A/N:
Thank you BobtheFrog for the review! Thank you for the encouragement on Bastogne, I'm glad I'm doing okay so far! I think the show and Malark's book mentioned Guarnere and the connection to Lulu's once, so I added it lol :p
Thank you stefaniepapa1 for the follow and the favorite!
I'm sorry that it's been a long time since I've updated! I've been so busy, it's crazy! I love this story so much and would never give up on it, I just haven't had much time to write. Sorry for this being a short chapter, but nonetheless I hope everyone enjoys!
The snow had come down and accumulated heavily overnight while Marie slept. She awoke with a start to Babe, whom had been trying to wake her from her deep slumber by gently giving her shoulders a shake. She could see that some of the snow had piled up and had tumbled into their foxhole, even with the tarp covering up overhead. She wiped her face, feeling how cold it felt compared to the warmness of her BDU sleeve. She shuddered, surprised that she'd slept so soundly while it was this frigid. She hastily wiped her mouth, embarrassed to feel that she'd been drooling in her sleep.
"Finally, morning sleeping head." Babe smiled, trying to keep his teeth from chattering. "Breakfast is being served, you should go before it's all gone. Though technically it would be lunch now."
Marie stretched out her legs, attempting to warm up her stiff muscles. The foxhole didn't have as much legroom as she thought.
"Lunch? I slept that long?" She questioned in drowsy disbelief. "Why didn't you try to wake me sooner?"
Babe shrugged. "I figured you needed it."
Marie only nodded, still dazed from being half-awake. Babe rolled the tarp up, letting the bright sun and snow shine into the foxhole. Marie squinted her eyes as Babe climbed out and reached out his hand to help her up. She took his hand with her trembling one and felt herself be hoisted up by the redhead. Her helmet had become askew in the process; she adjusted it and started to follow Babe to the area where Easy was being served breakfast. The snow was coming down quickly, even more so than yesterday. Babe walked on ahead of her, leaving her in an enchanted state, watching the snow with wonder as if she's never seen it before. Babe thought she was right at his heels without noticing that she'd fallen behind.
Marie felt a small smile spread on her face. There was something about snow that made her relax. She felt like the calm in the storm; the eye of the hurricane, standing in between two skinny trees, watching the snow come down in heavy quantities.
Sudden explosions erupted, shaking Marie out of her trance. Trees were splintered and snow kicked up from every direction, turning the pure white blankets into a mix of dirt and earth. With a yelp of fear Marie ran back and dove into her foxhole, covering her head and shutting her eyes tight. Things had been so peaceful, but now the enemy had finally made their move. She could hear a few trees falling and hitting the ground at a distance, but it took an effort to hear anything above the deafening artillery. As quickly as the barrage came it had ended. Marie opened her eyes and slowly peered up over her foxhole. The woods were still and silent again. When she felt it was safe Marie climbed out of her foxhole and made her rounds, seeing if anyone was wounded. The haze was now a strange grayish color instead of the usual white, making it somewhat more difficult to see through.
She noticed two figures poking out of a foxhole as she jogged through the upturned snow and battered trees. To her extreme relief she saw it was Malarkey and Muck, unharmed. She saw Muck holding his helmet, turning it in his hands as if he was inspecting it for something. Marie came sliding to a stop beside them, making the two soldiers jump.
"You okay?" Marie asked them breathlessly.
"My helmet got nicked, but we're fine." Muck informed her, showing her the mark on his helmet. Marie felt her heart stutter, realizing how close he almost came to sudden death.
"You should get down." Malarkey said, taking her sleeve while trying to guide her down into their foxhole.
"I can't, someone might be hurt." She told him. She heard trudging boots coming from behind her. She whipped her head around to see Roe coming through the haze. He looked just as shaken as everyone else.
"Where's Penkala?" He demanded.
"Christ knows." Malarkey answered. As if on cue, a voice carried through the forest. They could all faintly hear someone calling for a medic.
"I think you got your answer." Marie said to Roe.
"I'll go, stay here and search for others that could be wounded." Roe instructed before running off toward the crying voice. Marie only nodded, shooting Malarkey and Muck a worried glance. She started to stand when she felt a tug on her sleeve again. She looked down to see Malarkey still holding on.
"Be careful." He muttered, his voice sounding strained.
Marie felt her throat go bone dry suddenly. She only nodded in response before pushing herself upward. She ran deeper into the forest, but as she made her way around to check on Easy Company, she was relieved to see that no one was seriously injured. Alex Penkala had been hit in the hand, but it didn't do too much damage. As she continued to search she ran into Babe and Spina, both walking side by side, looking like they were in deep conversation.
"Oh, Hun, thank goodness you're all right." Babe sighed in relief. "I'm sorry, I should've stayed with you to make sure you were okay."
"Don't worry about it. Where are you boys headed?"
"We're being sent to 3rd battalion to see if we can salvage some supplies." Spina replied.
"Okay. Watch yourselves." Marie warned, stepping aside so they could continue on their mission. They grunted in reply before walking off and disappearing in the woods.
A few hours passed and the barrage already seemed like it was forgotten. Lunch resumed being served, and Marie couldn't be more eager. With all the excitement from the morning she realized she never got to eat breakfast. Her stomach rumbled as she waited with the guys, all gathered together in a circle around a fire. Marie glanced behind her, seeing Roe with his helmet off, his black spikey hair contrasting against the white snow that surrounded him. He hastily smoked a cigarette, looking preoccupied with something. She wanted to see if he was okay, but he was the type that wouldn't want company unless he asked for it. She turned her attention back to the conversation, only to catch Malarkey and Muck blissfully laughing together. Muck had a mouthful of food, and almost choked on it as he chuckled. Marie smiled to herself as she observed them, feeling a warmness spread within her heart.
A soldier she remembered whose name was Joe came up beside her and handed her a can of food. She mumbled a 'thank you', far too focused on the food to really pay attention. She felt bad for not knowing many of the replacements names, but there were far too many soldiers in Easy Company whose names started with J. She started shoveling the food down, not even giving the taste a second thought.
"Joe, these smell like my armpit." Malarkey commented, looking at the strange concoction that was in the tin can. Marie stopped eating half way, her spoon drawn up to her lips. She crinkled her nose in horror, noticing that he was right, it did smell like body odor.
"At least your armpit is warm." Muck added.
"You want syrup with that?" Joe asked Marie, she shook her head in reply, trying to hide the look of disgust on her face.
"Joe, be honest, what's I these things anyway, huh?" Malarkey pressed.
"Nothing you won't eat, Malarkey." He countered before trudging away.
"I won't eat malarkey." Muck said, making his friend burst out in fits of laughter. Marie felt the corners of her lips pull into a smile.
"Anybody seen Lieutenant Dike?" Peacock's voice suddenly interjected, making everyone hush immediately. Marie looked over her shoulder to see Peacock looking distressed.
"Uh, try battalion CP, sir." Malarkey answered. Peacock left in a hurry. Marie gulped, hoping something serious or urgent hadn't come up, and with their CO missing.
"Psh, try Paris." Muck muttered, knowing he was out of Peacock's earshot.
"Try Hinkel." Malarkey added, receiving laughs from the men.
"Hinkel sweetie, I'm home!" Spina jeered in a thick accent, he stood up and posed as if he was going to pull someone into a tight hug.
Babe suddenly remembered that Roe was still looking for scissors. He turned to Roe whom was still sitting outside the circle, smoking his cigarette.
"Hey Eugene, Lieutenant Dike's got a full aid kit, try him." Babe suggested.
"Yeah, I'm sure he's not usin' his." Malarkey sneered.
"Maybe Hinkel's got a syrette for ya." John Julian, one of the young replacements added. Everyone burst out laughing again, Marie saw Roe even stifle a laugh.
"Eat your strudel!" Muck joked.
"Hey, Hinkel-Vinkel, eat ze armpit, huh?" Malarkey imitated in a thick German accent. Marie broke out into fits of giggles, unable to control herself. Things had been so serious lately, Marie couldn't remember the last time she really had a good laugh. She felt Malarkey wrap his arm around her, still laughing and joking with the guys. She felt herself blush through her laughter, but she hoped it didn't show. The last thing she needed was for Muck or someone else to point it out in front of everyone.
In the middle of it all Marie thought of Emilia. Emilia spent most of her time around the CP tent now, and didn't partake in idle chatter much since entering Belgium. Whenever saw her outside of CP she looked tense and stressed, the creases on her face were becoming bolder and bolder each day. Em was not a serious or stern person by any means, but lately she seemed like she was transforming into a bitter woman. Marie wanted to somehow to sit and speak to her, but whenever she tried something would come up or Emilia would grumble an excuse and return back to CP. Although Marie was surrounded by Easy Company, she felt lost and alone without Emilia. Thinking about this made Marie's laughter cease and her good spirits die down almost immediately.
Marie stood up, suddenly feeling a great need to be by herself and process everything. Malarkey glanced up at her, searching her face for an explanation for her mood change.
"Where you going?" He asked.
"I have to pee." Marie replied, hoping it was a credible enough excuse to leave. Muck opened his mouth to comment, but Marie held up a hand to stop him. "Don't even start, Skip."
"Don't go too far, okay?" Malarkey added, his face becoming concerned.
"Well I'm going to need privacy." Marie answered, trying to deflect his worriment.
Malarkey fixed her with a firm stare, almost demanding that she take what he said to heart. "It's thirteen below, I don't plan on doing any sight seeing." She assured him.
"I doubt that." Babe chuckled. "The way you stroll around here, staring at the snow."
Marie waved a hand dismissively at him and strutted off, hoping to find a quiet place to clear her head.
She was so lost in her thoughts she hadn't realized that she'd wandered out of Easy's already small territory. The forest looked all the same to her, she couldn't tell how far she'd gone since she was so flustered about Emilia. As Marie trudged through the thick snow the sound of a distant artillery blast made her come to a halt. She waited, frozen like a statue as the drawn out echo of the explosion began to cease. Nothing followed the blast immediately, but she still felt the natural adrenaline begin to kick in as she stood by, waiting for the dreaded sound of fire to continue. Marie glanced around, realizing that she was all alone out in an area she hadn't explored before.
"Perfect, just perfect Marie." She groaned to herself. She turned on her boot heel, and was about to start in the direction where she came when the artillery fire started up again, this time closer and with greater force. In a panic Marie fell backwards, losing her footing as the fire drew closer and closer to her proximity. The sounds were deafening and disorienting; she stood up to run, but she didn't even know which direction she was running anymore. Marie sprinted as quickly as her legs could take her, her eyes wide and blazing as she desperately searched for a place to take cover.
Marie was running blindly through the haze of smoke and snow that she didn't see the hill ahead of her, or the tree branch that was sticking up high from the powdery snow. She looked back, seeing some trees get splintered, spewing bark in all directions. Just as she went to look straight ahead, her boot caught under the root, forcing her to trip forward. For a splint second Marie could see the hill of snow with roots jutting out of the edges. She tumbled forward, unable to catch herself.
Marie let out a yelp as she fell forward, her face planting into the snow. She flipped and tumbled violently down the hill, her helmet had fallen off her head and was thrown down the hill ahead of her. Her body rolled downward on the steep hill, hitting roots and branches with every spin. Finally Marie's body flailed to the bottom, her head and stomach planting on the virgin snow.
She lay there, motionless, unconscious and alone.