Humanity of the Broken [ Band of Brothers ] 2

SIX

December 24, 1944

It took all her strength to wake up that morning. Her body ached. The snow crept into all different areas, freezing her body and making her tremble endlessly. She'd started coughing the night before. Quickly Alice made it her mission to keep that particular development to herself. She could breathe for now. If she ever couldn't, then she'd make a fuss.

News of Smokey had made its way to the Battalion CP the previous night. Alice had shed a few tears once she'd crawled into her foxhole for the night. No one wanted to see Smokey paralyzed. Everyone loved him, even those who became the punchline of his poems. That made for two Toccoa men already sent into what passed as the field hospital at Bastogne: Skinny Sisk and Smokey Gordon.

The battle had become a full scale siege. The Americans had hunkered down on the edge of Bastogne. The Germans came at them daily, hoping to break through at a weak point. That weak point would not be the 506th, though. Alice knew that.

Her body finally warmed enough as she came to consciousness for Alice to get moving. First she did a few circles with her ankles and tried to move her toes. Biting her cheek through the pain, she clambered out of the foxhole. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the bright light off the snow. With the sun finally out, they'd gotten resupplied a couple days ago. Not that it'd brought much, only a bit of ammo, food, and medical supplies.

"Good morning."

Alice turned to her right as she stood outside her foxhole, sleeves as far over her hands as possible. She found Harry standing in a similar state. She nodded. "Time?" she asked.

"0900. You slept late," he commented. Harry walked over and stood with her. "Pleasant dreams?"

Her dramatic eye roll said all she needed to in response to his cheeky question. With a snort and a nod, he didn't push further. They continued to stand in silence.

"Have you walked the line recently?" Alice asked.

Harry sighed. "I went up before dinner yesterday. Dick took a walk early in the morning. Nixon's gone right now." He shook his head. "Not much has changed. Could do with some more drink though."

She snorted. "Yeah, I'm sure you could. You and me both."

"Nix not letting you have any of his Vat 69?"

"He probably would if I asked him," she admitted. Alice stuck her hands in her pockets and shuddered. "Ack, fuck this cold."

Harry burst out laughing. Then silence fell again. A yawn escaped her. Rubbing at her stinging eyes, Alice just looked back at her foxhole longingly. But the appearance of Colonel Strayer pulled them both back to attention.

"Lieutenants. Where's Captain Winters?" he asked.

"Check the supply tent, sir," said Harry.

As Strayer left them alone, Alice started to let her mind wander again. Exhaustion held her in a state of half-awake pretty much at all times these past two days. A sudden cough escaped her as she breathed right into a gust of wind. Her chest screamed at the action. Alice cursed as she got a hold of her breathing.

"That doesn't sound good," Harry commented, helping her stand back up. "How long has it been doing that?"

She shrugged him off. "It's nothing new. Cold weather does this to me. Always has." With a glare, she turned straight to him. "Keep it between us, alright? I'll bring it to Gene's attention if it gets worse." What she said wasn't entirely true. She'd gotten coughs in cold weather before, especially in the Alps, but here it felt worse.