"I want you." Amy murmured thoughtfully as she read the bold white words on the poster pasted on the fence surrounding her house.

The poster had a picture of Uncle Sam pointing at her with a stern expression, his bushy eyebrows furrowed and gaze demanding.

"They must be desperate to get more recruits for the war with Germany." Amy mused as she started to walk past the poster.

As she reached the door of her house, she couldn't help but pause and glance back at where the poster was still waiting.

"I can't help." Amy argued with herself as she shook her head.

Yet a part of her didn't believe her words.

Amy strode back to the poster and examined its words once more, a feeling of determination building up in her.

"Maybe I can do something." Amy thought aloud.

The poster wanted her to join the army by visiting the nearest recruitment, so that was what she was going to do.

As she made her way down the street towards the recruitment building, she noticed that only men seemed to be lining up to join.

"What's a woman doin' here?"

"She must be here to say goodbye to her hubbie or something.

"Who knows, maybe she thinks she can join? Ha, imagine a woman in the army!"

Amy ignored the comments about her as she walked up to the end of the line, her head held high as men jeered at her.

"Hey, I think she's braver than all of you for trying to join when others say she can't!"

Amy looked to the side of the room where men were sitting and waiting for results to see a male with dark hair standing up and looking at her with his chocolate brown eyes.

"I can defend myself thanks." Amy replied curtly, her anger flaring as men started to laugh at him as he sat back down.

"My apologies ma'am." The male nodded, his gaze lowering to look at his old torn shoes.

"Next!" The person evaluating the applicants barked, causing the line to inch up further.

"What's your name?" The dark haired man called out to Amy as she stepped forward.

"My name is Amy. Yours?" Amy countered in a lighter tone to show that she wasn't mad at him.

"My name's Mark, it's a pleasure to meet a woman like you." The male responded with a smile.

"Next!" The evaluator repeated in a bored tone.

Amy stepped up once more, suddenly having second thoughts about joining as she faced the cold expression of the evaluator.

The evaluator looked to be about in his forties, his bald head shaped like an egg and his hazel eyes dull.

"A woman? What is this, a joke?" The man laughed as he dismissed her with a wave of his hand as if Amy was merely a pest.

"My name is Amy Nelson, and I want to join the army." Amy declared proudly.

Everyone around her started laughing along with the evaluator, causing her face to burn red in a mix of shame and anger.

"Ah, you could still prove useful however." The evaluator remarked as he grabbed her hand and pulled her closer so their faces were mere inches apart.

"Leave me alone." Amy demanded tersely, trying not to gag at the strong scent of beer on his breath.

"C'mon, don't you want to help the army?" The man teased as he licked his lips hungrily like a wild animal.

"She said leave her alone." Mark growled as he shoved the man away from her.

"Ooh, look at Mr. Hero over here." The evaluator sneered as he took a swing at Mark.

Mark calmly grabbed the man's fist in his hand and pushed him away again, this time causing him to fall down.

"Fine, I'll leave her alone...for now." The man scowled as he pushed himself up off of the ground and dusted his clothes off.

"Have a good day sir." Amy stated stiffly before storming out of the building.

"Hey, do you want me to walk you home?"

Amy turned around to see Mark jogging after her to catch up, causing her to increase her pace.

"Like I said before, I can defend myself." Amy huffed indignantly as she brushed stray strands of her brown hair out of her face.

"I know, I just...I'm just trying to be nice. I didn't mean to make you upset." Mark sighed apologetically.

Amy paused mid-step and turned back to face Mark, her anger fading away at the sight of the hopefulness gleaming in his eyes.

"C'mon then, it's a long walk." Amy answered before resuming her trek, this time with Mark by her side.

As they walked along the road, Amy learned that he had an older brother that had joined the army as well, his name being Thomas.

Mark also had a mother and a dog named Chica, but had lost his father at eighteen.

Now he was trying to join so he could help try and keep families together and safe.

"Well, here we are." Amy announced as they stopped outside of her small house with the white fence.

"It's nice." Mark remarked as his gaze swept across its light gray exterior.

"I suppose it's not bad for a family of one." Amy shrugged as she stepped up to the door.

"Will I get to see you again?" Mark asked hopefully as Amy opened the door.

"We'll see." Amy answered teasingly before closing the door in his face.

Once she walked into her room and opened the closet, an idea began to form in mind as she pushed past the dresses to find a pair of pants and a simple shirt that was baggy enough to hide her chest.

"Time to become a man I suppose." Amy muttered as she laid out the clothes.

"Time to become John Richardson."