Sitting near the edge of the forest, Easy waited. They had orders to begin the attack at 0900 hours. It was a morning attack, Easy would be exposed under the daylight. And the field didn't offer them much cover either. They had to sprint across that field but worried the snow-covered ground would slow them down. The field went on for about two hundred and fifty yards. Covering their movement, was Lieutenant Reese's two machine-guns. Once they arrived in town, Easy had to secure the area before hooking up with I Company.
The plan was simple enough to follow. Like always, the men couldn't bunch up during the assault across the field. Lieutenant Dike would hopefully lead the men across the field. When Rory looked towards their CO, he yawned into his hand. She wished more than anything Winters was leading them across the field or another Lieutenant who knew what they were doing. Staring back towards the field, she felt sick with nerves and adrenaline.
Taking in a shaky breath, Rory felt her grip around her rifle tighten.
The field was quiet, for the moment. The Germans were probably waiting for them to start crossing the field, before opening fire. Rory wondered how many Germans were left in Foy. She thought back to her conversation with Lipton last night. Biting down on her lip, Rory could feel her stomach twist and her heart race. Despite feeling so cold, her hands felt warm and clammy.
Someone soon crouched in front of her.
Rory looked towards his face.
Lipton gave her a nod and clapped her shoulder;
"almost time to go, Roo. You ready?"
Licking her bottom lip, she whispered;
"I feel sick".
With a tiny frown, Lipton gave her shoulder a squeeze;
"don't worry. You're 'gonna be fine. Remember that crossroads battle in Holland?"
Rory nodded.
"You got through that, Rory". Lipton reminded her, "you can get through this one too".
Closing her eyes, Rory took in a deep breath.
And exhaled slowly.
When she opened her eyes, Lipton gave her another small smile.
And squeezed her shoulder;
"just follow me, alright? Everything's 'gonna be fine".
Again, she gave him a nod.
"You're one brave kid". Lipton told her.
Rory felt her lips twitch.
Which made Lipton smile again;
"that's right…you've got it. Let's do this".
…
With her heart in her throat, Rory ran across the field.
Her boots struggled to take her across the snowy ground, but she was determined to stay on her feet and follow Lipton. She could hear him tell everyone to keep moving. She could hear other Sargent's tell their men the same. Lieutenant Reese's covering fire was effective. The Germans shot out, using smaller firearms for the first seventy-five yards. So, for the first seventy-five yards, the men made good progress across the field.
That was until they were ordered to stop.
The order was given by Lieutenant Dike, who grew frightened when he lost sight of Lieutenant Foley, who was leading 1st Platoon. Dike just froze in general. Meaning, most of 2nd Platoon froze with him. They squatted in the middle of the field, completely exposed and vulnerable to enemy fire. Rory didn't want to squat in the field. So, she got up and raced towards cover. As she started to run, the Germans began to hit them with heavier stuff; 88's.
"GET DOWN, RORY!" Lipton screamed.
Soon, Jackson was on his feet, chasing after her.
Lipton's eyes widened;
"JACKSON – HEFFRON, GET BACK!"
With boots pounding across the snow, Rory dove behind a large stack of hay. Quickly followed by Jackson and Heffron. The three of them leaned against the hay, panting and trying to catch their breath. Eventually, Heffron leaned forwards and gave Rory's arm a nudge;
"you…idiot".
Shaking her head, she mumbled;
"ain't safe out there".
Shortly after they took cover, Luz and Dike soon joined them.
Heffron and Jackson cleared a space and went towards the edge of the haystack, to set up some covering fire. Rory remained where she was, still trying to catch her breath. Beside her, Dike nearly collapsed against the hay, while Luz was on the radio, with Winters on the other end, barking out orders. Soon, Dike was screaming;
"fallback! Fallback!"
Rory shot Luz a worried look.
He gave his head a tiny shake and told Winters on the radio;
"Lieutenant Dike ordered a halt, sir".
Biting her bottom lip, Rory looked over at the panicked Lieutenant.
He had a hand pressed against his shoulder and he looked wild, with wide eyes and pale skin. Rory had never seen a man looked so terrified. It didn't give her much confidence for the rest of the journey into Foy. In fact, Rory wasn't sure if they'd ever make it into the town. But then Lipton joined them and started to demand a reason from Dike for why they had stopped.
"FALLBACK! FALLBACK!" Dike yelled again.
Soon, Foley joined them.
"What are we doing, Lieutenant?" He asked.
"Why are we stopped?" Lipton asked again.
"Fallback!" Dike yelled, "fallback!"
Rory ran a hand down her face.
She was beginning to feel stressed for their Sargent and Foley.
"Lieutenant, what's the plan?!" Foley demanded.
"I don't know! I don't know!" Dike exclaimed.
Luz soon held the radio in front of Dike;
"Captain Winters, sir".
But Dike refused to talk with him.
Lipton and Foley continued to demand a plan from their frozen CO.
Eventually, Dike snapped out;
"okay, okay! Foley! Foley…you take your men on a flanking mission around the village and attack it from the rear!"
There was a small pause.
"We cannot stay here!" Lipton yelled.
Foley frowned;
"you want 1st Platoon to go around the village and attack it by itself?"
"We will provide suppressing fire!" Dike told him.
"We're 'gonna be kind of alone out there, Lieutenant…".
Dike snapped again;
"we will provide suppressing fire!"
With no other choice, Lieutenant Foley took his order and went back to his Platoon. Luz handed Dike the radio again;
"you need to talk to Captain Winters, sir".
But even with the radio up against his ear, Dike didn't utter a single word.
With a tiny sigh, Rory snatched the radio off Dike's hold.
Luz pulled a face;
"you can't do that, kid!"
"Sir!" Rory said into the radio, "sir, we have 1st Platoon heading into the village 'round the back by itself-"
"Rory, put Dike back on the line!" Winters ordered.
"He ain't 'gonna talk!" Rory told him, "he ain't doing nothing but giving out stupid orders!"
After a tiny pause, she said;
"we're never 'gonna get into Foy!"
Before Winters could respond, Luz snatched the radio out of her hands.
With a shake of his head, he said to Winters;
"sir, I'll try again with Lieutenant Dike".
Rory let out a frustrated groan and looked at Lipton;
"let's just go!"
"No!" He said, "we can't go anywhere without our CO!"
Shaking her head, she yelled;
"fuck him, Sarge!"
He pulled an angry face;
"watch it, Rory!"
Lipton was getting angrier and angrier and lost all patience with Dike. But he still had to keep an eye on 1st Platoon, who was pinned down by a sniper they couldn't spot. Shaking his head, he yelled;
"I need some damn binoculars!"
Without saying anything, Rory took the binoculars off from Dike's neck and handed them to Lipton. There, he looked towards the town and tried to spot the sniper. Even with their suppressing fire, men were still going down. But they eventually did locate the sniper. Lipton spotted him. He was firing out from the building with the caved-in roof.
With the sniper spotted, Lipton turned to Dike and yelled;
"sir, we are sitting ducks here! We have to keep moving!"
Things were chaotic.
88's exploded into the earth, wounding men.
The sniper had its eyes on 1st Platoon, causing them to lose more men.
And they felt trapped. Doomed on the field.
Rory tried not to let fear get the better of her. But she was beginning to lose all hope again. She didn't see a way out of this shitstorm. Rory peered around the corner of the haystack and saw her two friends, firing out the machine-gun. She then turned back and faced the front. There, she saw a huge puff of smoke rise up from a shell and jumping through that smoke, was a Lieutenant.
At that moment, he looked like a superhero. Coming to rescue the day.
Slightly crouched in front of Dike, he told him;
"I'm taking over".
And moved over to Lipton.
Rory's eyes lightened a little, as did the weight in her chest.
She could feel hope once more because this new Lieutenant had a plan.
While their mortars and grenades took care of the sniper, the rest followed the Lieutenant into the town. Rory, like the rest of the men, was eager to get out there and start doing her job. The sooner they secured the town, the sooner this would all be over. Rory ran into the town with Heffron and Jackson. The trio followed the Lieutenant across the rest of the filed and soon reached the start of town. Immediately, they all began the task of clearing out the buildings.
It was crazy to think, that just moments ago, the whole attack had been stopped. Rory assumed Winters must have sent this new Lieutenant out to get the attack moving. She couldn't imagine how angry their Captain would have been while watching the whole Company halt in the middle of the field. But in town, the firefight was fierce between the Americans and the Germans. Shifty Powers took care of the sniper who ended up killing four men from Easy and wounding several others. The attack went on until early evening. For hours, they fought the Germans in Foy. The men were both exhausted and relieved that it was finally over.
Rory wiped the cold sweat and mud off her face with her equally as muddy hands. Her entire face was stained in dark colours from mud, to smoke, to blood. Her OD's weighted a ton, the fabric was soaked from the snow and sweat. And Rory would have done just about anything, for a drink of water. Sitting down near a pile of bricks from a half-torn down house, Rory felt her body shaky a little, while the adrenaline started to wear off.
"I could chew your damn head off". Lipton said.
The 1st Sargent sat down next to her.
Rory was staring off across the field. Eyes watching men move the wounded from the field.
Shaking his head, Lipton said;
"what an outcome".
He then looked down at Rory;
"you okay?"
She gave him a tiny nod in response, before asking;
"got any water?"
"Yup".
Lipton brought out his canteen and unscrewed the cap.
He handed her the canteen. And watched, while she took a few sips.
With a tiny sigh, Rory handed the canteen back to him.
"Is it over now?"
"Foy?" Lipton asked, "yeah, it's over".
Frowning, she looked up at him;
"what happens now?"
Lipton shook his head;
"I'm not sure…but what I do know, Dike will probably be replaced".
Rory felt slightly lightened by that thought.
She turned back to face the field again.
Her eyes moved towards the forest, a place they had called home for almost a month. She didn't feel like the same person who left England. Rory felt worn down but would never give up. As a Paratrooper, they all shared the same amount of pride and that pride, wouldn't allow them to quit. But her time in combat had rattled her nerves. When her hands started to shake, Rory looked down at them. She could feel a familiar sting in her eyes, while tears reached the corners. She could feel her bottom lip start to tremble and her face begin to crumble.
Rory's breathing hitched.
And a small sob broke out from her chest.
While tears rolled down her cheeks.
Lipton's arm went around her shoulders.
And Rory moved into his chest, clinging onto his jacket for dear life.
Tiny sobs rattled her frame, which was muffled into Lipton's chest.
He held onto her tightly, not saying anything.
Lipton didn't tell her to calm down, he didn't hush her up.
He allowed her to have that moment for a few minutes.
They had just come out of hell; Lipton couldn't blame her for crying. He guessed she was in a state of disbelief, that she had actually survived their time inside the Bios Jacques. Or perhaps she was grieving for those they had lost. Either way, Lipton made sure she wasn't going through it alone.
"You're one brave kid". Lipton told her.
Her crying had ended after only a few minutes.
But Rory continued to hide in his chest.
After a few moments of silence, she asked;
"who's the Lieutenant?"
"The one who relieved Dike?"
She nodded.
Lipton smirked a little;
"that would be Lieutenant Speirs, from Dog Company".
Eyes widening a little, Rory pulled back from his chest.
Staring up at him, she mumbled;
"ain't he the fella would killed all them prisoners and his own fella?"
Lipton rolled his eyes with a tiny sigh;
"those are just rumours, Rory. Don't believe everything you hear".
Scrubbing her tears off her cheeks, she mumbled;
"we had a looney leading us out there".
Lipton smiled;
"no, we had a looney. Until a better officer replaced him".
…
That night, they made Lieutenant Speirs the new commander of Easy.
No one overly cared about the rumours, they were just glad Dike was no longer leading them. The men were bedded down outside the town of Foy. They had hopes of getting a break, perhaps they'd go back to Mourmelon for a rest. However, they were soon alerted for a possible move on the hamlets of Recogne and Cobru and the larger town of Noville. For the moment, it was just an alert. Easy tried their best to relax and hope they weren't called up for the attack.
"I can't feel my fucking hands". Heffron muttered.
"Me neither". Jackson said, "don't think no one can, Babe".
"Nah, look at 'um".
With that, Heffron took off his gloves and exposed his hands.
Shaking her head, Rory said;
"can't see 'um Babe, it's too dark".
Jackson snorted;
"yeah…show us in the morning".
Sighing, Heffron tried to put his gloves back on but couldn't.
His hands were swollen, sore and completely numb. He had frostbite. A moderate case but still bad enough to get him pulled off the line. Usually, Heffron would have sucked it up and got on with it but Guarnere wasn't there to tell him to "tough it out". He made up his mind to inform Speirs in the morning that he couldn't hold his gun.
"Why they 'gonna send us back out there?2 Jackson asked quietly, "why us, huh? Its always fucking us".
Rory frowned;
"I 'dunno". She whispered, "maybe 'cause we're good at it".
Jackson sighed;
"hell, we might never make it 'outta here now".
Rory could have argued but Jackson was right. She even doubted herself surviving the rest of the war. And with the way things were going, Rory didn't see Easy being pulled off the line for a while. Closing her eyes, Rory took in a deep breath threw her nose. Opening her eyes again, she exhaled and got onto her feet.
"Where you going?" Jackson asked.
"I'll be right back".
Rory walked to the back of the line and spotted Winters and Nixon sitting on the edge of a foxhole, drinking hot coffee. They had been sharing their complaints about being put on alert for another move but stopped when they noticed Rory.
"Hey, kid". Nixon greeted, "want some coffee?"
Shaking her head, Rory approached their foxhole;
"Babe don't think his hands are good".
"What's wrong with 'um?" Winters asked.
She shrugged;
"I ain't sure…too dark to tell".
Winters moved over a little, clearing a spot for Rory.
Taking the hint, she sat herself down next to him.
Looking down at her, Winters said;
"Lip's a little worried about you". He told her, "something on your mind?"
She shrugged.
But instead of replying, Rory told him;
"sorry 'bout hogging that radio".
Winters huffed quietly;
"yeah…you weren't meant to do that, Rory".
Nixon smirked;
"should have seen the look of shock on Captain Winters face, kiddo".
"The fella wasn't 'gonna answer". Rory mumbled.
With a sigh, Winters nodded;
"yeah…he wasn't talkative, was he, Rory?"
She shook her head;
"nope".
Staring down at her boots, she asked;
"we going away tomorrow, sir?"
"It's looking that way". Winters replied quietly.
"Really?" Rory asked, through a tearful moan.
Frowning, he said;
"I'm not overly happy about it either, Rory. But we've been given a job and we'll do our best to get the job done".
Rory gave him a tiny nod in response.
It didn't matter how much they didn't want to do it; 2nd Battalion had another job to do. The brass didn't care if they were tired, grieving or in desperate need of a break. With a tiny sigh, Rory looked up at Winters;
"well…suppose I better get some sleep, huh?"
"Yeah, you should". Winters told her, "have you had something to eat?"
Rory shook her head;
"no, we ain't so hungry, sir".
"Will you at least try, Rory?"
Feel the corner of her mouth twitch, she nodded;
"alright, I'll try".
She then asked;
"who's 'gonna take over out squad?"
"I haven't decided yet". Winters said, "we'll see what Lieutenant Speirs has to say".
"Oh, about him". Rory said, "he ain't 'gonna shoot us, right?"
While Nixon snorted, Winters sighed;
"Rory, don't listen to those stories, alright? He's a good leader. He'll see you through tomorrow".
Getting back onto her feet, she said;
"sir, I know the rules". She said, "just glad I ain't a smoker".