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It was Strayer who picked Easy Company to lead the attack on Foy. The attack was scheduled for the morning of January 13th – just three days after they lost Skip and Alex. The plan to reach Foy was simple; cross two hundred and fifty yards of open field, Lieutenant Reese would have two sections of machine guns to cover Easy and once they reached Foy, they were to link up with I Company. Their only issue was the field, it had little to no cover. And their other issue was Dike, he was leading the attack. Dike spooked everyone – he was a Sobel without the toughness. It wasn't a good mix. However, Malarkey was leading 2nd Platoon, Nelly trusted her friend more than anyone. One way or another, Malarkey would get them into Foy.

Sat on the edge of the woods next to Malarkey, they both heard Winters speaking with Dike – Malarkey wasn't impressed. He turned to Nelly and told her, "He sounds like he's coaching a rookie quarterback".

"It'll be…okay, Donnie". Nelly said to him quietly. "How could it get any worse?"

Setting her a tiny frown, Malarkey then looked down at his rifle and said, "I could lose you".

Staring at the side of his face, Nelly felt herself frowning sadly. There was still time for things to get worse, she realised. Nelly could end up losing Malarkey. Then where would she be? Nelly took a hold of his arm. Malarkey turned his head and faced her. No words came out of her mouth, she couldn't say what she wanted – words were painful now, they brought on emotions whenever it came to Malarkey.

He tried to smile but his lips hardly moved. "It'll be fine". Malarkey said.

"Yeah". Nelly whispered. And she released her hold on his arm.

Replacements had come in sometime after they lost Skip and Alex. Nelly and Malarkey hardly noticed. But they noticed them now. They were young, green and frightened. This time, the new guys were actually younger than Nelly – by a year or two. She only had one replacement in her squad – she didn't know his name. But he was a Corporal, technically, he outranked her because Nelly hadn't officially been promoted to Sergeant – she hadn't even been a Corporal. Nelly was jumping straight from Private to Sergeant, just like Skip and Malarkey.

"Hey". Malarkey grabbed a hold of her shoulder and shifted to sit in front of her.

Nelly looked at him and felt something wet roll down her cheek.

"Come on, pal". Malarkey wiped the tear from her cheek with his thumb. "Let's keep it together, alright?"

"Sorry…I didn't…". Nelly hadn't even noticed her eyes had filled with tears.

"It's alright". Malarkey said to her quietly.

"I'm…fine". She mumbled. "Sorry".

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah". Nelly rubbed her eyes – getting rid of the unleashed tears. She wasn't expecting the tears, they usually came with a warning. But her eyes were dry now, she no longer rubbed them.

Malarkey drew out a tiny sigh – which almost sounded relieved. He needed her out there with him. Malarkey let go of her shoulder. He was proud of Nelly, for keeping it together after losing her first love. It couldn't have been easy for her – Malarkey couldn't begin to imagine what that felt like. Every time his eyes caught sight of the ring on Nelly's finger, he felt a piece of his heartbreak. And he promised himself and Alex, to look after Nelly. Malarkey would never see her struggle. He was going to take care of her, even after the war. That was his promise to Alex.

Lipton's voice rang out like the bells of hell, "Let's move out!"

Snow was a soldier's worst nightmare when they wanted to run, and the field was still snowy and deep. Kicking off, Easy moved away from the forest and stepped onto the open field. The snow slowed them down some. And once passing their covering fire, the machine guns came to life and blasted sharp bullets toward Foy. It didn't take long for the enemy to fire out with smaller arms at first – machine guns and rifles, mostly. But Easy did well, for all of seventy-five yards.

It came to a sudden halt because Dike stopped the advance in the middle of the open field. For a moment, the men stood there, stunned. 1st Platoon sneaked into the right and got behind small farm buildings, while 2nd Platoon remained out in the open. Bullets whizzed overhead and Nelly soon crouched down, her squad quickly following her.

"Take some cover!" Malarkey yelled, pointing toward large hay bales. "Over there!"

Looking over her shoulder, Nelly relayed the order to her squad. "Behind the hay – Babe, set up your MG behind the hay!"

Thankfully, Lipton was around to grab Dike and move the frozen Lieutenant behind the hay as well. Nelly and her squad followed after the frightened Lieutenant and Lipton. Once behind the haybale, Babe set up his machine gun at the side and began firing out toward Foy with help from his assistant, Ed Joint. Luz was with them, speaking to a very angry Winters on the radio. It was not going well. No one expected Dike to freeze up the way he did. And they couldn't advance into Foy without a leader.

Lipton was yelling at Dike.

Luz was trying to get Dike to talk with Winters on the radio.

It was a mess.

And to top it off, German artillery sounded around them – hitting men still caught out in the open field. Nelly rubbed her forehead, slightly distressed by what was happening. Eyes staring out into the snowy field, she could only see thick smoke and snow shooting up into the air for a moment. But then she saw a man jump through a cloud of smoke and dodge an 88-piece aimed for the lone soldier. Nelly squinted her eyes at the man.

"Who the hell is that?" Luz asked.

As the sprinting man got closer, Nelly huffed. And said, "It's my cousin".

Speirs reached the haystack and stared down at Dike. "I'm relieving you!" The panting Speirs announced to Dike. "Easy! On your feet!" Speirs ordered, "2nd Platoon, on your feet! Get those mortars humping toward those MGs! Let's go!" And he left.

Rising to their feet, 2nd Platoon didn't hesitate – they followed him.

The sudden reversal of mood and speed was nothing less than inspiring. Racing away from the haystacks, they followed Speirs to the left and ended up by the outbuildings next to 1st Platoon.

Speirs halted the advance for a moment, preventing Easy from barging into the town. The radios didn't work, he had no way of knowing if Easy would vault into Foy alone, without the support from Item Company. Speirs turned to Lipton, who was closest to him.

"I have to make sure I Company are there!"

"Yes, sir!" Lipton replied.

Speirs clapped Lipton's shoulder and yelled, "Okay – stay here!"

The men watched, awestruck, as Speirs got up and raced through no-man's land – practically through enemy lines, by himself. Nelly was horrified. Eyes as wide as plates, she watched her older cousin almost get hit by a flying 88, that shook the ground under his feet. He was insane – completely mad, Nelly thought. And he jumped over a wall close to town and disappeared for a moment. She could see the logic in his plan – the radios weren't working; they had no way of knowing if I Company were there to back Easy up in Foy. But by God, Nelly stressed if he really had to go alone.

Jackson laughed behind her and said, "Your cousin is crazy, Nelly!"

She gave a short nod, "Yeah!"

Climbing back over the wall, Speirs jumped down and ran back across the no-man's land and back to Easy Company. With Item Company backing them up, Easy proceeded into town. With Malarkey leading 2nd Platoon, they inched their way into Foy and took cover behind randomly scattered outbuildings. Malarkey heard gunfire from an adjacent outbuilding, apparently from a single soldier. Breathing heavily, he halted the Platoon and looked at the Corporal next to him – he was the replacement in Nelly's squad.

"I'll get him". Malarkey said, his back to the building. He inched sideways, getting ready to spin around the corner and open fire.

"Sarge, you're in charge of this outfit". The Corporal said, "I'll go".

Reluctantly, Malarkey nodded. The Corporal stuck his head around the corner of the building and a bullet killed him instantly. As his body dropped to the ground, Malarkey looked over at Nelly – she sent him a blank look in return. Angered, Malarkey stepped over the body, and he opened fire with his Tommy gun. He took down the German in the barn window – obviously, the same guy who had killed the Corporal. As Malarkey walked into the barn, Nelly turned to face an ashen face behind her – another replacement.

"Pass the word on, go into town". Nelly said, "We'll meet you there – find Speirs, he'll tell you what to do".

"Yes, Sargent".

Rising to her feet, Nelly moved toward the barn and walked inside. She found Malarkey knelt by the German soldier he had just killed. And as Nelly approached her friend, she looked down and her eyes widened slightly. The German looked to be about sixteen years old. Malarkey held the German soldier's paybook in his hands.

"Sixteen". Malarkey whispered, knowing Nelly was behind him. "I just…killed a kid, Nelly".

Nelly crouched next to Malarkey. "Hitler Youth". She said.

"Not his fault". Malarkey's voice was hoarse. "He got swept up in a madman's pursuit of evil".

Nelly looked at him. "Oh, Donnie…you think teenagers can't be evil?"

Frowning, Malarkey looked back at her. "It's still not his fault, Nelly".

"No…sympathy for him". Nelly said, "Hitler Youth – fuck them".

"Seriously?" Malarkey's voice raised a little.

If he knew the truth, Malarkey might not have felt so bad. "Trust me". Nelly said, "Don't feel bad about him".

Malarkey pointed at her, "You sound like your cousin".

Nelly grabbed a hold of his arm. "Let's go – come on".

"Nelly, it's wrong". Malarkey stressed while getting onto his feet.

She kept a hold of his arm and stared up at him. "You have enough…on your mind, Donnie. We don't usually see…who we kill…this makes no difference".

Malarkey sighed. He nodded but didn't look convinced.

"You have…men to lead now". Nelly said, "They're in Foy".

Malarkey looked back at her and said, "I'm sorry about your Corporal".

She sighed quietly. "Yeah…well, I'll make…Sheehy Corporal now".

"He doesn't like you".

"Right". Nelly released the hold on his arm. "We should…go".

"Nelly". Malarkey whispered – tone sounding as though he wanted to say more.

"Yeah?"

Taking a step forward, Malarkey wrapped his arms around her, holding Nelly tightly to his chest. Nelly wasn't expecting the hug and stilled for a moment before holding him back. Eyes closing, she buried her face into his chest.

"We're 'gonna be okay". Malarkey promised her quietly, "I just know it…we'll be okay".

She felt tears gather under her eyelids. "Donnie…what do I…do?"

"What would Alex want you to do, more than anything?" Malarkey said quietly, "He'd want you to be happy".

A tear rolled down Nelly's cheek. "How?" She whispered.

"I don't know yet". Malarkey admitted. "But when I figure it out, I'll tell you".

"Okay". She said with a quiet sniff.

Pulling back from the hug, Malarkey looked down at Nelly and wiped the tear off her cheek with his thumb – just like before. "I promise. I'll look after you".

Nodding faintly, Nelly took a hold of his hand. "I'll…look after you too, Donnie".

He almost smiled. "I know".

"Let's go…Donnie".

...

At 1100 hours, Foy was in American hands. There were many casualties and deaths during that initial advance across the field, when Dike froze. There would have been plenty more if Speirs hadn't relieved the frozen Lieutenant. Nelly was grateful and proud of her older cousin – a lot of men were grateful for Speirs that morning. However, Nelly was a little mad at Speirs for racing in front of the enemy to reach Item Company. While they were moving the wounded to the rear, Nelly sought out her cousin and found him smoking outside a building, speaking with one of his friends, Lieutenant Joe McMillan, commander of Dog Company.

She stood a few feet away from them. And when Speirs noticed Nelly, he shook his friend's hand and walked toward his younger cousin. Nelly looked up at him and gave her cousin a nod. Mad, yes, but more than anything, she was grateful. "Thanks…Ronnie".

Speirs acknowledged the praise with a nod and asked, "Where did Dike go?"

"I…don't know". She said, "Away, I think".

"I hope the next Officer is better".

"Maybe…it'll be you". Nelly almost sounded hopeful.

Speirs sent her a tiny smile. "I don't think so, kid".

"I might be". She said quietly.

"You'd want that?" Speirs asked. He wasn't sure if Nelly would like to be ordered around by him – the older cousin.

But she nodded faintly and said, "More than…anything, Ronnie".

A small frown met Speirs's face when asking, "How have you been?"

"Oh". Nelly swallowed. "Okay". She said quietly, "I…get on with it".

"Guess that's the only thing you can do, huh?" Speirs mumbled softly.

She nodded and said, "I mean…I can't be like Sad Sack".

Speirs appeared mildly confused. "Who?"

"Oh…". Nelly mumbled, "Never mind".

Blinking the confusion away, Speirs gave Nelly's shoulder a squeeze. "Get some rest. I think they want us dug in outside the town".

"Okay…sir". Nelly said, "You'll be our CO…I'll start calling you, sir".

"We don't know that yet". Speirs reminded her. "Don't get your hopes up".

"We'll see".

Speirs sent her a tiny smile. "We will".

Leaving her cousin, Nelly passed by wounded men being lifted up on stretchers. She eventually found her squad sitting around close to the open field, mostly smoking and eating K-rations. For a few moments, Nelly just stood and stared at them. And then her eyes wandered back toward the woods – the same part of the woods where she lost Alex and Skip. She could feel the familiar pain in her chest present itself and a lump form in her throat. Tears reached the corner of her eyes and her lips trembled slightly. With a sharp intake of breath, Nelly felt a tear escape down her cheek.

"Buddy?" Lipton set a hand on her shoulder and stared down at Nelly, concerned. "You okay?"

Nodding, Nelly wiped the tear away. "Yeah". She whispered, "I'm…fine, Lip".

"Are you sure?" He asked softly.

"Yeah". Nelly said, "I'm sure".

She couldn't count on her fingers how many times someone asked if she was okay – there were too many occasions. Perhaps one day, Nelly would answer differently, other than "I'm fine".

Lipton gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Let's see how your boys are doing, huh?"

Nelly gave one more glance toward the woods – it would be the last time she would see the woods, and it felt like her final goodbye to Alex and Skip, and everyone else they lost in those tees.

Only the good die young.

Nelly would try to live, for them.