Baker
Everything kept going downhill. It was like a massive boulder tumbling down, something that was impossible for me to stop. All of the ones we’ve lost so far; Friar and Marsh, and McConnell and Red. Was Sam going to join them now? How many are we going to lose before this ends? And how many more are going to die when we got back to the war back home? So many are already gone from D-Day; all those men I can still see. I want this to end; I know how Red felt now. I don’t care about this outcome, or who takes what here. All I care about are the ones that are left. I just want it to end now.
The jeep that was carrying Corrion and Baker had to go all the way back to town, due to the seriousness of his injury. The main hospital for the troops was there, and Baker knew what going there meant. He would have to face Twilight again, and her friends. For a brief moment he considered just stopping at the nearby camp so he would not have to do that, but he quickly removed that thought from his head. Corrion was alive, and he needed proper help.
“I need a medic!” Baker yelled before the jeep had even stopped.
“How long has he been out?” the doctor asked, looking over an unconscious, bloody Corrion.
“Ten minutes I think.”
“Alright, let’s get him inside,” the doctor said, calling a couple of others to carry Sam into the tent with a large Red Cross painted over the top.
After that, Baker was not sure of what to do. He was no doctor, so there was no way to help. Going to do anything would probably get in the way and risk Corrion’s life even more. There was no real point in returning to the front, the rest of his troops would be arriving some time the next day. There was nothing more left.
He sat back on the hood of the jeep, looking over the names of the lost men again. He might have to add Corrion’s name to that list. But it was still too early to say. He was still alive for now, unlike the long list in front of him. There was no need to jump to conclusions. Whatever happened now was just going to happen, regardless of what he thought.
“Baker?”
He immediately recognized the voice to be Twilight’s, there was no doubt in his mind. He kept silent, not saying a word. He did not even think anything of it. He knew this would be coming, but he did not really know what to do now that it had come. So, he resolved to do nothing.
“Baker?”
He still refused to acknowledge her presence. His eyes were still stuck on the hood of the vehicle, reading the white painted names in no particular order; Obreski, Rivas, Garnett, Marsh, and then back to Obi. He kept going over these, one by one.
“Baker.”
The last voice was not the same, it was a man’s. A man he knew, or did know. The sound made him go cold. He froze in his reading, afraid to look up. But after a couple of seconds, he did so out of instinct.
Standing there, behind the unicorn, was Leggett, again holding his own version of Baker’s infamous pistol. Baker became scared, but his face did not show it. To Twilight, it seemed he would finally acknowledge her. But he kept looking above her, past her, at something more devious.
“Thinking of breaking the paint out again?” Leggett asked. “You want to do it for Corrion this time? Or is it Red, he’s still here, you know.”
Baker did not answer; he just kept staring, keeping his vision focused on Leggett.
“Matt, is there something wrong?” Twilight asked, looking over her shoulder quickly. “Is there something else here?”
“What about those kids, Matt? You think you could’ve stopped their deaths?” Leggett continued, walking back and forth a bit. “Want to add their names to the list?”
Baker still did not answer.
“Well, what about this one?” Leggett asked, pointing the pistol at an unrespecting Twilight. “Is she worthy?”
Now Baker began to respond. A clear look of shock and horror came over his face.
“Matt, what’s wrong?” Twilight asked. “Please, just talk to me.”
“Can’t hide the truth forever, Matt,” Leggett smirked, aiming at the pony’s head. “It’ll always weasel its way out.”
“No!” Baker yelled.
Just like that, Leggett was gone once again. Baker was breathing heavily, trying to recollect himself. He finally looked down at Twilight directly, making eye contact. He could feel himself slowly breaking down, bit by bit.
“I’m sorry,” he said, head shaking a bit. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” Twilight asked.
Baker went back to his silent state.
“Matt…”
She finally gave up, letting her head fall down and sighing. There was no real point to this now, he was probably thinking of something more important. In hindsight, she felt foolish for trying to talk to him again right after another soldier had been hurt. She felt foolish, and she walked away feeling that.
Baker watched her trot off, head hanging low. He felt hatred at himself, and a tad bit of fear. Looking around, he could not find Leggett, but he did find two other familiar faces. Allen and Garnett, both standing a ways away were staring at him. Their fatal wounds were clear, and they simply stared at him, like two curious animals.
Baker shook his head a bit. Things were simply becoming too much to handle anymore. Something had to be done about this, but he did not know what. Whatever it was, it would have to wait until tomorrow. Maybe things would be clearer then.
With the sun shining, it was actually a rather fine day, a kind that Baker felt he would never see again. He admitted that things were a bit better today. Corrion was going to be fine, with the bullet passing through without hitting anything major; he would even be fine to return to the squad.
That was the main news of the day, though Baker still felt down. He contended himself with leaning up against the jeep again, still avoiding everyone. Even if Corrion would be alright, Leggett’s visit had stayed in his mind ever since.
He noticed Dawson walking over to him, though he did not really acknowledge him, and neither did Dawson. The Englishman leaned up against the other side of the jeep, wanting to stay. Baker still did not say anything, or even glance at him.
“It’s good Corrion will be alright,” he said.
“We were lucky this time,” Baker replied.
“It’s about time we got some,” Dawson said, looking around at the camp. “We haven’t had any since we got here.”
“Guess it depends on what you see as luck.”
“And what do you see as luck?” Dawson asked.
Baker kept his silence.
“You’ll have to talk at some point, you know,” Dawson pointed out. “There are more than just commands going on in that head of yours.”
“You’re not really the one to hear them,” Baker replied.
“Maybe not, but I already know. You need to tell them to the people who don’t,” Dawson said. “Like her.”
Baker was confused for a moment, but understood when he looked back up. Applejack was almost in front of him, and he had not even noticed. He was cornered and trapped, with no real escape option.
“Matthew, I wanted to ask you something,” she said.
“What?”
“Did you let Apple Bloom touch that gun before she died?”
Baker was stunned by how blunt she was with it, and a little angry, but he kept his temper down.
“No, I didn’t,” he said simply. “I don’t let anyone touch it. Why would I let them?”
“Well, I know they looked up to you and-”
“I didn’t,” Baker reiterated. “You can stop worrying about it now. It’s just a tall tale one of my guys came up with.”
“Who was it?”
“He was just another soldier,” Baker explained. “You don’t know him, not many really do. He spent most of his time helping Mac.”
There was a short moment of silence between the three.
“I know about Kevin,” Dawson said.
“I don’t know a Kevin,” Baker responded.
“Private Kevin Leggett.”
“Who?” Applejack asked.
“I met him outside Carentan; seemed awfully distraught about something,” Dawson explained. “He opened up quick about what that something was.”
Dawson was going to continue, but Baker turned and pinned him against the Jeep.
“What do you want!?”
“Exactly what I tried to tell you before, Matthew! That you’ve been hiding something about those dead soldiers,” Dawson said. “Allen and, uh… ah, I forgot the other chap’s name.”
“Garnett,” Baker growled.
“That’s the guy, yeah,” Dawson said, pushing himself up and causing Baker to back off. “You tell them, or I will. It’s your choice mate.”
With that, Dawson walked away, leaving Baker in an odd spot with Applejack. She was actually rather surprised, having never really seen Baker’s violent side. But she was right, Baker was hiding something. And it must have been something big.
“So, what are you gonna do?” she asked. “Is it going to be him or you?”
Baker thought on this for a moment, but the answer was obvious.
“Me,” he replied. “I’ll see about it I just don’t-”
“Excuse me, Sergeant Baker?”
He looked over to see a unicorn nurse standing a short ways from them.
“Yes?”
“I need you to follow me, it’s important.”
She seemed to have a rather somber tone about her, and Baker did not like it. Applejack simply nodded to him, and the nurse led him off. On the way there, he passed the tent that Corrion was in. He seemed to be in good shape, with long, white bandages wrapping around his stomach and torso area. Sam had gotten lucky, very lucky. Both of them knew that to be true.
“Hey, you doing alright?” Baker asked.
“Yea,” he replied, hanging his head in silence a bit. “Matt, why do we have to be here anymore?”
“I don’t know,” Baker replied honestly.
“I can’t do this anymore, it’s just so pointless.”
Both were quiet for a minute.
“I can’t say I blame you much, Sam.”
“When are we going back?”
“I dunno,” Baker replied. “I thought it would be when we won, but now… I just don’t know.”
“Yea,” Corrion sighed. “Well, you keep going. It looks important.
Baker turned around towards one of the medical tents. Inside, the nurse led Baker to a quiet corner. He noted that it was eerily quiet inside, and rather inactive. Usually there would be a good number of patients to treat.
“What’s this about?”
“It’s about your friend, Hartsock,” she said. “I’m afraid. Well, he’s… not going to make it.”
Matt stumbled back a bit, trying to get a hold of what she said.
“W-what? How?”
“Well, much of his spinal cord was damaged during the explosion. The worst is… actually in his neck, especially the upper portion,” she said. “We don’t have the medical advances here to save him. The only way he’s still alive is from some basic magic holding things in place, but there’s no real point, I’m afraid; it has to stop at some point, and he’ll die when it happens. He’s only on basic life support, he can’t even walk.”
“So… can he… talk?” Baker asked.
“Yes, he can, for now; priority’s on the broken neck. He can still communicate and think fine. We just… thought it would be best for a friend to tell him. He talks about you all the time, when he’s conscious.”
“Alright, thank you,” Baker said.
She reached over and gave him a quick hug.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I know it can’t get easier, we just need to keep going.”
“Thank you,” Baker repeated, breaking away and walking into the room.
Red was lying still on a simple cot, alone. He was awake, staring at the top of the dark green tent. If the nurse had not told him ahead of time, Baker would have thought Red was already gone. He kneeled down on the ground next to him, and Red turned his head to see him.
“You get knocked out a bunch while I was gone?” Red asked in a low, raspy voice.
“No,” Baker responded, trying to think of what to say to him.
“How are the rest of my guys?”
“They’re with me now,” Baker said. “They’re all fine.”
“Good,” Red smiled. “It’s nice knowing they’re in good hands. They’re safe.”
That hit Baker hard; with all the men he lost, he felt like a failure. But here, Red was telling him how much of a protector he was. He had always lost so many men, and he always said it was his own fault. Now Red said he was the opposite of a failure, he was a savior.
“Red…” Baker choked up. “Red… there’s something we gotta talk about.”
“Is everyone ok?” Red asked. “I heard about Friar, and they told me Corrion is getting up again. But is everyone else-”
“Everyone’s fine, Red,” Baker said. “It’s… it’s about you Joe.”
“What?”
“Well erm…”
Baker choked again, trying to find out how to put it.
“It’s something bad?”
“Y-Yea… it’s pretty…”
Matthew slowly broke down more and more, and the first few tears began falling from his light blue eyes.
“Joe… you’re not… you’re just not going to be… going home.”
Red’s eyes opened a bit in surprise before shutting again tightly; he kept silent.
“When you got hit… in that building… your back was messed up… and your neck got out of shape and… these guys don’t have what they need to fix it,” Baker spat out slowly. “Red they can keep you awake for a bit, but… it just won’t help anything.”
Red just kept his eyes closed, and turned his head back onto his pillow while Baker grabbed his hand.
“Red, I need you to talk to me,” he cried silently.
“And I never got to see my daughter…” Red moaned.
“Red when this war is done I’ll make sure your daughter is taken care of, I’ll make sure Erma is alright, even if I have to go over to Wyoming.”
“And I’ll never see home again, huh? My ranch…”
“Joe if there’s anything you want me to do for you, I will. You’re my best friend, Red. Just tell me,” Baker continued, sobbing progressively heavier as he went. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I dragged you into this. You were right and… and I should be the one dying here. This was my fault. I’m sorry, I’m… I’m so sorry.”
Baker shut his eyes tightly again and continued to cry in silence. He should have never dragged his men into a war they had no business fighting. He had been fine throughout the whole thing, but they were getting picked off. Now Red would be next, and that was enough to drive Baker over the edge. It was just unfair that everyone else was suffering.
He wished he could go back in time and stop himself from making the foolish decision to rescue Scootaloo. She was dead now, so that had been pointless. And his men were dying, thereby endangering the real operation on Earth. Everything went wrong, all because of him.
“You know Matt, I’m alright actually,” Red mumbled.
“W-what?” Baker stuttered.
“I’m alright with it. I’m sad, and scared, but… I’m ok,” Hartsock tried to explain. “It feels like I’ll be ok; like everything will be fine.”
Baker was not sure how to respond to this. Joe had been informed that he was going to die soon, something he had not fully considered before. Baker expected him to be anything but alright. Devastated at the prospect, angry at him for letting it happen, worried for his wife and child. Yet he was not. How tough?
“It’s… an odd thing,” Red explained. “But I’m alright, thanks Matt. Tell the guys thanks, too. Tell them… they’re a good bunch; a real tough gang. You all will be fine if you work together.”
Baker simply nodded.
“Matt, I want you to do one thing for me.”
“Anything, Red,” Baker responded.
“Stay here and finish this war.”
Baker blinked a couple of times and shook a bit, tossing the water out of his eyes.
“What?” Red, you said-”
“I know what I said,” Hartsock replied. “Staying around here has been… a little eye opening.”
“Red, more men are going to die if-”
“One of the doctors taking care of me, he’d talk to me every day,” Red continued. “He told me about him having a wife, and his own daughter. And that he hadn’t seen them in so long.”
Both became quiet for a moment.
“Matt, they’re just like us,” he said. “Promise me you’ll stay here, until this fight’s really done.”
“I promise, Red.”
“Alright then,” Hartsock sighed. “You’d better get going.”
“Right.”
“Matthew Baker, it’s been an honor,” he said, gripping Baker’s hand into a firm shake, and weakly bringing his other up in a somewhat mangled salute, though he couldn’t get his fingers straight.
“Same for you, Joeseph Hartsock,” Baker replied, returning both gestures perfectly.
“And Matt, one more thing,” Hartsock warned. “If you want to keep everyone alive, you’ll need to be able to cooperate well.”
“Alright.”
“Matt, tell them what happened, whatever it was,” Red ordered. “Tell everyone, and don’t spare things.”
“Al-Alright… Red.”
Red smiled warmly, making the moment more painful and more warming at the same time.
“Well, at least you learned something,” he said. “Take care.”
“Yea, you too Red,” Baker replied, standing up. “You too…”
Baker walked back out and into the sun again. He understood that things had to be dealt with now. He understood everything clearly; why it had to be done, how, when. Hiding had to stop. He immediately walked around and found Twilight, and ordered her to gather her friends while he got the rest of his troops.
“What for?” she asked.
“You’ll see,” he replied.
After a short few minutes, the entire group was assembled and Baker led them a bit away from the camp where it was quiet. Zano mumbled a bit about being interrupted while he was eating, but other than that it was totally quiet.
“Guys, you remember Allen and Garnett?” Baker asked. “And Leggett?”
Most of the soldiers replied in the affirmative, though the ponies kept quiet still.
“Remember when we found them? And how the first two were just lying there, dead? And Leggett was just sitting there, screaming?”
Most of them nodded grimly.
“There’s something else,” he explained. “Something… I’ve been holding onto for a long time.”
He motioned his hand for Twilight to step forward.
“You remember how you jumped into my head back when we first got here and saw everything?”
“Yea, I remember,” she shuddered. “It was terrible. I promise I’ll never do it again.”
“You already promised that,” Baker said blankly.
“Oh. Well, I’ll remind you of it, then.”
“Twilight, I need you to do it again.”
“What!? Why?”
“Can you do it while I’m awake, just with my thoughts?”
“Yes, but-”
“And can you expand it to the others around you, so they can see?”
“I don’t know if all of my friends can see that,” she said. “I’m scared enough. I can’t imagine what Fluttershy would do.”
“Twilight, this is better seen than heard.”
The unicorn stared at him for a moment, seriously wondering if she should comply.
“Fine,” she sighed, lighting her horn up.
Baker’s thoughts went back to Normandy, D-Day +3. It was near St. Come-Du-Mont, and the weather was perfect. What stood out were the corpses of two young paratroopers lying dead on the ground. A third, one with glasses and carrying a radio on his back, knelt down between them, starring into the dirt. Baker approached him, while the rest of the squad looked around a bit.
“I’m so sorry,” he said.
“Leggett,” he said, crouching down to his level. “What happened?”
The distraught soldier began to recount just that.
“This is stupid, we should head back,” Leggett complained as he trailed slightly behind the other two soldiers.
“Which way is back at this point?” Garnett asked.
“The direction your back is facing,” Allen replied.
Leggett took the opportunity to speak up again.
“Mac said-”
“Jesus Legs, are you and Mac married?” Allen scorned, turning around. “Do you share a cottage in the summer?”
“Oh, here it comes!” Leggett replied. “Everyone gather around for some macho bullshit!”
“Uh, guys,” Garnett called, looking towards a hedgerow.
“You know what your problem is, Leggett?” Allen continued.
“You! It’s you!” he yelled. “My problem is you!”
“No, it’s you!”
“Would you two shut the hell up!” Garnett yelled.
“You can’t deal with people!” Allen said, still facing Leggett. “Everyone hates you!”
“Everyone hates me Allen!? Wake up! They hate you too!” Leggett shot back. “The guys talk about you behind your back all the time! Even Garnett!”
“Leggett, shut up!” Garnett shouted. “There’s Germans everywhere!”
“I don’t give a shit!” Leggett replied, throwing down his rifle. “Hey Germans, we’re over here! Come kill us!”
Allen got in close to him, grabbing his shirt.
“Leggett…”
“If you had half a dick you would’ve hit me by now,” the radioman taunted.
“Give me a reason,” Allen warned.
With a quick motion, Leggett swung his right fist and caught Allen in the jaw, sending him onto the ground.
“How’s that for a fucking reason!?”
“Jesus, Leggett!” Garnett said, drawn back to the argument.
“Not right now! This is between me-”
He gave the grounded private a swift kick in the side.
“-and Allen!”
Before Garnett could stop them, he heard more voices. They were not in English, but in German. And they were close, very close. He quickly spun around again, showing off a pistol as he did so. It was quite clear to all that it was Baker’s pistol.
“Shit!” Garnett swore. “Leggett! Allen! Get the fu-”
There was the sharp crack of a rifle, and Garnett’s helmet flew off as he fell to the ground.
“No!” Allen yelled, scrambling up from the ground.
Allen quickly regained his footing and ran forward. One of the Germans rounded a tree right in front of him, and the young American quickly stabbed him in the throat, following him as he went down. However, as he did so, another appeared, and fired his rifle into Allen’s midsection.
He fell back, but quickly scrambled away, making it a bit before falling again pass Garnett’s body. Grabbing Leggett’s dropped rifle, he aimed and fired as the second German came around the tree, killing him. A third followed and attempted to shoot him, but his weapon jammed.
Seeing that he was lost, the German dropped to the ground, attempting surrender. Allen stared from his lying position. He took another look at his friend’s corpse, and then aimed back at the German, firing once more and killing him.
All this time Leggett stood still and watched in disbelief. He had not fought, he had not fired, he had not called for help, he had barely even moved. He merely sat there, not wanting to accept that this had happened.
“I’m sorry, Kevin…” Allen moaned, collapsing flat onto his back.
Leggett finally collapsed onto his knees. He was entirely alone now. Just him and the corpses, two Americans and three Germans. He looked down at the body of the man he had been kicking not a minute earlier. The man who's final words had been those of apology to him.
"B... Ba... BAKER!"
“Leggett, don’t ever tell anyone what you just told me,” Baker commanded.
“Why?” Leggett moaned in a hurt voice.
“Because, they’ll kill you.”
Baker got back up, turned around, and proceeded back to the squad, who were waiting curiously.
“He didn’t see anything,” he said simply.
Baker’s mind jumped forward a few days later to a rainy day near Carentan. Just as it began, there was an explosion that knocked him onto his back, leaving him delirious. He leaned over and saw Leggett standing out in the open, on top of the dirt that was supposed to be his cover, and firing Baker’s pistol wildly at a tank nearby.
“You want me!? Fucking take me!” he yelled. “TAKE ME!”
There was another explosion, and Leggett’s body flew off and landed towards Baker, disemboweled and bleeding heavily. The glasses barely hung on, and his face was coated with blood. His eyes were fixed open, and his mouth remained loose, as if he were still yelling at them.
“There,” Baker ended simply. “Now you know.”
There was a collective silence, as no one knew exactly what to think or say. Both Fluttershy and Rarity were sick of it halfway through, and Twilight had been gracious enough to let them go when they could not take anymore. Applejack just stared in an almost apologetic way, as if she wanted to say sorry, but did not know how. It was actually Corrion who spoke up first in an angry tone.
“Matt… the whole time… the whole fucking time you knew exactly what happened to them?”
He furiously got up and stormed off, with Baker following and leaving the others to ponder their own thoughts.
“Sam-”
“Don’t fucking do that!” he said, turning around and glaring at Baker. “Don’t stoically say my name and act like that, not now! Matt, we will never fight together again.”
He turned around again and continued on his way. Baker was again alone, and he did not go after him this time. He began to seriously wonder if he had done the right thing just then. That was just Corrion’s reaction, what about the rest?
Again, Baker said nothing for the rest of the day. Again, he simply went to bed without another word. As the sun came up again, and the new day began to grow, that silence seemed to continue, mainly because no one made an effort to talk to him, at least until Mac arrived, and the two sat down to discuss the events over the last few days over a smoke.
“So that’s really it for Red?” Mac asked.
“That’s it,” Baker replied.
“Well damn, I always thought he’d make it back home,” Mac explained. “Out of that whole group, he didn’t seem high on the list.”
“Guess that’s why it’s such a surprise,” Baker said.
“And we’re so close to finishing this, too,” Mac continued. “We just need to stay a little more, and we’d be done. Of all the times Red had to get hit…”
Mac took a long draw from his cigarette.
“Feels odd losing people, doesn’t it?” he asked.
“You never really get used to it,” Baker admitted.
Baker looked away, staring at the remaining men, gathered in a circle and talking.
“You alright?” Mac asked again.
“I told them,” Baker admitted.
“Told them what?”
“A told them about Leggett,” Baker clarified. “About what he did… and about what I did-”
“Matt! I told you never to tell them that!”
“I know, it’s just…”
“How’d they take it?” Mac asked.
“Could have been better,” Baker admitted. “But, it could’ve been worse.”
“Do they know about Red yet?”
Baker turned his head back to the squad for a moment.
“I don’t think so.”
“Maybe you should tell them,” Mac suggested.
“I don’t know, they might just blame me,” Baker worried.
“How would they?”
“I don’t know, that’s what scares me,” Baker said. “I’ll go work on it.”
Baker sighed, took one last draw, and walked over, tossing the smoke aside. He did not actually walk over to the men, but off on his own to a tree. He reached the shade of the leaves and sat down under it, slouching against the trunk. He pulled out the pistol and looked over it a bit.
Regardless of them knowing about Leggett, this piece was still the cause of so much friction. Telling them Leggett’s story would not solve any of that; in fact, it would probably worsen it. Baker wished he had thought of that before telling. It only made things harder.
“Well, now this looks familiar,” Leggett said. “It would appear we have much more in common than you’d originally thought.”
Baker watched him walk around him and the tree in a circle.
“’Bulletproof Matt Baker’, reduced to tears at the loss of a friend,” he continued.
“It’s not the same,” Baker replied.
“Well that’s the rub, isn’t it?” Leggett asked. “It is the same. You stand, knees buckling over the weight of your own guilt. You are history repeating itself.”
“I’m still alive,” Baker replied, mixed in both desperation and anger. “That’s more than I can say for you!”
“Are you?” Leggett asked again. “There’s not much to say about me Matthew; I was weak, and frail, and crushed by a secret you told me to keep.”
“I was protecting you,” Baker claimed.
“Protecting? Is it the same kind of ‘protecting’ you did with those little girls?”
“They had names-”
“And what about Joe, huh?” Leggett continued, kneeling in front of him. “What about all the others? They trusted in you, Matthew, but they aren’t here either. Exactly how much is your protection worth?”
“Stop…” Matthew begged. “Please…”
“Stop? This is not your stop, there’s more road ahead,” Leggett replied with the slightest of grins. “Tell me Matthew, you’ve made it through hell, how do you feel about snow?”
Baker looked up at Leggett, staring into his eyes.
“I can handle snow.”
Just like that, Leggett was gone again. To Baker, it was good; he needed to sort things out now. There could not be any more waiting. He had gotten part of it out of the way, now he just had to finish it, and mend things over to how they should be.
Getting up from his spot, Baker marched back to the camp, gun still swinging in his hand. He noticed Dawson was watching him, which did not really matter to him anymore. If Dawson wanted to fret over the encounter some more, fine; he would have to do it latter.
“Where are you going with that bloody gun?” Dawson asked.
“I’m surprised a higher power didn’t already give you an answer,” Baker replied, walking right past him.
“Well I think you should slow down!”
“Can’t, people to see.”
Baker continued on to the rest of the men, who were loitering next to the jeep.
“Hey, Baker,” Paddock acknowledged him slightly. “Any, uh… any news on Red?”
“Red’s not going to make it,” Baker replied bluntly.
This got the attention of the rest of the men, who stopped whatever they were talking about and swung whichever way to face the Sergeant.
“Joe’s dying!?” Franky asked.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Baker confirmed. “They medical personnel did what they could.”
“This can’t be real,” he replied. “How could this happen to Red?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Baker said simply. “He said he was fine with it, he wasn’t worrying at all; neither should you.”
Franky had a hard time taking everything in, as did the others. It was enough of a shock that Hartsock would not be coming back at all, but how could he be ok with it? Not one part of the mix made a bit of sense to them.
“And he told you that?” Corrion asked.
“He said it right to me, while I was breaking it to him,” Baker explained. “You know what else he said? He made me promise to him that we would stay here until this fight was over, until we won.”
The troops were all entirely quit now, not sure of what to say, so they all figured it was best to say nothing.
“Men, I know we’ve been here for are too long, and I know there’s not a person here who didn’t give everything they could,” Baker continued. “But some gave more. We lost McConnell, Friar, Marsh… and now Red. But I’m sure as hell not letting them die for nothing.”
The group continued to watch closely, as if they were watching a preacher give a sermon.
“We’ve all made mistakes, we’ve all questioned what we’re doing here, and we’ve all been burdened by the cost of the fight. But we can’t give up now; I won’t give up,” Baker stated. “I’m not retreating; I’m standing alongside all of you. All hell might have broken loose, but I’m still standing right here. I’ll lead you through this and back home if it last’s till the end of time!”
“I know some of you don’t trust me right now; some of you still cling to superstition,” Baker continued, looking at Sam and Dawson. “That ends right now!”
He held the ‘death pistol’ up in his hand.
“I know we all feel like we need something to blame, something to understand why this has to happen to us, to those we lost, but it’s not this!” he said, gripping the pistol in front of him. “This is nothing. I know bad things happen with it, and I know there’s a trail following it, but it’s just a goddamn gun!”
He turned and chucked the weapon as hard as he could into the distance.
“Here we are,” Baker finished, “Brothers, fathers, saints, and sinners; let’s finish this, and we’ll bring the fight back to the Germans.”
“Well…shit,” Paddock murmured. “If you’re gonna use all them pretty words.”
“I can’t,” Corrion said, not really ready to agree fully.
As he turned to walk away from the group, an arm reached out in front of him and stopped him. Franky moved his entire body to stop Corrion from walking away, and got in rather close to him. Corrion, and the others, seem rather surprised by the move.
“No, Sam,” Franky said, in a rather mature voice that none had heard before. “You’re staying.”
“And why is that?” Corrion replied.
“What the hell are you gonna do, Corrion!?” Franky said. “Run of and join the circus and be a freak or animal for them? Did you forget where we are?”
“I know where we are-”
“Then stop being such a bastard!” Franky yelled. “You’re lucky, at least you’re alive! What about Red? You’re just going to forget about him.”
“Red would never-”
“You just heard what Red wanted, you know damn well!” Franky continued, getting closer with none of the men trying to stop him. “What the hell happened to your loyalty? You two were both in Normandy, what the hell happened to that? Or are you just holding a grudge because he got promoted to squad leader before you?”
That seemed to push Corrion almost entirely over the edge.
“Red was more of a soldier that you’ll ever be, you stupid ass kid!” he yelled back.
“Would you prefer that I died instead of him?” Franky asked. “I would’ve. What about McConnell, would you prefer him over me? Well, I fucking would’ve! If I could trade places with any of them, I would. Can you say the same thing!?”
Franky was now right in front of Corrion, not very separated.
“You’re the one that needs to grow up,” Franky continued.
Baker felt himself unable to really move, even though he really wanted to stop the argument now. He was not entirely sure about what would become of either man if he did stop it, rather than let it work itself out, but he just wanted to end it. All the men seemed to feel the same.
“If you were really a man you’dve hit me by now,” Corrion claimed.
“Gimme a reason,” Franky replied, now almost at his face.
Baker could not let this happen again.
“Stop!” he ordered.
The word seemed to break the entire group from a trance, as they all did stop and looked back to him.
“Sam, if you have to be mad, you can be mad at me,” Baker said. “I can’t lame you. But the other guys haven’t done anything. You all need each-other more than you need me.”
Corrion turned and blinked a bit. There was a rather long moment of silence amongst the whole lot. Sam started shaking his head a bit until he finally let it droop over, staring sadly at the ground. He could be heard breathing heavily. Franky seemed to back off, as well, staring back and forth between Baker and Corrion.
“I’m sorry, Matt,” he said. “I’m sorry about everything; I just wish I could do a little more.”
Baker walked over and put a hand on his shoulder, looking at Corrion’s face.
“I know how that feels,” he said. “Like I said, just try and sort things out on your own. You guys need each other more than me; I’m not really bulletproof, you know.”
“Baker, we need you too,” Zano said from where he was standing on the left. “I sure as hell couldn’t lead these guys.”
“Hell, I’d probably pop one or two myself,” McCreary added. “You’ve got the patience some of these kids need.”
“You’re serious?” Baker asked.
“Na, not really. At least, I think I’m not; I can’t tell what’d happen in-”
“No, about the other part,” Baker said.
“Not everyone can lead well,” Holden added. “People like you and Hartsock are naturals; his loss only makes you more valuable.”
“That’s about it. Remember when Mac got hit in Carentan?” Courtland reminded the veteran. “We sure as hell couldn’t have afforded to lose him. We can’t lose you, either.”
“Unless you wanna retire and let me take your spot,” Paddock joked. “Either way, we’re still standing here.”
It was the first time Baker truly felt important. He had felt importance when he had been given a mission to accomplish or a job to do, but it was the first time he felt others seem him as important in his existence. Vital, seemed to run through his head a lot. He felt vital to keeping things running, and he felt important to the actual people around him.
“Red said you guys were a tough bunch,” Baker replied simply, a smile over his face. “I guess things are settled for now. Go ahead and relax, and before we know it this fight’ll be over. I’m gonna go talk to Mac some more and see about what’s left.”
Baker left with that, feeling rather satisfied with the outcome. As he started off, he noticed Applejack trotting over to him, apparently not far away from the entire show. Baker stopped; there was one more thing to sort out that he had almost forgotten.
“Hey, Matt,” she said, quickly trotting up to him. “I uh,-”
“I want you to have this,” Baker said, reaching into his shirt’s pocket and taking out the small cape/handkerchief that Scootaloo and her friends had given him for their little club. “And I just want you to know that I would’ve done anything to keep your sister and her friends alive. I never let Apple Bloom touch any of my things, or Scootaloo, or Sweetie. If I could trade places with them, I’d do it.”
Baker figured he should thank Franky for that line latter.
“T-Thanks,” she stammered. “I uh, it’s… mighty kind of you. I’m sure they’d all appreciate that.”
Baker could she tears in her eyes forming up again, but she still smiled.
“But, I think you should have it,” handing it back to Baker.
“No, Applejack I really-”
“I got Apple Bloom’s from their little clubhouse,” she explained. “Besides, I’m sure Scoots would’ve wanted you to keep it.”
“I guess she would’ve.”
“I know she would’ve,” Applejack said. “You saved her. She always talked about you to my sis, and she told me plenty in turn.”
Baker just smiled a bit in understanding.
“So, what were you going to tell me?” he asked.
“I got something for you,” she said. “I wouldn’t really know what to do with it.”
Reaching back, she pulled out Baker’s pistol and held it up to him in her hooves.
“I know you tossed it and all, but I figured you’d want it back at some point,” she said.
“AJ…”
“Don’t worry about that silly curse,” she assured him. “Like you said, it’s just a gun.”
Baker took a deep breath, trying hard to shake the worrying away, even though he couldn’t fully expel it.
“Thanks, I guess I should hang on to it,” he said. “No need for some other pony to get a hold of it and hurt someone by accident.”
“Exactly,” she replied.
Baker kneeled down to her level a bit to take it and was wrapped in a crushing hug.
“No more hard feelings,” she assured Matthew.
“Thanks, AJ,” he said, feeling more like a friend to her than ever.
He put the pistol back in its holder, the cape back in his pocket, and returned to his walk to back to Mac, hoping to get an estimate on how much longer they’d be here. If he had to guess, it would not be more than a week, at best. And yet for the first time, he felt like he did not want to leave.