we're on each other's team [band of brothers / hbo war]

10: operation market garden, part one

UPDATED 05/06/2022. I believe everything should be updated and correct in this chapter. Little did I know, Google Docs isn't the best at tracking revisions when I need it!

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The boys decided to spend the night out at a pub and dragged Madison along with them.

Well, they didn't really force her into it, she had said she would go. When she got there, however, she realized that she didn't really want to do anything. Instead, she sat down next to Webster, the Company Scholar as she nicknamed him in her journal, and chatted with him as she watched Compton, Bull, Toye, Martin, Luz, Guarnere, and Babe play a round of darts. At least she was receiving some sort of entertainment.

"Klein! Get over here and try this out!" Compton shouted from across the room. Madison shook her head in response.

"I don't think that's a good idea," she tried to shoot him down, but the men had really wanted her to do it.

"Come on, do it! Please?" Babe asked, giving her the puppy dog look. Madison sighed in defeat, wobbling just slightly, knowing that he got her there. Ever since the two met, they had become inseparable. They clicked almost immediately. Their friendship would last for their entire lives.

"Alright, fine," she mumbled. Her friends cheered as she took a gulp of her beer, passed it to Web so it'll be protected. Or drink it. She really didn't care what he did with it. It was gross, anyway. Right now, she couldn't help but think that if her parents (and brother) found out about her underage drinking, even if she was just a year under it, with a bunch of grown men...she would be dead. At least she had a strong tolerance for it (thanks to her German and Irish roots) and that she never got hungover.

Madison had gotten up from her chair and walked over to the men who wanted her to play. Truth be told, she really didn't want to play. She was bad, she just knew it. When she got close enough, Bull was kind enough to hand her the darts. She took them.

"Thanks," Madison gave a slight nod, as she looked down at the darts. "Um, all I have to do is throw them at the board and try to hit the dead center, right?"

"Sure," Bill clapped one of his large hands onto her shoulder. "You'll do great, kid. Doesn't matter if the board is all the way up in Heaven and you're down in Hell," he earned a glare from that comment. Fuck him and his stupid height jokes. "Relax, Mighty Mouse. Do it."

Madison sighed. She eyed the board as she got into a stance. Using her left hand, she threw one of the darts. She really wasn't concentrating on where it was going to land but it had almost hit dead in the middle of the board. It seemed that all in the bar were silent. Then someone behind her let out a whistle.

"Is this the first time you played darts?" Bull asked her. She nodded.

"Yeah, and I'm terrible at it," she mumbled, looking down at the floor, scuffing her boot with it.

"Are you kidding me? That was great! You almost hit dead center on your first try!" Luz exclaimed. "Sure you ain't the Devil?"

Madison scowled at him. "I don't even know why I told you about that."

"Because you love me," Luz said, with the hint of a smile in his voice.

"I don't," Madison told him simply. "Can I stop now?"

"Nope. You gotta keep playing," Martin told her. She groaned, but obliged. She threw the second dart, and that one too almost hit the dead center.

"You ever gonna hit the center, kid?" Toye asked her. She shrugged.

"I told you, I'm not good at this."

"Yeah you are! You just need some guidance is all," Babe declared, setting his beer down. "Let me show you." He stood behind Madison, his right hand taking hold of hers, and his left arm ghosted over hers, his hand touching hers. It was very...odd. Madison didn't like it.