Humanity of the Broken [ Band of Brothers ] 2

FOURTEEN

When night had fallen and foxholes had been dug for the next day or so, Alice left Second Platoon in Malarkey's capable hands. He seemed to be holding it together well, but she made a mental note to sit down with him when she had a chance, and, more importantly, when he had a chance. As she walked through the darkness of the woods west of Foy, Alice said hellos to any man she passed. Perconte and Bull joked around with her for a few minutes. She got the same friendly reactions from Talbert, Shifty, Liebgott, and Alley.

Despite keeping her smile up, Alice's heart ached. Not just for Bill and Joe, not just for her own loss, but for the way the men looked around themselves with a sort of apprehension she'd not seen since the siege had broken after Christmas. So when she reached the person she'd been looking for, Alice prayed he'd be the humor she so desperately needed.

"Hey, George," Alice said, voice low. He sat in his foxhole alone, messing with his radio. As she approached and he looked up, Alice shot a smile. "Got a buddy?"

"My foxhole is your foxhole," he muttered. George grabbed his radio and shifted it to make room. He looked cold, but none of them were as frozen as just a few days ago. He looked at her as she slid in. "You good?"

Alice let out a small laugh. She turned to him. "That's what I was going to ask you."

Instead of answering, George dug out his current pack of smokes. He flicked it open and took two out. "Cigarette?"

She took it from him. "Thanks."

George just nodded as he lit his own. For several moments they sat in silence. Cigarette smoke wound its way up into the trees. Every so often they'd hear the distant pop of machine gun fire. From where they sat, they could see the stars above them. If it hadn't been for the looming threat of the war that hung over their heads, she might've even called it peaceful.

"George," she started again.

"Yeah?"

"You didn't answer my question."

George scoffed around the cigarette. With little drama, he took it from his mouth and shrugged. "Better than the goddamn krauts are gonna be when we get to Foy."

Her eyes shut for a few moments at his words. She also removed her cigarette. Dousing it in the snow, Alice just sighed. "Yeah."

"Sorry," he muttered. "Germans."

"It's alright."

They fell back into silence again. A gust of wind tore through the area just as Alice yawned, and suddenly her cough overwhelmed her. Hacking to the side, it was the pain of her throat more even than her heaving breaths that hurt. As she moved her arm back from her mouth, she saw another bit of blood on her fatigues. Alice wiped it away quickly before turning back to George. He watched her in concern.

"That doesn't sound too good."

She side eyed him, but didn't respond. Trying to get her breathing back in line, Alice closed her eyes. With her head back against the foxhole, she tried to relax. "Hey, how old is Maria now?"

"That kid's gotta be seven," he said.

Alice could hear the smile in his voice. When she turned to look at him, she saw he appeared a little less murderous. "That makes Victoria what, twenty-one?"

He grinned at her. "Yeah."

"What do you think she'd think of me," Alice asked, smiling as well.

"Oh, she'd say you're batshit crazy."

Both of them started laughing, trying to keep the noise to a minimum. It took a moment for Alice to rein herself back in. But after a minute, they were back to silence. Only the rustling of the pine trees made any noise.