January 2nd, 1945

Ardennes Forest, Belgium

We were now moving, which was a first in weeks now since we were used to sitting so still in the winter time. But now that it was a new year, we had new problems. Mainly, trying to clear a forest that was near a town that we would eventually take part in a battle. But as we kept moving, it was getting colder and colder though I tried to keep my own thoughts alive and alert.

There were times where I wondered if I was going to freeze to death while I slept at night, even with my dreams and reality morphing together I really did think every once in awhile that I did freeze to death. With every new morning came a new struggle to just keep going and to keep my spirit live and optimistic for the sake of the men in Easy.

Another problem we were running into from time to time was the fact that Lieutenant Dike, the one person who was supposed to bleeding us, was no where to be found most of the time when we were walking and making ground. The others were getting agitated about it, since he would go on long walks and yet no one knew where he was and when he was coming back. It made the other officers in the Company, including myself, Lipton and Buck, wonder if he was ever going to step up and be a good leader. I was loosing respect for him, but that was just me.

One of the days we were on patrol and going closer to the town of Foye, Hobbler got his hands on a German Luger, thanks to the assassination he pulled on a German Soldier who was riding on a horse towards us. He was proud of himself all day that day though the rest of the men and myself were digging up foxholes for the day and getting settled. It sad though on his end, because some minutes later he accidentally shot himself in the leg.

Died within minutes. Artery wound.

It felt a sour note in our throat from then on, but we tried to keep moving on with our lives in the freezer cold of Belgium. My mind would start to wonder if we were ever going to meet up with other Companies again, or most importantly, if I was ever going to see anyone from Wolf Company again. I would think Jacobs was still keeping tabs on me and my whereabouts since I haven't received a telegram or a letter from him at all. I prayed on the regular now to God that Wolf Company., wherever the girl were okay, and also that Ron was safe. it still surprised me that I prayed for Ron, since he too was clouding my mind as the days were going on more and more.

In one of our meetings that we were holding with Dike, he was explaining to us that he was going to be called away sometime in the future because of Battalion S3 was going to be planning on a move. When he asked if there was any questions, Buck raised the infamous one which I think we were all thinking and wanting to ask at the same time.

"Uh, Yeah. What's the formation you're wanting us to go for?" He asked, though there was silence for a moment or two as we watched Dike for some kind of answer.

"At present, as per usual, but I'll clarify that with you at a later, time Lt. Compton." He replied, having me really wish I could roll my eyes at the moment. Once he called us away and we were left without him, seeing him walk away made me look over at Buck. He too was looking frustrated about it, andante we made eyes I signed the phrase This is ridiculous.

More like bullshit. He replied back, having me chuckle once before loosing it when Lipton looked over at us to see what we were going. I knew he was trying to be a good Lieutenant himself, but then again I wondered if he had his own doubts there. I would never want to cross Lipton he was both a find and dear friend,d but also a good Lieutenant who looked out for the men as if they were his own blood. There was still wonder if he was ever going to take over himself, since I knew he could do it and lead the men on.

"I'm telling you, boys, we're screwed." I could hear Guarnere talking to Penkala, Muck and Malarky as they were sitting in a foxhole, a bigger trust of snowfall coming over them along with some wind making it more unbearable.

"If you ask me, I'm glad Lt. Dike's never around." Penkala said in a bitter manner.

"Hey, you know what? We're doing alright, even with foxhole Norman." Malarky tried to reason with them, but as I walked by I could see the look on Guarnere's face that he was not convinced enough.

"Yeah, Don, were doing all right. We're doing all right now. In case you ain't noted, there' s little town down the hill over there, right? And in that town are these guys, and these guys are called 'Germans'. These Germans got tanks!" Guarnere said back to him.

"I know!" Malarky replied.

"Yeah! And our side's gonna want to go into that town. Wanna take one guess who they're gonna want to go kicking on their goddmann doors?" Guarnere kept going with his rant as I stopped near them to get a good listen in.

"I know Bill, all right? It's me you're talking to here." Malarky bit back at him.

"Jesus Christ! We gotta do all this with a CO who's got his head so far up his fucking ass, that lump in his throat is his goddamn nose!" Guarnere grumbled out, though I kept my tongue in the roof of my mouth to not say anything that would get us in trouble. It was good timing on Lipton's part to walk over and be with the boys as they greeted him.

"Hey, Muck. What's the word?" He asked Muck, who was looking rather miserable in his spot in his peacoat.

"You know, sitting around freezing our ass off, singing Dike's praises." he replied in an optimistic but forceful manner.

"Oh yeah, Lt. Dike." Lipton said in a lower tone as he sat next to Guarnere now, though it didn't sound angry, "Well, I'll tell you, I wouldn't wanna be a replacement officer, coming here. Get thrown in with a group of guys who's known each other for what, two years?" As he was saying this I walked over, watching him with a small smile on his chapped lips while he was watching all four of the guys, "Who've been in combat together since Normandy. He's supposed to just show up and lead them? How does a guy do that? How could anyone really hope to gain the respect of the toughest, most professional, most dedicated sons of bitches in the entire ECO." The other men were smirking at this point in his speech as I stood over them not saying a word.

"Huh? If you ask me, a guy would have to march to Berlin and come back with Hitler's mustache of something." Lipton ended, Guarnere chucking next to him and I smiled even bigger now as the others were grinning too from his comment, "Anyway, listen. You guys don't worry about Dike. All right?"

"Yeah," Malarky replied to him shortly.

"We all do our jobs, everything'll be fine." Lipton ended it with his sincere manner, the calm manner he would use to lift up the boys and not break them down. he hopped up finally though now he realized I was there the whole time and he smiled at me shortly before he started to walk off.

"See you, sarge!" Muck called out to him.

"Yeah boy." Lipton called back to him, though now I moved away from the four guys in the hole and over to Lipton. I haven't talked to him in awhile and I wanted to see how he was doing. Though he looked worn out from all that was happening around us, I knew he was trying to keep up his own moral for the sake of the other men.

"Quite a speech back there Lip." I said to him in my sincere manner, seeing him look over at me and have a small smile still there on his face as he was holding his rifle strap in his fingers.

"They needed to hear something that was more optimistic than depressing." Lipton confessed to me as we walked along the snow run that was made with previous soldiers and their feet.

"It was still nice none the less," I explained, having me see him eye me as if it was a joke, "I can see why the guys like you."

"And they like you too, Lt. Kit." He commented though I waved him off.

"I got nothing compared to you when it comes to something like that. I can't give any kind of speech that can lift them up." I argued though there was still a smile still on his face.

"You still lift them up, Kit. You never slow down, and you never show any kind of sign of defeat. That's what they need in a leader: strength." Lipton informed me as we both stood there in the cold. My arms were around my middle to keep myself warm, yet when he was telling me this I could feel my own warmth coming back to me because of the words of encouragement and the words of praises that he was giving me.

"Thanks, Lip." I thanked from whole heartedly. He just smiled back.

"You're welcome, Lt. Kit."

Things were moving rather fast with us within the next few days. We were still trying to stay warm, and the closer we were moving to the edge oft he forest near Foye, the more restless we were getting in our own boots. Lipton was still keeping the moral up with our boys, even with a few new replacements coming in as privates. I even got word from Lipton that Peacock was sent home on a 30-day furlough, and the rest of Easy was beyond excited to hear such a thing. It wasn't that they hated the guy.

They just wanted him gone.

Another day consisted of the men smiling in front of a camera that as brought over to us. Sink explained to Winters it was for moral for the people back at home though he had to a real reason why it was such a thing. But one thing that did come out from that day which made it brighter, was seeing none other than Joe Toye who was back from being injured in his arm. He was only gone for three days, but we missed him far too much.

"Sorry, sir."

"Sorry about what? Patton? I couldn't agree more. What are you doing here?" I watched as Winters was talking to Joe whom took off his helmet and sighed and looked already defeated with this argument.

"I wanna head back to the line, sir." he said such a simple request, yet Winters didn't look happy about it

"Joe, you don't have to do that. Get yourself back to the Aid Station. Heal up." He said in almost an order as I walked over to the both of them talking together. Joe got his sling off to have his arm free though he still looked over at Winters.

"I'd really like to head back with the fellas, sir." Joe said once more though his voice was still quiet enough to almost sound hoarse. I looked over from Joe to Winters to see his reaction, and it took him a mere moment before he nodded his head.

"All right, then go." Winters replied with reluctance. Joe smiled at him.

"Thank you, sir." He said, then looking over at me and smiling at the sight of seeing me there. I was glad to have my friend back as I shifted in my spot in the snow.

"Come on, I bet the guys are gonna be glad to see you." I said to him in a lighter manner. WE both walked together, leaving Winters behind and having me hear silence once more we walked in step.

"What makes you wanna join up with the boys?" I asked him after a second or two in silence.

"You think I wanna have you guys have all the fun while I sit on my ass. No thanks." Joe replied back in a gruff to me, having me chuckle as I could see the rest of the men in front of me in a line for food, talking to each other and having a bit of a light moment.

"Doesn't sound you to sit on your ass," I commented back, hearing him chuckle at me and I grinned, "Besides, be honest with me, you missed us too damn much."

"Nah, mostly you." Joe joked with me and I had a huge grin on my face then.

"Quite flirting with me." I wanted him though my grin was still plastered there on my face.

"Don't act like you're not impressed." Joe commented back to me. As soon as we were in eyesight, I saw Guarnere was looking over at the both of us, mostly Joe. I stopped walking at the both of them were talking to each other and getting back to good graces again, almost like they were having their own reunion. Who was I to ruin it? As they walked and talked together, I moved over to the side and made my way to the others who were eating.

"You ain't gonna eat, Kit?" Muck asked me as he was shoving the food in his plate around with his utensil.

"Not thanks, I don't feel like eating." I replied, seeing him shrug and go back to talking to the private, Webb, and explain gin to him who was shot and who was spared.

"Don't worry. There's enough crap flying around here, you're bound to get dinged sometime," He started as I grabbed a seat next to Bull who was smoking and in his own thoughts, "Almost every single one of these guys've been hit at least once. Except for Alley. He's a two timer. He landed on broken glass in Normandy and got peppered by a potato masher in Holland."

"You'll find out, son." Alley commented to the young private.

"Now, Bull, he got a piece of exploding tank in Holland. And George Luz here has evener been hit. You're one lucky Bastard." Muck said as he passed by Luz who in return rolled his eyes.

"Takes one to know now, Skip." He commented back to Muck.

"Consider us blessed. Now, Liebgott. That skinny little guy, he got pinked in the neck in Holland. And right next to him, that other skinny little guy, that's Popeye. He got shot in his scrawny little butt in Normandy." When they were mentioned, Liebgott smile and spat something out of his mouth, and Popeye just grinned.

"And Buck got shot in his rather large butt in Holland." Buck showed off his rear end as the others laughed though Muck was now pointing at me,

"Lt. Kit here has never been shot at either, but she did get the butt end of a rifle to the cheek. She killed the guy right after. She's our sniper from Wolf Company, one of the most dangerous snipers this army has ever had." Muck explained as the private was looking at me now with shock.

"Wolf Company? There are stories about you guys." He said in almost an astounding manner. I could see the rest of the men just rolling their eyes because of the sheer innocence this one had. I just grinned and shrugged my shoulders.

"We get that a lot."

January 3rd, 1945

I watched from my spot with Winters and Doc as I was going to meet up later with Christenson, Webb, and Perconte. We were going to be with another Company, though they haven' told me which one just yet. Winters told us that we were going to help watch the edge of the line of resistance, and as we waited to go for with the others, I had more wonder as to who we were going to work with.

"Your lucky day, Lieutenant" Winters explained to me as I turned around to see one person whom I have been dreaming about since we last saw each other, though I was never going to admit it out loud. He was standing there in front of me with his gun at the ready, though as soon as we locked eyes with on another he no longer looked determined, but also relieved to see me.

Ron.

"Kit?" He asked me, almost like he didn't recognize me within my own uniform and with the helmet on my head. I was surprised to see him too since he looked like he was growing in some stubble and having a worn look on his face because of the war. But it was him. the same war brown eyes that were always constantly there. Even now in the winter and the constant snow, his eyes were still the same and I was already feeling warm just seeing him there.

"Ron." I said back to him to in also a gasp though no one else was around to hear it in that way. Winters and Doc looked at in hesitance now because I looked like I went into shock but they said nothing and I finally tore my eyes away from Doc to see him give me a small smile. It was almost like he knew what was going on, and yet I eyed him back and Winters tapped him on the shoulder.

"Come on, Doc. Let's go check on the others." Winters said to Doc, having me being left with Ron now in the middle of the snow, though neither one of us moved since I could tell that what we really wanted to do was not allowed in front of the other men. I merely wanted a hug, but that was going to raise a few more questions with the others in Easy. So we just stood there in front of each other, having me be the first one to break the silence in the forest setting.

"So I take it we're going to work together? Easy and Dog Company?" i asked him, trying to find some kind of conversation to have with him. Ron smiled, finally, and for some reason it felt like time just stopped between us. This was ridiculous, how one smile from one guy was making me feel like I could turning liquid and mush all over again. Ron just nodded his head, walking over to me to be close enough for me to see all of his face underneath his helmet, but he then reached between us and grasped my hand in his. Within an instant, everything crappy about this war, even everything depressing about it, was no longer in my mind. All that I was worried about, at that moment, was that Ron was in front of me and I felt utterly safe.

"I'm glad you're safe, Kit." He said simply, almost sounding like he truly cared about me. Hell, he did care. In his letters to me and how we talked over coffee in England, I knew Ron cared more about me than I would give him credit for. But it was still foreign for me to hear that coming from him in such a manner like we were in a relationship and we were separated for far too long.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked yet it sounded more foolish when I said it that way. But the smile never left his face.

"I was just worried about you is all." He confessed, having my grin on my face grow bigger to hear him simply admit that he was worried about me. Since when as that normal for someone like Ron to be worried about someone like me. I even titled my head at him, though he stayed still and our hands were still connected, almost feeling like either one of us wanted to let go.

"Ronald Spiers was worried?" I asked in a joking manner, hearing him chuckle as if I caught him in some kind of act and he looked away from me with his teeth showing in his smile, "This is a true first. I'm just glad I caught you, so I can use this again you later."

"It sounds like you're flirting with me, Kit." Ron said back to me, having me just smile at him and show no kind of remorse there on my face. This was far different from what I was used to, all because of what happened with Gerald. Because of him, I wouldn't dare to do something like this with another man because of how much he fucked me up within my own mind and how I viewed love and infatuation. But with Ronald, he wasn't like the other men that tried to get somewhere close to me. Ron never even tried to do that with me, openly flirt with me and how open affection to me, like other men, would to those whom they liked. Ron was showing it in a different way, a subtle way that was not scary nor was it even close to being normal.

"I'm sorry if that was forward." I apologized to him, though how I worded it didn't even sound like an apology. But Ron shook his head, having me suddenly wish we were alone together so this was less awkward for other men to see.

"It wasn't. Don't apologize," He said to me, having me silently sigh in relief, "And to answer your question: yes. We are going to be working together at the moment on the line."

"Looking forward to it." I commented back to him, the atmosphere between the both of us was feeling beyond warm now since we were to friends re-united from being far apart from each other for far too long. It didn't even feel like we were at war. Once again, it felt like two people just having a chat and conversation with one another and trying to figure out where to take our relationship…if there was ever going to be one. Even Ron surprised me with the last thing he said to me:

"As am I."

Later that afternoon was going to be hell for me, or at least the start of it.

Ron and I talked for the rest of the session that we were out there on the line, swapping stories back and forth with each other and what happened since we saw each other last. He was doing fine with his own Dog Company, Beta was helping the rest of the Battalion that was on the other side of the line where we were nowhere close to. But once Ron and I had our reunion and we sent back to Easy with the couple that came with me, that's when things went south.

We were trying to cut down branches to cover our holes when we heard the call to take over. I was near Babe, the both of us hacking away with our axes and he was trying to convince me to come out and see Philadelphia once the war was over.

"No way in hell." I said to him in almost a joking manner, but he snorted as he was still using his axe to get a tree branch off.

"Oh come on! You can come see me and Wild Bill. We can show you the sights and all the crazy bars we go to. And hey, if you're willin', I can find you a great guy!" Babe was said to me in a huff as he was swinging over and over again. I chuckled as I got some of my branch done and I could see the others in Easy moving to and from the area with their branches under their arms.

"Thanks, but I'll pass with the 'finding me a guy' part of this whole plan. Maybe though you can take me out to a ball game out there." I suggested as I ripped off another stem.

"Sure thing. Hell, I know a guy at the stadium that can get us great seats for cheap. You have neva been to a game before?" Babe asked me in curiosity.

"Babe, you've known me for 2 years, going on three now and you know that my mother is a bit of a tight wad when it comes to me doin' stuff, right?" I asked him in a huff as I stood up, as in hand I saw him eye me, slowly nodding his head.

"You've told me that, yeah." he replied.

"So when was it a bright idea to ask me that when you know the answer is gonna be no?" I asked with a small grin on my face from the sheer thought of his conversation. Babe snorted in laughter from hearing this, but it was suddenly cut short within a moment. It was peaceful at first, but when we were getting our own branches was when things were suddenly loud and deadly. We covered our heads when Lipton suddenly yelled;

"Incoming!"

Babe and I bolted up to see what was going on, but we suddenly knew that we were being bombed. Lipton was running through the area to worn us as I felt Babe grab my sleeve and pull me with him, his rifle in his other hand.

"Come on, we gotta find a foxhole!" he said over the explosions around us. Dirt was flying everywhere and I felt my own ears ringing from almost going deaf from how loud it was. Babe and I wasps running, and the earth under out boots was shaking and making us almost loose our grip once or twice. There was not one in sight, which was not great for us since if we didn't find cover soon we were going to be dead.

"Over here, come on, Kit!" Babe said to me as we both bolted over together to find a rather large one that was deep enough to house 4 guys, but we were just two. I was running in front of him since he slipped, but once I was in the hole, I whirled around and grabbed for his rifle that was still in his hand.

"Babe!" I screamed as a tree behind us suddenly exploded and was tilting over to land on us. I pulled him towards me though Babe wasn't as big as Bull or Buck, I grunted as he slid on the dirt and snow and slid into the foxhole. We both fell from the impact and the tree landed right over us in a shattered boom. It was suddenly dark, the pine needles we cascading over us like a soft shower of rain.

The explosions were still going off around us, we could feel it in the foxhole as I desperately tried to find Babe in the dark in case he was hurt or dead.

"B-Babe!" I said to him over the loud thundering bombs, having me feel him lace our fingers together and chock out a sigh of relief. He didn't sound dead, nor did he sound hurt in the way he was breathing.

"You okay Kit?" He asked me in a shutter. It was too dark for me to see his face there between us.

"I'm good, you?" I asked him back.

"Ask me in five minutes." He said in a huff and almost like he was in a panicked mode. We were still in stunned silence from all of the bombing that was happening around us. But once I looked up to see what was up top of use, I gasped in defeat.

We were stuck underneath a tree.

"Shit." I said in a panicked manner, reached put to feel how big it was. We had no way of lifting it just the both of us together. compared to the other men, we both were scrawny and hardly had any muscles behind us for something like this, "Babe, Babe we're stuck."

"Hold on." Babe said tent to me, having me feel his shoulder against my own as he too tried to push t he tree, but nothing was budging.

"Damnit!" he said in distress as the bombing now stopped. We both stayed still then, sharing nothing inside and outside. There was no movement, no noise and no one talking. This was bad, and it was started to make me panic since it felt like I was about to hyperventilate there in the hole with Babe.

"Stay in your foxhole!" Lipton ordered us as we both tried to reach our hands through gapping branches to feel the cool air against our fingers that were now caked with dirt and grime. I need to get out of there before I knew I was going to suffocate in there. This was not the way I wanted to die.

"Help! Somebody help us!" Babe screamed next to me, having me see some sliver of the gray light in front of us as we waited for someone to come our way.

"Anyone there?! Help!" Babe screamed since I couldn't find my voice to say anything at that moment. Thank God for him, but we then heard a couple soldier running over to our direction.

"Hang on! Who's in that!" Lipton called out to us and we were still in a bit of a panic over what happened.

"Heff! Babe and Kit! Get us out of here!" He said back to Lipton as we could hear then trying to get some of the branches and trunk out of the way for us. I was still silent the whole time though I felt like I was shaking like a leaf there and having a herd time breathing from all that was happening.

"Hang on you two. Kit, you okay!" Lipton asked me in his loud tone as they were shifting some of the branches around already and having me hear them grunt with the power they were using.

"I'm okay." I said, finally. They pulled away most of he branches just in time, getting their hands in and pulling the both of us out of there and having me see the gray light again. I was hoisted up by Lipton, who had me land on my feet and I saw him look me over in worry.

"You good?" He asked me, having me nod my head in silence since I was still shaken up by what I saw and what I felt. But he then look behind the both of us and up in the air, having me see what he was seeing and then sighing in defeat.

Not again.

"Incoming!" He screaming, all of us scattering and running for another place to go and hide. I was off before I knew what was going on. I was not going to have another panic attack on my hands as bomb were scattering all over again. There had to be a cover somewhere in this forest now that another attack was on us.

I found another foxhole that was abandoned, having me shoot into that one and cover my head with my arms to make sure that I wasn't going to get anywhere near hurt. But then I was no longer alone since I looked over to see Joe Liebgott hunched in the same foxhole as me and trying hard not to get hit himself. We were still being bombarded left and right with the noise louder than ever. We waited there, having me looked up once or twice to see the fallen timber of trees around us like they were paper flying in the wind, as if they were nothing. Any one of these trees could kill us, but we were still there and we were still breathing.

Another minute of bombing went off and it was once again silent, having me freeze in the hole with Joe and we looked up and around to see what was going on. Everything was once again still, though I was reluctant to move this time in case we were going to be hit for a third time.

"Anything?" Joe asked me from his spot next to me. I scanned the area, thinking that I was going to see something. I quickly grabbed my scope from my pocket and placed sit near the eye, looking left and right. I saw nothing, but then again this already killed me once before when we lost Julian. I didn't want to take another chance.

"Nothing." I said back to him, getting the scope away from my eye and then looking over at him. He didn't look hurt himself, but then again we were hunched in the foxhole there and almost wrapping ourselves in balls.

"You good?" I asked him in a shaky manner, seeing him nod his own head and we both carefully got up from foxhole we were in. Others were getting up too, but we stayed close together in case something was going to happen. It was still silent, which could be a good thing or a bad thing for us since we could once again he hit at any moment. However, I heard someone crying out in pain and I panicked, looking in that direction to hear what to was, or who it was.

"Joe Toye." Joe said next to me, having me bolt into a run and hearing him come after me before he could even stop me. That was not a good scream, something was very wrong with him now and I wonder what it was.

"Kit!" Joe called behind me as I found Joe Toye there, on the ground, covered in blood on his leg. But there was no leg, he was legless. This was bad since he could die at any moment there and I wanted to help him. I started to panic when I heard someone else next to me on the floor. Looking over and down next to my foot.

Guarnere. He too was amputated.

"I'm here, Toye." I shot a look over at Toye as Doc was there suddenly out of nowhere, tending to his leg. He was going to be fine with Doc there, but I focused now on Wild Bill and how he was sitting up with his own damaged limb of a leg. I shot down to his level, seeing him eye me with a gun on his lips and pain in his eyes.

"Here. I got you Bill." I said to him in a shaky manner as I got to his level and placed an arm over his shoulders to feel him lean against me, still trying to breathe though he was in pain, This was a whole new kind of shell shock for me, since I was trying to be a strong soldier while two of my friends lost their legs in a bombing and within minutes. It made me wonder, truly wonder while I stayed with Wild Bill before he was hoisted away from me.

What was this going to end?

January 9th, 1945

It was another cold night there in the forest, and since we lost two of our men, we were just trying to get through another night before we made out a big move out in Foye. That might be especially hard for the officers since we were still trying to clear the forest and get one step closer to getting out of the forest. They weren't going to tell me anything really, since I was more prone to just keeping the boys alive in their pirates like Lipton was going. But this was was another round of hell for us.

Since once again, it came out of nowhere.

"You need a light, Kit?" LIebgott asked me as he was walking over to me with his hands shoved in his peacoat pockets and his cigarette poking out of his lips. Since the loss of both Wild Bill and Toye, we were shaken up a bit and I had to wonder if we were going to get any kind of peace there in that forest. I nodded my head, seeing him fish out his pack and then his lighter. Once I got my cigarette lit and I inhaled, we stood side by side with nothing say for a mere minute but trying to just breathe.

"You heard from Guarnere?" Joe asked me casually.

"He's on the next ship back home, along with Toye," I informed him as I saw him nod his head, "Both lost their leg from the shelling."

"Fuck," Joe muttered out as he inhaled and the smoke exited through his nose, "I never though it would be those two going out like that."

"Hell, who did?" I asked him with a shrug of my shoulders. He said nothing for a solid few seconds, having me look over to see Lipton talking to Luz about something under their breaths.

"You haven't talked in days since it happened." Joe said to me, more like a statement then anything really. I eyed him then, seeing him breathing out one more time before he eyed me with the look of disbelief there on his face. He was some kind of yo-yo friend to me, having good days and being a great friend, and days where he wanted to chew me out. I had no idea what his problem was with me, but at this point I wanted nothing more than to shut him up.

"Sorry, if I'm not in the talking mood as of late, Liebgott." I said to him in a lower manner since there was not one ounce of happiness that was left in me because of all that happened within the past few weeks.

"You were the other day when you were talkin' with Spiers," I shot him a look then, not understanding where he was coming from and how he was now bringing up Ron in a time like this, "And you looked rather peachy to see him."

"And this bothers you, why?" I asked him carefully.

"It doesn't. Though it raises some questions around here and how the other guys are gonna see you." Joe replied smoothly though I flicked the rest of the stick out of my hand and now really wishing that I could just punch him hard in the jaw and shut him up. Not only did I not need his attitude, but now I didn't need to hear that he was thinking that I was fooling around with another soldier.

"Whatever you think is going on, get it out of your head." I said to him though I didn't move my head in the process.

"Is that a threat?" He asked me casually though he too was staying still in his spot. I was about to answer him when we had yet another round of shelling happening around us. We both dived out of the way and into a cover of a foxhole, me being alone this time and not having someone to hide with. Since it was now in the night, we were seeing flashes of light from the explosions around us. We should not be used to this by now, but we were still running around in a frantic state.

But that too was short lived, because I saw in front of me a shell going off right over Muck and Penkala. Within an instant, they were gone.

And no one was around to hear me scream.