September 6, 1943

RMS Samaria, Troopship

It took hours for the whole ship to fill. Alice had been flanked by Easy's enlisted, more out of orders to keep her female nature hidden than anything else. As they slowly moved into the ship, she shuffled. Most annoying was the blasted white life jacket around her neck. The ship she'd taken from England hadn't been nearly as packed, but in the Samaria, the life jacket just served to make squeezing between people that much more difficult.

The belly of the Samaria crawled with soldiers. Bunks, two deep and seven high, lined the compartments. Easy made their way to the space designated for them, right in the center. Alice watched in silent amusement as some of her fellow Easy members attempted, poorly, to find their sea legs.

Second Platoon started claiming bunks. Guarnere, Malarkey, and Toye all grabbed ones at floor level. Alice huffed, but decided to pull herself up to the fifth level of bunks, taking the outer bunk, closer to the center of the boat. George took the bed beneath her, and she pulled Gene next to her. Behind her head, Liebgott settled himself.

"These aren't that uncomfortable," Alice said. She shifted in the bunk which was made of little more than canvas suspended between four steel poles. A small pillow squished beneath her head. "Gene?"

He turned to her. "Not too bad. I'll take this over sleeping outside any day."

She hummed in agreement. The bunks around them had mostly emptied as the men crowded onto deck as much as they could to catch last glimpses of America as they shipped out. But Alice didn't care that much. In fact, she felt herself trembling from excitement that they left at last. France seemed tantalizingly close now.

She lay down in her bunk. Beside her, she could tell Gene said a rosary. Letting herself relax and feel the rhythm of the waves, Alice just stayed quiet and still. After about half an hour, Alice pulled out a cigarette for herself.

Almost immediately, men began to fill the bunks again. Liebgott came back first, hoisting himself up to her level. He looked tired. The others followed him. Before long, the ship had so many men stuffed in one place that the noise just continued to climb. Alice sighed. She tried to focus on her cigarette.

She felt and heard, rather than saw, Liebgott sit up behind her. Rolling over into her stomach, Alice put her head over her arms and pillow. She watched Liebgott carefully. He yawned.

"Excited to go to Europe?" Alice asked him.

He looked over at her. With a quick wink, he smiled. "Hopefully there are fun times to be had in England."

Alice chuckled. "Yeah, so you all keep saying. Don't forget, we're in a war, Lieb."

"Don't I fuckin' know it."

With another laugh, she pulled herself up so she dangled her feet off the side. Below them, she watched as Skip and Malarkey shouldered their way through the extremely tight walking space. It had only been a few hours, but already it felt like everyone was getting restless. She noted that Skinny sat on a ground level cot talking with someone she couldn't see. Christenson's voice floated up to her from below.

Loudest of all, as per usual, Guarnere complained about something. Alice watched him smoking in his cot, Joe Toye nearby. Toye flashed a large pocket knife. He said something about Joe Toye Day. Overly amused, Alice decided to try to follow the conversation.

"Point is, it don't matter where we go. Once we get into combat, the only person you can trust is yourself and the fella next to you." 

Guarnere lay on his back, cigarette between his fingers. Alice saw in amusement that he'd shed his life jacket. She watched as Joe Toye rolled onto his stomach to face Bill.

"Long as he's a paratrooper," Joe said, cryptically. 

"Oh yeah?" George Luz, seemingly coming out of nowhere, started clambering his way up the bunks. When he reached the fourth level, he rolled into the one he'd claimed, just below Alice. "What if that paratrooper turns out to be Sobel."

Scowling, Alice agreed as someone she couldnt see, maybe Christenson, declared he'd not stay near Sobel. He'd go find Winters or Heyliger, two well respected officers.

But Bill just scoffed. "I like Winters, he's a good man. But when the bullets start flying, I don't know if I want a Quaker doing my fightin' for me." 

Alice watched him roll out of his bunk. He stretched his arms. As much as she loved Wild Bill for his big mouth and antics, she felt a pit form in her stomach every time he started using religious language.

"How do you know he's a Quaker?" Smokey asked.

"He ain't Catholic." Plopping his cigarette back in his mouth, Bill acted like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

Smokey let out a light laugh. "Neither's Sobel."

With a scoff, Bill shook his head. "That prick's a Son of Abraham."

The effect was immediate. Alice felt herself tense, physically flinching back at the slur. In her head, she knew Bill didn't mean to be offensive with his language, but suddenly memories of yellow Star of David patches and shattered store windows filled her mind. It took her a moment to remember she wasn't the only Jew there, though.

Liebgott took the cigarette he'd been smoking out of his mouth. Biting his cheek, he turned to the conversation. "He's what?" He sounded more incredulous than angry.

Bill looked at him. "He's a Jew," he spelled out. 

Liebgott's mood changed immediately. With muttered expletives, he threw down his cigarette and landed on top of it. Still hurt by Bill's flippant slurs, Alice didn't move to do anything. But slowly anger replaced shock as the scene unfolded. 

Liebgott moved right in front of Guarnere. With a snarl he looked down at him. The whole area of Easy Company men had turned to watch what would happen. Lieb and Bill were the two least disciplined when it came to fighting. They knew it would only end one way, as neither of them would want to back down.

"I'm a Jew."

"Congratulations. Now get your nose outta my face." Bill pushed Liebgott away slowly with a single finger. He looked him up and down, unimpressed.

Liebgott threw the first punch. Expecting it, Bill blocked his arm and grabbed at him, trying to force him to the ground. The men that hurried to pull them apart were met with punches too, so they let go. 

Alice watched, fury blazing inside her. Bill crossed a line, for sure, but Liebgott knew better than to attack him for it. They had been complaining about Sobel, not Judaism. She'd be sure to have a long talk with Bill over anti-semitic slurs. But first, she needed them to quit.

Leaping down from her bunk, Alice landed flat on her feet. The boys still tussled, neither able to effectively pummel the other as much as they wanted to. Smokey Gordon, Joe Toye, and Malarkey all tried to pull them apart. Smokey got a punch in the gut for it.

"Hey!" Alice snapped. She pulled Malarkey back. "Liebgott! Stop." She yanked him away by the collar. "Toye, grab Guarnere."

As she hauled Liebgott away from Bill, he spat at the floor. Fortunately he had enough sense not to swing at Alice. As Malarkey and Toye restrained Bill, she moved in between them.

"Guarnere! Watch your fucking mouth," she snapped, pointing at him. Then she rounded on Liebgott. "You, need to calm down. Guarnere's an idiot when it comes to not crossing lines. You know that. This isn't the hill to die on when it comes to our faith." She held Liebgott's gaze a moment longer. "Walk away, Lieb. Let me handle this."

He snarled, looking between Guarnere, the others, and finally Alice. But he turned and started climbing back up the bunks. Alice turned back to Guarnere, where he stood panting in anger.

But Bill's adrenaline pumped through him, and he hadn't had enough. "Fucking Jewboy. Goddamn Mocky defending Sobel."

Alice froze and glanced up at Liebgott. Her back to Bill Guarnere, she felt her body trembling. Now his words were more than stupid ways to stir the pot. Now, he used the slur to hurt them. All her anger coursed through her. She remembered the thirteen thousand Jews massacred at Warsaw. She remembered the Jews forced to wear Star of David patches in mockery and hate. She remembered Robert, and Marc, murdered for standing up against the regime that hated her people. She remembered her parents, and she remembered her sister. Their lives ended for their mere existence as Jews.

Turning to Guarnere, she stepped closer to him. He looked at her, refusing to back down. Alice didn't even hesitate before swinging her right arm straight into his face. Her fist met his nose with a crack. He crumpled back, shouting as he grabbed at his now bloody face. 

To their credit, none of the men commented. She could feel them all watching her. She'd never struck any of them before, no matter how irritated, or drunk, or depressed she'd gotten. Bill watched her as close as the others. Alice hoped he could see just how disappointed in him she felt. 

They stood in silence for what seemed like a long time. Finally Guarnere turned away, and Alice looked at the still-shocked audience. "Where's Doc?"

George replied after a moment. "He's up on deck giving out sea sickness pills."

Alice nodded to him. She grabbed Bill Guarnere's sleeve and hauled him after her. They stayed silent. As they forced their way through the mass of soldiers, her body still trembled. She used her arms to shoulder the taller men out of the way until at last they came to the way up on deck. Alice found Doc examining Talbert, with Shifty, Johnny, and Alex Penkala all sitting there looking a little worse for wear.

"What the hell happened to you," Johnny said. He narrowed his eyes at Bill's bleeding nose. 

Bill glanced at Alice. She glared at him, and he said nothing. Gene finished giving Talbert sea sickness pills. With a quick look at Guarnere, he shook his head. Gene had him sit next to Johnny. 

"Have an argument with a door or somethin', Guarnere?" Gene attempted to joke. He fished through his bag for bandages to soak up the blood.

"No," Alice answered. Crossing her arms over her chest, she glared at Bill again. "I punched him."

"What?" Despite his seasickness, Talbert still looked over in surprise. The others mirrored his expression.

Gene looked from Alice to Guarnere, pausing his care. Then he looked at his other charges. "Powers, Penkala. You two can go."

Alex looked about to object, but he thought better of it. Following Shifty, he scurried away. Gene looked at Alice again. "If you're gonna punch him again, do it before I finish fixing him up."

Alice snorted and shook her head. "No more punches. But I will say this." She paused, trying to decide to find the right words to get through to the brash young man. "If you ever speak to me or to Liebgott or to anyone who is Jewish the way you did down there, I will march your ass straight to Colonel Sink and have you demoted to Private for insubordination and conduct unbecoming of an officer so damn fast, you won't even know what hit you."

"I-"

"No, Sergeant, you do not get to interrupt me." Alice snapped again. "Your attitude needs to change, now. Insulting Sobel was one thing, but you crossed a line when you used those slurs at Liebgott. You don't have the right to use the words in my presence. Before you use a slur against me, you'd do well to remember the thirteen thousand men, women, and children burned alive in Warsaw because they believe in their faith. Or my sister, executed, for being Jewish. You have no right, Guarnere. So keep your fucking mouth shut if you can't curb your language." 

Rage filled tears filled her eyes. Alice bit her cheek to keep them from falling. Bill had the decency to look away, so Alice tried to get her breathing under control. Pent up anger for the treatment her religion suffered from caused her to shake.

The whole while, Gene had been quietly tending to Bill's clearly fractured nose. He'd managed to stem the bleeding as best he could. Beside them Talbert and Johnny just watched the exchange in absolute silence. The usually straight expression Johnny wore had managed to morph into one almost as livid as Alice's.

"Is it broken?" Alice asked Gene, breaking herself away from dressing down Guarnere. 

He stood back and hesitated. "Pro'ly a hairline fracture."

Alice nodded. Without saying anything, she backed up. Gene stopped her. "How's your fist?"

"It's fine."

"Where are you going?" Talbert asked.

Alice, still trembling, glanced from Gene, to Bill, to Tab. "To get away from his goddamn face."

Author's Note:

I've literally been wanting to write this chapter for weeks. So glad I could finally get it out.

Needless to say, Guarnere went too far on this one. It'll be interesting to see how he and Alice interact now. She just needs to calm down first or he might get punched again.

I move in a day, so after Sunday there may not be many updates for awhile!

Julianne