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The faint light of morning ascended in the east; the assault commenced as planned. The air was so cold, even breathing was a chore. Lipton led 2nd Platoon, not Malarkey – he wasn't bothered. As Lipton advanced 2nd Platoon – who were leading – through a thicket, a shell squealed above them. It was a screaming Mimi. The shell hit right in the middle of the Company. They took cover for all of ten seconds, then jumped up and moved about quickly, running, to get ahead of where they were sending the screaming Mimi's. They didn't want to stay in the same area.
Nelly coughed into her hand – the cold was sending sharp pains into her chest. It almost left her breathless. But she didn't have time to stop and catch her breath, the formation sped forward at a quick pace. Nelly was rushing somewhere behind Speirs and Lipton. Behind her, was Babe and her squad. Coming to a sudden stop, Nelly stepped to the side and saw Speirs staring down at a bloody body lying in the snow. With a tiny frown, she approached her cousin and followed his stare.
Her eyes widened slightly – it was Joe McMillen. Nelly's widened eyes looked up at Speirs. And then, Speirs cried aloud, "Oh, Joe, not you!"
Lipton sharply looked at the Lieutenant. The 1st Sergeant could see Speirs was really broken up over the loss of a close friend. Lipton, who hardly knew Speirs, was trying to form an opinion on their new Company Commander. Lipton came to the conclusion that Speirs wasn't some heartless brute after all – he had friends, he cared about people. But of course, he did – Speirs had Nelly.
Nelly took a hold of Speirs's arm. "Sir". She spoke ever so softly. "We have to go". Her heart hurt for Speirs, it truly did. She knew exactly how it felt to lose a close friend. But they also needed to keep moving – Speirs had to lead them into Noville.
Speirs looked down at his cousin and whispered, "That's Joe, Nelly".
"Yeah". She whispered back, "It's Joe".
Speirs gave Nelly a small nod. There was no time to stop, let alone mourn. Speirs's greater commitment was not to a single man but to an entire Company. Nelly let go of her cousin's arm. And within a minute, Speirs was back in full gallop. Lipton clapped Nelly's arm as they both raced after their Lieutenant.
Racing into town, they ducked and dodged among blackened buildings as fire spouted from heaps of rubble. Leading the way, Lipton had 2nd Platoon in the centre of Noville, close to the burned-out Shermans Nelly and Malarkey discovered the previous night. And as they drew up weapons to fire out, the sound of an incoming tank caught their attention. With nowhere else to go but down, Lipton ordered for everyone to get under those abandoned Shermans. The enemy didn't hesitate, they lobbed shells at the Shermans.
It was incredibly loud – louder than sticking your head in a church bell and having it go off. Nelly thought her ears would start bleeding. The pain she felt in her ears and head was very intense, she ended up withering and squirming around on the ground. It felt as though the Sherman tanks jumped ten feet in the air. But they didn't – they burst into flames instead. Thick, black smoke came pouring out from the bottom.
Grabbing a hold of Nelly's arm, Lipton dragged the withering girl out from under the tank. He noticed her nose was bleeding. Lipton pulled her toward a wall and leaned her up against it – eyes soon scanning her face for cuts. Nelly's eyes were tightly shut, and she was grabbing a hold of her ears.
"Buddy – Nelly!" Lipton called out to her, "Are you hurt?!"
Nelly could hardly hear Lipton through the ringing in her ear. But she shook her head.
Seeing the GI handkerchief poking out from her jacket, Lipton took it out and pressed it up against Nelly's nose. He then looked over his shoulder and saw the German tank was leaving town. Confused at first, Lipton soon looked to the sky, where he saw a P-47 swooping above them – it dropped a bomb right atop the German tank.
Hands leaving her ears, Nelly's arms dropped to the side in exhaustion. Her head and ears still hurt but at least it was over now – the Americans had Noville. Nelly's eyes looked toward Lipton, who was still holding the tissue to her nose and watching flames melting the German tank. Nelly gave Lipton's leg a tiny nudge with her boot. Lipton faced her.
He smiled warmly, "You alright, buddy?"
Nelly gave him a faint nod. She told him, "Sorry".
"What for, huh?" Lipton mumbled gently. "You haven't done anything wrong, buddy". He took the handkerchief away from her nose – it had stopped bleeding. Mopping the rest of the blood from under her nose and around her mouth, Lipton threw the handkerchief away. "Should we check on Speirs?" Lipton asked while wiping his hand on his trousers.
Nelly felt her eyes burn when she thought about how her cousin must have been feeling. She had this horrible image in her head, that Speirs was hunched over McMillen's body, sobbing by himself. "Yeah". Nelly whispered.
Lipton took a hold of Nelly's arm and pulled the girl up. "There we go". He said lightly.
Speirs wasn't hunched over McMillen; he was patching up Shames. The 3rd Platoon Leader had a few scrapes on his face and hands. Lipton stared down at Shames, who was leaning against the side of a house. Shames gave the 1st Sergeant a tiny nod. "Lipton".
"What got you, sir?" Lipton asked.
"A bed". Shames almost laughed. "I jumped through a window – got tangled up in a bed. Alley had to help me out".
"What made you jump, sir?"
"That damn tank that you hit you guys". Shames said. And asked, "Your fellas alright?"
"They're fine, sir". Lipton replied kindly.
Speirs was crouched before Shames. "I wouldn't get comfy here". He said, "They want us out of town in an hour".
"I'll let the men know, sir". Lipton said.
Without looking at her, Speirs asked, "Nelly, you good?"
"Yes, sir". Nelly replied quietly.
And it was as if he didn't believe her because Speirs cast a quick glance at his cousin before looking back at Shames. "Good". He said, now believing her.
Shames started talking about what happened with the tank, Speirs and Lipton listened, but Nelly completely zoned out. Eyes dazed; she found a spot in front of her to aimlessly stare at. Her brain thought back to memories with her best friends. She remembered Bob the bobcat – when she and Malarkey sneaked into the kitchen to grab the meat. And then Winters came in and Nelly tossed Malarkey's lighter to create a noise, so they could escape through the window. The meat was pointless, Bob escaped once the shed door opened. She remembered those meetings inside the latrines – especially the one where Toye, Lipton and Punchy almost caught them – well, Toye knew they were there, but the others didn't. Or that night Skip set off fireworks inside the Officer's centre, so Nelly could steal bottles of whiskey for Easy.
They had so many fun memories together.
Nelly had an entire section in her mind for the moments she shared with Alex. But she tried hard not to think about them. It hurt so much still. Sometimes, she felt flickers of rage because Alex left her, and Nelly had to go on without him – she had to forget his promise for forever and live life without his hand holding hers.
Sometimes, the weight of loss was too much to bear. Without much of a warning, Nelly slumped to the ground. Legs drawing up to her chest, her arms wrapped around them. Drawing out a tiny and shallow breath, Nelly pressed her forehead against her knees.
"Is your kid alright?" Shames asked Speirs quietly.
Both frowning, Speirs and Lipton looked toward Nelly – only to find her sitting down.
Lipton crouched at her side. "Buddy?"
"Tired". Nelly whispered.
Lipton set a hand on her back. "You'll get a rest soon, alright?" Lipton thought she had done remarkably well. She had lost a lot inside that forest and continued to push through the pain, suffering and exhaustion.
"Bricks!" Babe was calling out her name – searching for Nelly. "Bricks! Where are 'ya!"
Speirs asked her, "Do you want me to see what has him so excited?"
Raising her head, Nelly replied quietly, "No, sir…I'll go".
With Lipton's help, Nelly was soon on her feet and walking toward Babe. But then she stopped and turned around. "Sir?"
Speirs looked over at her. "Yeah?"
"I want Babe…as Corporal, sir".
Lipton raised his eyebrow. "Heffron? What about a more experienced man, Nelly?"
"I want…Babe".
"The fellas won't be happy about that". Lipton pointed out to her kindly. "They weren't keen on the replacement, remember?"
Rising to his feet, Speirs stood before Nelly and nodded. "I'll consider it".
"Thank you". She said to him quietly.
"Hey…". Speirs crouched a little to meet her eyes. Softly and quietly, he told her, "Thank you, for what you did back there when…". He cleared his throat. "Well, you know".
Nelly nodded faintly. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, kid". Speirs assured her. "Or at least, I will be".
Her eyes glazed over again, as her mind threatened to leave her body. "Yeah". Nelly whispered.
Speirs frowned. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Blinking, Nelly's eyes shifted toward her cousin's concerned stare. "Yeah…I'm fine".
She was far from fine – Nelly was trying to imagine the shell didn't directly hit their foxhole. She wanted so badly to turn back time and stop it from happening. Like superman – her friends once said he could turn back time, she briefly remembered hearing them talk about superman on the ship to England. And now Nelly wished superman was real. She felt like she was losing her mind.
...
Rest didn't come for Easy the next day, they were ordered to take Rachamps – Rachamps was off the highway, and over to the east. It was in a valley. The snow-covered ground sloped gently down to it from all sides, giving an effect similar to attacking the rim of a saucer towards its centre. 2nd Battalion attacked from the south and southwest, while 1st Battalion on the left came down from the north of the village.
Malarkey was back leading 2nd Platoon. Above them, the sky was overcast with grey clouds. It could either snow or rain. But Nelly watched, stunned, as the sky brightened up with large balls of white – she thought it looked so pretty, maybe even magical. And as the balls of light glided to the ground like feathers, Nelly held out her hand to catch them. She caught one and screamed.
"Shit – Nelly!" Malarkey yelped and went over to help.
The substance came from artillery, and it glided down so harmlessly. However, it was a chemical sent down to burn its victims. Phosphorous. White phosphorous shells. Malarkey peeled the ball of white off of Nelly's hand and then stuck her hand into the snow. Nelly wasn't the only one to get injured in 2nd Platoon – Lesniewski got cut by shrapnel in the shin and the knee. But after the medic patched him up, Lesniewski got up and joined Easy again. Once the burning sensation had stopped, Nelly's hand was bandaged up. One more man from 1st Platoon got wounded – he ran into a group of SS with Liebgott and one of the Officers slashed Hales's throat. He was alive but it wasn't looking good for Sergeant Hale. Thankfully, no one else got hurt in Easy.
Rachamps was in American hands and Speirs set up his CP inside a convent and had the entire Company inside with him. The men hadn't been inside a warm and dry building since they left Mourmelon. The white stucco church offered them plenty of seats and nuns came around to give men blankets and something hot to drink.
Sat down on a wooden pew, Nelly leaned forward and watched the young parishioners sing to them. The warm ambience was nothing less than heavenly. It was the first time the Company felt safe, they could relax now, and as they did so, Nelly imagined loss was on their minds. Not a lot of men were left in Easy since Mourmelon – just sixty of them. The Platoons were extremely low on numbers – none of them made up an actual Platoon. Nelly only had Lesniewski, Ed Joint, Babe, Sheehy and Jackson, from her squad. The mortar squad were just two. Grant only had a few guys. Altogether, 2nd Platoon was looking at fourteen men. They had the lowest numbers in the whole Company.
Leaning back against the pew, Nelly's eyes stared up to the side of Malarkey's face. For a few quiet moments, she simply stared at him and thought back to their friendships. Then her eyes looked to the front, and she took Malarkey's hand. It was Malarkey's turn to stare down at Nelly. And he was reminded of Skip and their "platonic hand-holding", moment on the train back in America. Malarkey didn't know whether to laugh or cry – he did neither. But he did feel his lips twitch slightly. Nelly's eyes looked back up at Malarkey.
He closed the tiny gap between them. And leaning down, Malarkey pressed a kiss on the top of Nelly's head. Once his lips left her dark and messy curls, Nelly leaned into his arm. And with the choir singing so beautifully, the two friends fell asleep. Nelly ended up holding Malarkey like a giant teddy-bear – she had her arm wrapped around his waist, her face buried below his chest. And Malarkey was slouched down on the pew, cheek atop her messy curls and holding her back.
That's how Speirs found the two friends. Unfolding a blanket, Speirs draped it over them and then walked down a set of wooden steps to the front pews. He slid in beside Lipton and offered the 1st Sergeant a cigarette. Lipton almost smiled at the gesture – as he thought back to those rumours. But he accepted the cigarette.
"Thank you, sir".
Speirs said to him quietly, "Your supervision of these men has been unfaltering".
Lipton looked a little surprised at the compliment.
"The men couldn't have gotten through Bastogne without you, Lipton".
"Sir". Lipton said, "We're happy to have a good leader again".
"I think anyone could've replaced Dike, Lipton". Speirs almost smiled. "Heck, I think a few of the replacements could have done a better job".
Lipton snorted out a tiny laugh. "You're probably right, sir". He said, "But you really saved our butts back in Foy, sir".
Taking a drag from his cigarette first, Speirs then said, "On a more personal note, thank you for taking care of my cousin". He looked at the 1st Sergeant and smiled small. "She never expressed her worries over Dike because she had you looking after everyone".
"I've got a lot of respect for Nelly, sir". Lipton said, "She's a good soldier. And she's a great Sergeant".
"So, you think she should officially be a Sergeant?"
"I do, sir". Lipton replied softly. "The men in her squad all respect Nelly and follow her orders".
"I'll talk to her again and see what she thinks". Speirs decided. "I wouldn't 'wanna put any more weight on her shoulders. Cause that kid has been through a lot". He said, "Even before Easy and the war…she's never known a normal life, Lipton".
And Lipton frowned. "I didn't know that, sir".
"I think Easy gave her a taste of normality". Speirs added softly. "Especially before Normandy".
"She was happiest with…". Lipton let out a sigh. "You know, Skip, Alex and Malarkey".
"I've met Skip and Alex a few times". Speirs said quietly. "They were good kids".
"The best, sir". Lipton agreed. He said, "The four of them were best friends. They did everything together – even cause mischief".
Speirs huffed out the faintest of laughs. "Hell, I can believe that".
"And Toye was so fond of Nelly". Lipton expressed quietly. "Every time he went to the aid station, he'd put her in charge of the squad".
"I liked Sergeant Toye". Speirs said, "I met him a couple of times. And Nelly wouldn't shut up about him".
"She has a lot of friends, sir". Lipton said, "People who care".
Speirs nodded and said, "Yeah – she does".
For the first time in a month, Nelly and Malarkey slept all through the night.