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greenpolicelight · 4 months ago

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"Currahee"

: ̗̀´*: ･ﾟ⋆˒OC's ̗̀´*: ･ﾟ⋆˒

Prt 1 - Prt 2

WORD COUNT: 6K

June 1942 – Camp Toccoa, Georgia

The humid Georgia air is thick as Easy Company stands in formation with all of their gear. Rene is standing in the back attempting to discreetly move his left leg to scratch his right calf without making it obvious. He brings his foot down, standing straight, at attention, as Captain Sobel walks up, moving in front of the company, "you people are at the position of attention!" Sobel walks between the men, stopping in front of Perconte who moves his gun, getting it ready for inspection. Sobel looks down at Perconte, "Private Perconte, have you been blousing your trousers over your boots like a paratrooper?"

"No, sir."

"Then explain the creases at the bottom."

Rene's eyebrows crease slightly, wondering how Sobel could have been able to see creases, "no excuse, sir."

Sobel looks up, looking around at the other men, "volunteering for the parachute infantry is one thing, Perconte," Sobel looks back at Perconte, "but you've got a long way to prove that you belong here. Your weekend pass is revoked." Sobel turns, walking off, looking for someone else to stop in front of. He stops in front of Luz, "name?"

"Luz, George."

Luz moves, getting his gun ready for inspection before Sobel grabs it, barely looking at it before tossing it back to Luz, "dirt in the rear side aperture. Pass revoked." Sobel moves on, looking over the other men again, before turning around, only to stop next to Lipton. Sobel moves closer, grabbing onto a piece of string from Lipton's sleeve, holding it up to him, "when did you sew on these chevrons, Sergeant Lipton?"

"Yesterday, sir."

"Long enough to notice this." Sobel brings his hand up next to Lipton's face, "revoked."

"Sir."

Sobel moves on, standing in front of Malarkey, "name?"

Malarkey moves, getting his gun ready for inspection, "Malarkey, Donald G."

Sobel grabs the gun, raising an eyebrow slightly, "Malarkey? Malarkey's slang for bullshit, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir."

"Rust on the butt plate hinge spring, Private Bullshit." Sobel toss's the gun back at Malarkey, "revoked." He moves on, "name?"

"Liebgott, Joseph D., sir."

Sobel looks down, reaching to grab Liebgott's bayonet. He holds it up, looking at it for a moment before speaking, "rusty bayonet, Liebgott. You wanna kill Germans?"

"Yes, sir."

Sobel smacks the bayonet against Liebgott's helmet, causing him to flinch lightly, "not with this." Sobel walks away, moving to stand in front of the company, yelling now to speak to the whole company, "I wouldn't take this rusty piece of shit to war, and I will not take you to war in your condition." Sobel throws Liebgott's bayonet down to the ground, pointing towards the company, "now, thanks to these men and their infractions, every man in the Company who had a weekend pass, has lost it." Sobel pauses for a moment, "change into your PT gear, we're running Currahee."

Sobel turns, walking away and leaving the men to their platoon leaders. Winters turns towards Second Platoon, "Second Platoon fall out. You have two minutes."

"Fall out!" Rene grabs his gun up, turning to jog to his barracks with the rest of the company moving towards their own barracks.

Rene takes his O.D's off, already having his PT gear on underneath it, having learned from previous experience it's the most efficient way to live in Toccoa with Sobel. Rene folds his O.D's, setting them on his cot as he sits down, leaning down to tie his boots back up. He pauses as he hears Perconte speak, "I ain't going up that hill."

Rene rolls his eyes as the door slams open, Martin walking in, a small glare on his face, "hey, Perconte, what are you thinking of, blousin' your pants?"

Rene looks up at Martin as he walks by, Perconte responding, "shut up, Martin, alright? He gigged everybody."

Rene looks back down at his shoes, as Martin scoffs, "yeah, well, you should know better. Don't give him no excuses."

"Excuses? Why don't you come here, look at these trousers, get down and tell me there's a crease in 'em." Rene looks up again as Perconte stands up before he notices White still in his O.D's.

Rene stands up, looking between Martin and Perconte, "guys, c'mon, this is bullshit, and you know it. But, that ain't any reason to argue with each other about it."

The two look at Rene, and Perconte is about to say something back to Rene when Lipton's voice comes through the barracks, "alright, let's go, on the road in PT formation. Let's move, move, move." Rene and Perconte hold eye contact, having a small staring contest, neither giving in as the men around them quickly make their way out the door. Lipton sighs as he looks between the two, "Perconte, let's go, Perconte." Rene stays where he is as he watches Perconte aggressively undo his jacket and takes it off. "Flores, c'mon, that means you too." Rene glances at White before looking back at Lipton and walking out the door, jogging to catch up to the others.

Sobel's voice is loud and grating, as he yells at the men, causing Rene to wince lightly, "where do we run?"

The men yell back as they run, "Currahee!"

"What does Currahee mean?"

"We stand alone!"

"How far up, how far down?"

"Three miles up, three miles down!"

"And what company is this?"

"Easy Company!"

"And what do we do?"

Rene rolls his eyes, "stand alone!"

Rene hears someone yell out, before hearing Sobel yell, "do not help that man! Do not help that man. We do not stop. You've got thirteen minutes to get to the top of this mountain if you wanna serve in the paratroopers. Hi-ho, Silver!"

Luz, who's running next to Rene glances over at him before glancing at the others around him he can see. Luz looks back at Rene, wondering how Rene doesn't seem affected by Currahee the same way everyone else is. The men around them are struggling to breathe, struggling to even run anymore, and Rene, it looks like he makes Currahee seem like the easiest thing in the world.

Rene runs behind Bull, following Perconte, and Luz as they run up to the stone at the top of the mountain. Rene rolls his eyes as he hears Sobel's voice yell out, "we are coming on twenty-three minutes. That may be good enough for the rest of the Five-O-Six, but that is not good enough for Easy Company."

Rene pushes his food around with his fork, not actually eating anything as he looks around, observing the men around him as they eat their food. Rene watches as the men become quickly acquainted, acting as if they hadn't just recently met each other. He internally grimaces, beginning to hate his lack of social skills even more than he had growing up.

Rene looks up, being brought out of his thoughts as someone sits in front of him. Joe Toye. Rene never talked to the man, only saw him around camp and heard others talk about him. The two sit in silence, both discreetly glancing at the other until Joe speaks up, "I'm Joe Toye."

Rene looks over at him, slightly surprised he broke the silence. Rene stares at him for a moment, blinking, before responding, "Rene Flores."

"Where are you from?"

Rene gives him a confused look, "uh, San Diego. You?"

"Houghestown. It's in Pennsylvania."

"Pennsylvania?"

"Yeah, you've been there?"

Rene chuckles, shaking his head, with a soft smile on his face, "no. Never met anyone from there either."

"Yeah? Well, now you can't say that."

Rene shrugs, "I guess." The two sit in silence again, only this time it isn't awkward. It's relatively comfortable for the two, until Rene breaks the silence, "what did you do before this? I mean like for work."

"I was a coal miner. Then I enlisted before deciding to join the paratroopers."

"So you were already in the army?"

"Yeah, went through training and everything, but I wanted some more money so," Joe shrugs, "I figured why not."

Rene smiles at him, "yeah, a double volunteer?" Joe nods slowly, as Rene tilts his head, shrugging a shoulder, "why not, right?"

Joe gives him a smirk, before he nods towards Rene, "what did you do?"

"I worked for anyone who would give me the time of day. Newspaper boy, construction, delivery."

"You go to school?"

Rene shakes his head, "no, I went when I was younger, but I stopped after my mom died."

"My dad made me drop out in Junior high, so I could work in the coal mines."

Rene purses his lips, "damn."

Joe looks Rene over, "you got any hobbies?"

Rene squints his eyes at Joe, "I like drawing."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Maybe you can show me someday, Re?"

Rene makes a confused face, breathing out, "Re?" He looks up, grinning at Joe, "yeah. Maybe, Joey." Joe smirks at Rene as silence comes over the two again, neither minding it. The two know a bond formed between the two, one that didn't need words spoken to be true. The two quickly understood each other, both knowing this was the start of something neither of them had felt before, the start of a friendship that would make them closer to each other, than the brothers they were surrounded by.

Rene is laying on his cot, messing around with his lighter, listening to the men as they play poker. Luz continues glancing over at Rene, before leaning into the men and speaking quietly, "we should ask him to join."

Rene glances over, noticing they had become quiet. Perconte looks over at Luz, giving him a look, "why would we do that?"

Luz shrugs, "I don't know, we can't hate the kid forever."

"We don't hate the kid. We just don't like 'im."

Hoobler shakes his head, as he looks over at Perconte, "why? It's not like he's all that bad. He really helps when we run Currahee."

Luz nods, "he's pretty good at giving us motivation."

Randleman looks over at Rene, catching his eye. Rene smiles softly at him, which Randleman returns before gesturing with his head to the open seat next to him. Rene scrunches his face before shaking his head and returning to messing around with his lighter. He takes a deep breath before looking back over at the group, I can't just expect them to accept me. I've got to put my own energy into it too. He nods to himself as a way of reassuring himself, before standing up, moving towards the group. Randleman grins at Rene as he walks up, "can I join?"

The men look up at Rene, not expecting him to come over. Randleman chuckles, gesturing to the spot between him and Martin, "there's an open seat for you right here."

Rene sits down fidgeting with his hands as he looks over the cards. Luz looks over at him, "you know how to play?"

Rene shakes his head, "my dad tried to teach me. I got so confused, so I became the only one in the family that doesn't know how to play."

Randleman chuckles, "we'll teach you." Rene thanks him, as he begins to tell Rene the rules, explaining what was happening as the men around them played.

"Flores?" Rene's head snaps up, looking at Luz, "where you from?"

"San Diego."

"You got any siblings?"

Rene tightens his lips before pursuing them and shaking his head, "I have a brother and a sister, both of 'em enlisted in the Marines."

"You got any hobbies?"

Rene furrows his eyebrows, "what's all the questions for? This some kind of interrogation?"

Martin shakes his head, turning to Rene, "we just want to get to know you, Flores."

Rene shakes his head with a confused face, tilting his head slightly, "why? I ain't anythin' special." Rene doesn't know it, but his words are what tells the men around him exactly what they need to know.

The game is over, and the men decided to call it quits on cards for the night. Rene is still sitting with Luz, Martin, Randleman, and Perconte all of them sitting in silence for a bit, none knowing what to say. Rene clears his throat, as he shuffles the deck of cards for something to do, "my whole life, my family called me Bean."

The four men exchange looks, not expecting Rene to say that. Luz shakes his head, "why?"

Rene shrugs before Martin shakes his head, "why are you tellin us that?"

"I don't know. You were the ones who wanted to know more about me. I figured it was somethin' interesting. We can forget I said it though if it ain't helpful."

Perconte smirks, "nah, Bean, it was plenty helpful." Rene looks up, surprised as he stares at Perconte for a moment before grinning at him. Perconte returns the grin, something the others around them never expected as they knew whatever Perconte had against Rene, is gone.

The company is on their usual Friday night march in their full gear. Rene's marching next to Bull who speaks up, "I'm gonna say somethin'."

Luz looks over, "to who?"

Rene shakes his head and looks back forward after glancing at Bull, "besides, what do you think is gonna happen?"

Bull ignores the two, calling out, "Lieutenant Winters."

"What is it?"

"Permission to speak, sir?"

"Permission granted."

"Sir, we got nine companies, sir."

"That we do."

"Well, how come we're the only company marching every Friday night, twelve miles, full pack, in the pitch dark?"

"Why do you think, Private Randleman?"

"Lieutenant Sobel hates us, sir." Rene snickers, his eyes widening slightly, not expecting someone to say that, especially Bull.

"Lieutenant Sobel does not hate Easy Company, Private Randleman." There's a pause, "he just hates you."

There's scattered laughter from the company, as Bull nods, "thank you, sir." Rene snickers, smiling slightly, grateful to have Winters in their company who knows exactly what to say to the men.

After finishing the march, the men are standing in formation in front of Sobel. Rene stands next to Bull, beginning to get a chill from the cool air and rain hitting his sweaty skin. Sobel's voice is shrill as he speaks from where he stands next to Winters, "Lieutenant Winters, I want canteens out of belts with the caps unscrewed."

"Easy Company, canteens out and open." Rene reaches to his hip, grabbing his canteen, opening it.

"On my command, they will pour the contents onto the ground."

"On the CO's order, you will upend your canteen."

"Now, Lieutenant."

"Pour 'em." Rene flips his canteen over, the water flowing out. Rene moves his eyes, watching the water come out of the canteen, his tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth as his thirst hits him with full force. Rene takes a deep breath before bringing his eyes back to the front.

Rene cringes lightly as Sobel quickly moves between the men, yelling, "who is this?" There is a slight pause before Sobel begins yelling again, " Christensen! Why is there no water in your canteen? You drank from your canteen, didn't you?"

"Sir, I—"

Sobel cuts Christensen off, "Lieutenant Winters."

Winters speaks from where he's standing in front of the company, "yes, sir."

"Was this man ordered to not drink from his canteen during the Friday night march?"

"He was, sir."

"Private Christensen, you have disobeyed a direct order. You will fill your canteen and repeat all twelve miles of the march immediately."

"Yes, sir."

"Fall out!" Rene winces as Sobel screams before watching Sobel move back to the front and bring Winters aside, talking quietly with him, before walking away.

Rene stands in front of Sobel in his full gear, as Sobel glares down at him, "why are you here, Private Flores."

Rene's voice is louder than normal, not wanting Sobel to think he's intimidated by him, "I'm gonna be in the airborne, sir."

Sobel nods, "then prove it. You have forty-five minutes to the top and back. I will be watching you."

Rene nods once, "yes, sir." He steps around Sobel and begins running towards Currahee.

After running up and back down Currahhe, Rene stops, standing face to face with Sobel, his breathing slightly uneven from the run. Rene's surprised to see Sobel standing there, actually timing him, but soon his surprise turns to annoyance as Sobel stares at the stopwatch in his hand. He looks at Rene, his eyebrows scrunched together, "forty-six minutes and fifty-one seconds, Private Flores. Again."

Rene takes a deep breath before he gives Sobel a nod, "yes, sir." He turns around, rolling his eyes as soon as he knows Sobel can't see him and begins to run up Currahee again.

When Rene makes it back down in front of Sobel, his breathing is heavier than it ever had been after running Currahee. Sobel's voice shows his annoyance as he speaks again, "forty-six minutes and three seconds. Private Flores, this is not good. I thought you could run fast, however, this is a disgrace. Again. How can you think you can become a paratrooper if you can't even run in the right amount of time."

Rene nods again, sniffling lightly as his nose runs from the drizzle falling, "sorry, sir. It won't happen again, sir."

"It better not, I can't stay out here all night, Private Flores. Again."

"Yes, sir." Rene turns around again, his eyes widening in annoyance as he forces his body to move. The exhaustion begins to flow through his body as he tries to run again, but he pushes himself, not wanting to prove Sobel right.

The third time Rene finishes running Currahee, he believes he may never catch his breath. As he comes to a stop in front of Sobel, he struggles to calm himself down as he pants loudly while Sobel gives him a nod, "forty-three minutes and seventeen seconds. Private Flores, why didn't you do that the first time, instead of wasting my time like this?"

Rene takes a deep breath before he coughs and gulps, "no excuse, sir."

Sobel nods, looking Rene over, "you will run Currahee once more for wasting my time, then you are dismissed, Private Flores."

"Thank you, sir." Rene watches as Sobel walks away before turning and staring up at Currahee, breathing out as his body seems to deflate from disappointment. He takes a deep breath, before slowly starting up the hill, at least this one isn't timed.

Rene takes a deep breath before he coughs and gulps, "no excuse, sir."

Sobel nods, looking Rene over, "you will run Currahee once more for wasting my time, then you are dismissed, Private Flores."

Luz looks at Rene's cot, not seeing anything on it like he usually would. He turns to look at the other men, pointing at the cot, "where's Bean?" After the night of poker, the men started calling Rene, Bean, which seemed to have caught on with the men from other platoons as well. Even for the men who haven't really interacted with him, Bean became the way people referred to him.

Martin looks at the cot before looking at Luz, shrugging, "I didn't see him in the mess hall."

Perconte turns, "someone said they saw him talking with Sobel."

"Shit, really?"

Suddenly, the door opens and Rene walks in, his gear muddy from tripping on his run and the rain with his helmet in his hand. The men take him in, seeing how he looks dead on his feet, with his face pale, his eyes squinting, and drenched in a mixture of sweat and rain. "Jesus Christ," Luz breathes out. Rene takes a deep breath, keeping his gaze on the floor as he makes his way to his cot, tossing his gun and helmet onto his cot before falling face first onto it.

Luz gulps, his worry for his friends skyrocketing as Perconte speaks, "the fuck happened to you?"

Rene turns his head, to face Martin who's in the cot next to him, "I hope jumping out of an airplane is fun."

Martin gives him a look mixed between amusement and concern, "what happened?"

Rene sighs before he turns his head to face his cot again, letting out a loud groan before he turns and begins to slowly stand up. His movements are slow as he begins taking his gear off, showing the men around him just how exhausted he is.

"Bean, what did you just do?"

Rene takes his jacket off, turning to Luz, "George, I just ran Currahee four fucking times."

"Why?"

Rene puts his helmet on the shelf, hanging his jacket up, before moving his gun. As he begins to get undressed, he turns to the men, "I don't know, apparently I had to prove that I could run and that I wanted to be in the airborne. Pretty much the same thing he did to Gordon. Apparently, we don't work hard enough to show that we want to be here." Rene moves, sliding into his cot and immediately falling asleep. The others look at each other, extremely concerned for Rene. He's proven he deserved to be there on many occasions, he hasn't been the best at PT, but he does extra work to ensure he can show Sobel up by not giving him a reason to call Rene out. There were many instances where some of the men would wake up in the middle of the night and spot Rene doing push ups on the ground in front of his cot, just to be able to keep up with everyone during PT.

Rene sits between Joe and Malarkey in the mess hall, playing with his food as he struggles to stay awake. Luz, Perconte, and Guarnere sit across from the three when Luz looks up from his tray, giving Rene a confused look, "hey, Re, how—"

Joe cuts Luz off, his voice low with annoyance, "what did you just call him?" Joe stares at Luz, as the men sitting around them, turn to watch them.

Rene's eyes widen as he looks down awkwardly at his tray, clearly not expecting Joe to respond like that. Luz looks between the two, his face crinkling in confusion, "I, uh, I called him 'Re'."

Joe shakes his head, "you don't get to call him Re, only I do."

Rene's head comes up, looking at Joe with a small smile, as his voice is teasing, "aw, Joey, you make me feel so special."

Joe's hand comes up, pushing Rene's head away, "no I don't, you're loosin' your mind, Re."

Rene's head hits Malarkey's shoulder, causing Rene to look up at him, shaking his head, "sorry." Malarkey shrugs, looking over at Guarnere who's looking between Joe and Rene. No one really knew when they got close enough to have their own nicknames, but, apparently, no one was gonna use them but each other. Rene looks up to Luz, "what were you gonna ask me?"

Luz shrugs, "I was gonna ask how you managed to get so good at running?"

Rene nods, taking a bite of food, "my brother was on the track team in school. I didn't have too many friends and since I stopped going to school, I would get super bored, so I would always run with him. My dad and my sister would make bets about whether I could keep up with him." Rene smiles lightly as he takes a bite of the peaches, before scrunching his face as he swallows hard, "fuck, those are gross." Joe chuckles, reaching over to grab the rest of the peaches from Rene's tray.

Rene is sitting on his cot, still in his muddy O. D's, not having a chance to shower yet. He grabs a cigarette, lighting it before grabbing his notebook and a pencil. Rene opens his notebook, beginning to draw parts of the barracks, as Martin walks in, sitting on his cot next to Rene's. He sits there for a moment, watching Rene, before finally speaking up, "what are you doin'?"

Rene looks up at Martin, talking slowly, "I'm drawing?"

Martin raises an eyebrow, "are you asking me?"

Rene's eyebrows crinkle, still talking slowly, "no?"

Martin purses his lips, his voice going monotoned, "really?"

Rene gulps, looking back down at his notebook, "sorry."

"What are you sorry for, Flores? You ain't done nothing wrong. What are you drawing?" Martin pauses as he looks around the barracks, "there ain't really anything to draw in here."

Rene shrugs, "just things. A mix of things." Rene flips the page of his notebook, turning it to face Martin who looks surprised Rene is showing a drawing to him.

Martin looks at the drawing, seeing different parts of the barracks put together, almost like a collage. Martin looks the drawing over, seeing how Rene manages to get the barracks to look so different yet so real. Martin's eyes widened, "shit. Bean, this is amazing."

Rene smiles sheepishly, looking down again, "thanks, Mar."

"Mar?" Rene looks up, shrugging, as the two share a smile. Martin clears his throat, glancing around the barracks, "when, uh, when did you and Toye get so close?"

Rene makes a face, "what d'you mean?"

"I mean, I heard about what happened the other day in the mess hall. When Toye pretty much told the whole company that he was the only one to call you Re."

Rene shrugs, "honestly, that surprised me. I don't really know when we got close. I mean, I guess if I had called one of you my best friend, it would be Joe." Rene looks over at George, who's listening in on their conversation while laying on his cot, "no offense."

Luz shrugs, "eh, I understand, we all see it. It was like you guys just instantly understood each other."

Rene stands in line to get his food, only for his face to scrunch up as he looks down the line, seeing what's getting put onto the plates of the other men. Rene moves up, watching as the noodles are put on his plate, the sauce following after. He looks up meeting the eyes of Winters in the kitchen, causing Rene to raise an eyebrow, to which Winters shrugs back. Rene grimaces before turning and walking away towards the table. He sits down next to Dittrich, grabbing his fork, taking a bite, before making a face and putting the fork down, speaking in Spanish, "fuck, I don't like spaghetti, then you add ketchup to the mix."

George turns to look at Rene from his spot next to Perconte, "Bean, we have no idea what you just said."

Rene looks at George before he shrugs, clearly not caring. Dittrich speaks up, his voice annoyed, "this stuff is orange. Spaghetti ain't supposed to be orange."

Rene scrunches his face, "this ain't spaghetti."

Perconte nods, "yeah, this is Army noodles with ketchup."

Guarnere walks over, sliding into the seat across from Rene, "you ain't gotta eat it."

Rene nods, taking a bite of his bread, "I know, I ain't gonna."

Perconte and Guarnere look at Rene before Perconte looks at Guarnere, "oh, c'mon, Gonorrhea, as a fellow Italian, you should know that calling this crap spaghetti is a mortal sin."

Hoobler turns around from the table behind them, reaching for Perconte's plate, "you don't want it, I'll have it."

He makes a move to grab Perconte's plate, but Perconte grabs it up and takes it out of Hoobler's reach, "no, no, no, I'm eating here."

Guarnere nudges Hoobler, "hey, get outta here." Hoobler turns and sits back down causing Rene to snicker as he takes another bite of his bread.

The sound of a whistle blowing causes all movement and sound in the mess hall to cease. Rene looks up to see Sobel walking in, "orders changed, get up!" Rene and the rest of the company stand up at attention, Rene continuing to chew the bread in his mouth, "lectures are canceled." Sobel begins to walk between the tables, "Easy Company is running up Currahee." Rene and Guarnere give each other a look of annoyance before Guarnere brings his head down to his chest, "move, move!" The company begins to rush out, "three miles up, three miles down. Hi-ho, Silver! Let's go, let's go."

After running for a little bit, the men of Easy are feeling the effects of running after eating spaghetti. Hoobler pukes next to Rene, who scrunches his face up from the sight of the orange puke. Rene glances over at Hoobler, "you're okay, Hoob. You got this. We gotta prove to him nothing can stop us."

Rene makes a face as Sobel runs up behind them, not at all hiding his feeling as Sobel yells, "you're a washout, Private Hoobler! You should pack up both your ears and go home." Rene takes a deep breath, catching Sobel's attention causing him to move and yell in Rene's ear, "Private Flores, can you run Currahee now? You want to quit, don't you? You can quit anytime you want, Flores." Rene closes his eyes tightly for a moment before opening them back up. Sobel moves towards the back, "looks like Gordon's done. Aren't you, Gordon? You finished? You do not deserve to get your wings." Sobel moves forward again, this time running in front, yelling at Bull, "Private Randleman, you look tired. There's an ambulance waiting for you at the bottom of the hill. It can all be over right now. No more pain, no more Currahee. No more Captain Sobel."

Rene takes a deep breath before opening his mouth, beginning to call out, hearing George do the same, "we pull upon the risers," the rest of the company joins in, "we fall upon the grass, we never land upon our feet, we always hit out ass." Sobel runs in front of George for a moment, surprised he would get the men to start chanting, before moving to run along the side of the company, slowing down as he watches them all running through their pain. "Hidee hidee, Christ almighty, who the hell are we? Zim-Zam, godddamn we're Airborne Infantry." Rene glances over, seeing how Sobel stopped, watching them run by before continuing, "we pull upon the risers, we fall upon the grass, we never land upon our feet, we always hit our ass. Hidee tidee, Christ almighty, who the hell are we?" Rene yells out louder, hoping to motivate some of the men, "zim-Zam, god damn, we're Airborne Infantry. Hey!"

"So, do we feel like we're ready to be army paratroopers?" Rene sits in between Bill and Popeye, the parachute on his back pulling him down, closer to the ground as he squints up at the instructor standing in front of the group.

The men speak in sync, "yes, Sergeant."

"I hope so. This'll be the first of five exits from a C-47 aircraft scheduled for today. Upon the successful completion of your fifth and final jump, you'll be certified Army Paratroopers. There'll be a lot of men dropping from the sky today. Hopefully, under deployed canopies." Rene snickers slightly, yeah, hopefully. The Sergent gestures to the chalkboard behind him, "jumping from one-thousand feet AGL, in sticks of twelve jumpers per aircraft. All you have to do is remember what you were taught," he pauses for a moment, "and I will guarantee you gravity will take care of the rest. And, gentlemen, rest assured, any refusals in the aircraft or at the door and I guarantee you, you will be out of the Airborne."

Rene takes a deep breath, picking at his fingers as he sits on the plane. He looks over towards the door, seeing the light turn red and his heart stops for a moment as the jump sergeant stands up, calling out, "get ready!" Rene grabs his clip in his shaky hand, sitting forward in his seat as he gulps. "Stand up." Rene stands up with everyone else, turning to face the front of the plane. "Hook up." Rene brings the hook up to the wire running through the middle of the plane, hooking onto it, struggling lightly as he tries to get his hand to stop shaking. "Check equipment!" Rene moves, checking the equipment for Martin, who's in front of him, his mind racing at the possibility of Martin's equipment not being good and being the reason something goes wrong. "Sound-off for equipment check!"

"Nine okay!"

"Eight okay!"

"Seven okay!"

Rene feels the tap from Hoobler on his shoulder, causing him to flinch slightly before patting Martin on the shoulder, "Six okay!"

"Five okay!"

"Four okay!"

"Three okay!"

"Two okay!"

"One okay!"

"Stand in the door!" Rene moves up with the line, as the first person, Lipton, stands at the door. The light turns green, and the jumpmaster calls out, "go, go, go!" Rene moves up with the line as more of the men jump out of the plane for their first time, "go, go, go, go, go!" Rene breathes out, standing at the door, bringing his hands to hold onto the outside of the door, just as he was taught, his heart beating loudly in his ears, his stomach rolling as he looks out below him, the jumpmaster's voice echoing in his head as he waits to hear his signal. "Go," Rene jumps, not thinking twice about it, knowing if he did, he wouldn't get out the door and he would prove Sobel right. Rene looks around as much as he can as he descends from the plane, how the hell was I so scared of this? Once he lands, he immediately reaches up and grabs the parachute, wrapping it up as quickly as possible, not wanting to get hit by other falling men.

Rene jogs to catch up to Ramirez as they make their way to the bar to celebrate, "oye, Ramirez."

Rene puts his hand onto Ramirez's shoulder, causing Ramirez to stop walking and turn to look at Rene, "what's up Bean?"

Rene smiles at the use of his nickname, slightly surprised it spread so quickly, before speaking in Spanish, "I heard what happened."

Ramirez gives him a confused look, "what happened?"

Rene nods, "in the airplane."

Ramirez nods, making a face, showing he understands what Rene is talking about now, "ah, sí. Going to tell me that I failed?"

Rene smiles at him as he glances at the group behind Ramirez, watching the two, before looking back at Ramirez. He shakes his head, "I just wanted to tell you, I think you have a lot more courage than the rest of us and you should be proud of yourself."

Ramirez's eyes widen, "seriously?"

Rene nods, "jumping the first time is one thing, but jumping after refusing is completely different."

Ramirez squints his eyes at Rene, trying to decide if he can trust him, before he grins at Rene, "gracias, Bean. I was nervous you guys would think I shouldn't be here or something."

Rene crinkles his eyebrows as he begins moving towards the group waiting for them, speaking with a scoff, "please, what kind of brothers would we be if we felt that way. If anyone gives you trouble, send them to me."

Ramirez laughs following Rene to the group, as he shakes his head, "not too good I guess. And I will." Rene laughs as they make it to the group, all of them making their way to the bar.

Rene is standing next to Joe at the bar, leaning with his back against it, watching the men around them celebrate with a small smile on his face. Rene turns his head, looking at Joe who has his head down as he faces the bar, causing Rene to chuckle, "too much to drink, Joey?"

Joe looks up at him, "fuck off, Re."

Rene smiles before he turns, facing the bar at the sound of their names, "Corporal Toye, Corporal Flores." The two look up at George who's impersonating Sobel as Joe stands straighter, "there will be no leaning in my company." George leans against the bar on the other side, getting a closer look at Joe's jump wings, "are those dusty jump wings?" Rene snickers as Joe brings his hand up, rubbing them, "how do you expect to slay the Huns with dust on your jump wings?"

Joe leans forward, grabbing onto the front of Luz's uniform, bringing him closer, before he shakes his head, "Luz, just get me a drink."

George grins at him, "hell of an idea, Joe." He looks over at Rene who shakes his head, picking up the beer he's still drinking. George nods as he reaches down, grabbing Joe a beer, setting it down on the bar, "here you go." Rene smiles as George grabs his own beer, holding it up, causing Rene and Joe to grab theirs, bringing it to meet Luz's, "three miles up, three miles down."

The three take a drink after the cheers, Rene almost choking as Sobel yells out, "ten-hut." Rene sets his glass down, quickly swallowing, turning to stand at attention.

Colonel Sink walks up to the small stage, looking over the men, "well, at ease, paratroopers." Rene moves, spreading his legs out, bringing his hands behind his back. "Good evening, Easy Company."

The men call out in sync, "evening, sir."

"Now, Parachute Infantry is a brand new concept in American military history. But by God, the Five-O-Six is gonna forge that brand new concept into victory."

"Yes, sir."

"I want you to know that I'm damned proud of each and every one of you." Rene grabs a beer, moving to hand it to Grant, "now, you deserve this party." Grant hands Sink the beer, "thank you, Sergeant Grant."

Grant gives him a nod, "sir."

"So, I want you to have fun, and remember our motto. Currahee!"

The men hold their drinks up, calling out, "Currahee!" Rene laughs before finishing his beer off, setting the now empty glass on the bar.

Joe turns, wrapping an arm around Rene's shoulder, "we did it, Re. We're fucking paratroopers."

"What is it, Re?"

Rene glances at George who leans back against the bar, listening in as Rene lowers his voice lightly, "I, uh, when I joined, I was scared of heights."

Joe looks surprised, glancing at George, who's also surprised before looking back at Rene, raising an eyebrow, "really?" Rene nods, causing Joe to shake his head, "why the hell did you join?"

Rene shrugs, "I ain't too sure, I just know that when I looked out the door, I had no idea what I was so scared of."

The three laugh as Joe shakes his head, "only you would join the airborne even though you're scared of heights."

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