The first week of November brought their new CO, Norman Dike.
He was from division HQ.
Dike was a real stiff military career-type, completely inexperienced in combat.
He quickly earned the nickname, Foxhole Norman because if there was ever any action, Dike wasn't around. They came to quickly realise that he was a terrible leader, and wasn't a good solider. Heffron stayed right away from him.
"It doesn't matter, we have the best NCO's".
Heffron was right, they had the best Sargent's in the entire army.
The only thing holding Easy together were the NCO's.
And like Heffron, Noelle stayed clear of Dike as well.
But the best news came on the 25th of November.
Canadian troops relieved the 101st Airborne Division. After seventy days on the front line, with no showers, hardly enough to eat, not enough sleep and feeling constantly tense, they were finally getting a well-earned break. They boarded those trucks with the biggest smiles of relief on their faces, the trucks would take them back to France to Camp Mourmelon.
It was going to be a fourteen-hour journey to camp.
Noelle tried to sleep through that journey as much as she could.
And when they arrived, everyone just wanted a shower and something hot to eat.
Noelle stayed under that shower for a good twenty minutes, scrubbing every inch of her body free from mud, blood and sweat. And when she got out, she changed into a fresh uniform and washed the other one. The NCO's got their own barrack separate from the rest. Noelle was sitting on her bed, cleaning her boots. Her hair was still damp, slightly wavier than usual.
Malarkey sat on his bed, opposite hers.
He looked at her and smiled.
"You're so beautiful". He whispered.
Noelle stopped scrubbing her boots and looked up.
She tucked her hair behind her ear.
"Me?"
"Who else?"
Noelle looked over her shoulder.
"Martin?"
Malarkey snorted, shaking his head. "Nope. You, Nelly".
Noelle cleared her throat, "eh – thanks and that, like".
He chuckled, "look, you don't have to use he compliment but-"
"just accept it, 'a get it".
Malarkey's face rested into a smile.
Noelle smiled back at him, "and 'a'll keep it for a rainy day".
"Good".
Putting the rag aside, Noelle reached over and took his hand.
"There's talk of New Years Eve in Paris". He told her, "how about that?"
Noelle smiled, "Paris, eh?"
Malarkey nodded, "yeah…I would love to share that with you, Nelly".
"A'll be wherever you are, Donnie".
"We're not supposed to see action until Spring".
"Spring?"
Malarkey nodded, "talk of a football game on Christmas as well".
"Loads happening, eh?"
"There is, yeah".
They both continue to look at each other.
Melting, into a loving stare.
However, that moment changed very dramatically.
"I feel sick". Malarkey told her.
Noelle didn't know if he was serious or not.
"'A hear that happens when you're in lo-"
"oh, shit!"
And he got up, racing for the latrines.
Noelle frowned.
What the hell was that all about?
But looking around, she noticed some of the others had rushed into the latrines.
Her frown deepened.
Was everyone in love?
Noelle got up from her bed, looking over at Martin.
"Johnny, what's going on?"
He shrugged, "got me, Nelly.
"How come they're all going in there?"
But Martin didn't need to tell her, because everyone was retching inside the latrines.
Noelle pulled a face, "fucking hell".
"You 'wanna grab a medic?" Martin asked her, "I'll check in on the guys".
"Aye, 'awright, Johnny".
Noelle found out on her travels that it wasn't just them who were suffering, the rest of Easy were hanging over a toilet, spewing their guts up. She wondered why. How the hell is everyone getting sick to their stomachs? And she thought maybe she was safe, maybe she would be okay but that wasn't to be the case at all.
Noelle was informing Welsh and Peacock of their current situation.
"Everyone?" Welsh was surprised. "We have replacements coming in tomorrow".
She rubbed her forehead.
An intense wave of nausea hit her like a smack in the face.
And the thought of getting sick in front of her Platoon leader wasn't ideal.
"Bye, sir!" She said, in a rush of panic, before running straight for the latrines.
She spent twenty miserable minutes clutching that toilet for dear life.
When Malarkey stopped getting sick, he sat with her and rubbed her back.
"What the hell, Donnie?" She croaked into the bowl.
"I know, darling". He whispered, "you're 'gonna be okay".
Noelle brushed her teeth, got into bed and fell asleep.
They never got a day off, they had to meet and train the replacements.
Luckily for them, it was only light drills the next day.
Still, a few of them were still puking.
Some had cramps so severe, that they had to hold onto something for support.
Noelle just felt weak as a kitten.
Her eyes were heavy, body trembling with chills.
She felt ready to fall over.
But at least she wasn't alone.
While standing there, Perconte fell flat on his face.
Peacock sighed, "someone get his ass out of here".
That was the type of day they had.
…
Guarnere and Buck came back at roughly the same time.
It was great seeing them again, such a relief.
Buck had thanked the guys who had helped him get him back to the trucks.
He was very grateful. But honestly, the man didn't need to be.
"Now, aren't you glad we didn't leave you?" Malarkey smiled, "there's talk of New Year's Eve in Paris".
Buck's eyes lit up like the sun.
And while they were catching up, Heffron and Toye were filling Guarnere in about Dike.
It was so good having them back.
"Did I miss anything good, Thumper?" Buck asked her.
"Doesn't matter, sir". Noelle said, "we just wanted you's back".
Everyone had been saying that, but it took her saying it so forcefully, to realise how serious they all were. Noelle could have filled him in on everything, losing Jim for one. That battle which took place at the crossroads, all those constant patrols, Veghel. But she didn't want to make him feel bad for not being there as their leader.
"Well, we're here now, Thumper".
Noelle gave him a tight nod, "aye, just – don't do it again".
Malarkey chuckled at that.
But soon stopped, "yeah, don't do it again, Buck".
"For you two, kids". Buck smirked, "I'll keep my ass down".
Buck and Guarnere were back into the swing of training, like they never left.
Night problems came about at training, Noelle had to do most of them with the replacements.
The replacements were okay, they were wide-eyed and excited, but they were fine.
And they'd listen to you, especially the Toccoa guys because they had been around since Normandy. A couple of them gave her some bother, one in particular from their Platoon. He was six months younger and very cocky. He'd constantly point out that she was small, weak looking and probably hid most of the time during combat. She tended to stay away from him whenever she could.
After an exercise which lasted into the night, Noelle was excited about sleep.
However, when she opened the door, she was greeted with a trashed barrack.
Lipton went off, started yelling at everyone.
Guarnere, Toye, Grant, Martin and Christenson.
The five of them were in Noelle's bad books.
Still, Noelle couldn't stay mad at them for long.
They were drunk and very apologetic while they cleaned up.
She could understand why they acted this way, combat was behind them.
They didn't expect to see combat again until Spring.
Besides, Noelle was well rested and felt like a brand-new person. For three weeks, she slept in a bed, ate three square meals a day and showered. For three weeks, they lived like kings and got excited over weekend passes into Paris. For three weeks, combat was a memory and not something they had to live in.
For three weeks, they were carefree and happy.
Just for three weeks.
Three weeks was nothing, but it was everything to them.
They made some good memories, Malarkey won five thousand dollars in a game of craps.
He gave Muck and Noelle five hundred dollars each.
Noelle had never held so much money in all her life, she almost passed out.
Malarkey laughed, placing his arm around her waist.
"Hell, with this Faye and I can honeymoon in Poconos for a month!" Muck expressed.
"Donnie, are you sure?" She whispered, looking at him.
Grinning, Malarkey kissed her cheek. "Sure, I am!"
Muck smirked at the pair of them, "maybe you should put money aside for your wedding, huh?"
Laughing, Malarkey gave his shoulder a nudge.
But three weeks ended on the 18th of December, at two in the morning.
All the NCO's were fast asleep in the barrack, as one should at two in the morning, but then there came this loud knock on the door, that changed their lives forever. Some guy from division HQ barged into their barrack and turned on the light.
Everyone groaned.
"Get ready to head out. A major German offensive is under way somewhere in Belgium. Caught us with our pants down-"
Noelle rolled out of bed and landed on the floor, with a tiny thud.
She rubbed her eyes, sitting up slowly.
The guy from division cleared his throat, "already put a helluva dent in our line. So, pile all your personal items in the middle of the living room and report to company supply to get whatever you can in the terms of equipment".
No one said anything or made any motion to move.
This guy soon yelled, "now!"
They all sighed and started getting out of bed.
…
"Can you believe this shit, Nelly? No winter clothes".
"It's shit, Joe".
"What the fuck are we meant to fight with? We ain't got enough ammo".
Noelle sighed, "Joe…can you 'no say something reassuring like?"
Toye pulled a face, "like what?"
"Like – like, oh, it's 'gonna be fine". She went on, "oh, we'll be 'awright, we always are".
"Are you scared?"
Noelle looked up at him, "aye".
Toye nodded slowly, "well, it's 'gonna be fine".
"'A don't believe it".
He stayed quiet for a moment and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"As your squad leader, kid, everything's 'gonna be fine. But as your good pal, your best buddy, am not so sure about this one".
Noelle looked down.
"But I'll look out for you, kid". Toye squeezed her shoulder.
"'A'll look out for you too, Joe".
He smiled, "I know you will". He then added, "you always do".
They were headed for the Ardennes forest in Belgium, where the German's were rolling through with their eye on eventually taking Antwerp, the key allied port in Belgium. Specifically headed to someplace called Bastogne, which had seven roads leading to it and in turn was a prized possession for an advancing army.
At 2000 hours, on the 18th of December, they were packed onto cattle trucks like sardines.
It was freezing, they did not receive their winter uniforms. K-rations were short, as well as their ammo. They had to scrounge what they could, but it wasn't enough. Easy weren't sure what they would be facing out there, but they were smart enough to know, that it wasn't going to be good.
The trucks had no benches, and little in the way of springs.
Noelle felt like an animal heading for slaughter.
She already missed those C-47's.
Everyone was a little nervous, if not scared of what was to come.
Driving in darkness did it for Noelle, the trucks were going down the roads fast and hitting every blasted bump on the road. It played havoc on their stomachs and kidneys. Some of the guys ended up puking in their helmets and they'd toss the contents out afterwards. Noelle was determined not to do that. Honestly, after everyone getting really sick during their first few days in Mourmelon, she couldn't afford to lose anymore weight.
Malarkey was next to her, she took his hand.
He opened his eyes, looking at her.
Noelle was staring straight ahead, at nothing in particular.
She was scared. Noelle didn't like this, it made her anxious and tense.
And sensing this, he let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Noelle was quick to lean into his side. She was thinking of moments with Malarkey which made her smile the most. Glenn Miller, meeting his family, all those drunken nights. Laughing with him until she couldn't breathe. Because she might be gone the very next day, and Noelle would rather remember those moments now and enjoy them, rather than have the flash before her eyes very quickly.
"I 'gotta take a leak". Popeye said, "holy smokes, have I 'gotta take a leak".
"Will you quit it?" Guarnere grunted, "Christ…it ain't just you".
"Bill, I've been holding this for-"
"I don't 'wanna hear it, Popeye". He cut him off.
There was a moment of silence.
"Me too".
Buck grinned over at Jackson, "hey, have you told Bill? He'll sort that out".
"Come on, Lieutenant". Guarnere laughed, "don't pull me under another bus".
Noelle smirked, "me too, Bill".
Malarkey chuckled, "hey, Bill? Can't you get those guys to stop?"
Guarnere looked at him, "stop what, Malark? The whole war?"
"That would be very helpful".
Toye cracked up, "hey, Bill! While you're at it, why don't you run back and grab us more ammo from the greedy bastards up top, huh?"
It was always nice when the guys shared a laugh.
Guarnere tended to start the joke, though sometimes he never meant it.
It let off the tension.
For a moment, they were back at training having a moment of laughter amongst each other, just like any other night problem. They'd be making fun of Sobel, making fun of each other. That's something no one could take away from them, not even the Germans. Those fond moments of laughter and acting like little devils.
But when the laughter died down in the truck, it went back to silence.
They were cold and anxious.
Noelle looked down at her watch, they had been on this truck for hours.
"How much longer?"
"No idea".
"This is shit".
The guys were back to moaning about it, Guarnere went back to telling them off.
Noelle tended to keep her mouth shut if she had an annoyance.
Guarnere would always tell her off.
But those replacement didn't know the extent of Guarnere.
"Sarge?"
"What?"
"When do we stop next? We're not feeling so hot".
Noelle mentally slapped herself.
Guarnere ended up laughing, "Am I driving this truck, kid?"
The replacement pulled an amused face, "no, I-"
"then how the fuck should I know, huh? Ain't no use in complaining and feeling sorry for yourself. You'll die, you understand?"
That shut him up.
And funnily enough, it was the same replacement who had been giving Noelle cheek.
She kept that moment to herself.
Finally, after almost twenty-four hours of travelling with few stops between, they all jumped off the trucks a couple of miles outside of Bastogne. Popeye was very vocal about his urgent need to use the restroom and told everyone to clear a space. Noelle looked around her, seeing some guys beginning to light fires into ditches using petrol and matches.
Rubbing her hands together, she underestimated the weather.
It was senselessly cold.
But she didn't want to get warm. Noelle knew if she got warm now, stuck around those fires until it was time to move on, she'd never want to leave the warmth. Noelle decided to get used to being this cold but she had no idea, just how cold it would get as the days got on and she'd regret not feeling that fire for the last time.
Noelle moved away from the truck and wondered over to Guarnere.
"You need to tell me, Bill".
He sighed, "Nelly, I have no idea what's going on".
If Guarnere didn't know, no one fucking knew.
Noelle had this horrible pool of dread in her stomach.
It was like an icy blast of fear.
She didn't like this, not one bit.
It could have been the darkness, the rain and the fir trees closing this road in.
But this just screamed disaster.
"Come on, we're getting into our columns".
They all got into their columns for the march into Bastogne.
And they could hear a firefight going on in the distance.
"Here we go again". Freeman said, while they marched onward.
They marched down the road, leaving the trucks and fires behind.
The only thing on their mind was the lack of ammo.
What the hell were they supposed to fight the Germans with?
Soon, they were marching through the town of Bastogne.
It was such a sad sight; the town was in shambles.
Some of the residence would come out, give them a cup of hot chocolate.
Noelle handed hers to Jackson, who was a shivering mess.
Outside of Bastogne, the artillery fire intensified.
The columns marched on both sides of the roads, leaving a gap in the middle and down that middle of road, came a defeated American army, fleeing the front in a blind panic. They were wounded, faces as white as snow. Some of them tossed their weapons down, coats and supplies.
Noelle stepped away from the column, picking up three clips of ammo.
She quickly stuffed them into her webbing.
And others started to do the same, they had little supplies and ammo – they needed it.
The retreating army were quick to flee, some of them were shouting.
"Run! Run! They'll kill you, they'll murder you-"
"they've got tanks! Air power, everything!"
The guys who weren't in total panic, handed everything they had over to them.
Noelle received an aid kit, machine-gun ammo and 30 Carbine for her M1.
One of them gave her a pair of gloves, well, gloves which didn't cover your fingers.
Still, it was good.
Noelle quickly put them on, before she placed the box of machine-gun ammo into her bag. And she tried not to get swallowed up into the retreating armies panic. Noelle reminded herself that these guys weren't from Easy Company and Easy weren't like any other Company in the army.
Second Lieutenant George Rice soon came racing down the road in a jeep, the back was loaded with grenades and M1 rifle clips. He stopped, Easy all collected what they could and issued what they grabbed among the rest. Noelle handed what she could grab to Toye, who then issued it out amongst their squad.
"Kid, get more". Toye told her.
"'Awright, Joe".
She squeezed into the crowed, almost getting swallowed up.
Lipton grabbed her arm, pulling her to the front.
"Thanks, Sarge". She replied, breathlessly.
She managed to grab a few more clips and some grenades.
Once Noelle handed them to Toye, they moved out again.
They came over a rise in the road and they could see the villages of Foy and Noville below in the distance. A massive wave of German armour was sweeping through Noville, about two miles northeast. And they all stood and watched, speechless. The scene caught them off-guard, they had never seen the enemy in such numbers before.
"What the fuck are we doing, Donnie?"
Malarkey slowly shook his head, "I don't know, Nelly".
Soon, they moved into their position. It was in a wooded area, looking out on a grazing field that sloped down to the village of Foy, about a kilometre away. The trees were pine, eight to ten inches in diameter and planted in rows. And they were ordered to dig the main line of resistance a few metres inside the woods, with outposts on the edge. Winters set up Battalion HQ just behind the Easy at the south edge of the woods.
But the ground was littered with dead bodies, craters from the 88's, shell cases and tree branches. They had to push those bodies to the side, in order to create their foxholes.
The 501st was on their right flank. They had an artillery Battalion and an armoured division with them. But they soon realised just how spread out they were, they had a lot of ground to cover with many gaps.
First off, they focused on digging foxholes.
Malarkey had managed to pick up a shovel on their march here.
And he went around the Platoon, helping with digging.
Noelle smiled small, "thanks, Donnie".
"How about me as a buddy?"
"Get in, then".
Noelle reached into her bag and brought out a blanket.
She wrapped it around them, Malarkey did the same with his.
He soon had his arms around her, she placed her arm around his waist.
The two of them huddled into one another.
They could hear the intense fighting going on in Noville, four kilometres from their MLR.
Noelle, if she could, moved closer to him.
He placed his cheek on the top of her helmet.
It was cold, it was lightly raining but they were tired.
After two days of no sleep, they both fell asleep in each other's arm.