At 0100 hours, the earth lay still and quiet, while the patrol headed down to the river and towards the boats. There was a rope across the river, fastened tightly from there side, to a telephone pole on the other side. That way, they could quietly make their way across, without having to use oars, making their movements as swift as possible too.
Noelle got onto a boat at the front with McClung, Jackson and Ramirez.
She looked behind her, once they had travelled halfway across the river, making sure everyone else was getting on. Everything was going to plan so far, just as she saw it in her head. Jones gave her a nod, when Sisk, Garcia and Cobb were in the boat at the back.
"Okay, let's go!" She said, though kept her voice at a load whisper.
The boats all moved forward at a quick pace.
"Keep it steady". She reminded them, "don't fall in".
Too late, Cobb, Garcia and Sisk capsized.
She cursed under her breath, before looking out towards the bank.
Noelle held her breath for a moment, turning back to look at Jones.
He gave her the signal to keep moving.
"Okay – let's go".
Once they all safely reached the bank, Noelle got out of the boat and told McClung to head up the small slope, while she got everyone else out, who'd then follow after him. With Jones, Webster, Vest and Heffron the last ones up, she reached the rest, who were behind a bunch of logs for cover.
Noelle moved up towards McClung.
"Some traps up ahead, Nelly". He told her quietly, "'gonna have to cut through wires".
Nodding, she clapped his shoulder.
"'Awright Earl, move up, on your belly".
She had failed to realise that a young officer from F Company had joined them.
It wasn't until she turned around to tell everyone to stay down, did she notice the replacement at the back, looking eager and ready for some action. Noelle sighed, this patrol was slowly turning sour. Giving Grant a pat to keep going, Noelle wondered back to the officer.
"Sorry – what are you doing?"
He shrugged, "I thought you could use the extra help".
"Get back on a boat-"
"no, it's quite alright".
Noelle didn't have time to argue, this kid was coming.
She put him at the front, to keep an eye on him.
They all moved up on their bellies, heading up towards barbed wire, with cans hanging down from them. Those clever Germans but they never thought that they'd bring wire cutters. Which McClung brought out and cut the first piece of wire.
They held an end each, before moving to one side, letting the others passed.
This went on a further four times, until they could eventually get up onto their feet and start moving towards better cover, once they reached the town. With McClung in front, it was easy to spot good cover, he was a great lead scout, Noelle was glad she had picked him. The only thing McClung was terrible at, was garrison duties, he always had an excuse not to do something. But what he lacked there, he made up for in combat and quiet patrols.
Noelle was crouched behind a wall, while facing the rest of the patrol.
"In twos – go!"
They all went up in twos, Noelle watched them carefully.
That officer from F Company, he had soon moved away from Jackson, for whatever reason.
Noelle clenched her jaw, about to run after him but she heard this click.
"Everyone down!" She called out, in the loudest whisper.
When the officer moved away, there was a huge explosion and he was torn to pieces.
Everyone got down, at first, thinking the Germans had already spotted them.
Noelle had to get out of her shock quickly.
"No shooting!" She quickly said, "it was a Schu mine, stay quiet!"
She wiped a hand across her face, getting rid of some blood, which had splattered across the cheek.
Noelle decided to keep the patrol stationary, until she was sure, the Germans weren't about to attack them. Though, she felt terrible for the officer, who had only been out for twenty-four-hours, she'd sure be mad if he ruined this patrol. And that was a horrible thought, but these were Noelle's friends, she couldn't let anyone get hurt because an officer wanted to get his five minutes of fame in the war.
Luckily for him and them, the Germans only fired a few shots.
They couldn't spot the patrol; their cover was too good.
Raising her hand, she signalled for the rest to head up.
Being the last to move, Noelle soon gathered around the rest of the patrol.
"'Awright, don't think about that – let's get our firing squad out. Shift, Moe and Popeye, to the left. Lieutenant Jones, Chuck and Babe, head towards the right, by the crossroads. 'Awright?"
They gave her a nod.
"Okay – go!"
With their firing squad gone, the rest huddled up closer to Noelle.
Rubbing her lips together, she quickly looked over the logs and towards the house.
It wasn't far now, they had almost made it.
And without Sisk, Cobb and Garcia, their assault team was looking thin.
She re-took the cover and gave everyone a nod.
"'Awright, Earl. Let's go".
McClung safely moved them from one cover to the next, until they were now by the side of the OP house, where she could spot the top window. With everyone in position, Noelle quickly assembled the grenade onto her rifle. Standing up, she took a step back and popped that grenade right into the top window. The glass smashed but while that was going on, Jackson had already ran right passed her, heading up the stairs and towards the door.
"What the fuck – Jack!"
She hissed, running after him.
"Wait, what are you doing?!"
Jackson opened the door, tossed in his grenade and ran right in after it.
Noelle gasped, "no!"
The grenade exploded, Jackson let out a painful yell and fell to the ground.
"Everyone, up – come on!" She ordered for the rest to move up, "fuck the grenades – let's go!"
Once inside the house, Noelle raised her rifle, the three Germans inside were all shocked by the sudden explosion and one of them was wounded and lying on the ground, close to Jackson. When the rest of the team arrived, the Germans started to yell, they were pretty angry.
"Web! Tell them to drop their weapons!" Noelle ordered, while she got down beside her wounded friend.
It was bad, his face was cut up by grenade fragments and the blast. And there was a huge gash on the side of his head. Noelle placed a hand on the side of his face, "it's gonna be 'awright, Jack – McClung, watch the prisoners".
She got back onto her feet, "Vest, stay with Jack".
The Germans were still yelling, it was starting to get on everyone's nerves.
They were tense and pissed off that Jackson had been hurt.
"Web, set up the chargers!"
Webster was at the table and started to set things up.
Noelle could hear their firing squad from the outside, the Germans had already started to attack. The sounds of mortars and 88's reached her ears. They had to do this quickly, or else they were in a lot of trouble.
"Ramirez, pick up Jack, be careful with him".
She looked over at Webster, who was still setting up the charger.
Her eyes soon landed on the prisoners.
"Web, tell them to shut up".
"Halt den Mund!"
Noelle didn't have enough guys to take the wounded German.
"Tell them to pick up their friend, too!"
While Webster did that, Noelle walked over to Vest and grabbed his arm, pulling him up. He was in a state of shock, though rage and tears burned in his eyes. She gave his shoulder a clap.
"Is everyone ready?!"
It was still far too loud, but Noelle had the prisoners, now they just needed to get back.
This was going to be the hard part.
She didn't have time to think about anything else, she was mainly focused on their withdrawal.
Noelle got everyone up and ready to move.
"Okay – go!"
Outside, they had mortars, 88's and shots being fired at them.
Noelle told Shifty and Moe to fall back first, then Heffron who was the next.
They moved further down.
The 88's would land, causing smoke to block their vision.
The earth which came up from the ground, almost buried them alive.
But they had to keep moving, they needed to get Jackson back and they needed covering fire once they were close enough to the boats. Noelle was telling everyone to keep moving, to keep the prisoners heads down because she didn't want to do this again, no one did.
"Chuck!" She yelled, "get back! Come on Pop, you too!"
While they all ran, Webster stayed behind for a few moments, giving them more covering fire.
Noelle thought this was good of him, but she couldn't risk another wounded friend.
"Web, come on! You're 'no getting hurt too!"
She looked up and saw Jones, who was coming up from behind them.
It felt like uttered chaos, organised still, but chaos, nonetheless.
"Sir! Blow the whistle!"
Giving her a nod, he then said to her.
"Go on, Nelly! I'll be right behind you!"
Jones knew the safest thing to do was to get them as close to the boats as possible.
And Noelle gave him a firm nod.
He was going to be the last man at the boats, risking his life to save theirs.
"A'll see you there, sir!"
"You will – go!"
Webster and Noelle started to run, Jones waited and then blew the whistle.
She could only imagine their relief when they started to fire for their withdrawal.
And they lobbed everything they had at the Germans.
Noelle and Webster reached the boats, where she started to get everyone in.
"I'm 'gonna fucking kill them!" Vest was screaming.
Noelle pushed him back into the boat, "sit your arse down, Vest!"
She grabbed Heffron's arm, "don't let him shoot anyone, Babe!"
"Okay, Nelly!"
"Start moving the boats!" She ordered, "go! I'll get you's back there – go!"
Noelle was anxiously waiting for Jones.
She had to push Webster and Grant into one of the boats.
When the Lieutenant returned, they both looked at the water.
"We'll have to swim!"
"I can't swim!"
"Don't worry, I've got you, Nelly!"
Noelle had made two errors during this patrol.
One, she forgot to save a boat for herself and Jones.
And two, she left the wounded German behind.
With Jones dragging her across the river, they got out and ran back to OP2, heading straight down into the basement, where they could already hear a lot of yelling, crying and screaming. Noelle had a lot of guys in a fit of rage, Heffron and Vest were screaming at the prisoners, Jackson was sobbing on the table, severely wounded and they didn't have a medic. Noelle couldn't leave Jackson, so, she got McClung to run up and fetch a medic.
"N-Nelly!" Jackson cried, "N-Nelly!"
She quickly ran over to her friend, grabbing his hand. "'Am right here, it's 'awright".
"He's 'gonna fucking die!" Vest screamed through a sob.
Noelle took in a deep breath, looking over at Jones. "Sir? Can you sort Vest and Babe out?"
Jones gave her a firm nod and made his way towards the back of the basement.
Good, now Noelle could focus on Jackson.
Unless something else went terribly wrong.
Jackson was in a state of utter panic.
He couldn't keep still, despite Cobb and Sisk grabbing his legs.
Noelle felt her heart leap up into her throat.
It was heart breaking because she never saw this happening to Jackson.
He was carefree, happy and kind.
Noelle didn't want to lose him, not another good friend. Not someone else from the squad. But that wasn't up to her. And she stared at Jackson, squeezing his hand tightly.
"I don't 'wanna die". He sobbed.
Noelle felt her eyes burn, "Jack…you're 'no 'gonna die".
"Nelly, I don't 'wanna die!"
"He's 'gonna fucking die!" Vest started to scream again.
Everything was loud.
The more Jackson panicked, the angrier some of her friends got.
She didn't think she could handle it anymore. Noelle just wanted to run away, grab an officer to shut everyone up and go back to Jackson. Because she wasn't an officer, some of them were at a higher rank than her in this room and Noelle felt powerless at that moment, to stop them from shouting. All she could do was try and calm Jackson down.
"We're not going back over there because you killed one!" Jones told Heffron firmly.
And Heffron listened to this new officer.
Noelle bit down on her lip, while she continued to stare at Jackson.
"Buddy, you've 'gotta calm down". Webster told him softly, "alright – where's the fucking medic?!"
She didn't think she'd ever heard him swear before.
But when he said that, McClung and Roe came running into the scene.
Noelle felt a tiny amount of relief then.
"Earl, go back and help Jones".
McClung nodded, "it's 'gonna be fine, Nelly".
For a moment, they all thought Roe had done some magic trick.
As soon as Jackson stared into the flame from a lighter, he stopped panicking.
But then, he sobbed.
"I don't 'wanna die".
And more explosions came from outside.
"I don't 'wanna die – Nelly!"
Noelle snapped out of it, they were moving him onto a stretcher.
She quickly walked over to him.
"Put him down!" Roe ordered.
Like the rest, Noelle got onto her knees and took his hand.
"Jack, it's 'awright – come on, come on…".
Roe held Jackson's head in his hands, while Jackson choked.
"Jackson!" The medic called out firmly.
He was still panicking but what made it heart wrenching to witness and hear, was the fact that he was dying at the same time. Back in Bastogne, death could get you in the blink of an eye, with little to no suffering. But Jackson suffered so greatly, that the shock alone might have killed him. And when he did die, everything went so quiet.
Noelle let out this shaky sigh and pressed Jackson's hand against her forehead.
She closed her eyes, feeling her bottom lip quiver.
And Noelle wasn't the only one in near tears, Moe and Sisk were as well.
Pursing her lips together, she took Jackson's tags and closed his eyes.
She got back onto her feet, grabbed a blanket and carefully placed it over his body.
Noelle cleared her throat, "'awright….eh – keep those prisoners guarded. We'll hand them over at first light. Can someone tell CP how many we've got?"
"I'll radio them now, Nelly". Webster told her quietly.
"'Awright". Noelle said, "okay – let's just stay down here".
With everything in order once again, she made her way towards Jones, he was comforting Vest, who was crying into his hands. Noelle cleared her throat, looking up at him.
"I want you there with me tomorrow".
The Lieutenant gave her a nod, "of course, Nelly".
Soon, a blanket was placed around her.
Noelle had almost forgotten that she was soaked to the bone.
Ramirez gave her shoulders a squeeze.
She cleared her throat, "did they – did they hurt the prisoners?"
"No one was harmed". Jones told her.
Noelle nodded, "eh…'a left one behind, the injured one".
"We got two". He said, "that'll be enough".
Reaching across to a shelf, she brought out a blanket.
"Here, you need it too, sir".
Smiling a little, Jones placed the blanket over him.
"I'm sorry about your friend, Nelly".
Noelle looked down at Vest.
Frowning, she sat in front of him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Me too, sir". Noelle whispered, while squeezing Vest's shoulder.
The Private lifted his head, tears still streaming down his face.
"I'm sorry, Nelly". He cried, "I let you down".
Closing her eyes for a moment to compose herself, Noelle shook her head.
"No…no, Vest". She said quietly, "you didn't do that. You just – you didn't want Jack to die and we didn't either".
Vest sobbed again.
Noelle wrapped both arms around him, pulling Vest into a hug.
He cried into her hair, which was already wet from the river.
And now, it was soaked from a grieving friend.
…
The shelling's stopped when it got light, as did the patrol.
Noelle's last order was for Jones, Webster and McClung to help bring the prisoners up to CP, where a truck would escort them away, for interrogation. She didn't quite know how to feel that morning, Noelle was still in a focused mood, where her only concerns lay with the men and getting those prisoners out of their sight. Because everyone was angry at the prisoners, it was maddening, and Noelle had to control their aggression all night.
When they reached the truck, Nixon was there waiting for them.
Winters and Speirs were by the truck, awaiting an update on the patrol.
She got Webster and Ramirez to help load the prisoners onto the truck.
Once they were settled in the back, the pair of them walked off, leaving Jones and Noelle with the two officers. Noelle could barely look at Winters, her eyes quickly shifted from his and then back down to her hands.
Winters tilted his head to the side, "status?"
Noelle cleared her throat, "one dead – eh, two, actually". She said, "an officer from F Company tagged along without me knowing and stepped on a Schu mine".
He sighed, "alright".
"Eh". Noelle cleared her throat again, "Jack, he –". She rubbed the back of her neck, "he-"
"he took a grenade to the face". Jones told Winters, "he died of his wounds, sir".
Her eyes landed back on her hands.
Winters licked his bottom lip, feeling his heart tighten at the loss of another Easy man.
He then looked back down at Noelle and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Well executed, Nelly". He said, "it's not your fault".
Noelle swallowed.
She wanted to argue with him because it sure felt like her fault.
"Okay?" Winters squeezed her shoulder, "talk to the men".
Giving a small nod, Noelle looked back up at him.
"Okay, sir".
Jones and Noelle left the two officers.
She felt drained from last night.
Noelle didn't know how the Sargent's did it, or the officers. Leading a patrol was stressful stuff and the feelings were unexplainable when you lost a man under your watch. But what she didn't know, was that she'd have to do it all over again that same night, because Sink was so impressed with that patrol, that he wanted more prisoners. However, she didn't know that yet and planned on giving her friends a good word about how proud Winters was of them. That's all she wanted to do, that and see Malarkey, of course.
So, after meeting back up with Webster and Ramirez, the four of them walked back into their house and headed up the stairs. Malarkey quickly turned around, almost running over to Noelle.
"God, you're soaked". He whispered, "what happened? Did you fall in the river?"
She looked over at Jones, "Lieutenant Jones dragged us across".
Malarkey looked over at the officer, while placing an arm around Noelle. "Thank you, sir".
Jones gave him a nod, "it's alright, Sargent".
"We heard about Jackson". Liebgott said quietly.
Noelle swallowed, looking at Malarkey. "'Am sorry, Donnie".
"Don't be sorry, Nelly". He whispered, "it wasn't your fault".
Perconte was leaning against one of the bunk beds. He looked over at Noelle.
"You should get some rest, kid".
Frowning, she looked back at him.
"They want another patrol tonight".
"You're kidding". Webster almost spat, "why?"
Perconte shrugged, "got me, Web".
Noelle pinched the bridge of her nose, "right – 'awright". She sighed, "sir? Let's get everyone down stairs at 1400 hours".
"Of course, Corporal".
"Nelly?" Malarkey rubbed her arm, "let's find you some dry clothes".
"Aye, 'awright".
Noelle had no idea where her head was at, she wasn't thinking about anything.
Maybe she was starting to feel the cold now, because the shock of that patrol had soon left her, and her body began to shiver a little. Which made Malarkey hold onto her tighter, while they both cross the street and headed into CP.
Vest was sitting by the counter, while Luz sat down next to him, speaking so softly and quietly to his distressed friend. The sight reminded her of last night and the emotions just crashed right into her chest, though she never gave in to them because Noelle still had another patrol to lead, she couldn't lose focus, not now.
"Captain Speirs".
Noelle looked away from Vest, following Malarkey's eyes towards their CO.
"Yeah, Malark?"
"Nelly needs dry clothes, sir". He said, "she swam across the river with Lieutenant Jones, who'll also be needing clothes, sir".
"Yeah, alright – head down to the supply Sargent, he's in the house next door".
Malarkey gave Noelle's arm a squeeze, "sit down, Nelly".
Biting her lip, Noelle moved towards the couch Lipton had been lying on, just last week, and took a seat. Shuddering, she wrapped her arms around herself and looked down. It was a cold morning, it had started to snow but it was icy and frozen. Her whole body felt numb, her mind too and it was so delicately quiet in CP that morning, you could have heard a mouse scurry across the floor.
Noelle felt tears gather in the corner of her eyes.
She started to give in a little towards those crashing emotions.
Why Jackson?
She woefully wondered.
Why him?
Noelle felt her chin quiver, while a tear escaped and rolled down her cheek.
She sniffed quietly, wetly, and wiped the tear away, rubbing her eyes after.
"That's enough…come on". Speirs mumbled softly, while crouching in front of her.
Noelle swallowed with a tiny nod, "'am sorry, sir".
He frowned, feeling a little tug on his heart.
"was just thinking". She whispered, "that if someone else led then maybe".
Noelle's face almost fell apart.
She rubbed her eyes again.
"Maybe that wouldn't 'eh happened, sir".
Speirs shook his head, "you led that patrol because I knew you could and you did a great job, Nelly. Despite what happened, you had everything under control". He said, "and you can't think like that, because you'll never know".
She wiped her eyes again.
"'A want to know though".
His lips twitched, into a sad sort of smile. "I thought like that a few times, when I lost my men. But I told myself, I always held their safety close to mind when we headed out on an objective, or a patrol". Speirs sighed, "but more so than not, you can't predict what someone's about to do, Nelly and you couldn't have known Private Jackson would have done that".
Noelle raised her eyes, looking at him.
"You didn't screw up, alright?" He said, "you brought back two prisoners, during a highly active patrol. And the men listened to you, took your orders and you got the job done. Those are the positives you should feel proud of". Speirs cleared his throat, "cause we sure as hell are".
Taking in a deep breath, she nodded.
"'Awright, sir". Noelle said, "I'll do another good one – better one, tonight".
Speirs gave her knee a squeeze, "good job, Corporal".
"Thanks, sir".
"Alright".
He got up and walked away, just as Malarkey came back with two sets of uniforms.
Noelle stared after their Company Commander.
She'd never seen a soft side to Speirs, but it was nice to know he used it where it was needed.