Chapter 1
1. ((Edited))
Sergeant John Joseph Aries sat next to a private who hugged the wall of the pockmarked building. “How’s it going?” Aries asked casually.
The private stared at him, his eyes wide, gripping his rifle like it was a lifeline. He couldn’t have been more than eighteen. Aries looked down at his chest – PARKINS.
“That good?”
“Sir?”
“I’m just a sergeant,” Aries said comfortingly, putting a big meaty paw on the man’s arm. “You don’t have to ‘sir’ me to death. Look, kid, you survived the beach. You’re in the 1st division, I’m in the 29th. We’re here together right now, so we might as well make the best of it.” He pulled out a battered pack of cigarettes and offered one to the private, who shook his head.
“What are we waiting for?” asked Aries, glancing over the kid’s shoulder.
“Waiting for the Jerries,” he said. “They’re right down the street.”
“Do they see you?”
“No, sir, I don’t think so.”
“How long have you been waiting here?”
“I don’t know, sir.”
Aries knew, because he had sent someone to scout near Saint-Lô, and they hadn’t come back yet. The colonel was getting twitchy, and when he got twitchy, he started shouting things down. Shit rolls downhill, and Aries got tasked with finding what happened to the ranger party. So, as he always did, instead of delegating it to someone else to do, he did it himself.
“Three hours, son. You’ve been sitting here for three hours, shitting your pants. The Jerries might be gone by now.”
Aries took up his own rifle and hoisted himself up. He stood a full head and shoulders taller than Parkins – even taller right now that the kid seemed to be cowering. He walked around Parkins, squeezing between the kid and the corner, and fed his rifle around the corner of the building. He squeezed the trigger and shot randomly, then pulled back, waiting for return fire.
There wasn’t any.
Aries slowly crept his way around the corner of the building. He soon stood out in full view of anyone who wanted to take a shot at him, from far down the street. Not like they could miss him, with his shock of red hair.
“See, kid? You scared them off.” He happened to look down and to his right, and saw an American GI lying there, eyes grey and lightless, his hand reaching toward Parkins.
Then a couple of shots rang out, and Aries felt them hit his back. They were far enough away that they didn’t throw him into the wall, but one still penetrated his uniform, embedding below the skin.
“Dammit,” he spat, and turned around. He saw someone in a uniform run across the street, easily within range. He raised the rifle to his cheek, taking aim. Like shooting birds, he thought to himself, tracking the man and firing off a shot just seconds before he leapt behind a broken-down truck.
“Shit! You rat!” He bolted down the street, into the square, heading straight for that truck.
The man behind the truck rose up, gun in hand, but at seeing the large red-haired American come rushing toward him, he dropped the gun and yelled “Bitte!”
Aries didn’t stop, but switched the gun around so that its butt was aaiming at the man, and he slammed it into the man’s head. It clanged against metal, and the German fell sideways, dazed. Aries grabbed the man by the collar of his jacket, yanking him up straight.
“I’ll give you Bitte!” He swung his rifle like a club, ringing the German’s skull again. Aries pulled him out from behind the truck, and literally dragged him by his collar back to the teenager, who stood at the corner of the building, his rifle slack in his hands.
“Cover me, you ass!” Aries kept walking, pulling the German behind him. He dropped the German at the boy’s feet. “Rope,” said Aries, panting.
Parkins looked like a deer in headlights, confused.
“ROPE! Find. Some. Rope!”
The kid jumped and went around the corner. He came back a little while later with some thick hemp rope, the kind used to tie up horses. It would have to do.
Making a sailor’s knot, he tied the German’s hands together and pulled him to his feet. “Congratulations, kid, you just got your first prisoner of war. Now go back and bring this guy with you.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’ll be a few kilometers behind you.”
2.
Aries claimed the dog tag of the fallen man, a private by his lack of insignia. A little farther away was another fallen GI hunched over an overturned chair in the middle of the street. As he approached the other man, he whispered a prayer, not to God, but to the Lady who had given him this, his second life.
When he finished taking the dog tag of the second man, Aries craned his neck to try and see where the bullet hole in his shirt was. He could see a large spot of blood a couple of inches above his hip. He looked to his side and saw that his uniform had been torn, but there was very little blood, so it was probably a scratch.
He ducked into the house, then went upstairs and checked in the bathroom. He found the full-length mirror behind the door. He lifted his shirt and looked behind him.
As he expected, the hole had sealed. He only hoped that his body had expended the bullet during the time he ran across the square. That’s how things usually worked with him – whenever he was injured, the foreign body was always pushed out of the same hole it came in. The deeper it tried to go into his body, the more force was needed. He tucked his shirt, then his uniform back into his pants. If anyone asked, he’d say he got punctured by a thorn or something just as silly.
The other line across his side near his ribs had also healed, with a bit of light blood on the undershirt. Otherwise, he was fine. He yanked down his tunic and went back outside.
He caught up with the kid about a quarter of the way down the road. Parkins kept poking the German with his rifle, getting him to move faster. Aries shook his head and kept his distance while they approached camp, in full view on the road.
The kid was heaped with congratulations as Aries walked by him. He watched the MP’s take the German away, and he kept on walking to the colonel’s bivouac. There, he entered without preamble and saluted smartly. “Reporting on Saint-Lô, sir.”
“What is it,” said Colonel Dwyer, flipping through thin papers and scanning them.
“The northwest sector looks clear,” he said. “We found one sniper.”
“Did you see the French?”
“No, sir. We followed this road that we’re on. I didn’t go looking on any other roads.”
The colonel put the papers down. “Where’s the rangers!”
“Second battalion’s here, sir,” said a man about half the size of Aries. Was the army taking kids in now-a-days?
“Balkowski?” When the man nodded, the colonel continued, “Get five rangers and send them west. I want to know if the French are going to start the party without us. Because you know they will.”
The man saluted smartly and left. Dwyer turned to look at Aries. “Go on, dismissed.”
“Yes, sir.” He saluted and also left. Next he had to report to his captain. Not that he didn’t want to. He thought for a minute. Well, that was true. He didn’t want to.
He found his company near an old milk barn. He nodded to some of the men who knew him, and checked with the first sergeant to make sure that the captain wasn’t busy. “Callahan’s in there with him, having dinner,” he said. Aries’ eyes widened just a bit. He forced himself to stand up straight. He straightened his tunic and took off his hat, pushing back his hair. He coughed a bit, and knocked briskly on the door.
“Enter,” came Captain Scott’s voice.
Aries opened the door and stepped inside. He had hoped to see Scott first, but instead he saw the other man, Captain Charles “Chuck” Callahan. His blue eyes looked up from his food and crinkled when he smiled at Aries. Aries stared at the man, taking in his slight physique, his thickly tousled brown hair, the way the cut of the uniform fit him. He could have stared at him all day, but he tore his eyes away and focused on Captain Eccles Scott, an balding older man with a paunch, not so attractive.
“What is it?”
“I found the scout for Saint-Lô.”
“We sent three.”
Aries tucked a hand in his pocket and showed him the two dog tags. “Brought back a POW.”
Scott waved his fork. “We don’t need them alive, we need them dead!”
“I’m sure,” said Callahan firmly, “that right now they’re better alive so we have an idea of what we’re up against.”
“They won’t talk. We’ll have to put cigarettes on their eyes for that to happen. Damn Krauts.”
Callahan looked up at Aries. “Did you eat, sergeant?”
“No sir, I’m going to go to mess as soon as I’m done here.”
There was a pause. Then Scott grumbled, “You’re done. Dismissed,” and he saluted. Aries saluted also, doing a precision and perfect 180 degree turn and half-marching out the door.
Thank the gods his tunic came low enough to cover his hard on.
3.
Mess wasn’t very crowded this time of day. Cook gave Aries some slop and bread without bitching at him – those three stripes he had on his arm meant something at least here. He watched the sunset through the tent. He hoped they found the French.
Someone came into the mess tent, and Aries noticed it was a lieutenant from the kid’s company. He looked around the mess, and then caught his eye. His came around to Aries’ left and then went up to him. “Afternoon, Lieutenant,” Aries said, sketching a salute and glancing at his name,
“Sargeant,” said the man, sitting across from him. His name said CROMWELL. “Thanks for bringing back Artie.”
“Only doing what was best.”
“I was on my way to my major to go talk to yours about you.”
“Oh, no, I don’t need any more stripes. Then they’ll make me work in HQ.”
Cromwell laughed.
“Oh, here.” He took out the dog tags he showed the colonel. “Sorry.”
Cromwell took the two tags and examined the names. He shook his head, “What a waste.”
“Yeah. Did you know them?”
“I knew Pete, but I didn’t know the other one.” He got up. “I’ll go tell Captain O’Brien. We have to write the letters to their families. How did they die?”
“Sniper shot, I guess. I’m guessing the sniper was the German Artie brought in.”
“I see. Well, thanks again.”
“Yes, sir.” Again, he saluted shortly, and the lieutenant accepted it.
After finishing his dinner, it was full dark. He was blessed with cat’s eyes to see better at night, so he was able to find his way through the tangle of tents back to his own company. The men were mostly asleep, so he rolled into his cot with a sigh.
“Aries,” came a whisper in the dark.
“Yeah,” he replied, and heard someone rustling in the dark. He looked over to see Private Stewart slink out of his cot. As Aries watched the man weave slowly through the cots, his cock started to swell, knowing what was coming. He undid his tunic, and pulled his shirt off over his head. By the time he started to undo his pants, Stewart was already there, helping him with them.
They made very little sound as they undid the button fly on Aries’ pants. Aries swallowed a gasp as his huge cock sprung free from his pants, and Stewart gripped it hard, stroking it immediately. Stewart started then to lather up Aries’ cock. Aries sat up on the cot, glancing around to make sure it was safe. Then, when Stewart had gotten him wet enough, Stewart lay on the ground between Aries’ cot and another man’s.
Aries bore down on Stewart, getting Stewart’s shorts off. He guided himself to Stewart’s entrance, and thrust in. Stewart, for his part, had grabbed the pillow from Aries’ cot and put it over his face, screaming into it. Aries paused, but pushed slowly forward, listening closely for any odd movements.
He started to thrust and pull out and thrust. Stewart swallowed his moans and cries — Aries only started to breathe heavy, the sound any man makes when he’s masturbating. Aries kept going faster and harder. He heard a person move. He froze, peered over the cot and saw a man get up. He followed the row of cots to the main aisle, then pulled open the flap. He stood there for a minute, then the flap closed.
Stewart hissed, “C’mon!”
Aries glared down at him, and pounded into Stewart, shoving the pillow into Stewart’s face. If he really wanted it that bad, he was going to get it.
Stewart could still breathe, because he screamed, and shot his load all over himself. When Aries felt the contractions around his own cock, he pushed through them and, with a small grunt, filled Stewart’s channel with his own thick white juices.
Both men panted, and then Aries took the pillow off of Stewart’s face. He pulled himself out and then rolled back onto the cot, using his shirt to wipe off his cock and then pulled up his shorts. Stewart got up just as the tent flap came open. The light didn’t reach where he was standing, but he froze like a jackrabbit regardless. The other man went back to his cot. Stewart also went back to his.
The next morning, Aries could see Stewart in the light. He was young, easily in his early 20’s, skinny and buck-toothed. His hair was slicked back like all kids his age. Aries was not attracted to him in the least, not by day.
Stewart was at the latrine with Aries. “Like last night?”
Aries said, “What about last night?”
Stewart ribbed Aries. “You know.”
Aries looked at Stewart. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sarge,” he said, just a little put out.
Aries raised an eyebrow. They had already made arrangements, when they were stationed in London. Aries would control the relationship, if there was going to be any. They were both buck privates then, but after D-Day, Aries got promoted to sergeant, a full two ranks, for saving three soldiers of Company A on Omaha Beach.
This was, of course, before Captain Callahan showed up on the scene. Thinking of Callahan and looking at Stewart, Aries knew which way the wind blew, and it wasn’t in Stewart’s direction. But if Stewart decided to shoot his mouth off, who would they believe? A private versus a sergeant?
“Get your head on straight or I’ll send you to one of those alienists,” Aries said. “Because I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Aries walked away from the latrine. He went to muster.
4.
Aries looked at his six men and contemplated retreat. He supposed that his scouting report was wrong, because all of a sudden the Germans were thick in this sector. The last four men looked to him for guidance, and he had none to give.
He rubbed his face, trying to think. He heard the rumble of planes in the distance. “Not again,” he muttered, looking up to the sky.
Sure enough, a squadron of P-47’s flew low overhead. “Shit!” a corporal named Adams yelled and ran into the building behind them. The rest followed him. The air vibrated with the planes’ going over them. Bombs hit, throwing more dust and dirt into the air, the ground shook with the force. All seven of the men crouched inside the cover of the building which, Aries realized, didn’t have a roof.
Aries knew there was nothing left to bomb, and the only thing the bombs did was drive the rats further down into their bunkers. Then they’d come back out with a vengeance.
The planes left, their echoes in Aries’ ears. The men stood slowly, brushing dust off of themselves. “Everyone here?”
“Yeah,” they said one by one.
“Let’s see what’s left.”
“Not a whole hell of a lot,” commented Bangert, a tall man who looked more like a stevedore than a soldier. He spat on the ground and they went outside. It looked exactly the way they left it, so they went around some buildings slowly picking their way through, clearing each house a bit at a time.
Dark came, and Aries returned to the company camp with his four remaining men. He found divisional first, reported in.
“Hey, sergeant,” said Callahan. He was coming in just as Aries was leaving. Aries stood up straight.
“Captain Callahan,” Aries said, saluting.
“Don’t bother, Aries. You must be exhausted. I know I am.”
“Yes, sir, I am.”
“I’m going to report in. Wait here for me, would you?”
“Yes, sir.” Aries stood by the doorway of the ruined house and waited as he ordered. Aries didn’t know what this meant.
Callahan came out soon after. “Thanks, sergeant.”
“You’re welcome, captain.”
“Any idea where you’re going?”
He looked out into the dark. “Honestly, sir, no.”
“We can get lost together, then. Stupid blackouts.”
“Yes, sir. We still have some of the moon to see by.”
They walked for a bit when Callahan said, “I hear you’re a guardian angel for the company.”
“Sir?”
“Whoever leaves with you always comes back. And sometimes you bring more. I understand you brought a POW in yesterday.”
“No, sir, that was Parkins from The Red One.”
“Not the way Parkins tells it. He’s a country boy. He told them how you walked right up to the Jerry and hit him over the head.”
Aries turned away with a small grin. “Well, sir, it wasn’t quite like that.”
“What was it like?”
Aries told him what happened, and the man listened. “You brought him back, though, sarge. That’s more than what some of these guys will do out there.”
“Like Captain Scott,” Aries said.
“Luckily, he doesn’t get out there much. But his attitude is passed down to some of his men.”
“Not me. War has rules, and two are to respect your enemy and bring back your friends.”
“That’s a good attitude to have. Too bad you’re not in my company, sergeant. You’d be a First Lieutenant by the end of the campaign.”
“No, sir, I like being in the trenches.”
“So I’ve heard.”
They stopped at a tent, where the insignia of a silhouetted man astride a horse was outside the tent and a handwritten sign with a big letter “G” tacked up along with it. “This looks like your stop, Sergeant Aries.”
“Yes, sir,” he said. “Yours must be right next door.”
“If there was a logical design to this. But there isn’t.” Callahan patted Aries on the shoulder. “Have a good night.”
“Wait, sir.”
Callahan took a step forward, then turned around. “Yes?”
“Let me escort you to your company, sir.”
Callahan laughed. “I can find my way in the dark, sergeant.”
“You said I was a guardian angel, didn’t you, sir? Besides, I’m not tired right now.”
“I don’t know how you can’t be tired, but all right.” Callahan went to the next tent – it was Company B for the 115th. So began the wild goose chase for Company “H” of the 116th.
“Where are you from, captain?”
“Phoebus. You?”
Aries had to think fast of what town he put down when he registered for the Army. “Windsor.”
“Nice town?”
“It can be pretty nice in the fall,” he lied. He’d never been there, had looked at a map of Virginia and picked it out when he filled out his forms. He was snatched up two hours after he registered – part of the blessings of Ishtar, as he well knew.
They bumped into another man, who told them the 116th was due north more. They ducked between some tents, and they found “H” company. “Here you are, sir,” said Aries. “Safe and sound.”
“Thanks to my guardian angel,” laughed Callahan. “You sure you can find your way back?”
“Yes, sir, I can. Sleep well, sir.”
When Aries walked back, he had a spring in his step. Stewart called his name when he came into the tent, but Aries didn’t answer.