Tag Along

The train rattled and rocked but Eugene Sledge slept calmly. Compared to napping in the hammering rain; dealing with the dank water that usually settled in the bottom of his muddy foxhole in Peleliu and Pavuvu and all the other godforsaken holes he'd fought in, from or around, this was heaven.

Snafu watched him closely, able to read his body language like an open book. In the time they'd spent huddled in the same holes; hunched over the same mortar tube; sharing the same patch of mud for hours on end, Snafu had learnt to read Sledge. He'd learnt to anticipate his reactions, tested his limits… basically, he'd made it his mission to annoy the fuck out of him, keep him safe, and guide him through the war. His mission was complete now, but Snafu felt a little lost as the train approached his home stop.

Abandoning his usual careful thought, Snafu made a snap decision. When the train stopped, he didn't move a muscle. He sat and watched Sledge; he watched him twist around in his seat and stir. By the time Sledge woke up, the train was moving again and Snafu was gone.

Sledge looked around, dread settling in his gut. Snafu had gone without saying goodbye. Snafu, his ever present rock, had left him to face the trials of returning home after war… alone. Tears prickled his eyes as he thought of Snafu's monotone voice, his thick Cajun accent, the way he was always so blunt, he put things plainly and if you didn't like he told you to go fuck.

Sledge found himself praying that it would all happen again, just so he could spend some more time in a muddy foxhole with his closest friend. He found himself praying for another war, another great need for the USMC so he could go back to what he was used to. So he could once more don his dungarees and sprint through hails of bullets, sliding into trenches with a mortar tube thrown across his shoulder. He wanted it all back, but not because it was war. Not because he was hungry for death. Not because he enjoyed crouching in a mess of mud and blood waiting for a suicide charge by the enemy. Not because he missed the fear. But because he missed Snafu.

"Mornin' Sledgehamma." a deep 'N'awlins' drawl interrupted Sledge's moping.

Sledge thought he was dreaming. Spinning around he saw Snafu stood behind him, two cups of coffee in hand.

"Thought you might want some."

Taking the cup, Sledge stared. He waited for Snafu to explain but was rewarded with nothing but silence.

"Aren't you going home?" Sledge finally asked.

"Nah. I figured I'd tag along with you for a while."

It was as simple as that. Snafu had not changed miraculously while Sledge was sleeping, that was for sure. So what was causing this new-found… whatever it was? Sledge would have no chance to find out as, around fifteen minutes later, the train pulled into his home stop. Eugene looked outside and realised it was light, the sun streaming through the window. The conductor called out the name of his home, telling everyone to pick up their bags and head off the train. Eugene saw no reason to stay on the train, except to stay with Snafu a while. Looking around he realised that, in the time he had been thinking, Snafu had disappeared again. He was now stood beside the door, both their bags in hand, looking at Eugene expectantly.

"You comin' Sledgehamma?"

Eugen nodded, walking up beside Snafu and breathing, "Welcome to Mobile, Alabama. Welcome home."

A lopsided grin spread across Snafu's face, that lopsided grin that Sledge was so used to, the one he cherished so much. It was a rare occasion if Snafu smiled during the war, now it was over he never seemed to stop. It was nice to be able to smile without being considered insane. If you smiled at any point in Jap-Land you were carted off to the hospital for Trench Fever or Insomnia or something else depressing. Right now, Snafu was taking every opportunity to show that he was damn happy to be out of that place.

"Eugene?"

Needless to say, Dr. Sledge was surprised to be driving two people home that afternoon. He hadn't expected Eugene to bring Snafu - Eugene's father knew him as Merriell - back, in actual fact he hadn't expected Eugene to come back at all. After the rigors of war, he had expected Eugene to hit the big city and live out his life away from 'Dreary Little Mobile'. Clearly he had been wrong.

To Eugene, nothing said home like Mobile. He decided he would get another dog, maybe even get Snafu to help him name it. Right now, back in the real world, he would have to call Snafu by his real name. Merriell just didn't sound right... to Gene, Snafu was his real name. It was the only thing he knew about the battered Cajun from "N'awlins"; he didn't know his profession, he didn't know about his family.

Snafu had returned home with him as a virtual stranger, the only thing they had in common was the war; the cold, the rain, the cruelty. Eugene hated realising this but he figured now was as good a time as any. And yet, despite the fact that they didn't even know eachother, Snafu had stayed. He had not left the train at his home stop, he had waited with Eugene, waited to meet his family and see his home.

Maybe, now the war was over, they'd get the chance to get to know eachother. Maybe they'd turn out to be the greatest of friends. And even if they didn't, at least they had been there when it mattered most.