Shuffle. Crunch. Shuffle. Crunch. I concentrated on the consistent drone of my lifeless walking feet atop a blanket of crystallised snowflakes, once beautiful, once like dancing sequins in the sky. But not anymore. It's beauty hidden by a sea of pungent red. Every time I walked past...that spot I just listened to the shuffle crunch shuffle crunch of my boots. I'd disallow my eyes to fall to the spot where their blood still remained. Still reminding me of what Easy Company had lost. Great men. Great Toccoa men. Our brothers, Bill Guarnere and Joe Toye.

We lost Buck too. Buck was never the same after getting wounded in Holland but after Toye and Guarnere he was vacant. His eyes, god his eyes said it all. He was taken off the line. He may have gone but our respect for him didn't. He was an incredible soldier.

I was...coping...the best I could. I wore a smile at all times. Dammit, if I didn't I would have cried. But Lieb took care of me. So did Luz. So did all my friends really...Skip Penkala Malarkey.

10th January, 1945...

Lieb, Malark, Luz, Skip Penkala and I were gathered close together just chatting. Luz as always kept our morale up with his jokes and funny little impressions ha ha good old Luz.

"It's so fucking cold, I hate this weather...I miss Britain" I moaned grabbing Lieb's arms and forcefully wrapping them around me.

Lieb sniggered "You Brits always talk about the weather"

"Oh Doris it's such a frightfully horrible today out today isn't it?" Luz cried in a British old ladies voice and took a long drag of his smoke.

"Shuttt uppp" I drawled "this isn't a laughing matter"

"Every matter is a laughing matter for The George Luz"

Malarkey snorted "You haven't called yourself The George Luz since the first day back in Camp Toccoa"

I laughed slyly and cocked my head up to Lieb "Oh yeahhh and that's when I said you have a small dick" he smirked and rolled his eyes "remember that sweet pea?" I winked.

Luz cackled like a witch and bent over double "Holy cow, those were the days"

Skip pointed at Lieb with his pale finger "And you didn't let me have a cigarette"

"Oh yeah!" I cried "You grumpy bastard Lieb"

"What did you say?!" Lieb cried aggressively. I dropped his arms and stepped away cautiously. His eyes looked like they were igniting with flames. Then his mouth picked up from the left corner and he smirked that smouldering sexy half smile that he always does.

"You idiot!" I cried and punched him in the stomach playfully "Oh my god I thought you were serious"

Lieb sniggered and invited me back into his arms.

Penkala sniffed loudly and wiped away an imaginary tear "Oh young love, it's so beautiful"

"Hey, I'll tell you what else I remember about our first day" I cried "You!" I pointed at Skip like he had to Lieb "You Mr Muck scared the shit out of me"

Skip creased his forehead "I did?"

"Luz was trying to figure out different ways of saying my name and you said Daniela which happens to be my middle name"

They all laughed.

Skip held his finger up in the air and wagged it around as the memory came back to him "Oh yeah!" he cried.

"Oh fellas get a load of this!" Luz cried, glanced over his shoulder quickly and signalled us to all move in closer "you know I've got no reason to bullshit you right?"

"Yeah right" Malarkey said sarcastically.

We all chuckled quietly.

"I'm not gonna bullshit you, but it was so unbelievable that you might not believe me...so you know who goes running up to Lipton no helmet, no gear no nothing" Luz pulled a face and began speaking in Dike's voice "Uh first sergeant Lipton, you organize things here and I'm gonna go for help... I need to go polish my oak leaves"

We all burst out laughing. Luz's impression of Dike was so incredibly spot on.

"Complete asshole" Skip drawled.

"Hey, Luz!" Lipton called over.

"Ohh shit, Luzzy Wuzzy you in big twubble" I cried and stuck out my lip patronisingly.

"That's really good" Malarkey cried, referring to Luz's performance.

"Fellas" Luz said and smiled, smoke seeping out of his mouth. He tipped his head before trudging over to Lipton.

"Such a goof ball" I said with a smile to Luz's back.

"Goodnight all!" Malarkey cried.

"Yeah see you Luz!" Skip cried and nodded goodbye to us all and followed after Malarkey and Penkala.

"Goodnight guys!" I cried after them.

"See ya fellas" Lieb shouted and watched them as they went. He tipped his head down to me and smirked with that irresistible smile "And then there were two"

"Ahu" I said and stood on my tip toes to kiss his warm lips "I better wait for Luz, we have outpost duty soon, you go on back to our foxhole, I'll be there later"

He sighed "Ok, be safe!"

I smiled "I will"

I turned to walk towards Luz. Lieb grabbed my waist and spun me back into his arms "Nuhu!" he cried "you're not going anywhere until I get a kiss goodnight"

I beamed up at him "Ok, if you insist"

He picked me up from around my knees and gave me a soft kiss before dropping me back to the snow "See you later"

"Bye, stay safe too!" I cried as he walked away.

I bounded after Luz and Lipton. Luz yawned, mimicking Dike and Lipton shook his head and laughed.

"Wiseass" Lip cried and walked away.

"So" I cried and walked alongside Luz "did good old Sarge whip your ass?"

Luz raised his eyebrows suggestively "No, but I know you want to whip my ass...don't know what Lieb would say about that" he smirked smugly.

I smacked the back of his helmet and it tipped over his eyes "Keep dreaming Luz, keep dreming"

"Oh I will" he winked and flicked away his cigarette.

The woods lit up with a furious white light that lasted a few split seconds. For a moment, I was Back home, in Aldbourne, on bonfire night watching the Gilbert's firework display. The kids danced around the fire twirling sizzling spirals in the air with their sparklers. Then the bellowing shriek of a shell exploded and I was back in hell.

I froze up. Luz stared at me with terror in his dark eyes.

"Shorty, we have to move!" he screamed over the thundering explosions.

A bang went off nearby and forced us to the floor. That snapped me out of it. I clambered to my feet, grabbing Luz's jacket. He gave me a quick shove and we started running. We darted threw the trees trying desperately to avoid the numerous explosions that hit in every direction.

A second explosion went off much too close for comfort. The force swept me up like a feather in the wind and chucked us both down a few feet in front. The impact blew both our helmets off.

"Shorty! Luz!"

I looked around frantically, not even bothering to retrieve our helmets. Skip and Penkala were standing in a foxhole shouting and screaming to us.

"Come on! Hurry!" they shouted.

I tried to scramble to my feet but was knocked off balance again and again. It was no use. We had to cruel to safety or die trying.

"Move!" Skip screamed "Stay down! Stay down! Come on! Get in here! Shorty, Luz come on!"

"Come on!" Penkala bellowed.

Skip stretched out his hand to me "Come on Rose! Take my hand!"

I kept crawling towards him. I kept my eyes on Skip's. I was so scared. The explosions were looming nearer and nearer. At any second it's gonna hit me. I'm doomed. My eyes started to sting. They welled up with tears. My heart raced, faster than it ever had before. His hand was so close. Just about ten more meters. Maybe we'll make it.

"Luz! Rose! Move faster!" Penkala cried and stretched out his hand to us.

I kept staring at Skip. Our gazes were locked. He could see I was petrified. He knew.

"Rose you're both going to make it okay! You're going to get out alive, now crawl faster!" Skip shouted and stretched his arm out further.

"Keep going, Rose!" Luz cried from beside me "We're gonna make it!"

Then I heard it. It was falling. It happened so fast. I knew Skip knew. I knew Penkala knew. I got the chance to look both of them in the eye. Before. Before it hit. The flash appeared where my best friends were. It was a direct hit. Luz and I were completely unharmed but...

We didn't move. We just led there on our fronts. Staring. Staring in complete and utter disbelief. At first, I didn't believe it. There was no way it happened. I had plans for after the war. Plans that involved Skip and Penkala. It wasn't supposed to be that way. We were all supposed to make it. Alive. We were supposed to meet up every month Lieb, Malarkey, Luz, Skip, Penkala and I and drink everyone under the table. We were supposed to go to each other's weddings and our grandchildren were supposed to be best friends. We were supposed to grow old together. Warren Muck was supposed to marry his Sweet Faye Tanner and have beautiful children. But all that...all that was wiped away in a flash. Gone. Skip and Penkala were gone.

The explosions kept coming. They churned dirt on to us and spat out shards of wood. I didn't even scream. I didn't even cry. The state of numbness had fallen over me.

"Shorty..." Luz said quietly at first but as the explosions kept falling closer and closer he shouted "Rose we have to move now!"

I obeyed. We clambered to our feet and Luz shoved me forward and kept hold of my coat.

"Don't look back!" Luz shouted in distress. I knew what he didn't want me to see "Keep going, Rose!"

I tripped on an out stretched branch and Luz tumbled to the ground with me. The force of the fall nearly knocked me out as my head collided with the hard snow. Luz and another set of hands yanked at my coat. I looked up and shook my head as Luz and Lipton pulled me into a foxhole with them. We leant up with our backs pressed firmly against the foxhole. My breathing was irregular. The numerous falls had knocked the air out of my lungs. Fear and grief didn't help.

"Muck and Penkala!" Luz screamed at Lipton.

Shut up. It's not true. They're alive. We probably just imagined it. They're okay. Just shut up!

"What?!" Lipton bellowed back.

"Muck and Penkala go hit!"

"No, no, no, no!" I cried, shaking my head frantically.

A sudden force blew away the various branches that were supposed to provide us with cover. The force pulled our heads backwards and we all shouted and cursed believing that we were goners. The bombardment was so frantic. The ground shook violently and the trees exploded into millions of pieces. Snow and dirt was turffed up and flung to hell and back. Then everything started to settle. The ground stopped shaking. The trees were no longer exploding and the snow and dirt was lying still.

"Holy-" I was about to curse.

A shrieking shrill plummeted from above us and a shell landed face down in the dirt right on the edge of our foxhole. No one moved or so much as uttered a word. We all watched in uncertainty as the shell sizzled and churned out wisps of ghostly smoke. It was a dud. A second chance at life.

Luz fiddled frantically in his pocket, all still staring in disbelief at our near killer, and lit up a lucky strike. Each of us breathed heavily. Our breath frantic and short. Lipton pulled Luz's smoke out from his quivering lips and took a long needed drag.

"I thought you don't smoke?" Luz said.

"I don't" Lip replied and Luz handed me a smoke.

I plunged my hand into my coat pocket, pulled out my Zippo and lit my lucky strike. I took a very very very long drag. Hell I needed it. No one spoke. No one moved. We sat quietly, staring at the dud, smoking our cigarettes and silently thanking God for giving us a chance. But why me?

Everyone started to emerge from their foxholes. The medic's darted around trying to find anyone wounded to help.

"I better assess the situation" Lipton said thoughtfully.

I nodded him a forced smile and he climbed out of the foxhole.

"Maybe..." I swallowed a lump in my throat and tossed aside my smoke "maybe we should um..." I could feel the tears stinging behind my eyes "maybe we should find Malarkey..."

Luz stared sorrowfully at me and then quickly averted his eyes. He nodded slowly and stared at the ground with a wide thoughtful glare.

"Yeah" he croaked "Liebgott needs to know too"

I closed my eyes and screwed up my face, trying desperately not to cry. Luz's icy cold hands found my quaking fist.

"Everything's going to be ok, Rose" he said "everything's going to be ok"

I opened my dry eyes and nodded slowly "Ok, Luz" I was still numb.

We eventually managed to drag ourselves out of that foxhole. Luz and I trudged lifelessly through the woods. There were frightened soldiers everywhere, some injured some helping the injured and some wore brave faces but we could all see each other's fear. There was no hiding it after a bombardment like that of the 10th July 1945.

We approached a foxhole with two bare heads sticking out of it facing away from us. I knew the outline of ever single Toccoa man. The two outlines before us belonged to Lieb and Malarkey.

Luz held his hand out in front of me, forcing me to stop.

"I'll tell them" Luz said with vacant eyes.

"No" I whispered, unintentionally "I'll do it. I think I need to say it to believe it myself, you know?"

"Ok" he said and continued forward.

The sound of our boots approaching in the snow caught Malark and Lieb's attention. They spun round quickly and gazed up at Luz and I's faces with pure delight.

Malarkey sighed in relief.

"Oh thank god" Lieb sighed and jumped up to embrace me.

"No" I said.

Lieb stopped one leg out of the foxhole and the other inside.

"Sit down, Lieb" Luz said.

Lieb lowered his leg back into the foxhole and stared cautiously as Luz and I climbed in. Malarkey had his nose screwed up and forehead wrinkled.

"What?" he laughed nervously "You're scaring me what?!" I took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly "Where are Skip and Penkala? If you have some big news we should wait for-"

My face must have said it all. Malarkey stopped talking immediately and seemed to retreat into himself. He shook his head and laughed again.

"Malarkey...Lieb-"

Malarkey cut me off "No...no..." he shook his head frantically "they're not..."

"Skip and Penkala got hit..."

"What...?" Lieb asked. He heard. He just didn't want to believe it.

"Where did they get hit?!" Malarkey cried "Arm? Leg? Shoulder? Knee? What, where?!" he was in denial, you didn't have to listen to him to know that. It was written all over his face "Has Doc Roe seen them yet?"

I shook my head "No, Malark you're not listening, they're-"

"When will they be back? I hope they aren't in hospital for too long-"

"THEY'RE DEAD!" I blurted out.

Malarkey's frantic worrying ceased. The worried creases on his face straightened out. His face dropped. His eyes stared vacantly into mine.

He turned to Luz who was staring dejectedly at his lap "Luz?"

Luz slowly lifted his head and nodded "Yeah...Malark...they got hit...and we're not going to see them again"

Lieb lowered his head into his palm. Malarkey didn't say a word. His reaction was much like mine when I was trying to chew over the information. His eyes began to swell with fluid. My eyes mirrored his. I was soon balling my eyes out. The numbness had subsided. My emotions were let loose. It felt like someone had stabbed my heart, twisted the blade and let my grief pour out. I flung myself at Malarkey and buried my head into his shoulder. He clutched at me tightly and nestled his head into my hair. I wailed and wailed and wailed. Malarkey made no sound but I knew tears were falling from his eyes. My hair was wet with his uncontrollable sadness.

The place where Warren H. "Skip" Muck and Alex M. Penkala died...it became another spot, a spot where I would keep my eye line up and listen soulfully to the shuffle crunch shuffle crunch of my lifeless feet.

Author's note

Wow sorry about the previous format it didn't upload properly

Sorry about it being soo late. It was hard to write.

Katniss12- Thank you

AvrilFrings- thank you for your review! Hope you enjoyed the read even if it was sad

Thank you always for reviews/follows/favourites