After the untimely death of Easy Company's medic Eugene Roe, everyone was just sitting in their foxholes not talking just staring off into space.
No one could believe what had happened, and no one wanted to. The only sound that echoed through the deadly forest was the quiet sobs of one Babe Heffron, who was holed up in what used to be Doc's foxhole.
The following nights were the same. Everyone was quiet except for the cries of Babe. Until one night they suddenly came to a stop. Lipton looks up from twirling a stick when he heard Babe suddenly stop crying.
Lipton looks over at Martin, but he just shrugs before looking back down at his hands. The death of Easy Company's beloved medic had taken a toll on everyone.
Lipton climbed out of his foxhole and made his way over to Doc's foxhole. Even though he knew Doc was gone; he couldn't help but hope that he would see the familiar and comforting face of Doc, sitting in his foxhole going through his treasured med bag.
His naïve hope was ripped from him when he glances into the foxhole and saw Babe staring off into space, clutching Doc's jacket in his hand rubbing his thumb over Doc's name.
Lipton carefully slips into the small foxhole beside Babe.
They sit in silence for a while before Lipton breaks the silence.
"You know…Gene wouldn't want you to sit around alone and not talk to anyone, it's not healthy" Lipton says as he puts his hand on Babe's shoulder in a sign of comfort.
Babe was quiet for a while before he finally looks up at Lipton with emotionless eyes that sent a shudder down Lipton's spine.
"You know after Julian died, I thought that I'd never be able to smile again, but then there was Gene, he swooped in, and he made everything better again.
Gene made it possible to smile and laugh. He got me to feel alive again when I thought I never would" Babe states emotionlessly, looking back down at Gene's jacket.
Holding the jacket closer to his chest, he continues.
"When I looked at Gene it was like this war didn't exist because all I could see was Gene. The kid from Bayou Chene, Louisiana who was too kind and innocent for such a harsh place like war" Babe takes a deep breath before continuing.
"And then that goddamn worst day in my life happened. I'd spoken to him an hour before that because he came to check on me. I was cold so he gave me his jacket even though I protested" Babe huffs, running his fingers over the jacket.
"He was just a few metres away from me, and I couldn't do a god damn thing to stop it!" Babe snarls.
"God…Lip you should have seen the fear in his eyes when he realised what was about to happen, and then the bullets hit him. God H-he just dropped.
And then there was b-blood everywhere, and he cried out for me, reached out for me, and I couldn't do a god damn thing but watch! I lost the one person who made me feel alive and for what!? Some stupid German arsehole with issues!" Babe cries out.
"Babe…Gene, wouldn't want you to drown yourself in regret over something that wasn't in our control, it wasn't your fault okay" Lip murmurs as he grabs Babe's cold hand.
"Yeah well, I don't want to be here anymore. The only reason I am is so I can kill every god damn Nazi that crosses my path in this war for what they've done!" Babe snarls as clutching Gene's jacket so tight that his knuckles go white, eyes darkening with rage before going emotionless.
Lip knew at that moment that Babe wouldn't be the same Babe before they lost Gene. Lip left Babe alone after trying to get him to see reason, but nothing was getting through to the kid.
On the way back to his foxhole he ran into Captain Winters who stops him "How is Heffron?" Winters asks as he fiddles with a cup of hot coffee which he offers to Lipton, who declines it politely.
Lipton bites his lip softly "Honestly Captain since we lost Gene, he hasn't been the same. I just popped into Gene's old foxhole, and he's just a shell of who he used to be with just one thing on his mind, revenge" Lip sighs before looking down.
"I know that having lost Gene is hard, and we'll never be the same again since we don't have the kid around, but were all crumbling apart Cap, and I don't know how we can get the guys past this. Doc was what held Easy Company together; he was our safety net.
Wherever we were, we felt safe knowing that Doc was just a call away, but God damn it! We lost the kid, and nothing will ever be the same, and we're losing it. Babe's falling apart mentally, and the others barely talk" Lip snaps, a traitorous tear rolling down his cheek followed by a few more.
Winters looks at Lipton and sighs grabbing Lip's shoulder.
"If there's one thing I knew about Eugene, it's that he wouldn't want us to continue this way. Eugene always told me that if he didn't make it out of this godforsaken war, then he was okay with that. As long as it wasn't one of his men" Winters sighs looking up at the sky blinking back tears.
"If I'm honest, I thought the kid was immortal, and I never pictured anything like this happening. If I could trade places with the boy…I would do so in a heartbeat. He was just that, a kid. Hell, he was twenty-two. Just a baby, and now he's gone." Winters façade was cracking.
Lip took the chance to hug the man who was also responsible for holding Easy Company together.
That night everyone in Easy Company felt the change, Easy Company was never going to be the same, no matter how hard they tried. When someone would call out for a medic, they still expected to see the young medic come running out of nowhere or hear his soft Cajun accent.
Babe wasn't the same; he killed every Nazi he saw with no mercy, just like he'd said he would. The men of Easy would try to include him in conversations, but he would just stare into space wearing Doc's jacket.
After the war ended everyone lost contact with Babe, but they heard he had gone back to Bayou Chene, Louisiana to visit Doc's family and then after that there was nothing.
People used to say that Easy Company was the strongest Company in WWII. That with Easy Company's brotherhood they could get passed anything, but when Easy lost their young medic Eugene Roe, the legend of Easy Company, was just a myth.
They were held together by a frayed string, and even years after the war had ended, people would tell the ruthless stories about one Babe Heffron, who killed thousands of Nazi's without remorse.
It wasn't until the late 1990's they finally heard something about Babe Heffron. He had passed away from a heart attack. The men of Easy Company mourned him, but they knew he was finally happy again because he got to reunite with Easy Company's Angel of Life and Death. Eugene Roe.
The End.