the other covering her mouth. Two small children and a young teen were huddled together on a bed, eyes closed and crying. ¡°I am an American,¡± I started, in French again, ¡°We are here to save you!¡± She looked to my left hand, incredulous and worried. I couldn¡¯t blame her- there was still a knife stuck through it, after all! ¡°Get to the back wall. With the children. I will protect you.¡± She just nodded and backed up, the frying pan clattering to the floor. I took a few more deep breaths, then I opened the door back up and peeked over at the three Nazis. Or one Nazi, as it turned out; Maxley and Keith had slain one of the guards, his body fallen over the railing, blood splattered across the floor. The officer was nowhere to be seen. The guard was still exchanging fire with Keith and Maxley, so I slipped out of the room, as quietly as I could. I trained my pistol on the last guard, trying to line up a perfect shot. I pulled the trigger several times in succession, every third or fourth shot striking true. I grinned as the final guard breathed his last, crumpling onto the stairway landing. ¡°Now where¡¯s that damn officer?¡± I mumbled, lowering the gun. Then a knife slid into my back. Chapter 6 ¡°Wha¡­¡± I muttered, as the blade was removed and hastily stabbed back in, a few inches higher this time. My hands slackened, my sidearm clattering to the floor. I sluggishly turned my head, to find the wild-eyed Nazi officer, bearing a sinister smirk, glaring directly into my eyes. Staring at the gun lain on the floor, I half-heartedly drooped forward reaching out for it. The Nazi was not having any of that; he twisted the knife, making me lurch, then kicked me in the back, my face slamming against the floorboards, my glasses and helmet both knocked off during the impact. I raised my battered face, coughed up blood and spat out a broken tooth, as the officer kicked me in the side. I reached for the gun again, only a few feet away, but he promptly kicked it away, my last hope clattering down the staircase. He stomped on the wounds on my back, pain shooting up my spine, then I heard a click. Then another, and another. He shouted angrily, then threw something down on the floor, whatever it was shattering into a dozen pieces. Looked like some kind of pistol, maybe. He kicked me in the side again, this time digging in and flipping me onto my back. He laughed and bent over me, grabbing my left wrist. I winced in pain just from the movement, before the real suffering began. He grasped the knife by its hilt, wiggling it for a few seconds, making me scream out in despair. Then he yanked the whole knife out at once, causing my hand to shake uncontrollably, blood spilling out from both sides. He knelt down above me, my face clenching up in pain, as he took the knife in both hands, raising it above his head. I clenched my eyes shut, giving in to the inevitable end. An end that never came. I had lost so much blood by then that I couldn¡¯t really make sense of anything, but when I opened my eyes and smiled weakly at what I saw. It was the middle-aged French woman, standing above the Nazi officer, breathing raggedly with her frying pan in hand once again. The Nazi lay on the floor, clutching at his head and groaning, before he turned his bloodshot glare on the woman. She stepped back nervously as he shot to his feet, enraged. He picked up the knife and stumbled towards her, spittle flying out of his mouth as he yelled something in German. I shakily took to my feet, feeling cold and numb, and inched towards him, trying in vain to stop my maddened foe. I clutched at my side, my thoughts hazy and my left arm hanging limply. My right hand groped for my only remaining weapon: the hand axe. The axe now in hand, I lunged at the Nazi, slamming the edge into his shoulder even as he sliced the woman¡¯s throat. She cried out weakly before she backed into a wall and slid to the ground, clutching at her neck and gasping. I yanked the axe out and tried to hit him again, but he swivelled his body, waving the knife at me. I recoiled backwards, barely able to stay on my feet, but even then I wasn¡¯t unscathed; the blade sliced across my chest, leaving a shallow cut. More blood began to trickle down my torso, and I was mostly just surprised I had any left to lose. I rasped for air, both me and the Nazi twitching and waiting for the other to initiate, caught in our own little Mexican standoff. He probably wasn¡¯t thinking clearly; he charged me after we¡¯d stared each other down for about thirty seconds. He held the knife in both hands and thrust, aiming for my gut. I stumbled to the left, swinging the axe again as he passed by. I heard the crack of his ribs breaking as the head was wedged into his side, but I lost my already weakening grip on the handle, the weapon stuck in the man¡¯s body. After a hurried glance around the hall, I picked up the only weapon left. The frying pan. I held it in my right hand, glaring at the now-wounded Nazi officer as he stumbled towards me, looking weak and angry. My already fuzzy vision was fading, and I had to force my eyes to stay open. He shambled towards me, bent over and clutching at his side, blood beginning to spill out of his mouth. I must have hit his liver! The realization temporarily revitalized me, as he made one last mad rush, and I held the frying pan steadily. I smacked him across the face with the pan, as hard as I could, as the knife pierced my gut. He dropped to the side, crying out in pain and frustration as the axe was buried completely upon his impact with the ground. I stepped backwards, until my back touched the wall. I slid down, next to the mortally wounded French woman, turned one last glance towards her now-lifeless eyes, and sighed. I shut my eyes then, accepting my fate, and lost consciousness. --- ¡°...ive ¡­ He¡¯s rea¡­¡± My mind was swimming in and out of consciousness, but I was barely able to recognize the sound of Shane Maxley¡¯s voice. ¡°What the hell is¡­ ¡­ drink it? What do y¡­ ¡° A warm liquid was slowly poured into my mouth then and I, unconsciously, managed to swallow it. My eyes shot wide open and I screamed bloody murder, my entire body, and especially the injuries on my hand, chest, abdomen and back, feeling like it¡¯d been dumped into an active volcano. I writhed around for several minutes, the heat only rising. ¡°What the hell! Norton! It¡¯s killing him! What is that stuff?! Quinn?!¡± I could see Maxley¡¯s face, much clearer than it reasonably should have been. I briefly thought that they must have put my glasses back on for me, but then I shrieked again, tears surging down my face, as the blaze inside my body raged on, gaining in intensity. ¡°Quinn?! I¡¯m right here, you¡¯ll be okay!¡± Maxley promised, though he didn¡¯t sound remotely confident. The pain stopped abruptly just then, and I passed out again. --- I awoke again sometime later, to find I was being carried on someone¡¯s back. Someone burly and almost seven feet tall. ¡°Keith?¡± I asked, surprised my voice seemed so clear. It sounded normal. ¡°What the hell? It¡­ It doesn¡¯t hurt anymore? What did you do?¡± ¡°You drank a potion, dumbass,¡± he said, monotone. I could picture his smirk, as I glared at the back of his head. ¡°Think you can walk on your own?¡± He asked, actually sounding concerned. ¡°Uh¡­ Yeah, I think so. Probably,¡± I mumbled, still confused. ¡°A potion? Like in a video game?¡± ¡°Hell yeah like in a video game. But uh, don¡¯t mention video games around here, you know?¡± I realized my mistake and nodded after I slid off his back. 1944 was a bit early for video games, after all. ¡°You were damn lucky you were still alive by the time we got to you. I found your gun, by the way. Fell down the stairs,¡± He finished, handing the pistol back to me. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°I¡¯ve always felt that the lucky people are the ones who don¡¯t get stabbed four times in an hour. Oh, shit,¡± I came to a realization. ¡°What about Davey? Did you get to him in time too?¡± I looked around us for the first time at that, to find we were in the middle of a bit of a crowd. The sun was barely starting to rise, so I could make out most of them clearly. All of them clearly. ¡°No,¡± Keith shook his head, solemnly. ¡°He went down early. Killed the fucker that got him though. With his own axe, even.¡± ¡°Shit¡­ Did we¡­ Did you bury him? Or what?¡± I asked, dreading the answer. ¡°No time,¡± Keith answered, shaking his head. ¡°We grabbed his tag and his gear, then wrapped him in a sheet and left him on a bed upstairs. Burned the Krauts, though. What the hell did you do to the officer, anyway?¡± ¡°Uh, I hit an axe into his liver then whacked him with a frying pan. I guess he landed on it when he fell. That was when he stabbed me the third time, and I was kind of out of it by then.¡± ¡°With a frying pan? No shit?¡± ¡°No shit.¡± ¡°Damn. I swept the house while you were healing. Maxley stayed with you the whole time, you know.¡± I nodded. That seemed consistent with my hazy memory of the healing process. ¡°I found seven of Auclair¡¯s guys, and eleven civilians. A family of five, a family of three, and three orphans. Their mother was dead outside the room they hid in, near your battleground.¡± I winced at that, remembering the middle aged French woman that had rescued me. ¡°What?¡± Keith asked, as I stopped. ¡°She saved my life,¡± I muttered. ¡°She was the one that brought the frying pan¡­ I promised her I¡¯d protect them. Shit!¡± I stomped on the ground once, frustrated at my own failure. ¡°Ah¡­ Damn. That would do it,¡± Keith mumbled, getting a distant look for a second. ¡°Anyway. We¡¯re almost back. The hill¡¯s just over there, see?¡± He pointed ahead, our hill visible off in the distance. ¡°Oh. Right.¡± I nodded, then, turning my gaze on the rest of our group. Seven resistance fighters, two middle aged men, two women, a baby, four children and two teens. That¡¯s¡­ seventy-six Points. I almost died for seventy-six Points. Davey Wexler was dead. Did we do it for the Points, or to save innocent people¡¯s lives? I could never really figure it out. Bit of both, maybe. ¡°Hey, you awake now?¡± Private Maxley asked, closing in on me. I nodded and smiled, glad to see the young redheaded soldier was okay. ¡°You, uh, feeling better?¡± He glanced at my chest awkwardly, then back to my face with an inquisitive look. ¡°I think so,¡± I said, looking down. ¡°Ho-ly shit.¡± My uniform had been drenched in blood; most of it looked like it was supposed to be red. My face screwed up and I laughed dryly as a thought struck me. ¡°I think a uniform like this would be okay in Sedona. Or Mars.¡± He looked at me funny and I just shook my head. The uniform was torn in a few places as well, the largest being the gash across my chest. That reminded me that I hadn¡¯t checked to see if any of the injuries had left scars. I was interested in how the potion worked, so I held up my left hand. The wound was scarred over, like it had been healing for months. I touched the scars with my other hand, marvelling at the absurd healing process I had undergone. I froze in my tracks then, as I made another realization. ¡°Uh, Maxley, where are my glasses?¡± I waved my hand in front of my face, shocked that it wasn¡¯t blurred. ¡°The lenses were cracked so I just put them in your bag. How well can you see without them, anyway?¡± He tilted his head, perhaps underestimating just how bad my vision was. Or how bad it was supposed to be. ¡°I can see just fine now. Before it was¡­ Holy fuck! The potion? Seriously?¡± I was flabbergasted. I would have done anything to fix my vision. Turns out all I had to do was storm the beach on D-Day and get stabbed a few times. Brilliant. My reverie ended as we reached the hill, Miles and Captain Auclair meeting us on the way down. ¡°Ah, shit,¡± Keith muttered, as Sergeant Lane shot past them, coming to a stop in front of him. ¡°Corporal Norton! What the hell were you thinking?!¡± Lane demanded, in wide-eyed enmity. ¡°We were thinking that we didn¡¯t want a Resistance squad and a dozen to civilians to die, Sarge,¡± I spoke up, as Keith seemed flabbergasted. ¡°And you didn¡¯t think to come get me? Or request reinforcements? Air support? Anything?¡± Lane asked, tension still building in his voice. ¡°Time was of the essence, Sarge. If we¡¯d been a minute or two later the Germans would have breached the chateau. There was just no time,¡± I continued, glancing at the dozen and a half French we had rescued. ¡°Quinn¡­¡± Lane deflated, sighing as he looked at the crowd we had brought back. ¡°Fine. Just¡­ Bring them to the camp. I¡¯ll talk to Captain Burr. He¡¯ll talk to the Lieutenant-Colonel. We can probably get them to England, or something. You speak French, right? Tell them- tell them that. We¡¯ll get them out of here.¡± He turned and walked the rest of the way. I relayed the message to the French, and the civilians seemed relieved. Well, most of them did. The three children of the woman who had died probably wouldn¡¯t be finding relief in anything for a while. I sighed, then talked to Auclair a bit more. ¡°We will not leave France,¡± the Captain said, shaking his head. ¡°We will find our comrades and get back to the war. Vive la France!¡± His men shared the sentiment as well; they followed his statement with a united ¡°Vive la France!¡± ¡°Good luck, Capitaine,¡± I uttered, smiling faintly. Someone tapped my shoulder just after that. I turned and saw Keith standing next to me. ¡°We¡¯re going back to camp now, Quinn,¡± He stated simply, the giant of a man trudging off, leading the way down the hill. ¡°Allons-y!¡± I shouted back, as we began to move out. The French fell in line quickly, talking among themselves about England and the American soldiers. ¡°Hey, Lee¡­¡± Miles started, marching along next to me. ¡°Davey¡¯s really dead?¡± He asked, gloomily. ¡°...Yeah,¡± I lamented. ¡°He was shot when the others ran into the house. I didn¡¯t see it.¡± ¡°Shane told me about that. Said you fought a guy off outside with your bare hands,¡± Miles stated, incredulously. ¡°Uh, maybe for a few seconds. I shot him in the end, though¡­¡± I rubbed the scar on my hand again as I thought about that struggle the night before. ¡°Wow. I, uh, don¡¯t think I¡¯ve shot anyone yet. I mean, I¡¯ve shot at them but, y¡¯know, probably didn¡¯t¡­ hit anyone...¡± He just laughed nervously, rambling on. ¡°Hey, Miles, relax. Don¡¯t worry about it, okay?¡± I grabbed his shoulder, trying to settle him down before he got any more anxious. ¡°Uh, yeah, okay. Okay. It just feels wrong, you know? That I was just hanging out with a French guy and a machine gun while you guys were off fighting¡­ I mean what if¡­ What if I was-¡± ¡°No, Miles, don¡¯t do that to yourself. Don¡¯t think about what ifs, man. We needed someone to stay on the hill. Keith picked you. That¡¯s it. Got it?¡± I asked, concerned. ¡°I¡­ Yeah, okay. Thanks, Lee.¡± He walked ahead, his head down. We made good time back to the Army¡¯s base camp on the beach, and Captain Burr met us as we approached. He seemed agitated, glaring at Keith. ¡°Norton! This is them? All of them?¡± Burr asked, glancing back and forth between Keith and the French. ¡°Yes, Sir,¡± Keith said, simply. ¡°Sir,¡± I spoke up, ¡°This is Captain Auclair. Uh, I can translate if you need to talk to him.¡± I repeated the sentiment to Auclair and told him Burr¡¯s name. Auclair nodded, stepping forward. ¡°Good. Quinn, tell him we¡¯re meeting with the Lieutenant Colonel. You¡¯re coming too. He can bring a couple of his guys if he wants.¡± I confirmed the order and translated it to Auclair, who agreed. ¡°Lane¡¯s coming with us, so it¡¯s up to you to get these people settled in, Norton. Find them a spot to rest and get them some food. You can feed your team after. Understood?¡± ¡°Yes, Sir,¡± Keith said, unenthusiastically. Maxley and Miles followed him, the former waving at me as he went by. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Quinn,¡± Captain Burr finished. ¡°Yes, Sir!¡± I saluted, then it was off to see the Lieutenant Colonel. Chapter 7 ¡°How¡¯d it go, Lee?¡± Miles asked me, jogging over to meet me when I returned, over an hour later. I¡¯d never had to work as a live translator like that before, and it really took a lot out of me going back and forth between Captain Auclair and Lieutenant Colonel Anderson. Mostly I was just hungry, though. ¡°Auclair seemed satisfied, at least,¡± I started, scratching my head. ¡°I also met another one of the guys from the movie- Corporal Upham, the translator guy. They had him take over for me after the important stuff was done with. Told me to get some food. Speaking of which¡­¡± I looked around wondering where my share of the breakfast might have gotten off too. ¡°Shane¡¯s holding onto your meal. He¡¯s, uh, over there,¡± Miles said, searching for a second then pointing out Maxley. He was sitting on the sand maybe ten yards away, chatting with Zach and Cora. I nodded to Miles, and we headed over to them. ¡°There he is,¡± Zach said, standing up while sporting a subdued smile. ¡°We were just talking about you.¡± ¡°Uh-huh. You guys been alright?¡± I asked, looking around. ¡°Hey, Maxley-¡± ¡°I got you. Here, Quinn.¡± The redheaded soldier stood up, handing over a little box. ¡°Thanks,¡± I replied heartilly, opening it up. The food didn¡¯t look great, but it was better than nothing. ¡°Anyway, you¡¯re all okay?¡± I asked, as I opened up a can of ham. ¡°I¡¯d say so, yeah,¡± Zach nodded, rubbing his arm. That drew my attention; his sling was gone. I raised an eyebrow at that, and his face lit up. ¡°Keith gave me a couple sips from a health potion,¡± Zach said, waving his right arm around to display his regained mobility. ¡°There was a bit left after what I gave you,¡± a gruff voice sounded behind me. I turned back to find Keith approaching. ¡°Thought we may as well get the kid¡¯s arm fixed up.¡± ¡°Oh, okay. How many of those things do you have anyway?¡± I asked. ¡°And what other gear have you brought here?¡± ¡°Figured you¡¯d ask. I¡¯ve got two more bottles. They¡¯re five doses to a bottle- I gave four to you earlier, then one to Zachary. Besides those and the guns, that¡¯s about it.¡± He shrugged, finished. ¡°What are those things anyway? Where did you get them?¡± Shane Maxley asked, suspicious. I hadn¡¯t really thought about it until then, but Maxley had been with us the whole time. Even if he hadn¡¯t noticed that we never had to reload, there was no way he could have missed my miraculous recovery. ¡°Uh¡­ My, uh, my little brother is a doctor. A¡­ medical researcher. He gave them to me before I shipped out. They¡¯re still in testing¡­ His superiors thought his formula was too good to be true, so it wasn¡¯t approved for human testing yet. Think you can keep quiet about this, Maxley?¡± ¡°I guess so,¡± he agreed, satisfied. ¡°What do you think our next job is? And when?¡± ¡°The Captain told me just before I came back here, actually,¡± Keith started. ¡°We¡¯re back on duty on the hills at noon. Sergeant Lane and the rest of his guys are coming too. We¡¯ve got the night off, though. Get some rest in until then¡± ¡°Hey, should we come this time?¡± Zach asked, looking from Cora to Keith. ¡°Probably,¡± Keith sighed, shaking his head. I¡¯m pretty sure Keith wasn¡¯t comfortable with taking a high school kid into war, but we really didn¡¯t have much choice at that point. He could¡¯ve healed Zach anytime he wanted. ¡°That alright with you, Siskou?¡± ¡°Of course. I do not believe I am needed here. Many more medics are here now, and many patients taken away.¡± She smiled lightly as she finished. ¡°Did they evacuate our last guy? Jay or something?¡± I asked, as the one-legged man came to mind. Finished with my quick meal, I packed the empty cans and the can opener back in the box, and tossed it to the side. ¡°Yes, I believe they did. He will recover, as much as a one-legged man can recover in 1944.¡± She sighed at that. I glanced at Maxley, but if he found her statement odd he kept it to himself. ¡°Hey, a potion couldn¡¯t, like, regrow a leg, could it?¡± Zach asked, his eyes widening. ¡°Probably not,¡± Keith replied, smirking. ¡°My buddy tried one out- the guy I told you about earlier, the one who lost an arm.¡± That¡¯d be the robot-arm guy, I figured, briefly glancing at Maxley again. ¡°He drank a whole bottle and it just closed off the wound. Hell, they even leave scars, most of the time.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Zach said, pulling up his sleeve. The motion revealed what looked like two very old and long-since healed gunshot wounds. Nobody would have believed they were barely two days old. ¡°So they do. Can¡¯t believe I never checked.¡± He just blinked a few times, then shrugged. ¡°We¡¯ve got a few hours before noon, yeah? Let¡¯s just get some rest. We can talk more on the hill, and it won¡¯t be dark out this time.¡± I dumped my helmet and my bag next to me, then yawned and leaned back in the sand, staring up at the clouds. We¡¯d been up for just about an entire day already, and the exhaustion was finally setting in. I quickly drifted off, before anyone was able to object. --- ¡°Hey, Lee,¡± I heard, as someone shook my shoulder, interrupting my thankfully-dreamless sleep. ¡°It¡¯s almost noon. Get up, we gotta go soon!¡± I groggily opened my eyes and sat up, yawning and stretching my arms above my head. I looked to my left, to find Miles staring at me. ¡°Come on, dude. Let¡¯s go.¡± He put out his hand and I let him pull me to my feet.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Thanks,¡± I said, brushing the sand off of my clothes. I looked around our makeshift campsite, finding Cora and Keith waking up the others. ¡°Keith got to you first, then?¡± I laughed, reclaiming my helmet and gear. Miles just grinned. Soon enough everyone was up and ready, and Sergeant Lane came by to collect us. ¡°Alright men, same thing as this morning. But this time, do not leave your post. Am I understood?¡± He asked, menacingly. That it wasn¡¯t really a question was evident in his tone. ¡°Understood,¡± several of us muttered together. ¡°Good enough,¡± Lane sighed, looking around our group. ¡°I see your medic¡¯s back? And you got a replacement for Wexler? Good. Maxley, you¡¯re back with me until I can fill up my team.¡± It seemed weird designating Zach a replacement, but he wasn¡¯t exactly wrong. ¡°Let¡¯s head out then.¡± We followed Sergeant Lane to the hills again and relieved the previous watchmen. It was a different and much less friendly group than the one led by the corporal the night before. They just stalked off, barely a word exchanged. Once we settled in, with Miles and Zach manning the machine gun, Sergeant Lane, Maxley and the rest of Lane¡¯s guys headed for the next hill. For the first time since D-Day, our entire group was together and isolated. ¡°Let¡¯s plan out as much of the Mission as we can now,¡± Zach suggested, after the newly-replaced team from the next hill passed us by. ¡°What comes next?¡± ¡°Tomorrow is the ninth,¡± Keith stated firmly. ¡°It is critical that we get our squad into the rescue mission. Do we have any ideas beyond hanging around the Rangers and volunteering?¡± ¡°I got an idea in the command tent this morning,¡± I started, hesitantly. ¡°I translated for the Lieutenant Colonel and I dropped that we still had a guy that speaks German. I can only hope he remembers me when time comes for the Mission to start. Maybe he¡¯ll assign us in place of Corporal Upham. That guy seemed like a nervous wreck, I wouldn¡¯t want him on the mission if at all possible.¡± ¡°That¡¯s about what I was thinking,¡± Zach said, nodding. ¡°We just have to hope Shane will go along with it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure he¡¯d be glad to go with us,¡± Miles stated. ¡°He lost his entire squad on D-Day, remember?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right¡­ I feel kind of bad dragging him along with us, but we have to complete the Mission at all costs,¡± I said, then sighed. ¡°We¡¯ll lose all of our Points if we don¡¯t, and the next Mission could be even harder. Right, Keith?¡± I asked, glancing at the hulking corporal. ¡°That¡¯s right. Though I don¡¯t think the Missions necessarily get harder every time. My first one was Jurassic Park. That one was absurd. I really just ran around and hid while the veterans battled the dinosaurs. But the next one was Jaws, and even most of the other rookies got through that one just fine. The shark did bite my buddy¡¯s arm off, but that was his fault, really. What kind of idiot tries to punch out a shark?¡± Keith chuckled weakly, before he continued. ¡°X-Men, though, was a real killer,¡± he said grimly. ¡°I was the only one who made it through that one.¡± ¡°Wow¡­¡± Zach muttered, scratching his head. ¡°So it¡¯s just random then? You had a hard Mission, then a relatively easy one, but now two hard ones in a row? I wonder if there¡¯s a formula¡­¡± ¡°Wonder away, kid,¡± Keith scoffed. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter right now anyway.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Zach conceded, then shrugged. ¡°Let¡¯s go over everything again. What comes after we join Captain Miller¡¯s squad?¡± ¡°We go to Neuville. There are a few skirmishes there, one of the characters dies, and they find a fake Ryan.¡± ¡°Fake Ryan?¡± Cora asked. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°We¡¯re looking for James Francis Ryan, the guy in Neuville is called James Frederick Ryan.¡± Cora nodded in understanding before Keith continued. ¡°There is one guy in Neuville who knows the real Ryan¡¯s rallying point. We¡¯ll head there and it¡¯s basically a big field hospital. Another guy there says that Ryan is guarding a bridge in Ramelle. Another of the guys gets killed on the way to Ramelle, then most of the others die in Ramelle. The end,¡± Keith finished, rolling his eyes. ¡°We still need to be cautious at all times. It takes about four days to get from here to Ramelle, right? In the movie, I mean,¡± I asked, and Keith nodded. ¡°This is a dynamic world, and there are no time skips or scene progressions. We have to actually do everything. Otherwise we would have just skipped yesterday and today. We¡¯re not really in a movie, just a world based off of a movie.¡± ¡°I think I see what you mean,¡± Zach said, following me. ¡°Like, there is no one in the movie called Shane Maxley, or Sergeant Lane, or Captain Burr, but they exist here. The movie is like a base, and all the background details get filled in after?¡± ¡°Something like that,¡± Keith muttered, nodding. ¡°Hey, Keith, is there some kind of overarching goal for us? Or a reason we¡¯re all here, doing these Missions?¡± Miles asked, finally speaking up. ¡°Fuck if I know,¡± Keith grunted. ¡°Oh, but you can go back to Earth if you save up enough Points.¡± ¡°What?!¡± All of us shouted, staring blankly at Keith. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell us that earlier?!¡± Miles demanded frantically, eyes wide with excitement. Keith sighed, and shrugged. ¡°And how many Points would that be?¡± I asked, catching on. ¡°That¡¯d be the problem. 100,000 Points for a ticket home. It¡¯s a fucking pipe dream. You¡¯d have to survive a thousand Missions without spending anything. No fucking way,¡± Keith finished, simply. Miles seemed to deflate wholly at that, while the rest of us just sighed. I think we¡¯d all given up hope of going back to our modern-day Earth long before then anyway. ¡°You¡¯re right. I¡¯d rather just build a new life here than spend years fighting to go back,¡± Zach said, solemnly. ¡°I agree,¡± Cora stated, speaking up for the first time in a while. ¡°I was in great debt in America. This is almost preferable,¡± She sighed, smiling lightly. ¡°I was in about the same boat,¡± I admitted, with a motion towards Cora. ¡°Even if I could have graduated I didn¡¯t have anything lined up. No job, no graduate school. Apparently I¡¯m already dead anyway, so I guess I¡¯ll just make the best of what I can out here.¡± ¡°You guys are nuts,¡± Miles pronounced. ¡°I want to go back. No, I will go back, or die trying!¡± A bold claim, but it¡¯s not like any of us could hold it against him. ¡°I have a girlfriend, a bunch of real friends, I¡¯m in like six different bands, a few clubs¡­ I have so much to go back to. I won¡¯t give up,¡± he finished, determined. ¡°We¡¯ll help you out however we can, Miles,¡± I said, Cora and Zach quickly agreeing. Keith just rolled his eyes and scoffed. ¡°Thanks, guys,¡± Miles grinned, as a few tears came to his eyes. Miles rubbed the tears out and finally got serious, going back to manning the machine gun and surveying the field before us. ¡°Now that I think about it, we are dead, right? I was definitely in a car crash, I remember that much,¡± Zach revealed. ¡°I don¡¯t remember dying at all,¡± I said, eyebrow raised. ¡°I figured we were supposed to forget it? Guess not,¡± I finished, as Keith and Cora shook their heads. ¡°I was shot on the job. We were busting a big time drug dealer, his goons got a bit ahead of themselves,¡± Keith added. He did say he was a cop, so that wasn¡¯t too surprising. ¡°One of the goons actually made it over here on my second mission. I left him alone, but he ended up as shark food anyway,¡± Keith claimed, grinning. ¡°I was in a car accident. Like Zachary,¡± Cora stated, sighing. We all looked expectantly towards Miles. ¡°Uh,¡± the music student winced, before slowly turning and smiling weakly. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what happened, exactly. I was, uh, pretty drunk.¡± He glanced nervously at Keith and quickly looked away. ¡°I, uh, definitely didn¡¯t drive, though! I never even brought my car to AZ!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going to arrest you, Miles,¡± Keith laughed briefly, before his eyes narrowed. ¡°How old did you say you were again?¡± ¡°Twenty¡­¡± He said, sweating and turning away, manning the machine gun once again, trying and failing to be nonchalant about it. The rest of us had a good laugh at that, even Keith. We mostly just chatted for the next few hours, nothing disturbing our watch. We were relieved a bit after sundown, by the jovial Corporal we¡¯d met the night before. After a brief exchange we went on our way, quickly returning to base camp. We waited a bit, for Lane¡¯s group to make it back, then reported to Captain Burr. He was very happy that both of our posts had been uneventful, and sent us off to have dinner. The night wound down pretty nicely, not much else happening. The only thing worth mentioning is that Sergeant Lane officially assigned Maxley to our team, as he had rallied up a few of the leftovers from 3rd Platoon for his own team. We were as ready as we¡¯d ever be, so we all went to sleep a bit early in preparation of, hopefully, the beginning of the real Mission the next day. Chapter 8 ¡°Quinn! Front and center!¡± I heard Sergeant Lane shout, interrupting our fireteam¡¯s late breakfast. We¡¯d actually had a decent night of uninterrupted sleep, finally. I stood up, cramming a biscuit in my mouth as I jogged over to the Sergeant. ¡°Quinn here, Sarge,¡± I stated, just after I swallowed the bread. Lane smiled weakly when I approached, his eyes as dark and tired as ever. ¡°I told you it was him,¡± I heard someone say, near Lane. I took a quick glance, only to find Richard Reiben, the US Ranger and movie character I had stuck with on D-Day. Beside him stood Sergeant Horvath and Vin Diesel. Or Private Caparzo, as he was called there. ¡°You¡¯re Private Lee A. Quinn?¡± Sergeant Horvath asked, apparently sizing me up. ¡°You speak French?¡± I nodded and replied that I did. ¡°Good. Lane, you¡¯ve got a guy that speaks German, right?¡± ¡°Right. Private Shane S. Maxley. I folded him into Corporal Norton¡¯s fireteam- with Quinn. Norton¡¯s guys are a tight-knit group, but it seems to me that Maxley fits in fine.¡± The blonde sergeant sighed and watched me with pity. ¡°Maxley¡¯s a great guy,¡± I agreed, glancing back and forth between the two sergeants. ¡°Good. Your team¡¯s size?¡± Horvath asked me. ¡°Six of us, Sergeant. Corporal Norton, medic Siskou, and Privates Quinn, Maxley, Porter and Michaels.¡± He ordered me to take him to them, so I did. They¡¯d finished up their meal and cleaned up, the group standing around waiting for me to come back. I nodded subtly to Keith. The behemoth of a soldier that is Keith Norton sauntered over, introducing himself. ¡°Norton, you and your team are coming with us,¡± Horvath said, after returning the introduction. ¡°An Airborne Private - Ryan, he¡¯s called - lost his 3 brothers on D-Day. Command - and I mean the guys way at the top - wants us to get him home. We need a French-speaker and a German-speaker. Our two guys are dead, so we¡¯re calling Quinn and Maxley up. The rest of you should come, too. Don¡¯t want to split up a good team if we don¡¯t have to,¡± Horvath muttered, looking Keith up and down. Keith quickly agreed, volunteering our whole team for the Mission. ¡°We¡¯re in business, then. I¡¯ll go talk to the Captain. Reiben, Caparzo, stay with them.¡± They nodded, and off Horvath went. ¡°So, Quinn, how¡¯ve you been?¡± Reiben asked, as Horvath merged with the crowd of soldiers wandering every which way. ¡°Normal, I guess. Whatever that means out here,¡± I sighed. ¡°That bad, eh?¡± Reiben frowned, as Caparzo introduced himself to the others. I just shrugged. ¡°Yeah¡­ We lost one of our guys yesterday morning.¡± He nodded grimly at that. They¡¯d probably lost a lot of men on and since D-Day as well. ¡°Which one¡¯s Maxley, anyway?¡± Reiben asked, breaking the somber mood before it could really take hold, then glancing at the other three privates. ¡°Uh, that would be me,¡± Maxley spoke up, stepping forward and waving lightly. He seemed a bit nervous to be getting such an important mission. He was, after all, the only one of us who didn¡¯t know it was coming. ¡°Where are we going? Do we know where, uh, Ryan is?¡± He asked, confused. ¡°Some place called Neuville to start. The Airborne fucked up and we don¡¯t know where anyone is. They¡¯re scattered all over. For all we know, Ryan¡¯s already dead,¡± Reiben said, rolling his eyes. He grunted and continued, ¡°Probably is.¡± ¡°Damn,¡± I muttered, shaking my head. ¡°Yeah, damn,¡± Reiben agreed. Maxley just sighed, deflating. ¡°He¡¯s alive, Rich,¡± Caparzo said, patting Reiben¡¯s shoulder. ¡°And we¡¯re getting him home.¡± ¡°If you say so,¡± Reiben replied, shaking his head. We hadn¡¯t gotten much further in our discussions on the futility of the mission, when Horvath returned. ¡°You¡¯re all in. Gather up your gear, you got fifteen minutes. We got plenty of ammo already, just grab whatever you need. That goes for you too, Reiben, Caparzo.¡± Sergeant Horvath ordered, glancing from Norton to Reiben. ¡°We¡¯ll be seeing you guys real soon. Let¡¯s go.¡± Caparzo said goodbye and Reiben just waved, as they followed Horvath away. ¡°Maxley, Porter, gather weapons, ammo and food. The rest of you, with me,¡± Keith said, nodding subtly at Miles. So he¡¯d assigned Miles to run interference on Maxley while the rest of us had a quick meeting, then. They nodded and ran off, to find the nearest quartermaster. ¡°This is about the best we could have hoped for, Lee,¡± he continued, grinning. ¡°Good job yesterday. Damn good job.¡± ¡°Right. So, now what?¡± I asked, as I packed my bag and donned my helmet. ¡°This is a huge change to the plot, isn¡¯t it? This is probably going to be a thirteen-man squad instead of eight, since they¡¯re bringing us instead of Upham.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true. Nothing we can do about that. Us surviving to the end is the most important thing, but we should try to keep the characters alive too. We¡¯ll need all the fighting power we can get for the fight in Ramelle. Some of them are probably worth Points, too,¡± Keith added, a greedy smile spreading across his face. ¡°I think we¡¯ll get plenty of Points on the way there, and even more during the battle. Think we¡¯ll find another Side Mission?¡± Zach asked, looking down with his chin in his hand. ¡°I really don¡¯t know. There is little if any real downtime for the rest of the movie. It¡¯s mostly just walking and fighting for the next five days,¡± Keith replied, laughing dryly. ¡°Do you think they will know that I am not a man?¡± Cora asked, nervously. ¡°I do not believe Maxley has noticed. But the others may be more¡­ perceptive?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good point,¡± I agreed. ¡°Just try not to talk much. If you have to speak, deepen your voice. We don¡¯t have any precedent for this kind of situation.¡± I shook my head, at a bit of a loss. I didn¡¯t know how important that would be. I wasn¡¯t sure if the world¡¯s rules were facilitated for us and, if they were, to what degree. No one had batted an eye towards my glasses, for example, but I hadn¡¯t seen any other bespectacled soldiers the whole time we¡¯d been in Normandy. I hadn¡¯t seen any other female soldiers for that matter, so it was just unpredictable. ¡°We¡¯ll cover for you if anything happens. No matter what,¡± I said, looking directly at her. Zach agreed emphatically while Keith just shrugged. ¡°Thank you. All of you,¡± Cora said, smiling, before she looked down and slid her helmet a bit further down to cover her eyes. The smile stayed, though. ¡°This should be enough,¡± Miles said, as he returned, Maxley not far behind. ¡°We picked up a new rifle for you, too, Lee.¡± They hadn¡¯t found my M1 Garand by the chateaux when they carried me away, and Davey¡¯s had been shot to pieces during the firefight, so the new one was welcome. Even though it wasn¡¯t an infinite ammo version like my Colt M1911A1 or Keith¡¯s BAR, I still prefered the rifle over the handgun. He handed me a dozen clips for the M1 Garand after I checked the rifle. I distributed several of the clips to the various pockets of my uniform, placing the last few in my bag. We were all packed up and ready to go, each of us carrying an extra bag of food and supplies.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Norton! Gather your squad and fall in!¡± Sergeant Horvath ordered, as he returned yet again. ¡°You heard the Sergeant,¡± Keith said, urging us forward. We started forward, heading away from the beach. I sent Sergeant Lane a curt wave and he nodded once, both of us aware that we would probably never see each other again. Sergeant Horvath lead us to a jeep with a small trailer hooked up to the back, several of the Rangers from the movie already loaded in. ¡°I¡¯m Captain Miller,¡± The Captain said, and he was the only one not yet in the vehicle. ¡°Good to see you made it, Quinn. I never got to thank you for getting Lieutenant Briggs off the beach. They probably would have folded away my Company if he hadn¡¯t made it. So, thanks for that.¡± He smiled, holding out his hand. ¡°Of course, Sir,¡± I replied, shaking his hand. I noticed even then that his hand was trembling, just a little bit. ¡°I¡¯m glad to work with you and your guys again, Captain. I probably wouldn¡¯t have made it through the first day if it wasn¡¯t for Reiben, actually. Michaels and I,¡± I continued, motioning towards Zach, were separated from everyone else from the moment we got off the boats. And he brought us up to you.¡± Reiben just grinned and gave a half-cocked salute from his place on the jeep. Caparzo tapped him on the chest and said something quietly, though he was a bit too far for me to make it out. ¡°I see. No wonder you were so eager to volunteer. Well, everyone load up. We¡¯ll have time for the rest of the introductions on the road. You¡¯re Norton, right?¡± Captain Miller raised his head, to look into the seven foot tall corporal¡¯s eyes. ¡°You¡¯re in the back seat. Horvath, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes, Sir,¡± Keith intonated. He climbed in next to medic Wade, as the rest of us loaded into the trailer. Sergeant Horvath took the wheel and got us going, after we quickly settled in. Just as we had predicted, Corporal Upham was absent, while the Rangers consisted of Privates Reiben, Caparzo, Jackson, and Mellish, along with Captain Miller, Sergeant Horvath and T-4 Wade. While the rest of us had been under the impression that the characters in the movie walked from the beach to and beyond Neuville, Keith had revealed during our discussion the previous day that they had in fact started out with a jeep. The scene in which they lose the vehicle was ultimately cut out of the film, but there was still a brief flash of them moving out in the jeep in the movie. According to Keith, anyway. He couldn¡¯t find the deleted scene anywhere, and his investigation into how they lost it was inconclusive. He had told us to stay on the lookout on the way to Neuville, though. ¡°What¡¯ve y¡¯all been up to out here?¡± Jackson, the sniper, asked us, as we finally left the beach. ¡°After the first day, I mean.¡± ¡°Our platoon was just about wiped out on D-Day,¡± I started, my expression grim. ¡°We got folded into a squad from our 1st Platoon and did a patrol the day after. Took out a few Germans holed up in a bunker. We¡­ We had some losses there too. Some of the old guard from our new unit. After that it was just guard duty. Our first night out, though, we ran into a Resistance Captain, ran a quick rescue mission for his men and a handful of civilians.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯re out here, right?¡± Mellish asked, joining in. ¡°Command remembered that you spoke French?¡± ¡°Right,¡± I replied, nodding. ¡°It must be.¡± I smiled weakly. ¡°I can¡¯t imagine they would have sent that Upham guy,¡± I said, laughing internally. Mellish asked who that was, so I elaborated a bit. ¡°He¡¯s one of Anderson¡¯s translators. He makes maps too, I think. He took over for me when I gassed out; we¡¯d been out fighting all night and talking all morning. He was real jumpy, afraid of his own shadow, that kind of guy.¡± ¡°Huh. Glad we got you guys instead of him. Sounds like he¡¯d get himself killed on a mission like this,¡± Mellish laughed, Jackson and Reiben agreeing. I laughed too, but for a somewhat more morbid reason; Upham was one of the only men to actually survive to the end of the movie. We¡¯d already agreed we absolutely wouldn¡¯t let the whole gang die, this time. ¡°What about you guys?¡± Zach asked, next. ¡°Scouting ahead and pushing up the front lines?¡± ¡°Something like that,¡± Reiben replied, as we went over a small bump in the road. The whole ride had been like that, actually. ¡°These roads suck,¡± Miles complained, sighing. He¡¯d been quiet until then, just gazing into the distance. Thinking about home, probably. We continued our casual conversation for the next hour or so, and I was beginning to think we¡¯d been worrying for nothing. Maybe whatever took out their jeep in the movie had changed? Maybe we left earlier, or later, and whoever it was hadn¡¯t arrived yet or had moved on already. Hell, I even considered that Captain Auclair¡¯s presence could have bolstered communications and cooperation with the Resistance, somehow. The butterfly effect is entirely unpredictable, really. Unfortunately, we hadn¡¯t changed anything about that road. ¡°Fuck!¡± Sergeant Horvath and Keith cried out at the same time, as an artillery shell blasted apart the road a few dozen feet in front of us. ¡°Get us off the road!¡± Miller ordered, Horvath veering the jeep off to the left. ¡°Go around that impact crater!¡± Before Horvath could even respond, another shell landed, this one much closer to us. The blast pelted the vehicle with rocks, some of them tearing into it, while dirt rained onto us. ¡°Everyone get out! Get out now!¡± Miller yelled, as the jeep slowed down. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± I shouted, then grabbed my bags and then a couple more, before I dove off of the still-moving vehicle. I hit the ground hard on my left arm, rolling along for a few dozen feet, losing one of the extra bags I was holding against my chest, along with my helmet. I finally lost momentum and skidded to a stop in the grass, my whole body sore. I lay face down in the grass for a few seconds, before I tried to struggle to my feet. My efforts were in vain, however, as another soldier skidded into me before I was on my feet, splaying both of us out on the ground again. I was on my back this time and I could see the jeep in the distance, now empty and veering way off the road. The vehicle, which had lost most of its velocity by that point, then took a direct hit from the third artillery blast. Or fourth, actually, as Reiben told me later; I hadn¡¯t even noticed the third explosion while I was rolling across the field. The jeep blew up, then blew up again as most of our stockpile of grenades and ammo went off. The vehicle¡¯s frame careened down the road, bullets spraying wildly from it for several seconds. I finally managed to get up then, clutching at my left side; I¡¯d never broken any ribs before that day, but I was sure that was what it felt like. I staggered over to check on whoever it was that had crashed into me. I had slung both of my bags over my back, while I dug through the extra one searching for bandages or whatever medical supplies it might have held. The sheer size of the man on the ground gave away his identity right away; it was Keith Norton, the only seven foot tall soldier in our squad. ¡°Hey, Keith, you alright?¡± I asked with a half-chuckle as I approached him. He was face down on the ground, and he didn¡¯t get up even after I shook his shoulder a bit. ¡°Keith? Wake up, dude.¡± I got nervous then; could someone so absurdly strong really get knocked out cold just from jumping out of a car? Even I got through the jump mostly intact, and we were out in the countryside; it¡¯s not like we were bouncing down a highway. I tilted my head and tried to roll him over. It took a bit of work, but eventually I did get him on his back. I stared blankly at his face for a few seconds, before the horror set in. I was fucking terrified by the sight. ¡°Wha¡­ No fucking way¡­¡± I mumbled, blinking rapidly. I fell backwards, my hands falling the ground behind me, grasping at the grass and digging into the soil below. Keith Norton¡¯s neck had been snapped. He was dead. Absolutely, irrevocably dead. Whether it happened when he hit the ground or as he careened along the road I will never know, but his head was twisted at an impossible angle all the same. But that wasn¡¯t even the worst part. Apparently Keith had skidded across the ground a lot longer than I had; the entire right side of his face had been rubbed raw, down to the bone in some places. The right eye was just gone, the rest of his face a broken, bloody mess. I just stared at him in shock, unable to truly process anything. How could Keith Fucking Norton go out like that? ¡°Hey Lee! Keith! You guys alright?!¡± I heard Zach call out, as he approached us, Cora and Miles not far behind. The latter walked with a bit of a limp, but they all seemed okay. ¡°You guys are¡­ Oh¡­ Holy shit!¡± Zach and Cora just stared wide-eyed, while Miles turned around and fell to his knees before vomiting into the grass. I shakily got to my knees and reached into Keith¡¯s shirt. I yanked off his dog tag, tucking it into my inner chest pocket. Cora helped me clear out his pockets after that, the younger guys just staring in shock as our very own super soldier lay dead. Keith hadn¡¯t been lying when he said the guns and potions were all he had; he really didn¡¯t have much else. Just a few coins, a set of keys, a police badge, and a photograph. In the picture was a man who looked both older and smaller, but was still decidedly Keith Norton, in a police officer¡¯s uniform, with his arms wrapped around a pretty blonde woman. Mrs. Norton, we assumed. I sighed and added all of it into Keith¡¯s pack. I wasn¡¯t willing to leave coins minted in the twenty-first century and a color photograph on a World War II battleground, even if it wasn¡¯t our own world¡¯s history. Cora¡¯s grim expression was probably mirrored on my face as we looted our corporal, unwilling to waste any of his precious gear. Cora equipped his infinite ammo Colt M1911A1, quickly attaching the holster to her belt. That left each of the four of us with one of the pistols, Zach having received Davey¡¯s at some point during the previous day. I took his BAR, handing my own rifle off to Zach to carry for the time being. He took it, staring blankly at Keith¡¯s body. With the BAR slung over my shoulder, I rifled through Keith¡¯s pack, mostly just finding preserved food and a few extra knives. The items I was really looking for were, of course, the two health potions that he had claimed to still have. I found two bundles, individually wrapped in about three layers of cloth each, way at the bottom of his pack. I unwrapped them and confirmed that he had two of the red elixirs remaining. I opened one of them up and took a swig, making sure to keep it under one dose. The bottle had four lines on the side, evidently measuring the doses. ¡°Anyone need some of this?¡± I asked, as my ribs, nose and left wrist began to heat up. I hadn¡¯t even noticed the damage to my nose or wrist. The others nodded gratefully, so I passed the thing around. Miles finished it off after the others had their doses, citing a twisted ankle and several broken fingers. The empty bottle was then returned to me so I wrapped it back up and packed it into my bag, then repackaged the full bottle and handed it over to Cora. She placed the bundle in a first aid kit, then slung Keith¡¯s bag over her back. We all stood up then, looking at each other¡¯s faces, grim determination settling in. Well, Miles looked more scared out of his mind, but the rest of us were determined, and grim. With no time to bury our departed leader, we finally lay his own blanket over him, leaving him there in the field as we headed off in search of Maxley and the Rangers. Chapter 9 We had trekked through the field on our side of the road for about three minutes, before we found the first sign of our allies. We ran into Maxley, Mellish, and Caparzo first. The three were walking around just like us, looking a little weary but still fully intact. Maxley perked up when he saw us and waved, heading right for us. ¡°Quinn! You guys okay?¡± He called out, jogging over with a bit of a limp. ¡°Where¡¯s Corporal Norton? And have you guys seen the Captain?¡± ¡°Norton¡¯s dead,¡± I muttered, clenching my fists. ¡°You¡¯re the first ones we¡¯ve run into.¡± ¡°Son of a bitch,¡± Mellish swore, while Maxley gaped in shock. ¡°Christ,¡± Caparzo added. ¡°The big guy went down out here? What the fuck happened?¡± ¡°Broken neck. I think he just had a bad landing,¡± I grimaced. ¡°Let¡¯s just find the captain, yeah? Any idea where the others are?¡± ¡°Maxley thinks he saw somebody run into that thicket of trees- that one, over there,¡± Mellish said, pointing out a thicket on the other side of the road. ¡°That¡¯s all we got.¡± ¡°More than we had. Let¡¯s check it out?¡± I suggested. The others agreed, so we headed back to the road. As soon as we reached the road, though, the strike started back up again. The first blast of the second wave went off maybe thirty feet west of us, blowing apart another section of the road. ¡°Shit! Scatter, don¡¯t give them any easy targets!¡± I shouted, as dirt and grass rained down on us. ¡°Run, just fucking run!¡± Mellish shouted in agreement, as we spread out and charged towards the road. Zach quickly took the lead, the teen by far the fastest runner among us. As he crossed the road, the next blast went off several feet behind him, knocking him forward and off his feet. Fortunately, I saw him jump to his feet even as the smoke and debris cleared the air, dashing straight towards the trees. We were close behind, and only two more artillery shots were fired, neither one in range to threaten any of us. ¡°Flash!¡± We heard someone call out, as we neared the thicket. ¡°Thunder!¡± Caparzo and Zach called back at the same time, relieved. Reiben and Jackson showed themselves, coming out from behind a tree. ¡°Everyone¡¯s here but Norton,¡± Reiben called out behind him, after a quick headcount. ¡°Norton¡¯s dead. Everyone¡¯s here,¡± Mellish corrected him. ¡°Fuck¡­ Captain, you hear that?¡± Reiben asked, looking back again. ¡°I heard him,¡± Captain Miller stated, as he, Sergeant Horvath, and Wade came out of the thicket. ¡°Quinn, you¡¯re in charge of your team for now. Consider it a battlefield promotion,¡± he finished, gravely. ¡°Situation report?¡± ¡°Yes, Sir,¡± I replied. ¡°We all landed on the other side of the road, and they fired on us as soon as we got close to it, Sir.¡± ¡°Alright. We¡¯re staying off the road. Let¡¯s move out,¡± Miller ordered, and we all fell in. ¡°Are we clearing out the artillery positions, Captain?¡± Miles asked, nervously. ¡°No,¡± Captain Miller denied, shaking his head. ¡°We don¡¯t even know their exact location or how well-defended they are. The Air Force will find them soon enough. We need to get to Neuville; we have our own damn mission.¡± No one argued, most of us glad to avoid whatever conflict we could. Captain Miller held out a map of Normandy and had Horvath hold his compass, trying to figure out where exactly we were. After they finished charting our course to Neuville we continued our advance, now on foot. For a while we stayed parallel to the road but over one hundred feet away from it. The artillery didn¡¯t open up on us again, so we figured we were relatively safe for the time being. We marched on for hours, the mood of the group rather subdued after our first and unexpected loss. We hardly spoke a word, only occasionally stopping so the captain could check the map. Eventually we abandoned the road altogether, as the sun began to set. ¡°We ain¡¯t marching through the night are we, Captain?¡± Jackson asked, scanning the horizons. ¡°No. No we are not,¡± Miller replied, assuaging our concerns. Cora and I seemed okay, but the trek had taken a lot out of Miles and Zach. ¡°We¡¯ve got another hour and a half, maybe two, before we can stop. We¡¯ll hunker down for the night and we should be in Neuville tomorrow afternoon." We all agreed, grateful we would eventually be getting some respite. That felt like it was the first good news we¡¯d had all day, and it managed to break us out of our silent stupor. ¡°Hey Captain,¡± Reiben started, "I¡¯ve been thinking about this mission-¡± ¡°Hope that didn¡¯t hurt too bad, Rich,¡± Caparzo quipped. Even Reiben laughed a bit at that. ¡°As I was saying, Captain, does command know how to count? Where¡¯s the sense in sending a dozen guys just to find one man?¡± Reiben asked, frustrated. ¡°I mean we¡¯ve already lost one of our guys, and we just fucking started today.¡± ¡°Reiben, think about the poor bastard¡¯s mother,¡± Wade said. ¡°Doc, I¡¯ve got a mother. You¡¯ve got a mother, Quinn¡¯s got a mother. I mean, shit, I bet even the captain¡¯s got a mother!¡± Captain Miller denied that claim with a wave of his hand, so Reiben backtracked a bit. ¡°Well, maybe not the captain, but the rest of us got mothers.¡± I actually recognised most of this conversation from the movie; I was surprised it still came up at all. The original discussion must not have been triggered by Upham¡¯s presence, as his absence and our presence were by far the largest changes to the story we had implemented. Jackson followed it up with a little speech about the mission being a waste of his God-given talent, and he bragged that if he was within a mile of Adolf Hitler, he could end the war singlehandedly. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°Sure thing, bumpkin,¡± Reiben said, rolling his eyes, as Jackson finished. ¡°Hey Quinn, where are you guys from anyway?¡± ¡°Arizona. Most of us are from Phoenix, actually. You?¡± ¡°Brooklyn. Mellish and Caparzo are from New York too,¡± Reiben answered, as he lit up a cigar. Some of the others had been smoking throughout the journey, as well. Miles tried one out, but the rest of us Players had decided not to partake. ¡°Uh huh. And where¡¯s the captain from?¡± I asked, to test whether or not I could trigger another scene that I remembered. ¡°Ain¡¯t that the 300 dollar question,¡± Mellish laughed, several others joining in. ¡°Company¡¯s got a pool, five bucks gets you in.¡± ¡°I guess we don¡¯t know what he used to do either? Before the war?¡± I asked, knowing the answer. ¡°Not a clue,¡± Sergeant Horvath interjected. ¡°I¡¯ve been with him over a year and I don¡¯t know shit.¡± ¡°Damn. He¡¯s been keeping it a secret?¡± Miles asked, taking an awkward puff on his cigarette. ¡°I think he likes the mystery,¡± Mellish added, smirking. ¡°Too bad for him, I pay attention to detail,¡± Caparzo started. ¡°I know exactly what he did and exactly where he¡¯s from, because I pay attention to detail.¡± He bragged, walking along with a swagger, that ¡®I know something that you don¡¯t¡¯ smirk splayed across his face. ¡°Hey Porter, careful you don¡¯t step in the bullshit,¡± Jackson said next. Caparzo was quiet after that, going back to a regular pace. Miles just laughed and nodded, continuing onward with slightly rekindled enthusiasm. Nothing else of note really happened before we broke for camp about an hour later. We didn¡¯t have any real camping gear, just a bunch of blankets, but the grass was fine. No worse than sleeping out on the beach like we had the previous few days, I thought. We broke into five teams of two, each team on watch for an hour and a half while the others slept. Captain Miller decided the medics wouldn¡¯t have to stand watch, and he paired himself up with Maxley. I ended up paired with Sergeant Horvath. I assumed they wanted us, the interpreters, to be as safe as possible, but they never told us the reasoning behind the pairings. Zach and Reiben had the first watch, so I hunkered down on my blanket, Miles and I on either side of Cora in hopes that we could keep her sex a secret throughout the mission. She¡¯d conversed occasionally throughout the day, though she never initiated any conversations herself. I didn¡¯t think anyone was suspicious of her yet, so I stopped worrying about it and went to sleep. --- ¡°Surprise!¡± A young woman with short, straight brown hair and green eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses, shouted excitedly, as I opened the front door of my small apartment early in the morning. She suffered(?) from a condition I like to call ¡°resting smirk face¡±; even her neutral expressions seemed cocky. The incessant ringing of the doorbell had jolted me awake, so I¡¯d had to hurry to the door, scrambling to get dressed. ¡°What? What are you doing here, Lucy?¡± I asked, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes and adjusting my glasses. ¡°Did you have to come so early? I was asleep¡­¡± ¡°Early?! It¡¯s already six thirty! I have class in like half an hour!¡± She shouted again, tsk¡¯ing me and wagging her finger, a hand on her hip. ¡°Right,¡± I muttered; Lucy always was a morning person. It had been months since I¡¯d woken up before eight, and it was rather disappointing for my streak to be broken, especially in such a manner. ¡°That still doesn¡¯t explain why you¡¯re here¡­¡± ¡°Well, you see, Mom¡¯s car broke down this morning and Dad already left for work, so¡­¡± ¡°So you thought you¡¯d come beg your brother for a ride to school?¡± I asked, with a deadpan expression. ¡°Yes,¡± my younger sister declared, completely unashamed. ¡°Please, oh great and forgiving brother, won¡¯t you drive this poor lost soul to school today?¡± She made puppy dog eyes and faked a few whimpers. ¡°Fine. How¡¯d you get here, anyway?¡± I wasn¡¯t falling for it, having seen her pull the trick hundreds of times, but I¡¯d promised my parents that I¡¯d help her out if she needed it. ¡°I rode my bike, of course! It¡¯s only a couple of miles,¡± she laughed, grinning. ¡°Why¡¯d you have to go to that damn private school in Phoenix?¡± I asked, sighing. ¡°There are plenty of good high schools around here,¡± I grumbled, even as I grabbed my car keys. I cringed at her smirk, and stepped outside, locking the door behind me. ¡°I¡¯m already awake anyway, let¡¯s just get this over with,¡± I finished, defeated. ¡°Thanks, Lee~¡± Lucy said, as we went down the staircase to find my car. ¡°I love you~¡± ¡°I love you too, kid,¡± I replied, returning her smirk. Lucy rolled her eyes at that, and quickly reminded me that she was seventeen- ¡°practically an adult,¡± according to her. We got in my beat-up car then, and I got us moving. ¡°Lee, what have you been up to lately? We¡¯ve missed you back home,¡± Lucy asked, as we pulled out , sounding serious for once. Then she gasped. ¡°You didn¡¯t find a girlfriend, did you?!¡± Her serious attitude was, like usual, short-lived. ¡°No, nothing like that. We¡¯ve been swamped at work- a few of our guys just quit. And, you know, school is a thing, too,¡± I added, snickering. ¡°Don¡¯t I know it,¡± my sister sighed in agreement. We kept talking for the rest of the twenty minute drive, mostly just discussing our schoolwork. Apparently, Lucy had a big test in her first period class that day, so she hurried away almost as soon as we got there. She did stop to say, ¡°Thanks Lee! You¡¯ll be back at three to pick me up, right?!¡± I agreed, bitterly, to meet her in the same lot after school. She was lucky I didn¡¯t have class on Fridays, and I didn¡¯t have work until four. ¡°Oh yeah, your shirt is inside out!¡± She called out, then grinned and made a peace sign, before she ran off. ¡°Tell me that earlier, you idiot!¡± I called out, but I doubt she could hear me at that point. I checked to be sure and, of course, she was right. I sighed and pulled out of the school¡¯s parking lot, getting started on the lonely ride back home. I planned to go back to sleep until noon, so I set an alarm on my phone at the first light. I winced when I saw Lucy¡¯s bike haphazardly parked near my staircase, then sighed and carried it up to my apartment. I threw off the backwards shirt and fell back into my bed, quickly falling asleep. But the next time I woke up I was in a boat and I shouted, ¡°What the hell is this?!¡± --- ¡°Hey, Lee, get up,¡± Miles said, coughing, as he shook me awake. ¡°You¡¯re on watch ne- are you crying?¡± ¡°What?¡± I asked groggily, and sat up. I raised my hand, and brushed away the tears that ran down my face. ¡°You alright, Lee? Bad dream?¡± Miles asked, concerned. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m alright. Good dream, actually. It was my last day, before I got sent here. I drove my sister to school,¡± I said, smiling lightly. ¡°Huh. I didn¡¯t know you had a sister,¡± Miles stated, scratching his head. ¡°Well anyway, you and Sergeant Horvath are on watch. Jackson¡¯s getting Horvath now. Everything¡¯s been quiet so far, so you guys should be fine. Just wake up Maxley for the last watch when you¡¯re done; Horvath will get the captain. Goodnight,¡± he yawned, laying down back in his spot. Jackson took his place on the ground and fell asleep within seconds. I watched him in amazement for a few seconds, until the sergeant approached. ¡°You up, Quinn?¡± Horvath asked, while I did a few stretches. ¡°Sure am, Sarge. Porter said it¡¯s been pretty uneventful tonight,¡± I told him, while I picked up my new rifle. I was really missing my helmet right about then, feeling awkward and exposed without it. ¡°Yeah well, let¡¯s hope it stays that way,¡± Horvath said. I agreed heartily, and we quietly stood watch, pacing about our impromptu campsite. Our block of the watch was mostly uneventful; one sheep meandered by us as the sun came up, but that was it. No artillery shells, no nazis, no tanks. It was wonderful. Though the time seemed to pass far too slowly, eventually our watch did come to an end, and I went to wake up Maxley. The redhead had drooled a bit in his sleep, which I found to be much funnier than it reasonably should have been. ¡°Hey Maxley,¡± I started, shaking him by the shoulder. ¡°Get up. It¡¯s your turn to stand guard.¡± He sat up and yawned, looking around blankly. His eyes lit up in recognition, though, when he saw me. ¡°Heya, Quinn¡­¡± Maxley mumbled, yawning again. ¡°¡®I¡¯m getting up,¡± he continued, while he took to his feet. I just patted his shoulder, then Captain Miller came by, took Maxley with him and they stood guard. I nodded to the captain gratefully, then went back to sleep, just for another hour or so. My sleep was dreamless and uninterrupted this time. Captain Miller woke us all up about an hour later, and we had a quick meal before moving out. Over the next few hours of travel, Maxley and I mostly just conversed with Reiben, Mellish and Caparzo, while Miles seemed to fall in with Jackson and Wade. Zach just stuck with Cora at the back of the group, where she could speak without masking her voice. ¡°We¡¯re getting close,¡± Captain Miller announced. It started to rain then, so we hustled up, eventually breaking into a run as the town of Neuville came into view on the horizon. Even as we approached we could faintly hear the din of battle. ¡°Prepare to engage,¡± Miller stated, icily. ¡°We¡¯re going in.¡± Chapter 10 We ran out of a thicket of trees, taking cover near a wall that had recently had a large hole blasted through it. The rain poured down on us, muddying the ground and making miss my helmet all the more. The wall wasn¡¯t very high, so we had to crouch behind it for full cover. Gunfire was still constant, the town long since turned into a bloody battlefield. We could barely hear people yelling, some in English and some in French. There was also someone yelling on a loudspeaker, in English but with a German accent so heavy I couldn¡¯t understand much of what he said. Maybe thirty feet ahead on the other side of the wall, we could just make out a group of soldiers, taking cover behind another short wall and a few broken carts. We were in the right place after all! Zach tried to go past our wall, but Sergeant Horvath held him back. ¡°Flash!¡± Captain Miller shouted, as a family of French civilians ran by. ¡°Thunder!¡± One of the men called back. Horvath released Zach at that point, and Miller lead the way forward. We ran from our wall to the side of a house, pausing for a few seconds, before we ran up to them. They turned out to be a squad of Airborne troops; a sergeant, a radioman and a handful of privates hiding out behind a broken carriage, while a few other privates exchanged fire with the Germans at the next wall several feet past them. ¡°You guys are a sight for sore eyes,¡± one of the privates said, then another told the sergeant that their relief had shown up. ¡°How many are you?¡± He asked Captain Miller, when he squatted down next to the sergeant. ¡°Twelve. We¡¯re not your relief,¡± Miller stated. ¡°We¡¯re here for a Private Ryan,¡± he finished, as the sergeant sighed in consternation. ¡°Who? Ryan? What for?¡± He asked, confused. ¡°Is he here?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe with the mixed unit on the other side of town. It¡¯s hard to get to, the Germans punched a hole in our center, cut us right in two. What¡¯s his name again?¡± ¡°Ryan. James Ryan. He dropped in with the 101st.¡± Sergeant Hill, he said he was called, had one of his guys call for a runner. Hill, Miller, Horvath, the runner, and a few of our other guys moved up to the next wall, while the rest of us found cover behind whatever debris we could. I couldn¡¯t really hear them from the ruined apple cart I crouched behind, with Mellish and Caparzo. The cart¡¯s load had been scattered across the ground, and Caparzo started picking through them. He offered a good-looking one to me, but I waved him off, my stomach too twisted up by my nervousness and the fear of combat. I wasn¡¯t able to even consider eating in the middle of a warzone. While we seemed relatively safe for the moment, we could still hear the fighting in the western portions of the town, so I kept my guard up, scanning the area beyond Miller¡¯s wall. I didn¡¯t see much of anything, just the rubble from ruined buildings, some sandbags, a few corpses and a whole lot of bullet holes. ¡°The Statue of Liberty is kaputt!¡± The voice on the loudspeaker yelled slowly, so I was able to understand the voice somewhat clearly for the first time. The message was repeated, before whoever was on the other end went back to rambling quasi-English nonsense. ¡°You hear that, Caparzo?¡± I asked, chuckling. ¡°The Statue of Liberty is kaputt!¡± ¡°That is bad news,¡± he laughed back, before biting into another apple. ¡°Your father got circumcised by my rabbi, you prick!¡± Mellish shouted back at the voice on the loudspeaker, leaving Caparzo and I in hysterics. Not long after that, though, the runner was ready to head across the battlefield, to send a message to the officer on the other side of town. Captain Hamill, I thought someone had said. The runner took a few deep breaths and bolted, racing through the town as quickly as he could. ¡°Fuck!¡± I yelled, after a German machine gun opened up on him, quickly dropping the runner into the dirt. We dove to the ground, the apple cart no longer feeling like adequate cover. The shots came from the east and we felt exposed behind the little wooden cart. As soon as their firing ceased, we rushed over to Miller¡¯s wall, where it should have been safer. Miles and Reiben were already there, the former watching the runner through a hole in the wall. I joined him, checking on the soldier, surprised to see him struggling to get to his feet. I¡¯d considered him dead as soon as the first shots went off. Maybe he¡¯d get out alive, I thought optimistically, as he got one knee up. I swore and ducked fully behind the wall when they started up another round of fire, focused around the runner once again. I had watched long enough to see another round pierce through him, though I wasn¡¯t sure exactly where. He collapsed from that, his only further movements being spasms as more shots hit him. ¡°Why do they keep shooting him?!¡± Miles yelled, barely audible of the sound of the gunfire. ¡°He¡¯s already dead you fuckers!¡± He added, as I pulled him down behind the wall. Miles beat his fist against the wall once, as he slid down the wall with his head in his hands, then Miller gave him his answer. ¡°As long as there¡¯s breath in his lungs he can carry the message. We¡¯d do the same thing!¡± ¡°No we wouldn¡¯t!¡± Caparzo shot back, as pissed off as the rest of us. Hill tried to contact Captain Hamill once again, via his radioman near the wall. I grabbed Miles and Caparzo and backed us up, to give them some space and so we could find Sergeant Horvath. Miller and Hill stayed with the radioman, Hill giving Miller the overlay of the nearby parts of Neuville. Trying to find a safe(ish) route to Captain Hamill, I assumed. ¡°Quinn, Porter, Caparzo, Mellish,¡± Captain Miller started, his meeting with Sergeant Hill apparently complete. ¡°We¡¯re heading down that street,¡± he continued, pointing towards one of the many ruined residential streets in the area. It leads to an open square. The Germans are still jamming our radios, so we¡¯ll have to find Captain Hamill ourselves. You and two of Hill¡¯s guys will be leading the way,¡± Miller finished, motioning for us to get ready. He gave out a few more orders as two Airborne troops, Hastings and Goldman, they were called, joined us. We ran down the street, taking cover behind every building, wall, or chunk of debris we could along the way. The street had two story houses on either side of it, many of which were partially collapsed. We checked the windows of the houses on the way, our rifles at the ready. Miles stuck right behind me, practically shaking in his boots, while the other four were much more composed. Several shots rang out from across the street, three Germans that had been holed up inside a house popping up. One of the paratroopers, Hastings I think it was, took a couple of shots to the side, collapsing to the ground. He tried to crawl to a nearby wall, as the rest of us took cover. Goldman reached out for Hastings, trying to grab hold of his squadmate¡¯s outstretched hand. Another shot blew off one of Goldman¡¯s fingers, but the guy grabbed Hastings anyway, grunting in pain as he pulled the heavily wounded paratrooper behind the wall. He tried to wrap up his hand while applying pressure to Hastings¡¯ gunshot wounds at the same time. Deciding enough was enough, I popped up from behind a chunk of rubble I¡¯d lain behind and opened fire with my BAR. That was actually the first time I¡¯d fired it, and the thing had a lot more kick than I¡¯d expected, throwing off my aim. I essentially fired from the hip with the automatic rifle, spraying lead into the Nazi soldiers and their hideout. We were too far away, and my rifle was far too loud, too hear the thumps of their bodies hitting the floor, but I was sure they were dead. Caparzo and Mellish carefully approached the house, then shoved their guns¡¯ barrels through the now-glassless window. ¡°You got ¡®em,¡± Mellish stated nodding at me. We converged around Hastings and Goldman after the coast was clear, not sure what we could do. ¡°Just clear the rest of the way!¡± Goldman shouted, pointing down the street with his good hand. ¡°I¡¯ll stay with him ¡®till the medics get here. Go!¡± We agreed, continuing towards the end of the street. We moved more cautiously but found no further resistance, coming out to a more open area. We took cover just at the end of the street, until the rest of our squad and a dozen Airborne troops made it to us. Both Wade and Cora trailed them at the back, Private Goldman following behind somberly, a cloth over his missing finger. Cora just shook her head when I gave her an inquisitive glance. Damn. ¡°Those are the gates,¡± Sergeant Hill told the Captain, all of us slowly turning onto the new street. We met with no resistance on our way to the gate, quickly heading to the wall on one side of said gate. The paratroopers stayed back, content to let the Rangers handle things for a bit after losing one of their own. We heard movement on the other side, and Miller told Horvath to initiate the check. ¡°Flash!¡± Horvath shouted, receiving no immediate reply. ¡°Flash or we will fire on you!¡± ¡°Ne tirez pas! On est fran?ais!¡± They shouted. ¡°Don¡¯t shoot, we¡¯re French, he said,¡± I told the Captain. Miller and I crept over to the edge of the wall, peering past the gate. We saw a French man, standing on the second floor of a house with a hand raised. An entire wall of the house had collapsed, leaving them painfully exposed in what looked to be their dining room. ¡°Alright, tell him- Tell them to show themselves,¡± Captain Miller ordered. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Montrez-vous!¡± I shouted back at the Frenchman, who promptly stepped a bit further into the light. That revealed that he¡¯d been holding onto his wife¡¯s hand, who was in turn holding onto a baby. Another little boy and a little girl hid behind their mother, poking their heads out to watch us. The man shouted something again. ¡°He said they¡¯re not armed,¡± I clarified to the captain, just in case. ¡°I got that part,¡± Miller said. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go!¡± He had me hurry out, my rifle at the ready, then the rest of my teammates and the Rangers poured out, along with a handful of the paratroopers. We settled down against the rubble of their ruined wall, and Captain Miller turned to me again. ¡°Ask them if they know where the Germans are.¡± ¡°O¨´ sont les Allemands?¡± I shouted up to him, as he walked a bit closer to the edge. His wife followed nervously, as she took her daughter by the hand. ¡°Ils sont partout! Il faut vous emmener les enfants!¡± He shouted desperately, releasing his wife¡¯s hand and turning around. ¡°What¡¯s he saying?¡± Miller asked me, impatiently, as the Frenchman picked up his daughter. ¡°He said the Germans are everywhere, Captain,¡± I started, sighing. ¡°And, uh, they want us to take the children,¡± I added, predicting his response. ¡°What?! We can¡¯t take the kids! Tell him that!¡± As expected. I tried to tell him, but the man insisted, despite my denials. That didn¡¯t go on for long, before Caparzo stepped up, hiking up the hill of rubble. He reached up to take the girl, the father leaving him in her arms and firing off another couple of statements to me. ¡°He thinks they¡¯ll be safer with us, sir,¡± I said weakly, knowing he wouldn¡¯t care about that. ¡°It¡¯s not gonna be safe with us!¡± He fired back back, and I tried to relay the message, but the Frenchman and Caparzo were having none of it. He held onto the girl, leaving his helmet in the house. ¡°Are you nuts?!¡± Sergeant Horvath shouted at Caparzo, as he took full hold of the kid. He took off a rosary he¡¯d worn under his uniform, handing it to the little girl. ¡°Listen to the captain!¡± Horvath continued, Caparzo ignoring him. ¡°It¡¯s not gonna be safe anywhere!¡± Miller shouted, as the kid clutched the rosary and began to cry for her papa. ¡°Caparzo! Put that kid back!¡± He continued with variations of the same, but Caparzo didn¡¯t care. ¡°I can¡¯t! She reminds me of my niece, sir. The decent thing to do is to at least take her up the road to the next town,¡± Caparzo argued, unconvincingly. ¡°We¡¯re not here to do the decent thing!¡± Miller shouted, wrenching the girl out of Caparzo¡¯s hands. ¡°We¡¯re here to follow fuckin¡¯ orders!¡± The captained stomped off, telling Sergeant Horvath to take the kid and marching towards him. Caparzo stood at a bit of a loss, pointing up at the Frenchman and looking like he was about to say something. However, before he could begin his counterargument, he stumbled and a shot rang out! Caparzo fell against the shell of a broken piano, then tried to run for cover but fell into the street. ¡°Cover!¡± Someone shouted, the captain following it up with the same. I took cover behind a broken down automobile near the captain, trying to comfort the little kid, whispering that she would be okay. Internally, though, I was berating myself and I felt like an idiot. This was part a scene in the movie! We¡¯d gone over it with Keith just a few days ago, but I¡¯d been too caught up in my part as the translator to even think about it. I looked guiltily on towards my buddy as he lay on his back several feet away, struggling to move. ¡°He was on the ground ¡®fore we heard the shot!¡± Jackson declared, poking his head up over his cover. ¡°That¡¯s where I¡¯d be,¡± he then muttered, looking towards a bell tower a few hundred yards away. He readied his rifle and set the magnification of his scope, then said, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t venture too far out there fellas. This sniper¡¯s got talent.¡± Everyone of us, including the captain, took his word for it, as our sniper snuck over to a better position. ¡°Captain!¡± Caparzo coughed, trembling on the ground, blood flowing from his chest and out his sleeve. The rain poured down on him as it had been the whole time we¡¯d been in Neuville. ¡°Help me up! I can w- I can walk!¡± ¡°Caparzo! Stay still!¡± Wade called out, from his position hiding out with the paratroopers. ¡°Fish!¡± Caparzo cried out while looking desperately towards Mellish, who was sprawled out behind a large pile of rubble not far from Caparzo. I wanted nothing more than to rescue Caparzo, but there was just nothing we could do. We were all pinned down, and we had to just leave him there until Jackson could take down the German sniper. He could just casually pick us off, one by one, if we showed ourselves. I could do no more than just hold the little girl tight, trying to keep her calm and letting her know she was safe, while her father yelled the same. ¡°Captain! Can you see him from there, how is he?!¡± Wade shouted again. Miller told him to stay put, but the dutiful medic refused, crawling closer to our wounded comrade. ¡°Where¡¯s he shot, Captain?! Captain?! Can you see him?!¡± Wade tried to stand up and jump out then, but Sergeant Hill pulled him back. ¡°Quinn! I can walk! Come here, help me up!¡± Caparzo begged me, his head tilted towards me as he took in frantic breaths. ¡°Stay still like Wade told you, Caparzo! You¡¯ll be fine!¡± I lied, as my own eyes started to tear up. ¡°I think I can get him!¡± I heard Zach, of all people, shout, from behind a different broken car, Reiben and Maxley crouching beside him. ¡°Stay here you idiot!¡± Reiben shouted, Zach taking several quick breaths. ¡°I can- I can get him. I¡¯m fast! I¡¯ll get him out of there!¡± The teen got in a sprinter¡¯s pose behind the car, and tried to shoot off! He¡¯d barely gotten started when Reiben grabbed him from behind by the collar, pulling him backwards. Another shot rang out, and Zach shrieked in pain. I could just barely see him from my position, and it looked like he had fallen into Reiben, knocking them both to the ground after being shot. He was shaking and held his left hand over his right cheek, the right hand digging into the dirt beneath him. His eyes were clenched shut and I could see blood leaking past his fingertips. Zach continued to groan in pain but, all things considered, he wasn¡¯t hit too bad. Nothing a shot of health potion couldn¡¯t fix, anyway. ¡°Is Michaels alright?!¡± Captain Miller shouted, as the teenager continued to tremble, gritting his teeth. ¡°He¡¯s not hit too bad! Just grazed his cheek! I¡¯m fine too, Captain,¡± Reiben muttered at the end, holding a cloth over the gash on Zach¡¯s face. ¡°Fish! Come over here!¡± Caparzo shouted out in desperation once again, the blood pooling on the ground in the rain. ¡°Carpy keep your head down! They¡¯ll get you- put your head down!¡± Mellish called out, holding back his tears as he watched his best friend bleeding out in the street. Caparzo shakily reached into his jacket¡¯s inner pockets, pulling out a piece of paper. ¡°Copy it!¡± Caparzo said weakly, waving the paper at Mellish. ¡°Copy it and send it for me¡­¡± He continued, his words slurring together. It was unbearable; I wanted to cover my ears, but I was still holding onto the little French girl. ¡°Carpy you¡¯re gonna send it yourself, put it down!¡± Mellish shouted back to him, trembling. ¡°It¡¯s got blood!¡± Caparzo shouted, his hand shaking. ¡°It¡¯s- it¡¯s to my dad¡­ It¡¯s got blood on it, Fish¡­¡± Those were his last words. His hand slumped to the ground, the letter dropping into the pool of its writer¡¯s blood. Not long after, Jackson finally took his shot, after saying another of his quiet prayers. Everyone was silent for several seconds, like we were waiting for the pin to drop. ¡°We got him! Stay down,¡± Mellish said, relieved. Jackson waved us forward, and I released the girl. She ran back to her parents screaming, and her father pulled her back up. She slapped him repeatedly, both of them in tears. Our squad swarmed Caparzo, checking his wounds and his pulse, but we were too late. He¡¯d been shot through the chest, maybe even through a lung. Cora told me later that it was practically a miracle he¡¯d lasted as long as he did. After we confirmed Caparzo¡¯s death, she bandaged up Zach¡¯s face, saying he¡¯d probably be fine even without the potion. We only had five doses for the rest of the Mission, after all, and he was up and mobile not long after he took the hit. Horvath and the paratroopers checked the area, and declared we were clear. We stood around Caparzo¡¯s body, staring in subdued silence, as Captain Miller walked over, holding Caparzo¡¯s helmet. ¡°That¡¯s why we can¡¯t take children,¡± the captain stated, dumping Caparzo¡¯s helmet onto my head, tilting it over my eyes. I shifted the helmet back to normal, grimacing. That was decidedly not how I had wanted to get a new helmet. Miller crouched near Caparzo¡¯s body and grabbed his dog tag, pocketing it. He had Horvath do an ammo check and sent Miles and Maxley to fill up everyone¡¯s canteens. Wade bent down and grabbed Caparzo¡¯s letter, carefully stowing it away, then covering the body up with a blanket. ¡°Jackson, Quinn, Mellish, check the tower,¡± Miller finished, and everyone got to it. ¡°Fuck Ryan,¡± I heard Reiben mutter, as he stared at Caparzo¡¯s form beneath the blanket. In that moment, I agreed with him. Jackson led us to the tower the enemy sniper had occupied, and we busted in, guns blazing. We felt silly, to the say the least, when we found that the first floor was empty. We carefully made our way up the stairs, but every floor was the same- nobody. Mellish whistled when we reached the top, staring at the dead German sniper. Jackson had shot him right through the scope, blasting out the man¡¯s right eye along with parts of his brain. ¡°Holy shit. I didn¡¯t think that was actually possible,¡± I muttered, looking back and forth between Jackson and his mark. I remembered that scene in the movie, but it was kind of surreal to know that the sniper before me was truly that good. ¡°My God gave me strength,¡± Jackson replied simply, kissing the cross on his necklace. We didn¡¯t argue, though Mellish rolled his eyes at that. Jackson claimed the enemy sniper¡¯s combat knife and sidearm, then we were on our way. Back on the ground, Maxley and Miles had returned, handing out our topped-off canteens. I silently thanked Maxley with no more than a nod, which he returned, just as quiet. I wasn¡¯t sure how the other Players saw the movie characters at that point, but to me they were as real as anyone I¡¯d ever met, and Caparzo had been my buddy. The only ones I¡¯d spent more time with were Maxley, Reiben and now Mellish. Miller gathered us up real quick, along with the paratroopers, and had Sergeant Hill lead the way. After just a few minutes we ended up in another alley, Hill still taking point. I was just behind him, Miles and Maxley close behind me. We stayed close to the wall of a large building, just before the courtyard square we were searching for. Sergeant Hill peered around the corner, then froze. He slowly turned back towards us, grimacing. ¡°Machine gun,¡± Hill whispered, then shouted, ¡°Flash!¡± The seconds ticked by, as we waited grimly. ¡°Thunder,¡± someone called back. ¡°Come on in.¡± We let out a collective sigh, but still didn¡¯t dare to relax. We finally turned the corner, finding a new paratrooper stationed at a window, the machine gun evidently having been retracted. ¡°We¡¯re looking for Captain Hamill,¡± Hill stated simply. ¡°Where is he?¡± ¡°Should be just over there, across the square,¡± the soldier said, pointing to a small nearby courtyard, debris and shell casings littering the square. There was a staircase leading up to a landing, and a pile of boards sticking out of a small heap of rubble and leaning against the wall of an old stone building. Hill sent his radioman up the stairs to find Captain Hamill, while the rest of us waited in the square. I casually stood around on the edge of the group, near the wall by the rubble pile. I knew what was coming next. Sergeant Hill told everyone to relax and sat down on the pile of rubble, saying he had to get something out of his boot. He shifted his weight and grabbed the boot, but that cause the whole pile to move, one of the boards crashing into the building, just about that whole wall collapsing, sending up a huge cloud of dust. Then we heard an asinine yelling, in a language I didn¡¯t understand. The building was full of Germans! But I was ready for that. I didn¡¯t exactly remember this part of the movie, but I¡¯d been thinking long and hard about what Keith said was supposed to come next. Most of my comrades dove to the ground or tried to take cover, but I just hoisted my BAR and opened fire. I was not in the mood to look for prisoners after what had been done to Caparzo, and I sincerely doubted they¡¯d surrender. They had been gunned down after being given ample time to surrender in the movie anyway, according to Keith. I just held the trigger down and pointed, in such close proximity that it wasn¡¯t really possible to miss with an automatic weapon. The half-dozen German soldiers in their makeshift command room died in seconds, all by my hand. Some of them had even raised their weapons; I didn¡¯t feel any remorse. ¡°Clear up!¡± I heard someone shout, behind and above me. I turned to see a tall Airborne officer standing on the staircase¡¯s landing, another paratrooper and Sergeant Hill¡¯s radioman on either side of him. They had their guns still aimed into the building, but they hadn¡¯t gotten a chance to fire. ¡°Clear down,¡± Hill said after a day, shakily taking to his feet. The others around me stood up then as well, most of them staring at me. Some with appreciation, some with shock or even fear. I just shrugged and lowered my rifle, as Mellish and Jackson went in to check out the building. Captain Hamill, the Airborne officer we¡¯d been searching for, came down the stairs and introduced himself to Captain Miller. ¡°We¡¯re looking for a Private James Ryan, supposed to be part of your outfit. Any chance you¡¯ve got him here?¡± Miller asked. Hamill looked at his Sergeant and waved for him to answer. ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ve got a Ryan,¡± the man said gruffly. ¡°You want to see him?¡± ¡°Absolutely,¡± Miller replied, relief slipping into his voice. ¡°Take us to him.¡± Chapter 11 ¡°How was the road in?¡± Hamill asked, the two captains walking side by side as we headed for his makeshift base camp. ¡°Scenic. We lost our vehicle and most of our ammo,¡± Miller replied. ¡°Not to mention two of our men,¡± Sergeant Horvath added, grumbling. ¡°Damn. Lieutenant,¡± Hamill called out as we came into view of the Airborne soldiers. ¡°Get Ryan up here.¡± The lieutenant called for Ryan, and soon a young soldier began jogging by. ¡°Isn¡¯t it way too early to find Ryan?¡± Miles asked with a hushed voice. ¡°I thought he was in Ramelle?¡± ¡°Yeah. Just watch,¡± I answered, waving him off. Ryan passed us then, going straight to his Captain. Our whole squad watched him, with mixed feelings. ¡°Told you he was an asshole,¡± Reiben remarked to me as he passed by, to which I just nodded. ¡°Sir, Private Ryan reporting as ordered,¡± Ryan stated, standing at attention in front of Hamill. ¡°At ease,¡± Captain Hamill started. Then he introduced Miller. ¡°This is Captain Miller, 2nd Rangers. He wants a word with you.¡± Our Captain took Ryan off to side and had him take a knee. ¡°Private, I¡¯m afraid I have some bad news for you.¡± He paused, probably collecting his thoughts and trying to figure out how to tell him. There isn¡¯t exactly a good way to tell someone their brothers are dead, as far as I know. ¡°Well, there isn¡¯t any real easy way to say this so, uh¡­ so I¡¯ll just say it. Your brothers are dead. We¡¯re here to come get you, ¡®cause, uh, you¡¯re going home.¡± Ryan just stared at Miller, unable to fully process the news. He shakily moved back and his face contorted, tears threatening to surface. Hamill put a hand on his shoulder and knelt down next to him in support. ¡°Oh my God my brothers are dead¡­¡± Ryan finally muttered, squeezing his eyes shut in anguish. Hamill held him closer as the man continued his breakdown. ¡°I was gonna take ¡®em fishing when we got home¡­¡± Reiben started at that, staring at Ryan with a bit of confusion. Ryan is supposed to be the youngest brother, from what I remembered, so that was kind of weird. I just shrugged when Reiben glanced at me, then back to Ryan. ¡°How- How did they die?¡± The Private asked, opening his eyes and turning back to Captain Miller. ¡°They were killed in action,¡± Miller said solemnly. Ryan just shook his head a few times at that. ¡°No, that- That can¡¯t be. They¡¯re¡­ That can¡¯t be! My brothers are still in grammar school.¡± Captain Hamill stared at Miller with an eyebrow raised. ¡°You¡¯re James Ryan,¡± Miller asked incredulously. ¡°Yeah,¡± Ryan answered, sniffling. ¡°James Francis Ryan, from Iowa?¡± Miller continued, all eyes on him and Ryan. ¡°James Frederick Ryan, Minnesota,¡± the confused soldier replied, looking back to his own Captain. ¡°Son of a bitch! It¡¯s the wrong fucking Ryan,¡± Reiben said, the rest of us following with similar sentiments. ¡°Does that- Does that mean that my brothers are okay?¡± Ryan asked, daring to let hope slip into his voice. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m sure they¡¯re fine,¡± Miller sighed, then turned to Captain Hamill. ¡°We¡¯re looking for a different Private Ryan. This is all just a big foul-up.¡± Miller stomped off, even as Ryan started to break down again. ¡°I gotta get home right now,¡± was the last thing I heard that Ryan cry out before we moved on, following Captain Miller. Sergeants Horvath and Hill, Captain Hamill, and I grouped up with him for a discussion. ¡°So where the hell¡¯s our Ryan?¡± Horvath asked, incredulously. ¡°No idea. Are you in touch with your C.O.?¡± Miller asked Hamill. He just shook his head and said that he wasn¡¯t.¡°Figures.¡± ¡°Well what unit¡¯s your Ryan in?¡± Hamill asked. ¡°Baker Company, 506.¡± ¡°The guy with the broken foot, he¡¯s 506 right?¡± Hamill asked Sergeant Hill, who nodded. ¡°Yeah. Charlie, I think. Here, I¡¯ll take you guys to him.¡± He led us a bit further in, where we found an injured paratrooper leaning against a wall, a medic wrapping the man¡¯s foot. ¡°That¡¯s him.¡± ¡°You¡¯re 506?¡± Miller asked him, standing over the paratrooper. ¡°Yes, sir. Private Oliver.¡± ¡°You know a Private Ryan? James Francis Ryan?¡± ¡°Ryan? I don¡¯t know- man!¡± He flinched, as the medic tightened the bandages on his foot. ¡°Where was your drop zone?¡± Miller asked next. ¡°Just inside of Vierville,¡± Oliver answered, wincing again. ¡°Vierville? How the hell did you end up way out here?¡± Apparently his plane had taken heavy fire, and the pilot had to take evasive maneuvers. The paratroopers still jumped, though, so they were scattered all over the place. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen a single guy from stick, Sir. God knows where they are,¡± Oliver finished. The captain asked him if he knew anyone from Baker Company or if anyone had mentioned where they were supposed to be. ¡°No, Sir, but I know Baker Company had the same rallypoint as us.¡± ¡°Show me!¡± Captain Miller demanded, handing Oliver a map. The injured paratrooper pointed the spot out, then Miller thanked him and we were on our way. Miller asked Hamill if he had anywhere for us to rest, and we ended up holing up in an old church. We got in as it was getting dark, and the plan was to rest for about three hours. Miller and Horvath had their own conversation off to the side, Wade began copying Caparzo¡¯s letter, and Jackson went right to sleep. ¡°How the hell does he do it?¡± Reiben asked, staring at Jackson, fast asleep on one of the pews. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zach asked, still pressing a bandage over his face, over the entire upper right area of his face. Luckily he hadn¡¯t lost the eye, but it was bloodshot and there was a long gash across his face just under it. He had decided not to take a dose of the health potion, much to our surprise, electing to save our limited supply for the greater battles ahead. ¡°Do what?¡± ¡°Fall asleep like that. Look at him, he¡¯s lights out as soon as his head hits the pack.¡± ¡°Clear conscience, maybe,¡± Mellish suggested. ¡°Oh yeah. He thinks everything is God¡¯s will anyway, right?¡± I added. ¡°Yeah, what¡¯s that saying? ¡®If God¡¯s on our side, who the hell could be on theirs?¡¯¡± Reiben said next.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°If God be for us, who could be against us?¡± Cora suggested. ¡°Yeah, that was it. Hey, what was your name again?¡± Reiben asked her. ¡°And why do you still have your helmet on?¡± ¡°Siskou. Cora Siskou.¡± She took off the helmet then, and stared back at him. Her black hair was cropped short, I realized, as even I had never seen her without a helmet before. I wasn¡¯t sure if she always kept her hair like that anyway, or if she¡¯d cut it at some point over the last few days. Besides her lack of facial hair she didn¡¯t look like much more than a slightly effeminate man, in her uniform. ¡°Some of the guys in our unit used to say I look like a girl without the helmet,¡± Cora stated, blinking. ¡°It¡¯s just a habit to keep it on, now.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t look like a girl to me,¡± Mellish shrugged, smiling. That wasn¡¯t really what she was hoping for, apparently. ¡°Thanks¡­¡± She muttered, barely hiding a wince. Her left eye was twitching a bit, and she covered it up by scratching her face. ¡°How long the four of you been together?¡± Reiben asked, this one directed at me. ¡°Maxley, you were from a different unit, right?¡± ¡°Since basic training. Norton was with us too,¡± I answered. ¡°I was just in a different platoon; we were still in the same company. I remember Quinn and the others from training, but I don¡¯t think I talked to them much,¡± the redheaded teenage soldier revealed, shrugging. The four of us paused at that, Miles¡¯ eyes wide. So the residents of this world even have us implanted in their memories if they¡¯re supposed to know us? I thought to myself, knowing with just a glance that the others were considering the same thing. It¡¯s a blessing in disguise then, that most if not all of the rest of our platoon were killed on D-Day. I felt sick at the thought, but I was still glad we didn¡¯t have to deal with people that we were supposed to know well. Even the wristwatches didn¡¯t reveal anything about those who should have been our comrades, only giving information about ourselves. Cora grimaced after a few seconds, which must have caught Reiben¡¯s eye. ¡°What is it?¡± He asked, while our medic shook her head. ¡°I was just thinking about the rest of our guys. One of them was wounded, but as far as I know the rest of them are dead. We¡¯re the only ones left,¡± our medic sighed, slinking down the pew she was leaning against. ¡°Oh. Damn,¡± Reiben said, simply. ¡°Damn is right,¡± Zach agreed, his expression dark. The conversation made me think back to the first day, and our landing on the beach. ¡°One of our guys was killed next to me in the water, right when we got off the boat,¡± I sighed, remembering the first of the other new Players that I had had any interaction with, albeit a very brief one. ¡°He was stuck, sinking into the channel. I grabbed him, tried to drag him up, and he seemed relieved. Hopeful, maybe. Then a burst of machine gun fire shot through the water and right at us. Hit him two, maybe three times, and a round even hit the side of my helmet, damn near took the thing right off.¡± I brushed my helmet then, before I remembered. ¡°My old helmet, I mean.¡± I took a deep breath and laid back at that point, finished. I hadn¡¯t thought much about the invasion until then- actively avoided thinking about it, really. That guy, and all the other guys on the boat, were just a bunch of nobodies, just like me. Would they have done better if they¡¯d been the ones to make it? Could someone else have saved Caparzo? A whole slew of thoughts like those ran through my head as I drifted off to sleep, about an hour into our planned 3-hour interlude. --- ¡°Hey Quinn,¡± I heard someone saying, nudging my shoulder with their boot. ¡°Get your guys up. We¡¯re moving out in ten.¡± ¡°Okay¡­¡± I said, sitting up and rubbing my eyes. When I saw who woke me I corrected myself. ¡°I mean, yes, Sir.¡± Captain Miller just smirked and stepped back, leaning against a wall while Sergeant Horvath tried to wake up Reiben. I got Zach up first, then Cora and Maxley. They got up and ready real quick, but our last guy was another story altogether. I swear, Miles Porter could sleep through an air raid; it took a good five minutes for Maxley and I to get the guy up. We had to resort to dumping water on his face to get him to open his eyes. While we did that, Cora changed Zach¡¯s bandage. She was glad to find that it wasn¡¯t infected and that the bleeding had long since stopped. We were ready just in time, and Captain Miller led us out, marching in the dark all through the night. The next several hours were wholly uneventful for us, though we could hear and sometimes even see the explosions from the shelling and fighting going on miles away. We just crept on through the cloud-covered night, staying quiet and not stopping for anything. The sun was already high in the sky by the time we found the rallypoint. Said rallypoint was really just a few big canopy tents held up by a bunch of logs, with some broken down airplanes on the edges. Dozens of wounded paratroopers were lined up under the tents, and even more bodies were covered up off to a side. Captain Miller told Wade and Cora to make the rounds, see if they could help any of the wounded, and Zach decided to tag along. Apparently Cora had given him a bit of first aid training during the first few days, when his arm was still hurt. He didn¡¯t really have much else to do at the time, anyway. I just stuck with the captain, and the only officer we could find in the entire camp was a Lieutenant DeWindt. He¡¯d been the pilot of one of the downed planes. He was supposed to be flying in a Brigadier General, and the Army reinforced several parts of the plane with steel plates to keep him safe- without telling DeWindt. He had to make evasive maneuvers when the plane took fire, but the added weight meant it didn¡¯t handle properly. So they went down, simple as that. A new group, maybe an entire company, of Airborne troops marched towards the camp, many of them lightly wounded. They were escorting a dozen or so French civilians along with a line of German prisoners. Captain Miller sent Mellish, Maxley and Miles to check down the line, to see if any of them were Ryan, or at least had some info on him. Sergeant Horvath and I checked DeWindt''s plane out and, sure enough, a soldier wearing a helmet emblazoned with a single white star was stuck in a seat, a part of his face scraped off and a thick tree branch stuck through his abdomen, coming out from the other side of the seat. ¡°I couldn¡¯t pry him out of there- I¡¯d need a winch.¡± Having seen him ourselves, Horvath and I agreed. ¡°We were just too damn heavy¡­ Plane went down, couldn¡¯t stop. We just kept going¡­ Twenty-two guys dead.¡± ¡°All that for a General?¡± Miller asked, subdued. ¡°One man,¡± DeWindt agreed. ¡°One man? We know all about that,¡± I muttered, shaking my head. ¡°FUBAR,¡± DeWindt suggested. Miller, Horvath, and I all agreed. ¡°What¡¯s FUBAR?¡± Maxley asked, as he and a few of the others joined us by DeWindt¡¯s plane. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s German,¡± Mellish joked, and Reiben and I laughed quietly. ¡°Never heard of that¡­¡± Maxley mumbled in response. ¡°Maxley, Mellish, there¡¯s more paratroopers out there. Find out if one of them¡¯s Ryan. They nodded and got back to work, Maxley still trying to figure out what the word meant. ¡°You might want to look through these, Sir,¡± DeWindt stated, pulling a pouch off of his belt, the sound of metal clinking coming from within. ¡°Dog tags. More than I really want to count, Sir.¡± Miller stared at the bag for a second, then handed it off to me. ¡°Quinn, Reiben, see if Ryan¡¯s in there.¡± ¡°Yes, Sir,¡± I replied. Jackson joined us, and we headed for a couple of crates lying around outside. We dumped the bag out and sifted through the tags, reading the names out loud. We got a little too into it, actually, basically playing cards with the tags with a sense of morbid enjoyment. ¡°Hey, I think I got a winner here,¡± Jackson said, passing one of his tags to me. ¡°Ryan, right?¡± ¡°R-I-E-N-N-E. That¡¯s Rienne, Jackson. It¡¯s French. This ain¡¯t him,¡± I said, frowning. This was useless, really. We already knew Ryan was still alive- even if some freak accident had messed with the plot enough to kill him, we would have been removed from that world and sent back to the Island, according to what the watch said. ¡°Damn,¡± Reiben said, holding up another tag. ¡°Look at this poor bastard, huh?¡± The tag had a hole in it, probably from a gun. I snickered as he looked at me through the hole, blinking. ¡°Guess they ain¡¯t bulletproof,¡± Jackson stated, and Reiben and I agreed. We passed some of the tags around, betting like we were playing poker. ¡°I got two guys from New York,¡± I said, dropping two tags back into the pile. ¡°I call, raise you a couple of Virginians,¡± Reiben laughed, dropping in a handful of his tags. ¡°I¡®m gonna have to go all in, fellas,¡± Jackson started, before someone came to break us up. ¡°The whole god damn Airborne¡¯s watching!¡± Wade interjected, hastily grabbing the tags and shoving them back in the bag. ¡°These aren¡¯t poker chips.¡± I looked around, subdued, and found that the passing paratroopers really were watching us, most of them glaring. ¡°Alright, alright,¡± Reiben said, and helped Wade put them back in the bag. ¡°He¡¯s not here,¡± Miller admitted. Apparently even he¡¯d gotten in on it, as he dropped the last few tags bag into the bag. ¡°Maybe we should bust up into a couple of different groups, huh?¡± The captain started, walking over to the paratroopers on their march. ¡°And wander the woods like Hansel and Gretel, calling his name. He¡¯s bound to hear us sooner or later. Ryan!¡± He finally called out, the rest of us getting up, handing the sac of tags over to Wade. ¡°Ryan! Anybody know a Ryan?!¡± Miller called out walking up their line. ¡°Private Ryan, 101st Airborne? Anybody know a Private James Ryan, from Iowa? James Ryan?!¡± ¡°Hey Joe,¡± a soldier near the captain started, turning around. ¡°Doesn¡¯t, uh, Mandelsohn pal around with a Ryan from B Company?¡± ¡°Yeah, I think so,¡± answered a taller soldier, a few yards behind him. ¡°Bring him up here, would you?¡± The first guy asked again, and the tall guy nodded and went back. ¡°Think we¡¯re finally getting somewhere?¡± Reiben asked me, as we waited for him to find Mandelsohn. ¡°God I hope so,¡± I replied, as the tall soldier came back with another guy. The right side of his face was charred, his ear practically burnt black. After a spiel about his hearing- a German grenade had gone of right by his head- Miller asked if he knew Ryan. ¡°Do you know Private Ryan?¡± ¡°Who?!¡± He shouted back, to compensate for his near-deaf state. ¡°Private Ryan. James Ryan?¡± Miller asked again. ¡°Jimmy Ryan?¡± Mandelsohn called back. ¡°James. James Francis Ryan,¡± Miller repeated, again. ¡°No, no, no, James Francis Ryan.¡± Everyone perked up at that, glancing at each other silently. ¡°Get me a pencil, something to write on,¡± Miller said, looking back at us. ¡°Quick! Quick! Come on, a pencil!¡± ¡°Here, Captain,¡± Maxley said, stepping forward. He held a piece of paper as well. ¡°Write this down,¡± Miller said to the young redheaded soldier. Maxley transcribed Miller¡¯s next statement. ¡°James Francis Ryan, question mark, Iowa, question mark. Do you, does he know him. Read the message, show him.¡± He motioned towards Maxley. He held up the note, while Mandelsohn read it. ¡°Yeah, of course I know him, Sir!¡± Mandelsohn replied, smiling. ¡°Does he know where he is?¡± Maxley showed him the next note, and he nodded. ¡°Yeah, yeah, we missed our drop zone by about twenty miles, ended up over by uh, Bumville or some damn place. Him, me and a couple of other guys were coming here to the rally point, ran into a Colonel who was gathering up men to go to, uh, Ramelle. To babysit a bridge. That¡¯s the last I¡¯ve seen of him, Sir,¡± Mandelsohn finished. "Great! Great! Thank, say, write thank you.¡± Miller turned around then as Maxley wrote out the last message. ¡°You¡¯re welcome!¡± Mandelsohn called back. As we gathered up again, Miller taking out his map. ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± Miller started, pointing out the rallypoint''s location. ¡°Ramelle is on the Merderet River right here. Just to the southwest of us.¡± ¡°What¡¯d he mean by ¡®babysit a bridge¡¯, Captain?¡± Miles asked. ¡°The target has always been Cherbourg. We can¡¯t move on Paris until we take a deep water port, and Rommel knows that. So he¡¯s going to try to get his armor across the Merderet River anywhere he can.¡± He held his compass over the map, shifting it around until the compass line up with the compass rose on the map. His hand was shaking, something I hadn¡¯t noticed since wehad joined the mission. We watched in silence as the compass rattled in his hand. ¡°If Ryan¡¯s still alive, he''s in Ramelle. Let¡¯s go.¡± Chapter 12 We got back together and were on our way in just a few minutes; Cora and Wade had insisted on finishing up the treatments of a few of the wounded paratroopers first. There were no more roads where we were going, so we just walked across the countryside, through wide open, empty grass field and over small grassy hills. At least it wasn¡¯t raining that time. ¡°This prick better be worth it,¡± Reiben muttered, once again walking next to me. ¡°Who? Ryan?¡± I asked, confident in my guess. ¡°Yeah. James Fuckin¡¯ Ryan. Two of our guys have died for him already, and we don¡¯t know shit about him!¡± Reiben ranted. ¡°I mean shit, he went to Ramelle what, two, three days ago? He could have died there already. Or on the way. He could be rotting away in a German prison camp as we fuckin¡¯ speak.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true, Reiben. The guy had better make something of himself,¡± I grumbled back. ¡°He¡¯d better cure cancer or invent a flying car or something if we get him home.¡± Reiben shared the sentiment, apparently; he nodded then grunted. ¡°When we get him home you mean,¡± Miles suggested. ¡°He¡¯s gotta be alive. This can¡¯t all be for nothing.¡± ¡°Your optimism is overwhelming, Porter,¡± I replied, shrugging. ¡°Well, I hope we can find him too. Norton and Caparzo died for this mission, I don¡¯t want that to be in vain.¡± Reiben just shook his head at that and we continued on, the three of us silent for awhile. I decided to just listen in on some of the other conversations going on for a bit. Miles, Reiben, and I were off to the right, while Captain Miller lead the way along with Wade and Sergeant Horvath. Mellish, Maxley, and Jackson took the left side, while Cora and Zach took up the rear. Those two seemed to get along pretty well, almost always staying together. Well, I usually stuck around Miles and Reiben myself, so it wasn¡¯t that weird. ¡°Hey Cora, you know, you never told me where you¡¯re from. I mean, you know I¡¯m from Phoenix, so, uh, what about you?¡± Zach asked her, as they trailed behind the rest of the group. ¡°I am from Athens,¡± Cora stated simply. ¡°...As in the capital of Greece? Not like, Athens, Nevada?¡± Zach asked, to clarify. ¡°Yes, I am Greek. I went to New York for university. My cousin lives in Phoenix, so I went to live with her until I could afford to go back to school. I want to be a real doctor, someday,¡± she finished, a faint smile crossing her face. ¡°Oh. You¡¯re a paramedic now, right? Or, uh, were, before we came here?¡± ¡°That is correct. And you were still in high school, yes?¡± Cora asked, grinning and looking back at him. He just nodded weakly at that, and their conversation soon petered out. I couldn¡¯t really hear any of the others from our position, so I was content to just walk along in silence for a while. ¡°Hey Lee,¡± Miles started, breaking us out of the lull in conversation. ¡°You ever been outside the States? Before the, uh, war, I mean.¡± ¡°Yeah. Mexico a few times when I was a kid, and all around France a few years ago. That one was through school, actually. What about you?¡± I asked back, glad to get free of the monotony of mindless marching. There was a small hill in the distance, and I really wasn¡¯t looking forward to hiking up it. ¡°Oh, yeah. My mom¡¯s Canadian; most of her family¡¯s still there. So we go up to Toronto every year or so to see them. That¡¯s it, though,¡± Miles replied, reminiscing. I smiled at his answer and was about to ask Reiben if he¡¯d traveled much, when our march was halted by a hail of gunfire! ¡°Get down!¡± Captain Miller yelled, as we took fire. Miles just stood, frozen, so I pushed him down with me as I went down. The grass was tall enough that I believed we might have been obscured, but none of us had any real cover. ¡°On the hill!¡± I heard Reiben shout from nearby, before he began to return fire. Reiben used a BAR, the same type of automatic rifle that I had inherited from Keith. Though of course, his was a regular version with limited ammo, like the one Miles continued to lug around. I readied my own weapon, and opened fire on the figures I could see on the hill we¡¯d been marching towards. Several enemy soldiers, maybe a dozen, lay prone atop the hill and fired on us nonstop. I held down the trigger, spraying lead straight into a cluster of three enemy soldiers. One of them jerked then went still, a rifle rolling partway down the hill. I stopped firing then, crawling through the field to a new position. Even though I didn¡¯t need to reload, I wanted to at least keep up the appearance that it was a normal gun. Plus, I could feel the heat emanating off of the barrel; I was afraid the thing might melt if I abused it too much. Miles stayed put, clutching his rifle and shakily aiming at the enemy. He squirmed for a few seconds before he fired, then cringed after he took his shot, at either the recoil or the sound of the gunshot, if not both. He fired until his clip was empty, as far as I could tell, but he didn¡¯t start up again after that. As far as I could tell we¡¯d only gotten three of them, when a distinctive shot rang out. Jackson¡¯s sniper rifle! The shot was quickly followed by another, then a third. Each one had found purchase, taking out another of our enemies. The remaining soldiers fell back, hiding themselves on the other side of the hill. Sergeant Horvath soon gave the order to cease fire, though most of us had long since stopped shooting, since there was nothing to shoot at. ¡°Medic!¡± I heard someone, I think Mellish, shout, as I picked myself up off the ground. I went to help Miles up, and found that his face was pale and his eyes were unfocused. He took short, rough breaths, and sweat poured down his face. ¡°Miles? Hey, Miles!¡± He lay prone unresponsive, his BAR discarded out in front of him. I touched his shoulder, and that was when I saw a small pool of blood flowing out beneath him. ¡°Fuck! Medic! Cora! Over here!¡± Reiben joined me then and we turned him over, not sure what we were supposed to do until Wade or Cora could arrive. He had been shot once in the abdomen. I applied pressure to the wound, but that was the extent of my medical knowledge. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°How bad is it?!¡± I heard Cora shout, before she made it to us. She held the potion bottle in her left hand, the little glass bottle already half empty. She quickly evaluated the wound, then sprinkled just a bit of the red elixir over his abdomen. Cora put the bottle to his mouth and tilted it upwards, the life-saving fluid dripping into his mouth. He was fortunately able to swallow it, and while his face scrunched up into a grimace, his complexion improved immediately. The bleeding from his abdomen stopped, and Reiben, Cora, and I watched in awe as a bullet was slowly pushed out of him, rolling to the side when it was finally clear. Scar tissue formed when the bullet was finally gone, leaving nothing more than a hole in his shirt and a whole lot of blood. ¡°What the hell is that stuff?!¡± Reiben asked, staring at the bottle in Cora¡¯s hand, barely one dose remaining. ¡°We don¡¯t really know,¡± I hastily replied, before Cora could say anything. ¡°Keith- Uh, Corporal Norton had it. He said his brother is a big-time doctor back in the States¡­¡± ¡°Uh-huh¡­¡± Reiben replied, simply. By then Miles¡¯ breathing had returned to normal and, for all intents and purposes, he was perfectly healthy again. ¡°Is everyone else alright?¡± I asked Cora, who simply shook her head. ¡°Who?¡± I asked, gravely. ¡°Wade is dead,¡± Cora started, and I could see Reiben wince. ¡°Zachary and Maxley were both hit as well. This was enough to save them,¡± she finished, indicating the potion bottle. ¡°You got anymore of that stuff?¡± Reiben asked incredulously. ¡°That¡¯s the last one,¡± I answered, shaking my head solemnly. Reiben just swore at that, and he went over to the others, most of them gathered around their fallen medic. I looked down, to find that Miles had passed out at some point. I didn¡¯t blame him; he¡¯d been pulled out from the jaws of death, just like I had only a few days ago. ¡°Should we carry him?¡± I asked Cora, indicating Miles¡¯ unconscious form with a nod. Cora shook her head and said she would stay with him for a while. ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you then,¡± I replied, then went off to see what the hell we were going to do next. This whole confrontation was outside of my knowledge; I didn¡¯t remember a scene like that and Keith hadn¡¯t gone over anything like it with us, so it definitely wasn¡¯t in the movie. ¡°Quinn, there you are,¡± Captain Miller stated, as I joined the rest of the group. They had covered up Wade¡¯s body just before I arrived, apparently ready to move on. Mellish, Reiben, Maxley and Jackson were all at the ready; they watched the hill, their weapons raised. Miller asked me, ¡°Siskou and Porter?¡± ¡°Porter was hit, Sir, but he should be okay, according to Siskou,¡± I revealed, smiling faintly. ¡°Siskou said he¡¯d stay with him for now.¡± It felt awkward to refer to Cora as a male, but I had to just roll with it. ¡°Fine. We need to take this damn hill, now,¡± Miller declared. ¡°We¡¯re splitting up. Reiben and Mellish, you go around to the right. Mike, you¡¯re with them,¡± Miller continued, nodding towards Sergeant Horvath. ¡°Quinn, you take Maxley and Michaels and hook around from the left.¡± ¡°Yes, Sir,¡± I acknowledged. I checked Maxley and Zach with a glance, and found that Maxley had a new scar on the side of his neck. Those damn potions were incredible; he never should have been able to recover from that. For what it¡¯s worth, the gash under Zach¡¯s right eye had scarred over, now that he¡¯d finally taken some of the potion. The right leg of his pants had a fresh bloodstain as well. The kid was a damn bullet magnet; that marked the fourth time he¡¯d been shot since we¡¯d started the damn Mission, not even a week before. I just shook my head at that thought, before Miller relayed the rest of his orders. ¡°Jackson, you¡¯re with me. We¡¯re going up the middle as soon as the others draw fire. We stay low and you pick off any hostiles while they¡¯re engaged. I¡¯ll cover you if it comes to that,¡± Miller finished, then took one last look at each of us. ¡°Understood?¡± We had a round of ¡°Yes, Sir¡±s before we all got ready. The others checked their weapons and ammo, so I made a show of doing the same. Then we were ready to move out. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± I said to Maxley and Zach, who both simply nodded and fell in on either side of me. As far as we could tell, the enemy had abandoned the hilltop, but we moved cautiously and quietly anyway. We slowly made our way up the left side of the hill, Horvath and the others mirroring us on the right side, twenty or so yards away. We marched up the hill at an angle, so we would wrap around it like a spiral rather than reach its summit. We practically walked right into the Germans on the other side of the hill; I was barely able to get Maxley and Zach to back up before they opened fire on us. We were lucky, all three of us getting out without a scratch. I drew one of my three remaininggrenades, pulled the pin, and held onto it for a second or two longer than I had the last time I¡¯d used one. The first grenade I ever threw had been thrown back, and I did not want a repeat of that. I lobbed the grenade overhead, while I heard the Germans shouting in their own language. I didn¡¯t understand a word of it, but it made for a pretty easy target. The grenade landed and subsequently went off just before they came back into view, killing one of them and knocking another two forward and off their feet, one of them rolling several feet down the hill. Maxley and Zach fired two shots each with their M1 Garands, before the Nazi soldiers could had a chance to get to their feet, disabling them both if not killing them outright. I readied my automatic rifle while they fired, then slowly advanced, walking up the hill diagonally. I looked down on a cluster of German soldiers from above, and opened fire before most of them could notice me. One of them saw me right away though, an older soldier wearing a fancier uniform and another of those damn hats. I focused my fire on him first, but he raised his pistol and once before I could get him, the shot hitting me in the left shoulder. Several rounds from my rifle hit him at the same time, and he managed to fire another shot as he fell to the ground and perished. That one went wide, and the bullet dinged off of my helmet. I killed his four remaining men before they knew what hit them; only one of them even saw me before they expired. ¡°We¡¯re clear over here!¡± I called out, turning to see Miller and Jackson at the top of the hill. Jackson was firing on someone unseen from my position, Miller covering him between shots. I wasn¡¯t sure what it was called, but the captain wielded some kind of submachine gun. ¡°Let¡¯s keep going,¡± I suggested, and the others agreed. We continued our movement around the hill, but the battle was over by the time we could have made contact. We¡¯d taken no further casualties in the encounter, and I was the only one of us to be wounded. Captain Miller waved us in, and we regrouped around him at the hilltop. ¡°Talk to me,¡± Miller ordered, as we approached his position. Jackson continued to scan the horizon through his scope, Reiben doing the same with a pair of binoculars. ¡°There were eight of them on our side of the hill, Sir. One was an officer, I think. They¡¯re all dead,¡± I stated simply, finally coming down from an adrenaline high. I winced as the pain in my shoulder began to register, then clutched my right hand over the wound. ¡°And, uh, I¡¯m hit, Captain.¡± I showed him the blood on my hand and flinched again. ¡°Quinn, go to Siskou, now,¡± Miller ordered, exasperated. I saluted weakly and handed my BAR off to Zach, then trudged back down the hill. I shrugged off my uniform¡¯s jacket and pulled up my already blood-soaked sleeve. ¡°Hey, Cora?¡± I called out, as I approached. I was glad to see that Miles was sitting up and looking healthy. ¡°A little help here?¡± I laughed faintly, my right hand once again pressed against the wound. ¡°Lee! What happened¡­ Okay, come here, let me see it,¡± Cora said frantically. ¡°Well, there is an exit wound,¡± the medic revealed as she examined my shoulder. ¡°You could lose movement of your arm, Lee. You need to to drink this.¡± She held up the bottle, the final dose of our miracle potion sloshing around inside. ¡°I can¡¯t¡­ We should save that for someone that¡¯s dying¡­¡± I argued, hesitant to finish off our one lifeline. ¡°No, Lee.¡± Cora stated simply, shaking her head. ¡°We need you to be strong.¡± ¡°She¡¯s right, Lee,¡± Miles agreed, with a faltering smile. ¡°You and Zach are the only ones acting like real soldiers here. You¡¯ve gotta stay at the top of your game, man.¡± ¡°...Fine. I¡¯ll take it,¡± I acquiesced, accepting the proffered bottle. I downed the final dose in one swig, closing my eyes as I felt the familiar sensation of extreme heat in my left shoulder. I grunted and grit my teeth hard as the flesh on my shoulder seemed to regenerate, leaving a seemingly-old and healed gunshot scar. ¡°Did the other men see this?¡± Cora asked, and I opened my eyes to see her motion towards the no-longer-wounded shoulder. I nodded, still struck with a tingling sensation in the healed area. ¡°I must bandage it then,¡± Cora announced, picking up her kit. I noticed then that she now carried most of Wade¡¯s gear as well. ¡°Ah, I guess that¡¯s fine. So they don¡¯t realize it¡¯s already healed?¡± I asked, in understanding. ¡°Yes,¡± Cora replied. She cleaned the wound expertly, leaving just a bit of blood still on my arm. ¡°To make it look real,¡± she stated, answering my question before I could even ask it. Next she wrapped a bandage around it and proclaimed me to be treated. I thanked her for her efforts then helped Miles to his feet at his request, the younger guy apparently ready to get going. We marched back up the hill, where Miller and the others seemed to be engaged in some kind of argument. ¡°It ain¡¯t right just leaving him there, Sir,¡± Jackson asserted, Reiben shaking his head. ¡°We need to get out of here,¡± Reiben shot back. ¡°Our fight just called in every kraut within five miles!¡± ¡°I agree with Jackson, Sir,¡± Mellish stated, joining the conversation. ¡°I don¡¯t want to leave him out here if we don¡¯t have to.¡± ¡°We¡¯re staying, Reiben,¡± Captain Miller decreed, nodding. ¡°It¡¯s getting dark anyway. I doubt we¡¯ll find a better spot to rest than this damn hill. First we bury Wade, then we set up camp. Any objections?¡± He asked, giving every squad member a cursory glance. ¡°No? Then let¡¯s get to it,¡± he finished, handing Reiben a shovel. Chapter 13 Fortunately, Reiben¡¯s fears did not come to fruition; our night of rest atop the hill passed by quietly. We had set up a night watch rotation again but, just like the first time, nothing eventful happened. Sergeant Horvath got us all up at the crack of dawn, since we¡¯d turned in early the night before. We quietly had a quick meal, then moved out. Captain Miller had Reiben take point, so Miles and I fell in with Zach and Cora in the back of the group as we trekked across the countryside. ¡°We¡¯re almost done with this, right Lee?¡± Miles asked in a hushed voice, after a few hours of travel. ¡°Done with what? The Mission?¡± I asked back, Zach and Cora looking on curiously. Miles just nodded and looked at me expectantly. ¡°Tomorrow should be the deadline,¡± I stated, checking the black watch stuck around my left wrist. ¡°Yeah, today¡¯s the twelfth. Only one more day, and we can leave. As long as we rescue Ryan, and survive the last battle, we should be fine.¡± I smiled weakly, lowering my arm. ¡°But the battle in Ramelle¡­ It¡¯s the worst battle in the movie, isn¡¯t it?¡± Zach asked next, as he examined the screen on his watch. ¡°Besides D-Day, I mean.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I admitted, shrugging. ¡°The Germans outnumber the Americans and have a few tanks. Keith said there were four, right?¡± I asked, to which Miles and Cora just shrugged. ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Zach replied, the teen scratching his head. ¡°I just hope we can get through that.¡± He sighed, and the rest of us shared the sentiment. ¡°Hey, what do you guys think the ¡®Island¡¯ is really-¡± Miles started, but was cut off by Cora. ¡°Stop,¡± the medic ordered, looking ahead with a slight nod towards Captain Miller. The captain had his hand up, displaying the universal signal to halt, and was crouching with a knee to the ground. We were about to pass by a small copse of trees, but the others matched Miller¡¯s position, staying low and leaning into the trees. Horvath slinked back to us, hopefully to explain what was going on. ¡°Why are we stopping?¡± Miles asked with a whisper, once the sergeant was in earshot. ¡°Dead paratroopers,¡± Horvath whispered back. ¡°Three of them, shot to pieces and just lying there on the other side of those trees.¡± He motioned for the line of trees at that. ¡°Jesus. What now?¡± I asked, my voice as hushed as the others¡¯. ¡°Captain¡¯s gonna check it out. He wants you to come with us, Quinn, if your arm¡¯s alright,¡± ¡°Got it. Arm¡¯s fine,¡± I whispered back confidently, flexing the ¡®wounded¡¯ left arm then shaking it out. ¡°Barely hit me.¡± ¡°Good. The rest of you, just get to the trees and stay out of sight. Quinn, let¡¯s go.¡± We slinked up to the treeline, and Horvath took me off to the side, where Miller now knelt. The captain had a pair of binoculars over his eyes, staring at a small structure a ways off. Three small towers with panels connecting them. By the look of those panels, there used to be a few more of them. ¡°Is that an old radar site, Sir?¡± I asked, taking a knee behind him and to the left, Horvath doing the same thing on the right. ¡°I think it is, Quinn,¡± Captain Miller stated, Horvath agreeing as well. ¡°There¡¯s a sandbag bunker at the base. Looks like a machine gun encampment,¡± Miller grunted. ¡°Come on.¡± He slowly crept backwards, returning to the rest of our squad. I looked to Horvath, who simply nodded, and we followed the captain. ¡°Did you find anything?¡± Miles asked me nervously, when we returned. ¡°Captain says it looks like a machine gun,¡± I replied, as the ten of us knelt in a circle. ¡°Probably an MG-42,¡± Sergeant Horvath agreed. ¡°I guess that¡¯s what got those guys, then,¡± Maxley said softly, looking towards the dead paratroopers just on the other side of the thicket. I saw them for the first time then as well. They looked like they¡¯d been dead for at least a day or too, and all the blood had dried. I just shook my head and focused my attention back to our group. ¡°Think one of them¡¯s Ryan?¡± Mellish asked, looking at the captain hopefully. ¡°No, their patches are 82nd, so your luck¡¯s not that good. Ryan¡¯s 101st,¡± Miller answered, as he began to fiddle with his belt. He dropped his pack and a few other unnecessary items, then removed his outer jacket. ¡°Captain?¡± Reiben asked, removing his helmet. ¡°If we move out quick and quiet, we can get away before they¡¯ll even know we were here. Captain, what I¡¯m trying to say is, can¡¯t we just go around them?¡± ¡°I hear what you¡¯re saying, but we can¡¯t go around it,¡± Captain Miller said solemnly. ¡°Captain, I agree with Reiben here,¡± I stated, looking between my friend and the captain. ¡°We left the artillery that took out the jeep, right?¡± ¡°For the Air Force. Even if we could tell them about this, they wouldn¡¯t send anything to take out one damn machine gun. ¡°Captain¡­¡± Mellish started. ¡°This isn¡¯t part of our mission, Sir. Can¡¯t we- We don¡¯t need to go for them, we can just skip it.¡± ¡°Mellish? You want to just leave it here? Let them ambush the next squad that comes along?¡± Miller asked back, frowning. ¡°No, Sir, that¡¯s¡­ I mean, it seems like an unnecessary risk given our objective, Sir¡­¡± Mellish replied, deflating a bit. I agreed with him completely, nodding when he was done. ¡°Our objective is to win the war,¡± Miller said simply, and that was the end of that. He led us a bit closer to the radar site, and we got ready to engage. ¡°Alright, here¡¯s how we¡¯re doing this: three runners with suppressing fire. We¡¯ve got three guys on BAR, so¡­ Reiben, you go right, Quinn will go up the middle, and Porter, you go left.¡± Reiben and I simply nodded and readied our weapons, dropping our extra gear. ¡°Y-Yes, Sir,¡± Miles replied weakly, looking nervously over at the radar site. ¡°Okay, everyone else¡­ Jackson, Siskou, you stay back. Jackson, hit them if you get a good shot. Siskou, be ready,¡± he said simply, his eyes resting on our medic for a few seconds. ¡°Mike, Mellish, Michaels, Maxley, the five of us will follow just behind. Use whatever cover you can and try to get in grenade range.¡± There were a few impact craters in the field leading up to the radar site and machine gun , along with some dead livestock, mostly cows. Not as much cover as I would have liked, to be sure. Everyone got ready quickly, so we got in position right away; we knelt in the grass just at the edge of the treeline. ¡°Quinn, whenever you¡¯re ready.¡± I just nodded and glanced to the men on either side of me. Reiben held his weapon at the ready, stone-faced and looking forward. Miles still had a slight tremble, but he gulped and nodded to me when we made eye contact, then looked ahead. I mentally mapped out the route I would take up the field, hitting whatever cover I could along the way. With one final deep breath in and out, it was time to go.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± I shouted, and shot to my feet, charging forward. Reiben and Miles ran off on either side, the three of us staying about even with each other. I started to zig-zag randomly when the German machine gunners opened fire on us. I raised my BAR and squeezed the trigger, aiming for the sandbag bunker as best I could. I didn¡¯t believe I would hit anyone, but we were just meant to provide suppressing fire anyway. I heard the gunfire begin both to my left and right, though the din of battle soon overtook any one sound, all of the sounds blending together. A stream of bullets trailed me for a few seconds, so I sped up then slid into a blast crater about halfway up the field. I poked my head out of the hole and fired on the machine gun again, several of my shots piercing into the sandbag. That made the enemy keep their heads down, so I popped all the way out of the hole and advanced, still keeping up the stream of fire. I saw Reiben, a few dozen feet to the right, doing the same thing. The machine gun started up again soon, and this time I was right in its line of fire! Seeing my best chance, I dove behind a dead cow, staying as close to the ground as I could. I gagged at the stench of the animal¡¯s rotting flesh, but there wasn¡¯t anything I could do about that. They lit up the cow for a few seconds, then apparently focused their fire elsewhere. After they had moved on, I counted to five then shot back up, heading for my final target, a ditch within grenade range of the enemy position. I was able to slide into the ditch safely; the storm of bullets had not returned to me during my final sprint. I shot at the Germans again, this time with much greater accuracy, and the gunner slinked back quickly. Captain Miller slid in next to me soon after that, followed by Zach. They each lobbed a grenade through the air, both of them dropping behind the sandbags. The three of us went prone in the ditch, waiting for the explosions. First one of them was thrown back, blasting apart the ground ahead of us and spraying us with dirt and gravel, but the second grenade struck true. I went up to check, and grinned at the sight of the sandbag barricade in shambles; most of the bags had been knocked over from the inside. I could see three Germans in the bunker, though one of them was clearly dead already. I simply opened fire on the other two. They fired back, though luckily I was not hit that time, and they both went down quickly. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Captain Miller said, and I climbed out of the ditch. I still held my rifle at the ready, and stepped into their bunker. As I thought, the first one of them had been killed by a grenade, both of his hands blown off and his torso riddled with shrapnel. Had he caught the grenade? Maybe he was just too slow to throw it back? Then there were the two I had mowed down. I kicked each of them once in the side, but they neither moved nor made any sound, so I believed that they really were dead. I heard a faint whimpering sound then, and turned to find a fourth soldier lying on his back on the ground and covered in sand. His hands were empty and held in front of him, so I just shrugged and turned to the captain. ¡°Three dead, Sir. One more in here,¡± I stated, looking back at the last man. ¡°Is Maxley up here?¡± I asked. ¡°Maxley, font and center!¡± Captain Miller called out, turning back, as Reiben and Mellish climbed out of another blast crater to our right. ¡°Captain!¡± We heard Maxley call out in distress, a dozen yards behind us. ¡°Come here! Quick!¡± ¡°Alright, Mellish, you watch him,¡± Miller stated, pointing out the prisoner. ¡°No, Reiben, you do it,¡± the captain corrected himself. ¡°The rest of you, with me.¡± We followed him back to see what was going on. ¡°Hurry!¡± Maxley called out again, his voice more frantic than ever. He quickly came into view, Sergeant Horvath, Jackson and Cora with him. The four seemed to be surrounding something, with Cora moving frantically. My stomach lurched when I saw what it was. Rather, who it was. Miles lay on his back, three new gunshot wounds visible on his torso. His uniform had been ripped open and Cora tried desperately to stop the bleeding, her hands already drenched. Jackson sprinkled sulfa powder over the smaller wounds and tried to bandage them, but the blood just kept soaking through. Maxley tried to apply pressure to another of the wounds, his hand as red as Cora¡¯s. His whole body was trembling and his face went paler by the second ¡°Miles?!¡± I shouted, then knelt by his head. I set my rifle down and grabbed the side of his face. ¡°Hey, Miles, talk to me, man!¡± ¡°L-Lee?¡± He sputtered, gasping for air. He coughed and spit up blood. ¡°Oh, God,¡± he cried out, ¡°I don¡¯t wanna die!¡± ¡°You¡¯re not gonna die, Miles!¡± I proclaimed, wiping the blood off his mouth. ¡°You¡¯re gonna be fine, just don¡¯t look at it¡­¡± I lied, tears beginning to stream down my face. ¡°Lee, it hurts¡­¡± He stared at me, wheezing and coughing up blood. ¡°Cora! Give him¡­ Give him some morphine!¡± I shouted back, not taking my eyes off of my dying friend. ¡°Lee¡­ I already did¡­¡± Cora said, her voice trembling. ¡°Then give him more! Do it again!¡± I yelled back, turning to her this time. She was crying as well, and pressing bandages into his torso. Zach held onto Miles¡¯ hand now, most of the other soldiers helping to apply pressure to the wounds. ¡°Lee, he is not-¡± Cora started. ¡°I know!¡± I interrupted her, and looked back to Miles. ¡°Just one shot. Please,¡± I finished, somberly. Cora said something else at that, and I think Captain Miller replied to her, but after a few seconds my friend¡¯s breathing began to calm down. ¡°I want to go home,¡± Miles muttered, breaking into another round of coughing. ¡°Lee, I need you to- Oh, God¡­¡± He trembled more, and he coughed up blood again. ¡°Lee if you ever go back take care of-¡± He spluttered at that, then took a deep breath. ¡°My girlfriend, find her, okay?¡± He asked weakly, his voice fading. ¡°Okay, Miles,¡± I said, my hands shaking. ¡°Her¡­ Her name, what¡¯s her name?¡± I leaned in close, my ear just by his face. ¡°Tell me,¡± I cried out, my eyes squeezed shut. ¡°Daphne¡­¡± He hissed, barely audible. ¡°Fields.¡± He went quiet after that and just breathed, in and out, fighting for every breath. I grasped his hand and watched the light fade from his eyes, as the tears ran down my face. His grip had long since gone slack, and I just stared at my departed friend in silence while the others began to stand up. Eventually I let go and reached for his dog tag, yanking it off the chain. I shoved it into a pocket and stood up, reclaiming my discarded rifle. I slung it over my shoulder and slowly walked back to the machine gunner position, drawing my sidearm. I turned off the safety and marched to the captured Nazi soldier. ¡°Nein!¡± He shouted, wide-eyed, when I aimed the pistol at his head. That¡¯s about the only German word I know, so I didn¡¯t understand anything he said after that. Well, I didn¡¯t really care what he was saying anyway. ¡°Lee, you don¡¯t have to-¡± Maxley began to say, a pained look in his eye. I just pulled the trigger, blowing the Nazi bastard¡¯s brains out. He crumpled to the ground with barely a whimper, dead. I fired two more times, just for good measure, before I switched the safety back on and stepped back, my arms hanging limply at my sides. Killing him hadn¡¯t really made me feel any better, but I thought it was a damn good start. I turned around and trudged back to Miles¡¯ body, reholstering my sidearm on the way. Cora and Zach still knelt around Miles, Cora just staring at her hands and Zach removing Miles¡¯ own pistol. I cringed at that sight, but understood that an infinite-ammo gun is just far too valuable to pass up. Really it seemed invaluable to us, at the time. I knelt next to him and broke down again, leaning forward and pounding my fist into the grass beside me, my body trembling. An undetermined amount of time passed while I knelt there, but eventually I was able to break myself out of my stupor. Cora and Zach were still nearby, but they seemed ready to move on. Just waiting for me, apparently. Sergeant Horvath approached us then, and held out a shovel towards me. ¡°We¡¯re burying the paratroopers, over there,¡± Horvath pointed backwards, where the Rangers and Maxley were hard at work, digging three holes. We only had three shovels between us, so some of them were digging with their helmets. ¡°Captain figured you would want to do Porter¡¯s yourself.¡± I nodded and accepted the shovel, then followed him back to the impromptu grave site. ¡°Thank you,¡± I muttered, the first words I¡¯d said since Miles had taken his last breath. Horvath led me to a small plot of land, a dozen or so feet away from where the others dug the graves for the paratroopers. Zach and Cora followed me, Zach taking off his helmet to help me get started on the grave. ¡°Lee, did you really have to shoot him?¡± Zach asked eventually, looking back towards the encampment. ¡°I mean, he surrendered, right?¡± ¡°Zach¡­ Did you forget? Keith told us about that guy. They let him go in the movie, and he ends up killing someone in Ramelle. I don¡¯t remember who. But it doesn¡¯t matter now, anyway.¡± That wasn¡¯t really why I¡¯d shot him; I hadn¡¯t even really thought about that in the heat of the moment, but earlier today I had been considering what I¡¯d do if the guy survived the initial attack like he did in the movie. Killing him was my first choice anyway. ¡°Ah¡­ That was him? I guess you¡¯re right,¡± Zach admitted, shrugging. After that we continued digging in silence, until we judged that the hole was large enough. We wrapped Miles up in his blanket, since that was about the best we could do. Zach and I carried him together, while Cora held his rifle and helmet. We carefully lowered him into the ground, and just stared down at him for a minute or so. Eventually, I grabbed the shovel again and and started to fill the hole back in. We buried him in silence and, once he was firmly in the ground, Cora jammed his rifle into the dirt just above his head. We left his helmet atop the rifle, as a makeshift tombstone, and stood around the grave to say our last goodbyes. We stayed there until the others had finished the graves for the three paratroopers. Once they were done we finally moved out, though it was already starting to get dark. Because we had lost so much daylight attacking the machine gun bunker and sealing with its aftermath, we marched well into the night before the captain finally let us rest. We ended up out in the middle of a huge field, with no defenses to speak of, and slid back into the routine of setting up camp. I volunteered for the first watch, and Sergeant Horvath took it with me. We tried to talk a little, but we didn¡¯t discuss anything particularly memorable that night. Eventually our watch was over, and we woke the next pair up. I lay down exhausted, yet dreading the dreams I might see that night. Eventually, though, I just crashed. Chapter 14 That was perhaps the worst night of my life. My dreams were haunted, mostly by a ghostly visage of Miles, though Keith and even Davey made a few appearances. Towards the end of the nightmare I saw ten faceless silhouettes, each of them wearing one of those damned watches and glaring at me accusingly. Then I was in the water again, watching as a young man, a comrade whose name I would never know, was struck down before he could even surface. The scene jumped to the nameless Sergeant laying on the beach and his outstretched hand, the other held against his neck in a vain attempt to stifle a torrent of blood. Then to Davey, facedown and dead in a pool of his own blood. Finally the scene shifted to the middle aged French mother who had died to save my life, her throat cut and staring at me as we bled out together. As the light in her eyes faded, the whole scene faded to black. My eyes shot open as I awoke in a cold sweat. I found myself still lying in a field, just as the sun began to peak above the horizon. I sat up and put my head in my hands, taking several deep breaths and trying to calm myself down. Eventually I sighed and leaned back against the cold ground. I just stared up at the sunrise, the picturesque scene of beauty not reflecting my thoughts at all. I covered my eyes and tried to get back to sleep, but all too soon Sergeant Horvath made the rounds to get everyone up. We ate a subdued breakfast, packed up, and moved out. My legs were finally getting sore from the days of constant movement, but there wasn¡¯t much I could do about it then. ¡°We¡¯re gonna run out of food if we don¡¯t find him by tomorrow, Captain,¡± Reiben complained from the front of the group a couple of hours into the day¡¯s march. ¡°We¡¯re getting close,¡± Captain Miller replied confidently. ¡°We should be in Ramelle by noon. If Ryan¡¯s alive, he¡¯ll be there.¡± Reiben just shrugged at that and we continued along, conversing among ourselves. Miller had Reiben on point so I just stuck in the back with Zach and Cora again, not much happening for the next hour or so. ¡°Did you hear that?¡± Cora asked, cutting into the silence that had settled in among the three of us. ¡°What?¡± I asked back. ¡°I didn¡¯t hear¡­ What the hell?¡± I heard a rumbling noise off in the distance. Its volume increased, whatever it was steadily approaching us. ¡°Captain?¡± I called out nervously. ¡°It¡¯s a half-track! Cover!¡± I didn¡¯t know what a half-track was, but I dove down just like all the others. We were lucky to once again be in the middle of a field of tall grass. Though the vehicle was somewhat obscured by the grass as it wheeled down the road, it looked like someone had welded the front of a jeep onto a tank. It had no cannon, but there was a pair of wheels in the front with tank treads just behind them. But it didn¡¯t matter much what it looked like anyway, because someone tried to blow it up before it could pass us! ¡°Who¡¯s doing the shooting?!¡± Sergeant Horvath called out, before the German vehicle was hit again. This time there was a real explosion, and the front half went up in flames. Apparently it was some kind of troop transport, because several German soldiers popped out of the back and tried to go over the sides. I opened fire on them when they went over, as did a few of the others. We got most of them there, but I definitely saw some of them make it out on the other side. Miller and Reiben went around the front, and he sent me and Horvath to flank around the back. We checked the ones we¡¯d taken out on the way around, but they were all dead. We heard more gunfire so we hustled up, but it turned out we weren¡¯t really needed. The few enemies that had made it out of the vehicle had been gunned down by Miller and Reiben by the time we got around, so there wasn¡¯t much left to do but check the inside. Jackson and I climbed onto the thing, but they had all either died inside the transport or just outside of it. ¡°All clear! Drivers burned up, Sir,¡± Jackson called down to the captain while I hopped off the ruined half-track. As I landed, three paratroopers popped up out of a small ditch a dozen feet away, just on the other side of the road. The one in the middle held a bazooka, but the one on the right began to speak. ¡°That was a recon element, second SS. We¡¯ve been expecting a probe, that must have been it,¡± the man, a corporal by the looks of his uniform, stated tiredly. The captain nodded and introduced himself. ¡°Captain Miller, Charlie Company, 2nd Rangers.¡± The paratroopers introduced themselves as Corporal Henderson, Private Ryan and PFC Toynbe. We all stared at the self-proclaimed Ryan, the guy in the middle with the bazooka. ¡°James Francis Ryan?¡± Miller asked incredulously. ¡°Yes, Sir,¡± Ryan replied with a nervous smile. ¡°How¡¯d you guess that?¡± ¡°Son of a bitch,¡± Reiben muttered, as Miller suggested we move along and delaying any questions. We made quick time back to Ramelle; apparently we were already on the outskirts of the village. The place had been devastated; not a single building was fully intact, though several remained standing even with missing walls or collapsed roofs. Most of them simply lay in ruin, reduced whilly to rubble. Anyone from the village had long since evacuated or been killed, apparently, as the group of fifteen or so paratroopers were the only ones remaining. I followed along at the back with my fellow Players, until we reached the bridge and the sandbag bunkers on our side of it. I was out of earshot of the Captain and Corporal Henderson until then, so the first part of the conversation I heard was Miller saying, ¡°We¡¯re here for him- Ryan.¡± He pointed out Ryan, who had rejoined his buddies and was taking a swig from his canteen . He had also removed his helmet, and was clearly recognizable at that point- he looked just like Matt Damon, as expected. ¡°Me, Sir?¡± Ryan called, and Miller just waved him forward. ¡°This should be good,¡± Reiben deadpanned, rolling his eyes. We walked onto the bridge while Miller took Ryan off to the side. ¡°Your brothers were killed in combat,¡± Miller stated simply, after Ryan asked him what was going on. ¡°Which-Which ones?¡± Ryan asked, with a few trembles in his face. ¡°All of them,¡± Miller replied, and Ryan just stood there, looking lost. ¡°On- On the level?¡± He asked after a few seconds of silence. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m afraid so,¡± Miller replied with a grimace. ¡°Uh, you might want to take some time with this¡­¡± ¡°You, uh¡­ You came all the way out here to tell me that?¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯re- You¡¯re going home,¡± Miller said with a pained smile. ¡°Our orders are to bring you back.¡± ¡°Bring me back?¡± Ryan muttered weakly. Miller stepped away and tried to converse with Corporal Henderson, but Ryan interrupted them. ¡°I have my orders too, Sir. And they don¡¯t include abandoning my post.¡± I understand that, but this¡­ changes things,¡± Miller replied, trying once again to end the conversation there. ¡°I don¡¯t see that it does, Sir,¡± Ryan shot back. ¡°Sir, our orders are to hold this bridge at all cost,¡± Corporal Henderson argued, taking Ryan¡¯s side. ¡°This is one of only two intact bridges on the Merderet. Frankly, Captain, if we lose it we¡¯re fucked.¡± ¡°Private, if your outfit wants to stay, that¡¯s one thing. But your party¡¯s over here.¡± ¡°Sir, I can¡¯t leave until at least reinforcements-¡± ¡°Hey, asshole!¡± Reiben interjected. ¡°Four of our guys already died looking for you, alright?¡±A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Sir?¡± Ryan asked the captain, in disbelief. ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Miller admitted, nodding. Ryan approached us after that. ¡°What were¡­ What were their names?¡± ¡°Irwin Wade and Adrian Caparzo,¡± Mellish stated, then motioned for me to finish the list. ¡°Keith Norton and Miles Porter,¡± I added, with a wince. ¡°Norton, Porter, Wade and¡­¡± ¡°Caparzo.¡± Ryan walked a few steps away, shaking his head. ¡°It doesn¡¯t make any sense¡­¡± He mumbled, then said it again louder. ¡°It doesn¡¯t make any sense, Sir. Why? Why do I deserve to go?¡± The private was in full-on rant mode at that point. "Why not any of these guys,¡° Ryan continued, pointing out his fellow paratroopers, gathered on the bridge. ¡°They all fought just as hard as me!¡± I took a moment then to glance around at his stone-faced comrades. He had a point, really. ¡°Is that what they¡¯re supposed to tell your mother? When they send her another folded American flag?¡± Miller asked, staring Ryan down. ¡°Tell her that when you found me, I was here, and I was with the only brothers that I have left,¡± Ryan said passionately. ¡°And that there¡¯s no way I was gonna desert them. I think she¡¯ll understand that. There¡¯s no way I¡¯m leaving this bridge,¡± Ryan finished, stomping off to rejoin his comrades. We all just stared at him, some of us with expressions closer to a glare, as he sat down with some of his guys. They tried to comfort him, at least. ¡°What the hell do we do now?¡± Jackson asked, but Miller just walked across the bridge, Sergeant Horvath on his heels. ¡°I don¡¯t want to have come all this way for nothing,¡± I stated, my eyes flashing between each of my own comrades. ¡°If he won¡¯t leave, maybe¡­ Maybe we should stay?¡± I suggested. Reiben did not like the sound of that. ¡°Stay? So more of us can die for this prick?¡± ¡°Quinn¡¯s right, Reiben,¡± Maxley spoke up. ¡°Maybe this is why we¡¯re here- to defend this bridge.¡± ¡°Our orders are to save Private Ryan, Maxley,¡± Reiben shot back. ¡°The captain said it yesterday, right? ¡®Our objective is to win the war.¡¯ I believe God brought us here, Reiben. It¡¯s fate.¡± Jackson seemed to like the sound of that, though the rest of us remained unconvinced. ¡°Whatever,¡± Reiben muttered, shrugging. ¡°Let¡¯s see what the captain has to say about that theory of yours,¡± he finished, as Miller and Horvath returned. They both had determined looks on their faces as they approached our little cluster. ¡°We¡¯re staying,¡± Captain Miller stated with finality. Horvath just nodded while Reiben grimaced. ¡°Let¡¯s see what we¡¯ve got,¡± Miller said with a glance to Corporal Henderson, taking command. Apparently I¡¯d missed the first declaration, but Corporal Henderson was the highest ranking paratrooper left in the village; their only officer had died in the strikes that destroyed the buildings. ¡°Take us to your armory.¡± ¡°Yes, Sir,¡± Henderson replied, then lead us onwards. The ¡®armory¡¯ was really just a pile of weapons and ammo boxes on a table at the bottom of a partially-ruined bell tower, but it was a hell of a lot more than we had. Two machine guns, two bazookas, a handful of grenades and small mines, and some extra rifles and handguns. The captain just stared at the table for a few minutes, thinking the situation over. Planning out our strategy, maybe. ¡°Alright, here¡¯s what we can do. The Germans will probably bring tanks, right? Don¡¯t answer that, of course they will. We need to split them up- And if we get some of them to come down this main road, the rubble makes a bit of a bottleneck,¡± Miller declared. ¡°And if we stop the lead tank right here,¡± I realized, pointing out the thinnest stretch of the road. ¡°We can pick ¡®em off while they¡¯re stuck behind it! Put the mines there too, actually.¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± Miller said, looking at the two and three story buildings on either side of the road, some of them still mostly intact. ¡°Just put them under the rubble, no need to bury anything. Set up a few guys in the higher floors of some of these, rain hell on any infantry following that tank.¡± ¡°Okay, Sir, but how the hell do we disable a tank? And what if there¡¯re more?¡± Reiben asked. It was a good question, really. ¡°We may as well be hitting them with spitwads, for all the good what we¡¯ve got can do against tanks.¡± ¡°Well, we could try a sticky bomb,¡± Miller suggested, starting a round of muffled laughter. ¡°Sticky bomb, Sir?¡± Ryan asked, with a smirk. ¡°Sir, are you making that up?¡± Henderson asked, matching Ryan¡¯s smirk. ¡°No, it¡¯s in the field manual! You can check it out if you want to,¡± Miller shot back confidently. ¡°We seem to be out of field manuals, Sir. Perhaps you can enlighten us,¡± Ryan replied. ¡°You guys have some demolition, right? Some TNT or Composition B?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the one thing we¡¯ve got plenty of, Sir,¡± a paratrooper said, evidently their demo guy. ¡°I got that bridge wired with enough Composition B to blow it twice.¡± ¡°Good. You can spare some, then,¡± Miller said, satisfied. He walked over to the bridge, and sent a couple of guys down in a little boat to reclaim some of the explosives. ¡°To make a sticky bomb, you take a standard issue GI sock, cram it with as much Comp B as it can hold, rig up a simple fuse, then you coat the whole thing with axle grease. So when you throw it, it should stick. It¡¯s a bomb that sticks, the sticky bomb.¡± ¡°This is good,¡¯ Reiben started. ¡°Now we gotta surrender our socks.¡± Once the Comp B had been recovered, I joined in, offering up my own socks and loading them up myself. Miller had some of the paratroopers take them after that, though; apparently I was needed elsewhere. ¡°Any other ideas?¡± Miller asked, after gathering up our original squad, plus Corporal Henderson and Ryan. ¡°One machine gun on the move, falling back as they advance, and another one up high somewhere,¡± Horvath suggested. ¡°Jackson and¡­ Michaels, up in that bell tower,¡± Captain Miller ordered. ¡°Parker, you too,¡± Henderson added, calling in one of his men. ¡°Parker¡¯s our machine gun guy, Captain. I¡¯ll take the one on the ground.¡± ¡°Alright. Mellish, you stick with Corporal Henderson. Siskou will stay back and hang on to the ammo for Mellish and Henderson. Reiben, Mike, you¡¯re with me. Quinn, Maxley¡­ You two are fast on your feet. Stay with me to start with, but redeploy wherever it seems necessary. Maxley, follow Quinn¡¯s lead.¡± ¡°Yes, Sir,¡± Maxley saluted, looking back to me. ¡°Henderson, your guys will be with me or in the buildings. Your choice who goes where.¡± Henderson agreed and went to distribute his men to their positions. ¡°Quinn, you¡¯re gonna draw their attention, try and lure some of them through the chokepoint.¡± ¡°Uh, how, Sir?¡± I asked, nervously. He didn¡¯t expect me to outrun them, did he? ¡°With that. The rabbit,¡± Captain Miller replied, pointing to what I could only describe as a travesty of engineering. It was another half-track, but it was more like a bench combined with a motorcycle, but with tank treads behind the front wheel. ¡°One of the Airborne guys will drive, you¡¯ll sit on the back and fire. He¡¯ll make it look like you¡¯re on patrol, go in and out real quick. Think you can handle it?¡± ¡°Yes, Sir,¡± I replied, clutching my rifle a little harder than normal. ¡°Where am I during all this, Sir?¡± Ryan asked, everyone else accounted for. ¡°Never more than two feet away from me.¡± We spread out after that, getting our positions ready. Jackson and Parker took a rope and a little over half of the 30 cal ammo up the bell tower, then dangled the roped down outside. ¡°Hey, Zach,¡± I started, while the two of us tied one of the machine guns up with the rope. Jackson hoisted it up once after I testes the knots and gave a thumbs up. ¡°You remember what happens here, right?¡± I asked, glancing at the tower. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll watch out for the tank. Try and get them out too if I can,¡± he suggested, looking back to Jackson and Parker. ¡°Alright,¡± I sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll try to take out the tank. Don¡¯t count on me stopping it, just- just stay alive, okay?¡± ¡°Got it,¡± Zach nodded, the teenager wearing a nervous grin. ¡°I¡¯ll see you on the other side of the war, yeah?¡± I agreed, and he headed up the stairs inside the tower. Cora was helping Mellish and Henderson pick their initial location, as well as a few options for when they had to fall back. I took one last look at the top of the tower and waved, Jackson and Zach waving back. I went to look for Captain Miller, not sure what I was supposed to do next. ¡°And this position right here,¡± the captain was saying, when I found him with Maxley, Ryan, and the demo guy, ¡°This is the Alamo. We get pushed back this far, last man alive blows the bridge.¡± I passed by the captain with a nod, Maxley tagging along with me, and we found Mellish, Reiben and Sergeant Horvath sitting around and smoking on the front steps of one of the buildings. They even had a phonograph going, the record player outdated even by the standards of 1944. ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t that... Edith Piaf?¡± Maxley asked, as we approached. Once he mentioned it, I recognized the voice. The song, even. ¡°Tu Es Partout,¡± I said, nodding. My grandfather had been a huge fan of hers, much to my grandmother¡¯s chagrin. He¡¯d lost all of his old records at some point, but he still played her songs often enough that I knew most of them. ¡°What?¡± Mellish asked, glancing at the record player, then to me. ¡°It¡¯s the name of the song. Means ¡®you are everywhere¡¯,¡± I replied, then started humming along. ¡°Hey, you know what this song reminds me of?¡± Reiben asked out of the blue, while I was humming along. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Maxley asked him. ¡°It reminds me of Mrs. Rachel Troubowitz, and what she said to me the day I left for basic,¡± Reiben started, but Mellish interjected before he could continue. ¡°What, don¡¯t touch me? ¡°No, you see, Mrs. Rachel Troubowitz was our super''s wife. She comes into my mom''s shop to try on a few things, all right? And she''s easily like a uh, a 44 double E. These things are massive.¡± He held his hands out in front of his chest, to leave no confusion on just what was so massive. I stopped humming and watched, interested to see where he was going with it. ¡°And I''ve got her convinced that she''s like a 42D. So we''re in the dressing room, she''s trying to squeeze into this side cut, silk ribboned, triple panel girdle with the uh, shelf-lift brassiere and it''s beautiful because she''s just pouring outta this thing, you know?¡± He did the thing with his hands again before he continued. ¡°It''s beautiful. And she sees me and she can tell I got a hard on the size of the statue of liberty, all right? And she says to me, "Richard, calm down." And she says, "Now when you''re over there, if you see anything that upsets you, if you''re ever scared, I want you to close your eyes¡­ and think of these. You understand?" So I said, "Yes, ma''am." That¡¯s about how it went, yeah.¡± We¡¯d all thrown in a few comments throughout the story, and had a good laugh at the end. Our fun was cut short soon after though, as the captain called everyone to him. ¡°Jackson saw two Tigers, two Panzers and fifty plus infantry, less than a mile from here¡± Captain Miller stated, as we assembled. Four tanks, as expected. ¡°Everyone to your positions. Quinn, hop on the rabbit and get going.¡± I nodded and clenched my teeth as the driver pulled up, and hopped into the rear seat, my back to the driver¡¯s. Miller gave a few last orders to the others while I readied my BAR. ¡°Good luck, Quinn!¡± Sergeant Horvath called out, before he took cover with the others. ¡°Thanks, Sarge,¡± I muttered. I took a deep breath and, ready as I¡¯d ever be, I tapped twice on the side of the vehicle and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Chapter 15 I watched as my allies faded in the distance, the unnamed paratrooper driving forward into the heart of the enemy¡¯s position. I gave one last salute, then turned my head towards the Germans¡¯ supposed position. We heard them a bit before they came into view, the obnoxious engines of their tanks drowning out any other noise. The driver turned the rabbit towards them and did a quick U-turn just after we came into their view, and I opened fire. Jackson had been right; with just a brief glance I was sure there were at least fifty infantry marching alongside their tanks. More than twice the number of men we had, even if you exclude the tank crews. Even though I couldn¡¯t line up a good shot from the moving vehicle, we had the Germans enfiladed perfectly, so I didn¡¯t really have to. I was able to drop at least two of the infantrymen right at the start, before they really knew we were there. They seemed split on what to do; some of them took cover behind their tanks, while others stood their ground and fired back. The paratrooper began swerving once he heard the gunfire. The evasive maneuver kept us fairly safe, somehow, with only a few bullets reaching the vehicle, but it also ruined my chances of taking down many more of them. I¡¯m pretty sure I only got one more of them on the way out. But, that didn¡¯t really matter. We were just bait anyway. We sped away from them, hoping to lead them straight into our allies¡¯ waiting hands. I stopped firing and put my head down, pretending to reload and giving the barrel a chance to cool off. We quickly made it back to the others, the paratrooper dropping me off by a crater that had been blasted into the street. Captain Miller, Ryan, Reiben, Maxley and a couple of Airborne troops were in the pit, so I joined them right away, dropping down between Ryan and Maxley. ¡°At least fifty, like you said, Captain,¡± I told him, catching my breath. ¡°They take the bait?¡± Miller asked back, peeking out of the foxhole. ¡°I don¡¯t know, Sir.¡± I just shrugged and joined him, watching the street. All was still for several seconds, but soon enough a pair of the tanks rolled by, the Panzers, I think. The next was another half-track, carrying half a dozen troops and accompanied by another fifteen or so. They passed us by, just like the Panzers. The Tiger tanks, however, were a different story altogether. The leading Tiger stopped in the middle of the street and turned, heading down the street and straight for us, the very ground beginning to shake as the monstrosity closed in. A couple dozen German infantry followed close behind, unknowingly marching right into the jaws of death. Someone detonated all of our handful of mines as the infantry passed them, the explosion taking out half a dozen or so of the enemy but, more importantly, sewing confusion into their ranks. Our two machine gunners fired on their scattering ranks, killing several more. The captain yelled for Henderson and Mellish to displace and find a new position, while a paratrooper ran out from one of the buildings along the street, one of our sticky bombs in hand. He ran unimpeded to the tank, but he¡¯d lit the fuse too early and he couldn¡¯t place it fast enough. The bomb went off in his hands, blowing him to smithereens and raining dust and body parts down on the Tiger tank, which was unfortunately undamaged. ¡°Holy shit!¡± I called out, trembling as the dead soldier¡¯s bloody helmet rolled off of the tank and to the ground. Miller grimaced and turned away, ordering the other two paratroopers to try their hand at the tank with their own sticky bombs. I had planned to volunteer to go for the tank, but I just couldn¡¯t do it after that; I wanted nothing to do with the damned sticky bombs. ¡°Thirty infantry on the right flank!¡± The captain called out, presumably getting more signals from Jackson up in the tower. He ordered the ground machine gun team, Henderson and Mellish, to displace again. They got out just in time, too; the Tiger tank fired a shell straight into their vacated position, blasting the ground apart. In the aftermath of the explosion, dust and debris rained down on Cora, who I noticed for the first time since I¡¯d gotten back. She had remained several yards behind the machine gunners, and was safeguarding most of their extra ammo. She dashed out before the smoke could clear, carrying an ammo box in each hand and what looked like two machine gun belts wrapped around her neck, and ran to follow Mellish into a building across the street. I tried to cover her, firing a few shots before and after she passed through my line of fire. She made into the building just fine. I kept firing as a few more enemy soldiers came into sight, and the tank continued to advance. The paratrooper duo crawled out of the foxhole and crept towards the nearby tank, their bombs¡¯ fuses already lit. They slapped them onto the thing¡¯s wheels and rushed back to the relative safety of our little crater. ¡°Get down! Get! Down!¡± Miller barked, pushing Ryan down as the rest of us went prone and held down on our helmets. My ears rang for a few seconds after the detonation, but the Tiger was finally immobilized, the treads on our side breaking off. A half-track tried to roll up behind it, but someone dropped a couple of molotov cocktails right into it, presumably torching everyone inside. Several enemy infantry poured out of it, burning up and wailing. The others ignored them, but I shot three that had run in my direction. The others had to worry about conserving their ammo, but I certainly didn¡¯t! I had gone over this battle with Keith several times, and on my own many more times after his death, so I knew exactly what was coming next. The immobilized Tiger turned its cannon towards us, ready to fire one last shot, even as the others jumped out of the pit to capture the tank. Miller ordered Ryan to stay, and led everyone else out of the pit. ¡°Hey, Maxley, this way,¡± I said, tapping my redheaded squadmate¡¯s shoulder, just as he began to climb out. He looked at me curiously but followed me back into the foxhole. ¡°Hurry!¡± I shouted back, lifting Ryan to his feet. I pushed Ryan forward, to what would have been our right flank had we stayed in the foxhole. We moved him past the buildings on our side of the street and I pushed him to the ground like Miller had done moments earlier. ¡°Maxley, get down!¡± I called, before pressing my helmet down once again. Maxley followed my command, copying my movement. ¡°What the hell are you doing?!¡± Ryan demanded beneath me, before the tank fired. ¡°Shit!¡± He shouted then, closing his eyes. ¡°Ryan, Maxley, get up!¡± I ordered, pulling the young paratrooper to his feet. ¡°I saw a flak gun coming- 20-mil!¡± ¡°Where?!¡± Ryan shouted back, as we leaned against the nearby building¡¯s wall. ¡°I didn¡¯t see it, Quinn,¡± Maxley reported, looking back to the street and the tank. I followed his gaze and watched as Captain Miller jammed his Thompson into a slit on the front of the tank and opened fire. I watched until the paratroopers climbed aboard, then turned back to Maxley and Ryan, knowing we needed to move fast. ¡°It¡¯s coming from the right side- We go through this building, we can get a good flank off! Got it?¡± They agreed, so we ran into the building, finding that an exit had been blasted into the opposite side. I checked outside and it was mostly clear, so I slipped through the hole and helped Ryan and Maxley through. ¡°You stay low, just follow me!¡± I called back to them, as we ran across a street then took cover behind a pile of rubble, the ruins of an old house. I told Ryan to stay prone and I knelt behind a chunk of the roof, watching as four enemy soldiers wheeled a massive flak cannon right past us. It was a fucking anti-aircraft gun, but they intended to shoot our paratroopers as they stormed the tank. We weren¡¯t going to let that happen. Once they had their backs to me I simply popped up, drawing out one of my two remaining grenades. I pulled the pin and threw it into their midst but opened fire before it could land. Maxley followed suit, firing until we heard the familiar PING! of his M1 Garand. First I shot the one to my right; he looked like he might have been an officer. Half a dozen rounds pierced into his back and he collapsed immediately, the others shouting and trying to turn around. Maxley had elected to shoot the one furthest to our left, dropping him as well. Before either of the remaining two could even draw a weapon the grenade detonated, and I fired into the smoke before it could clear. They were all dead by the time it cleared, so shooting might not have been necessary. Oh well. Stolen story; please report. ¡°Can we use it?!¡± Ryan asked me, peeking over the rubble. ¡°I think so! Let¡¯s spin it around so we can shoot anyone else that comes from there!¡± I pointed towards the street the gunners had pushed it down. As far as I knew, there should be thirty or so infantry and another tank coming soon. We could just ditch the thing when the tank showed up. The three of us bounded over the wall and sprinted for the flak gun, staying as low as we could. We were able to reach it with no further complications and got it turned around easily enough. The thing was damn heavy, but at least nobody was shooting at us while we did it. ¡°Now what?¡± Ryan asked, looking ahead of us. ¡°Ryan, go back to the Captain! Through the building again, like before. Maxley, take him there and come back. We¡¯ll man the gun for a bit.¡± ¡°Sure thing, Quinn,¡± Maxley acknowledged, herding a disgruntled Ryan back through the hole in the wall we¡¯d climbed out of. I tried to familiarize myself with the weapon while he was away. I couldn¡¯t find a trigger, though I was suspicious of a pair of pedals at the bottom of the cannon. I still wasn¡¯t sure exactly how to reload the thing. Maxley returned soon enough. ¡°The Captain¡¯s pissed, but he was glad to hear about this thing,¡± Maxley admitted. ¡°Could have ripped our guys to shreds. Good eyes, Quinn.¡± I just smiled weakly at that, then readied myself. ¡°I¡¯ll shoot. You know how to reload this thing?¡± I inquired, still unsure how to actually do it. ¡°Sure. These boxes,¡± he started, indicating a pair of ammo boxes one of the soldiers must have carried. He opened one up and continued. ¡°Yeah, these are full of mags. Should be twenty rounds each. You slot them in on the sides, here,¡± he showed me, loading the cannons. The thing had four barrels, two stacked up on each side, and each one had to be loaded individually. We got it ready just in time, as a whole squad of Nazi soldiers turned a corner and came into view. I stepped onto the right pedal, and the two barrels on the right began to shoot. Several of the bewildered Nazis were torn apart in the first wave, but the cannon ate through the ammo in seconds. I moved my foot back and tried the other pedal, continuing to rain havoc on the enemy before us. Some of them tried to fire back while a few tried to run, but their bullets ricocheted off the thing harmlessly, while I mowed them down. None of them were even able to escape; after only two sets of mags for each barrel, at least twenty Nazis lay dead before us. ¡°This thing is nuts,¡± Maxley astutely observed, as he reloaded it again. ¡°Quinn, we¡¯re just about out of-¡± He was interrupted by the tremble of the ground in front of us. ¡°Shit! Another tank!¡± ¡°We¡¯re leaving, now!¡± I commanded. Maxley had no arguments, so we ran back to the original building as the tank rounded the corner. They fired once, blasting the flak cannon to bits. Presumably they hadn¡¯t realized it was abandoned; the idiots blew up their own heavy weapon. ¡°We¡¯re back, Captain!¡± I called out, once we found Miller, Reiben, Horvath, Ryan and the bevy of paratroopers. They were starting to fall back, as the Germans¡¯ superior numbers threatened to overwhelm them. I was happy to see that they had taken out the tank without any casualties; going for the flak gun had really paid off. ¡°Quinn! Fall back, now!¡± Captain Miller shouted back, from the other side of the street. We¡¯d have to go right through the enemy¡¯s line of fire to rejoin them, so we stayed on our side and moved back. The remaining tank rolled into the street soon, another batch of soldiers close behind it. The Captain and his group halted and found cover again, firing on the Nazi soldiers as they took cover of their own. Maxley and I entered another building and found a window, the glass long-since shattered, from which we could shoot. We held our fire, though, as the tank was the only target we had sight of. As Reiben had so eloquently stated earlier, our weapons may as well have been spitwads against that thing. ¡°What now?¡± Maxley asked, exasperated. I didn¡¯t think there was much we could do at the moment, and I was about to tell him that, when the tank¡¯s cannon began to move. I froze at that, my eyes wide. The tank wasn¡¯t aiming at us; the cannon was pointed upwards at about forty five degrees. Right at the bell tower! ¡°Zach!¡± I shouted, then bolted through the window. ¡°Where the hell are you going?!¡± Maxley implored from the rear. ¡°Quinn?!¡± I charged for the tank as fast as I could; fortunately the tank itself gave me complete defilade from the rest of the Nazis. I climbed onto the side and reached for the hatch, but I was too late. The tank fired on the bell tower, wrecking the top floor of the tower, parts of the roof collapsing. I was too close to the cannon, as well; my left eardrum ruptured and I was dazed for several seconds, simply leaning on the tank and holding my left hand to the ruined ear. ¡°Quinn!¡± Maxley broke me out of my reverie, shaking me by the shoulder. He had joined me on the tank at some point, apparently. ¡°Fuck! Maxley, open the hatch!¡± I demanded, my voice unintentionally raised to compensate for my half-deaf state. He didn¡¯t argue, climbing up the tank and pulling it open just like I¡¯d asked. He held it open while I shoved my BAR into it, firing wildly inside the vehicle for several seconds. Then I drew the rifle back and took at my final grenade, pulled the pin, and dropped it in. ¡°Close it! Run!¡± Maxley complied, and we ran back, jumping through the window again. We stayed down as the grenade exploded, then cautiously checked out the window. Smoke billowed out of the tank and Maxley said he didn¡¯t hear anyone moving inside, so we were ready to move on. ¡°What happens next?¡± I thought out loud, holding a hand over my ear again. ¡°Uh¡­ Shit! Mellish! Maxley, come on!¡± I led Maxley back outside, and headed toward the last building Corporal Henderson and Private Mellish had occupied. It was just on the other side of the ruined tank, actually. Outside it we found Cora Siskou, trembling and holding her handgun and a box of ammo. ¡°Lee!¡± She called out fearfully as we approached, and pointed towards a staircase. ¡°Five men went up!¡± I just nodded and told her and Maxley to stay downstairs. I handed her my rifle and drew my own handgun, switched off the safety, then charged up the staircase. I could hear Mellish wailing for help, my name and Reiben¡¯s both coming up frequently, and the two men were constantly yelling. I leaped over the bodies of four Nazi soldiers just outside the room, then burst in. There I found both Mellish and the fifth Nazi soldier, along with Henderson¡¯s corpse. Mellish was on his back with the Nazi on top of him, slowly lowering a bayonet towards his chest. I quickly put the gun to the man¡¯s head and pulled the trigger, then kicked him before he collapsed. I fired a few shots into the soldier¡¯s chest, just to be sure, then knelt down next to Mellish, both of us totally out of breath. ¡°Holy shit! Are- Are you alright?¡± I asked, as he just stared at the ceiling and breathed. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m- Fuck! I¡¯m alright.¡± He sat up and stared at the soldier who almost killed him - who indeed did kill him, in the movie - and pried the bayonet out of the dead man¡¯s hands, sliding it back onto his belt. ¡°Henderson¡­ Shit,¡± Mellish sighed, the Airborne corporal dead on the floor. He¡¯d been shot in the neck, and his hands lay at his sides, covered in blood. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± I finally decided, once we¡¯d fully caught our breaths. ¡°Maxley and Siskou are downstairs!¡± Mellish agreed and we got out of there, stepping right past the soldiers he and Henderson had killed before I arrived. I switched the safety back on and re-holstered my weapon once I saw that the coast was clear. Once we got down I reclaimed the BAR, then before I could say anything Sergeant Horvath hobbled over to us; he¡¯d been shot through the leg. ¡°Come on! We¡¯re going to the Alamo!¡± Horvath ordered, so we all followed him. Apparently the Germans had still managed to push forward, even with all the work I¡¯d put into the battle. We ran for the bridge as the Germans opened fire on us, though Maxley and I turned to shoot back a few times. We naturally fell to the back of the group, and the others made it back in good time. Before we could get to the bridge, though, I heard Maxley yell something from my left side. ¡°What?!¡± I hollered back, unable to hear him clearly. ¡°Run! Panzer!¡± He shouted again, looking back. I looked as well, just in time to see a tank¡¯s cannon zeroing in on us. ¡°Fuck!¡± We both shrieked, when the cannon¡¯s motion ceased. Then it fired. We tried to spread out, but the shell hit the ground just beneath Maxley¡¯s feet. Shane Maxley¡¯s lower body was annihilated by the blast, killing him almost instantly. I wasn¡¯t quite in its radius, but the force of the explosion still knocked me backwards off my feet and I rolled into a ditch on the side of the road. My BAR clatter to the ground next to me and my helmet flew off. ¡°Fuck! Fuck!¡± I shouted, shakily rolling over. I¡¯d landed hard on my left side, probably breaking a few of my ribs again. I quickly reclaimed the rifle and the helmet, then crawled my way up the side of the ditch, staying as low to the ground as possible. I poked my head out, only to find a dozen or so Germans lined up right in front of me, using our own sandbag bunkers on my side of the bridge as cover against the other American soldiers on their side. The way they had lined up, though, was just too easy. I set up my BAR in front of me and stayed prone, then opened fire on their line. I ducked my head down but held the rifle steady and squeezed down on the trigger for a solid thirty seconds, turning it blindly. I finally released the trigger and slid back down a few feet. I took shallow, ragged breaths as I stared up into the sky, hoping that the battle would end faster. I heard someone shouting in German, then Nazi soldiers appeared at the top of the ditch. I shakily raised my rifle once again and perforated one of them, but the other fired three shots at me before I could turn my weapon to him. I still managed to hit him, and he fell into the ditch with me, the other one stumbling backwards. Two of his shots hit true, one piercing my right shoulder and the other penetrating my abdomen. He actually fell right onto me, his elbow jabbing right into my already fractured ribs. I coughed up blood at that, the pain shooting through my entire body, but I saw him struggling to get up. Groaning, I grabbed the knife off of his belt with my left hand and jabbed it into his side over and over again, until he finally went still. I struggled to push him off of me, then stretched out my arm to grab my BAR. I held the rifle against my chest, heaving and fighting for whatever breath I could, staring into the sky and waiting. It was less than a minute later that it finally happened; I heard another explosion, then several planes flew by overhead. P-51s. Our planes. I breathed a sigh of relief, but blood continued to pool in my mouth. I couldn¡¯t even move my right arm anymore, much less stand up, so I just waited, fighting for every breath I took. After several minutes of my seemingly-futile struggle to cling onto my life, the watch started beeping. Or, the beeping had finally grown loud enough that I could hear it with only one working ear. I turned my left wrist, revealing the screen. It simply read: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED RETURN TO ISLAND NOW YES / NO I laughed, regretted it immediately, then moved the watch to my face, and pressed the YES button with my chin. The pain disappeared immediately, along with the din of battle. I smiled and laughed, not entirely sure whether I was dying or being transported to the mysterious Island. Then everything faded to black. Chapter 16 My eyes shot open and I stared up into a clear sky. I was laying flat on my back, and at first I thought I was back on Normandy beach; I could smell the ocean nearby and I felt the sand beneath my right hand. I stayed still for several seconds, simply breathing, before I sat up and looked forward. I really was on a beach, but not one I¡¯d ever seen before. I was a dozen feet up from the shoreline, the expanse of water reaching far beyond the horizon. Gentle waves lapped against the shore, darkening the white sand. The BAR was still pressed against my chest by my left hand, so I set it down and stood up, turning to look around the beach. Just thirty or so feet to my left, I found Cora Siskou, still wearing her medic uniform, and sitting down in the sand. She had leaned back on her hands and seemed to be gazing out at the ocean. ¡°Hey, Cora,¡± I called out, starting towards her after I picked up my rifle and slung it over my shoulder, along with my bag that had somehow made it back with me. The bayonet I had used to kill its previous owner lay in the sand as well, so I grabbed that too, and wrapped it up in my bag along the way. ¡°Lee! You are alive!¡± She called back, smiling excitedly. She swiftly got to her feet and met me halfway, the smile fading quickly. ¡°I saw Shane when he... I thought you were lost too.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine, Cora,¡± I announced, trying not to think about my dead friend. ¡°Is anyone else here?¡± I asked, looking around again. I saw a third person, also sprawled out on the beach another two dozen or so feet away. ¡°Over there,¡± I nodded, answering my own question. We hastily went over to him, and found a young asian man, the one I hadn¡¯t seen since the first day. I knelt next to him and gently touched his shoulder prodding him awake. He slowly opened his eyes and turned his head our way. ¡°Who are¡­ Medic Siskou? You¡¯re back already?¡± He asked, sitting up. He looked around for a second, probably confused by the change in scenery, but his gaze froze when he saw his legs. He had lost a leg on D-Day, so it clearly came as a shock to find both legs there and fully intact. His pants only covered the left leg, the foot topped off with a sock, while his right was completely exposed. The skin seemed lighter on that leg than anywhere else, as if all the skin was new. I found myself surprised as well, even though I¡¯d expected it could happen; my wounds from the Battle of Ramelle had also been healed. ¡°I guess the whole Island thing was for real, huh?¡± He shakily stood up and took an experimental step, apparently testing out his new leg. ¡°I guess so. Hey, I¡¯m Lee,¡± I introduced myself once he had stood still. ¡°Lee Quinn.¡± ¡°Oh, uh, I¡¯m Jae-jin Choi. You can just call me Jae, I guess,¡± he started, looking back to me. His eyes widened after a few seconds, though. ¡°Hey, were you the one that dragged me up the beach? I think I recognize you...¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± I said simply. ¡°Me and Reiben, one of the guys from the movie.¡± ¡°So that really was a movie? Saving Private Ryan you said, right?¡± He glanced at Cora before turning back to me. She just nodded yes. ¡°Wow¡­ Hey, isn¡¯t there anyone else? Where¡¯s that other guy?¡± Jae asked, looking around. ¡°The one that got shot in the arm?¡± ¡°Zachary!¡± Cora exclaimed, as if she had only just noticed his absence. ¡°Lee, did you see him? Did he get out of the tower?¡± She demanded, frantic. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I stated simply. ¡°I didn¡¯t see him after-¡± ¡°There you guys are!¡± I heard a fourth voice call out from behind me. Cora and I turned towards the voice and heaved a collective sigh of relief, as Zachary Michaels jogged up the beach to join us. ¡°I¡¯m glad you guys made it,¡± Zach added, smiling. ¡°How did you get out?¡± I tried to ask, but I was overpowered by Cora, who just ran for him and wrapped him up in a tight hug. ¡°Uh, h-hey, Cora,¡± he stuttered, while she held on to him. I just watched them, barely containing a smirk. A quick glance told me that Jae-jin¡¯s expression mirrored mine as well. She finally let him go and stepped back, still grinning. For his part, Zach just cleared his throat and stepped forward, hiding his embarrassment and pretending his face wasn''t flushed red. ¡°I couldn¡¯t escape the tower, actually,¡± he admitted, looking down. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Lee; I couldn¡¯t save Jackson or Parker¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright, Zach,¡± I consoled him, patting his shoulder. ¡°Were you stuck in there the whole time, then?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± he nodded. ¡°The staircase collapsed, and I think my leg was broken. It¡¯s fine now, though¡­ Hey, your leg really grew back?¡± He apparently noticed Jae-jin for the first time, or it just finally registered that a one-legged man shouldn¡¯t be able to stand up like that. ¡°Looks like it. So what happened? They just put me on a hospital ship after a couple days. They had me on so much morphine that I never really knew how much time was actually passing. Hey, you don¡¯t think that got me addicted to it, do you?¡± He asked nervously. ¡°To the morphine, I mean.¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know. We¡¯ll just have to wait and see, I guess?¡± He didn¡¯t seem happy at my statement, but he let it go at that with a sigh. ¡°Cora, what happened after the explosion? Did most of the Rangers make it out?¡± I inquired, wondering how our comrades had fared in my absence. ¡°Yes. One of the other soldiers was killed, but Ryan and the Rangers should be safe. Many US soldiers came at the end, with the planes.¡± She finished, with a small nod. ¡°That¡¯s good, I guess. What now?¡± I asked, looking further up the beach. The whole Island was a round, sandy beach, about a mile in diameter. The entire area was flat, except for one large building right in the center. ¡°Check that out, first?¡± Zach suggested, pointing out the building. We all agreed and quickly moved out, heading straight for the Island¡¯s only structure. It was a blocky gray building, reminiscent of some kind of school. Or a prison. There was a set of double doors on one side of the building, so I opened opened one of them up and pked my head in curiously. The room was dark, but I discovered a light switch just inside, and flipped it on. The first room was small and completely empty, apparently some kind of miniature entrance hall. The floor, ceiling and walls were the same dull gray color as the outside of the building. The only thing in the room was a door on the wall in front of us, opposite the pair we¡¯d opened. I stepped inside and headed to that door, opening that one as well. After flipping on another light, I found that it led to some sort of lounge, maybe even a living room. In the center of the room there was a rectangular coffee table, surrounded by a large blue corner couch and a pair of simple wooden chairs. Not much else occupied the room, the rest of the room the same as the entrance room. There were three more doors, though, one straight ahead and two on the right wall. I entered the room, the others following behind, and went for one of the right side doors. It opened into what looked to be a modern kitchen, with a dining room off to the left. I shrugged and closed the door, once the others had gotten a look. The next door lead into that dining room, so we went to the last one. The final door opened into a horizontal hallway that seemed to extend endlessly to either side, both walls full of doors. Most of the doors blended in to the wall, the same dull gray as the rest of the building, and were padlocked shut. One nearby door, however, was a metallic silvery color and had a plaque set in the middle. It simply read: SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. ¡°This is probably how we would go back to a Mission World we¡¯ve cleared, then, right?¡± Zach asked, as we stepped back into the lounge and closed the door. We definitely weren¡¯t ready to go back yet, so we didn¡¯t even touch that silvery door. ¡°Probably,¡± I agreed, taking a seat on the big couch. ¡°This is it? A kitchen, a dining room, a living room and a weird hallway full of doors? Was this Keith¡¯s house? Or some kind of headquarters?¡± ¡°I imagine Keith would have had a bedroom,¡± Zach pointed out. ¡°I¡¯d go with a headquarters.¡± ¡°Right. So, we didn¡¯t find the thing I wanted to find the most. Where the hell is the store?¡± I demanded, feeling lost. The others joined me on the couch, Jae-jin taking one of the chairs. ¡°I think we access it with the watch,¡± Jae-jin revealed, raising his left hand. ¡°I fiddled around with it a lot whenever I was coherent. Not much else to do on a hospital ship,¡± he continued, shrugging. ¡°Some of the stuff was grayed out, like I couldn¡¯t access it yet. I think one of them was a store.¡± The rest of us had constantly been on the move, so we hadn¡¯t been able to explore the mysterious watches in several days. ¡°We should go through them now, and see what we can find,¡± Cora suggested, poking at her watch. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± She asked, her eyes wide. ¡°What?¡± I asked back, before I looked back at my own watch. ¡°Oh, what the hell?¡± On the screen, it read: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED DISPLAY REWARDS YES / NO Of course, I tapped the YES button, as did the other three. The watch¡¯s screen opened up into a list so long that it didn¡¯t fit on one screen; I had to scroll down to read the whole thing. The list read: LEE QUINN: TOTAL: 717 Points ¡°Holy shit,¡± I muttered, first at the revelation that I had killed eighty one people throughout the course of our eight day Mission, then again when I saw my Point total. One hundred was supposed to be the default, and I had earned seven times that, and some change. ¡°What is it, Lee?¡± Cora asked, the other three apparently waiting on me. ¡°Just a little surprised, I guess,¡± I answered, still staring at the number. ¡°Uh, how many Points did you all get?¡±If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°384,¡± Zach said. ¡°350,¡± Cora declared. ¡°150,¡± Jae admitted, shrugging. ¡°Not much I could do on one leg.¡± ¡°Uh-huh,¡± I murmured slowly. ¡°Uh, I got 717.¡± My revelation was met with several seconds of silence. ¡°Wow,¡± Zach eventually got out, the others agreeing. ¡°So, uh, how do we spend them?¡± I closed the rewards pop-up and looked back at the watches main menu, a Point total now in place of the clock that had been displayed in the movie. There was a new clock, in the upper righthand corner, that read 12:41. The time on the Island, presumably. I already knew that the big M button on the left side displayed our Mission information, so I ignored it for now. Below that there were two more buttons, one that read STATS and one that read STORE. Curious to see what I had to work with, I tapped the STATS button. That created a new pop-up, my own statistics on display: Name: Lee Quinn Race: Human -Mutations: N/A Class: N/A -Subclasses: N/A Age: 22 Strength: 12 Dexterity: 10 Constitution: 13 Intelligence: 12 Wisdom: 10 Energy Affinity: 10 Skills: Powers: Weapons: Items: Points: 717 My stats seemed alright, assuming 10 was supposed to represent an average human. The only thing that really stood out was that, apparently, someone had put that French woman¡¯s frying pan in my bag at some point; I hadn¡¯t even noticed. Other than that and the statistics themselves, there wasn¡¯t really anything I didn¡¯t know. So I closed that one, and opened up the store. And holy shit, what a store it was. The most basic option was to just straight up increase my stat numbers. It cost ten Points to increase a stat by one. I could have just dumped 71 points into strength or constitution and become some kind of behemoth, but that seemed like too much of a waste. The first real section I looked at was the class section. A lot of it was pretty basic stuff; fighter, cleric, ranger, rogue, wizard, soldier, stuff like that. The simple classes were 100 Points each. I guess that made them pretty accessible; as long as someone survives their first Mission, they can pick up a basic class right away. Most of them seemed to come with a free skill, skills being one of the other categories in the store, related to the class, as well as a small boost to two relevant stats. The rogue, for example, gets the stealth skill and some extra dexterity and intelligence for free. A note in this section said that classes don¡¯t have to be permanent, and that you can trade them in and get a refund of half of the original Point cost. But a class could also be upgraded instead. The upgrades basically worked like prestige classes in an RPG; rogue upgrades to assassin, or ninja, or learns a bit of magic and becomes an arcane trickster, for example. Fighters could upgrade into paladins, various kinds of knights, guardians, and plenty of other things. And then you could upgrade the upgrades, then upgrade those, some of the more advanced classes going for thousands of Points. The vastness of the list was a bit overwhelming, so I skimmed through parts of it, not finding much of anything that was both interesting and totally affordable. I¡¯d probably just grab a basic class at the end. Eventually I moved on to the next part: mutations. A note at the top of the list stated that not all mutations would be compatible, and that the only way to remove one was to pay fifty Points to immediately remove all of the mutations that you had. So we¡¯d have to be very careful when selecting these, and pay close attention to the compatibility between different useful mutations. This part had just about everything, though. There were various monsters like Vampires and Werewolves, even rabble-type creatures like Goblins and Kobolds. I don¡¯t know why anyone would want to emulate a Goblin, but the option was there. Only a hundred Points for that one though, when the standard ones like Vampire went for two hundred. Then there the regular fantasy races like Elf, Dwarf, Orc, even Halfling and Gnome. There were sci-fi races thrown in too, like Vulcan, Mandalorian and Echani. I wasn¡¯t really sure how much would change from a single mutation, but they seemed pretty serious to me. This was where some of the superpowers were, too. Captain America¡¯s Super Soldier Serum, Spider-Man¡¯s power set and several different X-Men mutations each went for 200 Points. The list went on and on, including mutations from all over the place: anime, video games, movies and TV shows, and novels. I was starting to get a headache at the sheer amount of information I was sifting through, when I stumbled upon something that I thought suited me pretty well. I marked it down and checked the next section, Energy Types and Power Sources, to be sure that what I was really looking for would be there. It was, so I returned to the chosen mutation. I grinned and tapped the purchase button, dropping two hundred Points for it. I unwittingly shot to my feet and a golden glow emanated from my body, apparently changing it to match the new mutation. I couldn¡¯t do anything but blink as the others stared at me in abject shock. The light lasted just over a minute, then faded and I was able to sit back down. I would have thought that it would hurt, but it really didn¡¯t. The feeling was almost pleasant, actually. I clenched my fist, feeling the overwhelming difference between my new strength and the old. My entire body had bulked up a bit, but not quite as much as I had expected. I was still pretty lean even after the transformation. ¡°Lee?! What the hell was that?! Why did your hair turn red?!¡± Zach demanded, now standing himself. ¡°I bought a mutation,¡± I replied simply, pretty happy about it. I looked him in the eye and grinned. ¡°Your eyes are red too¡­ What is it?¡± Zach asked again, sitting back down and a bit more calm. ¡°Fanalis,¡± I answered. ¡°You can look it up.¡± He looked back to his watch and fiddled with the screen for several seconds. ¡°Fanalis,¡± he started, reading the mutation¡¯s description. ¡°¡®Hailing from the manga Magi, the Fanalis are a humanoid race with red hair and eyes. The physical abilities and senses of the Fanalis are far superior to that of humans, though they tend to be incompetent in magic. The Fanalis Mutation increases the user¡¯s physical stats by fifteen and increases physical stat growth rate, but magic becomes nearly impossible.¡¯ Holy shit, Lee. I guess you¡¯re giving up on magic?¡± Zach asked, looking concerned. I just smiled and stood up, now back to the Energy Types and Power Sources section, and made my purchase - Force Sensitivity, for another two hundred Points. The golden light returned, and I closed my eyes, taking a few slow, deep breaths. Then it was done, and I was touched by the Force, the power that flows through all living things, for the first time. ¡°Force Sensitivity,¡± I started, reading off the entry myself. ¡°From the Star Wars Universe, the Force is a field of energy that flows among all living things, binding the universe together. A Force Sensitive can learn to sense and harness the power of the Force through training and discipline. Those sensitive to the Force also tend to be especially lucky and have particularly good reaction time and natural physical strength.¡± Finished, I sat back down and glanced to each of my comrades. ¡°You¡¯re going to be a Jedi?¡± Zach asked, excitedly. ¡°Eventually,¡± I replied, nodding. ¡°I¡¯ll need to practice this. Uh, a lot.¡± ¡°How many more Points do you have, Lee?¡± Cora asked after that. ¡°Three hundred seventeen. I¡¯m going to go ahead and get a class now, too.¡± I selected a basic class- Swordsman, a subdivision of the Fighter that focuses solely on swords. It could be upgraded into several of the Jedi classes later on and only cost 100 Points to start with, so it was a solid investment for an aspiring young Force-sensitive warrior such as myself. The class came with two skills, as well: Sword Proficiency and Riposte. The next order of business was, of course, to acquire a sword. I still had over two hundred Points left, so I was sure I¡¯d be able to find something worthwhile in the Weapons sections of the store. There were two separate Weapons sections, one for magical and high-tech weapons, and another for normal weapons. I checked the mundane section first, just to find the baseline price. A typical one-handed melee weapon went for only five Points, while a two-handed weapon would be ten. Wonderful news. I eventually settled on Durandal, the gold-hilted and nigh-indestructible longsword wielded by Roland, the legendary chief of Charlemagne¡¯s knights. The myths claimed that Durandal was the sharpest blade in existence, though I¡¯m sure many other swords have claimed the same. The blade set me back another 200 Points, leaving me with only seventeen. Durandal appeared before me, floating in the air inside another golden light, the glow fading as I grabbed the sword. Along with the sword came with a scabbard and even a sword belt, fortunately. I decided to wait on the others before I figured out what to do with my remaining Points, though. There wasn¡¯t much you could buy with so little, and adding a single stat point seemed underwhelming after my slew of serious upgrades. Presumably, they had continued to peruse the store while I was looking for a weapon, so I didn¡¯t have to wait very long. ¡°I think I¡¯m ready,¡± Jae-jin announced soon, standing up. He made his selection and the golden glow overtook him. It had a certain eminence, one I hadn¡¯t really noticed when the light surrounded me. ¡°What¡¯d you pick?¡± Zach asked him, looking up from his own watch. ¡°I went with the Rogue class,¡± he stated, then tapped his screen a few more times. ¡°And this,¡± he continued, as a ring appeared before him. ¡°So what is it?¡± I asked, interested. ¡°It¡¯s a ring dagger.¡± Jae-jin slid the ring onto his right ring finger, and waggled his fingers for a little bit. The ring silently transformed into a steel dagger, held in his hand. ¡°It¡¯s from this show I used to watch. M?R. These things are called ?RM, and there¡¯s all kinds of them. Weapons, attacks, portals, summons, pretty much anything you can think of. And they all take the form of some kind of jewelry when they aren¡¯t being used.¡± He transformed the dagger back with a satisfied smile, the ring reappearing on his finger. ¡°I don¡¯t think I noticed that,¡± I admitted. ¡°How much are they?¡± ¡°This one¡¯s twenty five. That leaves me another twenty five¡­ I guess I¡¯ll just add two points to my strength.¡± The glow appeared again, but it was rather short-lived this time. ¡°Is there even anything to buy for only five Points? Even most of the consumables cost at least fifteen,¡± he complained, scrolling through the store. ¡°You can buy Coins,¡± Cora revealed, looking up. ¡°One Point goes to one hundred Coins. Coins buy normal things. Like food, and nice furniture and clothing. It is at the bottom of the store.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Jae-jin muttered simply, scrolling to the bottom. ¡°I¡¯ll just get five hundred Coins then.¡± I would probably get some as well, but 1,700 seemed a bit excessive. ¡°Uh, what are you buying, Med- I mean, Cora?¡± ¡°I am interested in magic. I choose the Mage class.¡± She smiled and tapped her screen, the glow making another appearance. When it faded she went back to the watch and, after a few more taps, the light returned. ¡°Mana,¡± Cora answered my unasked question, once the glow disappeared. ¡°Lee, do you still have the empty bottle?¡± She inquired, revealing her own used potion bottle. I nodded and dug it out of my bag, then handed it over. She held them both in one hand and, before our very eyes, they were once again filled with the red liquid. ¡°Ten Points to refill a bottle,¡± Cora said, grinning. She handed one bottle back to me and put the other one away. ¡°Cora , you didn¡¯t have to-¡± I tried to say. I would have paid for it myself if I¡¯d known that was possible. ¡°It is okay, Lee,¡± she interrupted me, already back to her watch. She materialized a ring, exactly like the one Jae-jin wore. That was probably a good call. I might have gone for one of those myself if I had just a few more Points. Cora added two stat points, then changed her last five Points into Coins. Finally it was Zach¡¯s turn, and he was ready. ¡°I¡¯m getting the Spider-Man mutation,¡± Zach decided, standing up in preparation. He glowed just as the rest of us had, and he visibly bulked up a bit. He still looked like a short, skinny teenager, though. ¡°Wow,¡± he muttered, looking around the room. ¡°It feels so¡­ weird, I guess.¡± I agreed, for sure. My senses had improved drastically with the Fanalis mutation, and even further with my new connection to the Force. The change was very disorienting. ¡°What else are you getting?¡± I asked him, as he looked back to the watch. ¡°A class. Spearman, I think. I¡¯ve always thought that¡¯d be cool,¡± Zach admitted, then started it up. The glow soon faded, and he grinned. ¡°I wonder if¡­ Oh, sick.¡± He had his own ring appear in front of him, though this one transformed into a steel spear. Those ?RM things really were useful. He bought some kind of spear skill, a couple of stat points, and four hundred Coins, completely exhausting his supply like the others had. Once everyone was fully upgraded, we decided to compare our stat pages, just to see how everything had ended up. --- Spoiler: Spoiler Name: Lee Quinn Race: Human (Fanalis) -Mutations: Fanalis Class: Swordsman -Subclasses: N/A Age: 22 Strength: 31 Dexterity: 27 Constitution: 30 Intelligence: 12 Wisdom: 10 Energy Affinity: 10 Skills: Powers: Weapons: Items: Points: 17 Coins: 0 --- Spoiler: Spoiler Name: Zachary Michaels Race: Human -Mutations: Spider-Man Class: Spearman -Subclasses: N/A Age: 16 Strength: 25 Dexterity: 22 Constitution: 25 Intelligence: 11 Wisdom: 10 Energy Affinity: 10 Skills: Powers: Weapons: Items: Points: 0 Coins: 400 --- Spoiler: Spoiler Name: Cora Siskou Race: Human -Mutations: N/A Class: Mage -Subclasses: N/A Age: 23 Strength: 10 Dexterity: 8 Constitution: 10 Intelligence: 16 Wisdom: 9 Energy Affinity: 16 Skills: Powers: Weapons: Items: Points: 0 Coins: 500 --- Spoiler: Spoiler Name: Jae-jin Choi Race: Human -Mutations: N/A Class: Rogue -Subclasses: N/A Age: 20 Strength: 10 Dexterity: 14 Constitution: 10 Intelligence: 14 Wisdom: 10 Energy Affinity: 10 Skills: Powers: Weapons: Items: Points: 0 Coins: 500