Anytime Nora heard a single gunshot, she held her breath. She'd heard thousands - maybe even millions - of gunshots since the war began, of course, but they generally came in a barrage that didn't cause you to think twice. You dove for cover and you waited for the conflict to pass. But a single, solitary, gunshot - followed by tentative, thick silence - had never bode well, in her experience.

"Probably nothing," Heffron assured her as she sat in his foxhole, staring in the direction of the sound. It'd been about a minute, and she still hadn't heard any screaming - still, it didn't feel right. "Maybe one of the men shot a bird."

"It's winter, Babe." She reminded him. Heffron took a moment to think about it.

"Not all birds fly south." He told her, though he sounded uncertain, "Could've been a cardinal. Or a blue jay."

"I think both of those are North American birds." She said.

"No way. I saw a cardinal just the other day." He argued. Nora turned to look at him, watching his face to see if he was kidding. He bristled at her judgmental silence. "What? I did!"

"You saw a cardinal?" She repeated, as if she were giving him a chance to rethink it.

"You don't believe me. I did!" He said.

"I believe that you saw a red bird." She said.

"Guarnere was there. He'll tell you."

"Babe, the only cardinals in Europe are the ones in Rome."

"Fine, they shot a deer then." He said, huffing. "They got deer here?"

"Probably," she replied, shrugging. "I don't know. Maybe. How should I know?"

Heffron narrowed his eyes at her but said nothing, deciding to let her have the best of this exchange. There was a long silence, and Nora became unsettled again about the gunshot, so she picked the conversation back up.

"You ever shoot a deer, Babe?"

"What am I, Davy Crockett?" He replied. Nora gave him a baleful look. Ever since Nora had retrieved Julian's personal effects, Babe had stuck closer to her - but they bickered constantly like an older sister and her little brother. "What about you?"

"No." She answered. "Hit one with my car, though."

"Price!"

Nora turned to see that Hashey was sprinting toward them.

"What is it?" She asked, grabbing her medical kit and climbing out of the foxhole. She'd been a fool to think that nothing would come of that shot.

"It's Hoobler. He shot himself in the leg."

"Babe, go get Roe." Nora commanded over her shoulder. She gestured for Hashey to lead the way, and they started running. In the thick, white fog, Nora heard the chaos before she saw it. Four or five men were crouched on the ground around Hoobler, yelling at him to hang in there and desperately trying to keep him warm. Nora slid to her knees next to the men, shouting for them to make room.

"It's his thigh." Lipton told her. She attempted to rip the hole in his pant-leg bigger, forcing her fingers in and pulling it apart. It was so difficult to see the wound.

"Lip, my flashlight." She said. Lipton went into her medical kit and grabbed it, holding it above the wound so that she could see better. "Hang in there, Hoob."

Nora pulled out a pair of forceps and prodded at the wound, looking for the bullet. Not all bullets could be pulled out - bullets were to be removed when it presented no additional risk. In some cases, the bullet needed to be left in to keep the soldier from bleeding out. Nora was having trouble determining which case this was.

"How we doin', Doc?" Lipton asked when Nora had stopped verbalizing her assurances in order to focus.

"I can't see anything." She told him, trying to keep the panic out of her voice. "We need to get him to an aid station."

"Alright, guys, let's get ready to move him." Lipton said. Nora returned to the wound, pressing a bandage to it to try and stop the bleeding as much as possible in preparation for the movement.

"Doc," Compton said. "Doc." Nora looked up to see the facial expressions she dreaded - the ones she saw in her nightmares. She looked down to see that Hoobler had passed. The men around her began to shift, but she stayed there and stared at him for a long time, her jaw clenched so hard that she could feel her teeth creaking and grinding. An accident. She hadn't been able to save him from a simple accident.

"Nora," Lipton said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You should get up and walk. Come with me to tell Captain Winters?" He asked. She nodded, letting him pull her to her feet.

"Why do we have to tell him?" She asked, her tone quiet.

"Why do you think?" Malarkey chimed in. She didn't have to ask for further clarification. Once again, nobody knew the whereabouts of Lt. Dike, and Lipton was taking over his responsibilities. Nora felt a sudden rush of rage; she finally pinpointed why this death had felt different. She was angry - about a lot of things. She clammed up and said nothing, following Lipton in tense silence all the way to the officers' camp.

When Lipton reported the news of Hoobler's death to Winters and Nixon, Nora said nothing.

"He was wearing so many clothes, we couldn't tell how bad he was bleeding." Lipton explained, waiting for Nora to chime in more about the actual wound itself. When she didn't contribute, he continued, "By the time we got him to the aid station, he was dead."

"He was dead practically by the time I got to him." She corrected, her tone bitter. Why hadn't she run the moment she'd heard the gunshot? Why had she waited for someone to call for her? And why had Hashey come to her and not Roe? Maybe Roe could've saved him. There was an awkward, tense beat of silence among the three men as their suspicions were confirmed - Nora was not handling it well.

"The bullet cut the main artery in his leg." Lipton reminded her - a fact they'd confirmed after Hoobler's death.

"Oh, hell." Nixon said, "it wouldn't have mattered when you got there, Nora. You cut that main artery in the leg, that's it." His tone was consolatory, but it did nothing to staunch her anger. Knowing that she had nothing but ire to share, she chose not to respond. Winters watched her for a moment, studying her face.

"Thanks for reporting, Lip. Why don't you go and make sure that all of the men are dug in?" Winters said. Lipton shot a hesitant glance in Nora's direction, but nodded and excused himself. Nora stood there, staring straight ahead for fear that she would lose control of her emotions if she looked the sitting men in the eyes.

"What's going on, Price?" Winters asked. Nora opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated. Her throat felt tight. She took a moment to collect herself before trying again.

"Permission to speak freely, sir?" She asked.

"Go ahead."

"I was never supposed to be a medic."

Nixon and Winters exchanged a glance. When they didn't immediately respond, she continued. "I'm not like Roe or Spina. I'm better at -" She stopped herself.

"At what? Conducting your own missions under the cover of darkness?" Winters asked, his voice sharp. Nora's eyes snapped to meet his, surprised. He looked angry - or about as angry as the collected Captain Winters ever did, anyway. She glanced at Nixon, who had the expression of a dad who didn't want their kid to be in trouble, but wasn't going to do anything about it, either. After studying their expressions, she decided that denial would be the best course of action for everyone.

"Given the chance, I'd love to do something like that one day." She said simply. Nixon raised an eyebrow and there was a warning in Winters' eyes, but they said nothing. Nobody was going to speak of the midnight mission she'd taken with Speirs, because then it would be real, and it would have to be dealt with. She wondered how they knew - Lipton did say anything, she was sure. They must've heard the men gossiping about it. Even when people were sworn to silence, stories like this tended to get out.

"Let's focus on the present." Winters said. "You think you're the only one who wishes they could do something else?" The extra cut in his tone told her that this was personal, and she remembered that he, too, had not been particularly comfortable with his growing distance from Easy Company. "You're going to keep doing the job you've been given, just like everybody else. Unless what I'm hearing is that you want to go home, in which case I'm sure Colonel Sink would love to accommodate that."

"No, sir." Nora replied. She'd found that her anger had largely dissipated just having gotten her discontent off her chest, though she did feel a little bit foolish about it now. She'd spent the whole war accepting whatever they would give her and holding her piece - she'd just wanted to speak her piece once, while she had the chance. Winters watched her face for another moment and then nodded, releasing a big breath.

"Colonel Sink wanted me to check in and see how the foxhole situation is going." He said, his tone lighter now. Nora's shoulders relaxed at the change in demeanor - she'd never drawn Winters' ire before now, and she wasn't eager to relive the experience any time soon.

"What do you mean?"

Nixon, who'd been very obviously uncomfortable during the confrontation, jumped back in happily. "The men aren't bothering you? The sleeping arrangements are fine?"

Nora resisted the urge to raise her eyebrows. This was typical - they couldn't accommodate her by using her natural skills and talents, but they could accommodate her sleeping arrangements if she was uncomfortable. She chose not to bring it up, even jokingly, for fear of reigniting the conflict they'd just resolved.

"Luz holds on to me like a toddler holds the family cat, but it's 15 degrees, so I don't complain." Though funny, it didn't come out as spirited as it normally would have, with the death of Hoobler still weighing heavy on her and the shock hardly having worn off yet.

"Well, just let us know if anything changes." Winters told her. "And rest for a minute, why don't you? We'll be heading back to the line at Foy soon."

Nora nodded. She needed to get her head on straight before going back to the line.

Winters had been right when he said they were returning to the line, but he had neglected to mention that she would be staying behind. She'd at first been placed on the short list of Easy soldiers who would be staying back with Dog Company under the direction of Lt. Speirs. A quick visit with Lt. Dike had remedied that. It'd taken her a while to actually find him, but when she did, all she had to say was "Is it a good idea to leave medics behind if you're going back to the line?" And that had been enough to motivate him to get involved and revise the list. Winters hadn't argued, because he was supposed to be practicing more hands-off methods and encouraging Dike to embrace his leadership role, anyway. She knew she was probably overstepping again, but at least she wasn't disobeying orders. In the end, she decided it was worth it if it meant she could be with the men at this critical juncture.

They had abandoned their foxholes (always a painful moment for those who'd bloodied their hands laboring to dig them) and headed back to the line, dropping off the men who would stay behind with Dog Company along the way. When Speirs noticed that Nora was making no move to put down her gear or settle into a foxhole, he approached her, interrupting her conversation with Lipton.

"I'd suggest not taking a foxhole with any of my men," He advised, mistaking her inaction for hesitation. She, of course, shouldn't stay in a foxhole with men she wasn't familiar with. "If you can't share with one of your own that's staying, you can hunker down in mine."

"I'm going to the line, actually." She told him, adjusting the straps of her pack. "But thank you."

Speirs said nothing for a moment, studying her. "You were supposed to stay behind."

"Lt. Dike revised the list." Lipton offered as explanation.

"Right," Speirs said, nodding. He didn't seem to like the change of plans, but neither had anybody else besides her and Dike. "Well, I hear it's going to get pretty rough, so keep your head down, alright?"

Nora nodded. She'd just finished adjusting her pack properly when Luz came up and threw a heavy arm around her shoulders, almost causing her to lose her balance.

"We ready?" He asked. Nora looked up at him with an annoyed expression, Lipton rolled his eyes, and Speirs' posture straightened.

"Shaking with anticipation." Nora replied, her tone flat.

"Like I said," Speirs repeated with a curt nod, "Heads down."

"Yes, sir." Luz said with a small salute. He was wearing a smirk that was unbecoming of a man speaking to a superior officer. Speirs excused himself without another word, and Nora turned to Luz, shaking his arm off.

"What was that?" She asked.

"Oh, nothing." Luz said, shrugging a shoulder. He was still wearing that smug look. "Just testing out a theory."

Nora raised an eyebrow, but didn't ask - she didn't feel like encouraging him. He continued anyway.

"You saw how angry he was, right?"

"Ah, I see. Is your theory 'everyone thinks Luz is annoying?'" Nora asked.

"You know exactly what my theory is." Luz shot back, giving her a suggestive look. Nora rolled her eyes. She wasn't stupid - she knew what he was implying.

"You're ridiculous," was all she said.

"Right, right. I'm ridiculous. So what was he talking to you about?" Luz asked. Nora didn't respond.

"He was offering to share his foxhole with her." Lipton answered after a moment. Nora hit him in the arm, betrayed.

"Seriously?" Luz groaned, "Nora, tell me you wouldn't share a foxhole with that guy."

"I don't know, maybe he'll make a good replacement for you." Nora shot back, picking up the pace to get away from the two of them.

"Aw, come on, Nora!" Luz called after her. "You can't do that. Right, Lip? She can't kick me out. Majority rules."

Nora grunted as she followed behind Babe, dragging a heavy pine branch along the frozen ground. They'd been told to get some cover for their foxholes, and Nora had volunteered to do it for the one she'd be sharing with Luz. Their old, larger foxhole was full of excrement, so Nora and Luz had chosen a smaller one, and Lipton had decided to stay in a neighboring hole. Babe had seen her collecting some pieces to use for cover and had thrown a fit, insisting that she needed "proper branches," and that he'd show her what to look for. Nora didn't think she needed to be taught anything, but she allowed Babe to order her around nonetheless, knowing that concern was the driving force of his bossiness. Babe had stopped in the middle of trying to tell her how to carry her branch, pausing to listen as the sound of mortars whistled nearby.

"Incoming!" She could hear Lipton shouting. "Find some cover!"

The two of them dropped their branches and began running in the direction of the nearest foxhole. The first explosion went off and Nora hunched, covering her head as the remnants of a tree flew everywhere. That first blast never seemed to pass, and Nora realized it was because they'd already received the second, third, fourth one...the Germans had them zeroed. Babe grabbed her and pushed her into a hole, jumping in after her. They hadn't been in the hole for more than a few seconds before the nearest tree took a hit. Babe, who'd jumped on top of her, pulled back a bit to ask if she was alright, and she stared over his shoulder as the tree toppled in their direction.

"Watch out!" She screamed, pulling him closer and pushing his head down so that they were curled into the safety of the hole as much as possible. The tree landed directly over the hole, and Nora felt the sting of pine needles as the branches pushed down on them, but the trunk itself didn't manage to crush them. "You okay?" Nora asked over the noise. Even with her mouth right next to his ear, she had to raise her voice.

"Yeah." He called back. "What's that thing called?"

"What?" She yelled.

"Where they put the needles in your body" He clarified.

"I have no idea" She answered.

"I read about it in a magazine once! In China, they put needles in your body, and it makes you relax!"

"You're lying!" She shouted back. The explosions stopped, and it was quiet for a moment. "So is it helping you relax?" She broke the silence, grimacing as he shifted on top of her, and it caused a branch to press even harder into the side of her face. They could hardly move an inch.

"You're just bitter that I know something you don't." Babe told her, his philly accent getting stronger along with his pride. The two heard voices coming from outside - Lipton was telling everyone to stay in their foxholes. There would inevitably be another barrage coming. The Germans hoped the quiet would lure them out. It'd probably be safer to stay under the tree, but Nora needed to be able to get out if someone was wounded. They shouted for help until Lip and a few others discovered that someone was trapped under the tree and scurried out of their holes to help them.

"Who's in there?" Luz's voice called as they began pulling at the branches to create a hole.

"Babe and Nora!" Babe called.

"Nora? First you don't come home, and then I find you with another man." Luz joked as they pulled Babe out through the hole they created.

"Ah, jeez, think I overdid it on the cover for my foxhole?" Babe asked as they reached in and pulled Nora out after him. Nora hadn't even made it all the way out before the foreboding whistling returned.

"Incoming!" Lipton shouted again. Nora got up and followed Luz back to their foxhole, diving in under the few branches she'd managed to collect for it. This barrage was shorter than the last but felt more severe. Nora couldn't tell if that was because she wasn't underneath a tree anymore, or if it was actually worse. When it went quiet again, she listened carefully. She heard shouting from the men, but it didn't sound like anyone was yelling for a medic.

"Anything?" She asked Luz, as they poked their heads out from under cover.

"I don't think so," He said, listening with her.

"You okay?" Lipton called from the next hole over. Luz gave a thumbs up. Nora heard footsteps and turned to see Lt. Dike running up to Lipton. She was surprised to see him out of his foxhole, especially at a time like this.

"First Sergeant," he addressed Lipton, "You get things organized here. I'm gonna go for help."

He ran off, leaving the three of them to watch in astonishment, open-mouthed.

"What the fuck?" Luz asked, voicing everyone's thoughts. Lipton shook off his disbelief quickly and climbed out of his hole.

"Lip, where the fuck's he going?" Luz asked, both he and Nora immediately looking to Lipton for direction after what they'd just witnessed.

"I don't know." Lipton answered honestly. "Get battalion on the line. Tell them to notify B.A.S."

Luz pulled out his phone and did just that as Lipton ran off to check on the state of things. The hair on Nora's neck stood up as she heard the first call for a medic. It was a desperate, pained cry that tore through the air like the mortar shells that had been falling just moments ago.

"Sounds like Buck." Nora announced, jumping to her feet and running in the direction of the cry. When she finally found the source of the cry, her chest tightened and ached. Toye and Guarnere had both been hit. Roe was working on Toye, with the help of Malarkey. Guarnere was propped against a nearby tree, holding his right leg. Everything below the thigh was nothing but bone. She rushed to help him.

"You're supposed to run away from the shells, Bill." She said, fashioning some bandages into a tourniquet. He howled a bit as she pulled it tight. It looked like a lot of the vessels and capillaries had been sealed in the explosion - he was lucky. He didn't reply, instead staring down at his leg and taking deep breaths.

"You're gonna be just fine, Guarnere." She assured him. "You're stubborn like that."

"Bill goes first." Roe called out as a few men arrived with stretchers.

"Whatever you say, Doc." Guarnere replied.

"Alright, easy guys." Nora instructed the men as they lifted him onto the stretcher. Neither seemed to want to pick up his injured leg, so she gingerly supported it as they made the transfer, trying to jar it as little as possible.

"Hey Joe, I told you I'd beat you back to the states." Guarnere said as they carried him away. With him taken care of, Nora turned her attention to Toye. His entire lower leg had been severed, and he seemed to be in a greater state of distress.

"What's a guy gotta do to get killed around here?" He groaned. Roe had already put the tourniquet and bandages on it - they mostly needed to wait for the stretcher to come back - so Nora sat behind Toye and allowed him to lean back on her as she attempted to soothe him.

"When you get back to the states, you'd better look me up." Toye told her a few minutes later as they loaded him onto the stretcher. "Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania."

"Between you, Guarnere, and Babe, I'll just have to move to Pennsylvania." She replied, earning a pained laugh from the man. After he had been safely carried away to the aid station, she took a deep breath.

"What else we got?" She asked Roe.

"Gordon got hit in the shoulder, but it's not bad. Spina's taking care of it."

Nora nodded. Lipton, who'd been watching them treat Toye, gave her a hand-up, and she stood as Luz approached.

"How's Buck?" Lipton asked.

"He's fine." Luz said.

"You sure?" Lipton asked. Buck obviously wasn't doing well - hadn't been for a while, now - but the men were always hesitant to say anything about it. One, because they loved him fiercely. Two, because Guarnere was always ready to pummel anyone who did.

"Yes, he's fine." Luz insisted, then added, "I think you should probably go talk to him now."

Lipton nodded and made his way over to Buck, who was sitting on a fallen log with his head in his hands. When Lipton knelt down in front of him, Buck avoided eye contact and rocked back and forth a bit. Nora averted her eyes out of respect and turned to Luz.

"How are you doing?" She asked. Luz had seemed particularly haunted by the sight of Toye when he'd passed by earlier - and Luz wasn't an easy person to shake.

"I've had better days." He said, pulling out a cigarette. Nora watched him light it up and take a few puffs from it as he pushed his hair back from his face. It had gotten longer since they'd come to the Ardennes. He looked like he could be just another boy on a street in New England, playing chicken in the middle of the road with his pals or trying to talk a girl at the Marquee into seeing a film with him. If he were back in the states, he'd probably still be home for the holidays, harassing one of his sisters - he had six of them - or helping his Dad take down the Christmas lights from the front of the house.

She couldn't bear the thought of seeing George Luz loaded onto a stretcher next. Or Carwood Lipton. Or Babe Heffron. Or Eugene Roe. Or Donald Malarkey. How long would they be here? Who would be next?

"What about you?" Luz asked, noticing the distant look in her eye.

"I'm alright."