Author's Note: Welcome to a collection of one-shots from various points in the main duology of my Lewis Nixon/Alice Klein series. For information on what kind of one-shots I am going to do, and am willing to be asked to do, please see my Tumblr julianneday1701 OR my Wattpad Silmarilz1701
Companion to
A Soldier of No Importance
Humanity of the Broken
Only a Paper Moon
[ 1 ]
THE CARENTAN USO
With Talbert skewered and mud absolutely everywhere, Alice is fed up. Turns out, Liebgott's fed up too, but he's angrier about the German choir on the other side of the field.
As much as she preferred walking the line to sitting in a flooded foxhole alone, Alice still hated the squishing mud beneath her boots and the dripping of rain from the trees above. At least the rain had begun to let up. Of course, Talbert getting skewered in the abdomen by Smith hadn't helped matters.
She looked at the spot where Ron had disappeared. There wasn't much to do except walk the line, though. Alice soon found herself where Smith had his foxhole. The young man wasn't there, but Liebgott was. He frowned, glaring through the hedgerows towards where they knew the German line lay.
"Es war ein Edelweiß, ein kleines Edelweiß, Holla-hidi hollala, Hollahi diho."
Their song continued. A lilting tune praising the star-flower, the Edelweiss, from the alps, floated on the wind to the Americans. She sighed. Two year had passed since she'd heard German from a native speaker, and the happy tune didn't fit the circumstances. It pained her to know the men across were her countrymen.
She couldn't afford to think that way. It didn't take long for Liebgott to notice her though. He turned, still frowning. With a shake of his head, he picked his way over from the foxhole.
"Why are singing about a fuckin' flower," he snapped. "Don't they have anything better to do."
"Like sit in foxholes in the rain?" Alice deadpanned. Looking at him closer, she saw how covered in mud he was. Even in the darkness, she thought she could see blood on his hands. "How's Tab?"
"He's fine," said Lieb. "Got skewered by Smith though. Doc Roe got him out."
Alice nodded. "Where's Smith?"
"Spina grabbed him. Took him towards the CP."
They fell quiet again. In the distance the German paratroopers still sang. With every passing moment hearing their tune, Alice saw Liebgott getting angrier and angrier. She sighed. "Lieb, block them out if you need to."
He scoffed. "Yeah? And how the fuck do you suggest I do that? Huh?"
"I don't know. Sing something in English?" She suggested it off hand, not entirely serious. But even as her words dripped with sarcasm, she saw Liebgott start smiling. Alice narrowed her eyes. "What?"
"We'll give them a fucking USO show, is what we'll do," he agreed. With a smirk, he winked and turned away.
No words. Alice had absolutely no words for the way Liebgott hurried off back towards his foxhole twenty yards away. But her tiny smile grew until she was downright grinning. Whatever Liebgott had planned, she had a feeling it would be spectacular. Taking a few more minutes to listen to the German song, she sighed.
So lonesome and abandoned, as this small flower stood, so we stand in life, until heart to heart finds one another.A life full of love with luck and sunshine, was brought to us by the lonely little flower. It was an edelweiss, one little edelweiss, holla-hidi hollala, hollahi dihorer.
Turning back away from the line, she sighed again. The mud released her boots with a squelch. But she reminded herself that at least the rain had died away. Only leftover water droplets from the leaves fell around them. She paused. Debating between heading to the aid station to check on Talbert or heading back to find her foxhole with Harry, she shook her head.
"Take me out to the ball game! Take me out with the crowd!"
At the sound of singing, she had to suppress a laugh. Definitely Lieb, and considering he'd been sharing a foxhole with Alley, she guessed he was his partner. Alice just hoped they wouldn't throw her to the wolves if the commanding officers got upset with them.
"Let me root, root, root for the home team. If they don't win, it's a shame!"
Alice decided to find Harry. She walked along the line, passing Blithe and Johnny again, and later Skinny and Shifty. Before long she'd found herself standing at her foxhole, Dick and Harry doing the same. They had looks of confusion on their faces.
"Are they singing?" Harry asked.
She couldn't stop from grinning. "Yeah."
Dick frowned. "Why?"
"Simple," she said. Lowering herself into the foxhole, she just shrugged. "Liebgott wanted to start his own USO show."
Closing her eyes, Alice tried to tune into Liebgott and Alley's loop of the American song. It worked. Blocking out the German lyrics, she tried not to think about having to kill more of her countrymen later that morning.
"For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out, at the old ball game!"