Gunslinger
Save Me
For what felt like hours Dana hid in a horse stall within the barn. She knew that the company had moved on, and she had never felt as alone as she did at that moment. She thought about her close friends Pagliaro and O’Shea, and she felt her thoughts turning to Brian. There was still a hell of a lot of antagonism there however she didn’t despise his presence as much as she had previously. They were both stuck in this godforsaken reality, and they needed each other. She closed her eyes briefly as she contemplated the look of lust she had seen in his eyes when he watched her in the shower back at Utah. Then again, he was a horny guy so it shouldn’t come as a shock. But there was something else in his eyes, something that she didn’t recognize.
Dana could hear the German soldiers milling about outside the barn, however thankfully none of them had as yet ventured inside. No sooner had she thought this then she heard the barn door open and the soft crunch of footsteps on the hay covered floor. She had hidden the body of the German soldier underneath a giant hay bale but she cringed when she recalled that she hadn’t cleaned up the blood. She then realized with horror that she had left a blood trail to the horse stall.
The footsteps approached the stall cautiously, and Dana’s grip tightened on her rifle. She lifted the rifle as much as she could with her shoulder screaming in pain. She was tense and prepared to fire when the face of a young blonde teenage girl appeared. Dana lowered the weapon fractionally however she was still tense. The young girl’s mouth dropped open as she saw Dana lying disheveled in the stall. She motioned for someone else who was in the barn with her, and Dana’s eyes grew wide with alarm. Upon seeing Dana’s alarm, the young girl smiled reassuringly at her. A middle aged farmer appeared beside the young girl, taking note of the blood trail that led into the stall.
“Amerikaanse?”, the farmer asked her quietly. Not knowing whether he would rat her out to the German soldiers Dana chose not to answer.
“U bent gekwetst?”, the farmer asked, pointing to the blood. Dana nodded, realizing that the man had asked her if she was hurt. He turned to his daughter and said something quickly in Dutch. Dana tensed as his daughter disappeared, however the man raised his hands up. His daughter appeared moments later with a bucket filled with water and a cloth.
The man came closer to her, and noticed the blood on her shoulder where the piece of metal from the exploding tank had lodged. He pulled a flask from his pocket and offered it to Dana. She shook her head, however the man opened the flask anyway and poured some of the alcohol over her wound. Dana sucked in her breath as the alcohol stung her shoulder. He prodded the wound with his finger, and she let out a moan then instantly tried to quiet herself in case a German soldier should hear her.
She realized that she would need to get the shrapnel out of her shoulder, which would be difficult without Doc Brouchard or the medical team nearby. Making up her mind that she would trust the quiet farmer, she pulled her trench knife out of her boot and handed it to him. After some prodding with the knife, which prompted Dana to reach for his flask, he managed to remove the medium sized shard of metal and poured some more alcohol over the wound to cleanse the wound. He cleaned her shoulder with the cloth as best he could and Dana smiled at him.
“Dank u”, she murmured.
“Dank u”, the man responded. “ Je bent hier om ons te bevrijden.”
It was beginning to become light outside, and Dana could hear the Germans begin to move out. She waited until she could not hear anything further and cautiously popped her face out of the barn and smiled in delight when she saw a jeep coming toward the barn packed with familiar faces.
**************
When Somerville woke up at dawn and called the company order he realized that he was a few heads short.
“Dammit, where’s O’Shea, Melville, Hobbs and Holmes?”
“They’ve gone to find Vandenberg”, Johnson responded.
Brian, who was standing beside Pagliaro, started in surprise. Why had no one told him that they were going to find Dana? Because you’re usually a bastard to her, his inner voice chided.
Just as Somerville was about to roast Johnson for letting his men go off into enemy territory, a jeep pulled into the farm and there were hoots and hollers as the men recognized the small figure sitting in the back.
“I told these scallywags you was OK!”, Pagliaro called out to Dana, as Brouchard bandaged up her shoulder. Dana glanced up in time to see Brian smiling, and she gave him a small smile in return.
“Well, no time for chit chat. We’re moving out”, Somerville advised. The men and Dana all groaned.
“Are you OK?”, Brian asked her.
“Yeah, just got hit with a piece of tank”, Dana responded. “Doc says I’ll be OK.” Brian awkwardly patted her arm, muttered “good” and wandered away.
“I swear that man is so weird”, Dana muttered to herself. Pagliaro looked at her and grinned.
“You never used to think that when you snuck off to meet him in the supply room.” Dana’s eyes widened and she turned to glare at her friend.
“What do you know about that?”, she hissed, instantly reminded of the dream that she had had.
“Oh come on Vandenberg everyone knew”, Johnson said with a smirk as he walked past.
“Oh Jesus”, Dana sighed. The men walked away. “So what the hell happened?”
“You caught him with someone else”, Doc Brouchard said. She looked at him in shock, not realizing that he had still been standing near her.
“So he cheated on me?”, Dana asked. “That’s typical.” Doc shook his head.
“I don’t know if he did”, Doc said. “He was drunk and swore that nothing happened. He just said you walked in at the wrong moment and misjudged what happened.”
“So do you think that maybe that’s why we’re here now?”, she asked him. He shrugged.
“Maybe”, Doc responded. “My grandmother’s a romantic at heart, and if she brought you back here she brought you back for a reason.”
********************
A big big thank you to nolifelowlife and ladyofsorrows101 for the comments. You guys rock! :-)
Also a big thank you to my readers and subscribers. Yay, I've got 12 subscribers after only a few chapters. I didn' think I'd have any with such an out there storyline :-)
Dana could hear the German soldiers milling about outside the barn, however thankfully none of them had as yet ventured inside. No sooner had she thought this then she heard the barn door open and the soft crunch of footsteps on the hay covered floor. She had hidden the body of the German soldier underneath a giant hay bale but she cringed when she recalled that she hadn’t cleaned up the blood. She then realized with horror that she had left a blood trail to the horse stall.
The footsteps approached the stall cautiously, and Dana’s grip tightened on her rifle. She lifted the rifle as much as she could with her shoulder screaming in pain. She was tense and prepared to fire when the face of a young blonde teenage girl appeared. Dana lowered the weapon fractionally however she was still tense. The young girl’s mouth dropped open as she saw Dana lying disheveled in the stall. She motioned for someone else who was in the barn with her, and Dana’s eyes grew wide with alarm. Upon seeing Dana’s alarm, the young girl smiled reassuringly at her. A middle aged farmer appeared beside the young girl, taking note of the blood trail that led into the stall.
“Amerikaanse?”, the farmer asked her quietly. Not knowing whether he would rat her out to the German soldiers Dana chose not to answer.
“U bent gekwetst?”, the farmer asked, pointing to the blood. Dana nodded, realizing that the man had asked her if she was hurt. He turned to his daughter and said something quickly in Dutch. Dana tensed as his daughter disappeared, however the man raised his hands up. His daughter appeared moments later with a bucket filled with water and a cloth.
The man came closer to her, and noticed the blood on her shoulder where the piece of metal from the exploding tank had lodged. He pulled a flask from his pocket and offered it to Dana. She shook her head, however the man opened the flask anyway and poured some of the alcohol over her wound. Dana sucked in her breath as the alcohol stung her shoulder. He prodded the wound with his finger, and she let out a moan then instantly tried to quiet herself in case a German soldier should hear her.
She realized that she would need to get the shrapnel out of her shoulder, which would be difficult without Doc Brouchard or the medical team nearby. Making up her mind that she would trust the quiet farmer, she pulled her trench knife out of her boot and handed it to him. After some prodding with the knife, which prompted Dana to reach for his flask, he managed to remove the medium sized shard of metal and poured some more alcohol over the wound to cleanse the wound. He cleaned her shoulder with the cloth as best he could and Dana smiled at him.
“Dank u”, she murmured.
“Dank u”, the man responded. “ Je bent hier om ons te bevrijden.”
It was beginning to become light outside, and Dana could hear the Germans begin to move out. She waited until she could not hear anything further and cautiously popped her face out of the barn and smiled in delight when she saw a jeep coming toward the barn packed with familiar faces.
**************
When Somerville woke up at dawn and called the company order he realized that he was a few heads short.
“Dammit, where’s O’Shea, Melville, Hobbs and Holmes?”
“They’ve gone to find Vandenberg”, Johnson responded.
Brian, who was standing beside Pagliaro, started in surprise. Why had no one told him that they were going to find Dana? Because you’re usually a bastard to her, his inner voice chided.
Just as Somerville was about to roast Johnson for letting his men go off into enemy territory, a jeep pulled into the farm and there were hoots and hollers as the men recognized the small figure sitting in the back.
“I told these scallywags you was OK!”, Pagliaro called out to Dana, as Brouchard bandaged up her shoulder. Dana glanced up in time to see Brian smiling, and she gave him a small smile in return.
“Well, no time for chit chat. We’re moving out”, Somerville advised. The men and Dana all groaned.
“Are you OK?”, Brian asked her.
“Yeah, just got hit with a piece of tank”, Dana responded. “Doc says I’ll be OK.” Brian awkwardly patted her arm, muttered “good” and wandered away.
“I swear that man is so weird”, Dana muttered to herself. Pagliaro looked at her and grinned.
“You never used to think that when you snuck off to meet him in the supply room.” Dana’s eyes widened and she turned to glare at her friend.
“What do you know about that?”, she hissed, instantly reminded of the dream that she had had.
“Oh come on Vandenberg everyone knew”, Johnson said with a smirk as he walked past.
“Oh Jesus”, Dana sighed. The men walked away. “So what the hell happened?”
“You caught him with someone else”, Doc Brouchard said. She looked at him in shock, not realizing that he had still been standing near her.
“So he cheated on me?”, Dana asked. “That’s typical.” Doc shook his head.
“I don’t know if he did”, Doc said. “He was drunk and swore that nothing happened. He just said you walked in at the wrong moment and misjudged what happened.”
“So do you think that maybe that’s why we’re here now?”, she asked him. He shrugged.
“Maybe”, Doc responded. “My grandmother’s a romantic at heart, and if she brought you back here she brought you back for a reason.”
********************
A big big thank you to nolifelowlife and ladyofsorrows101 for the comments. You guys rock! :-)
Also a big thank you to my readers and subscribers. Yay, I've got 12 subscribers after only a few chapters. I didn' think I'd have any with such an out there storyline :-)