With the help of I Company we had managed to take the town of Foy and were clearing the town out, capturing German POWs and taking a well deserved break as war correspondents came and filmed the aftermath of our victory. I walked over to Lip with a smile playing across my face and motioned to the cart full of soldiers who were singing and waving to the camera. He just shook his head with a grin. I was about to open my mouth and speak with the First Sergeant when a pop was heard.
"Sniper! Take cover!" Lipton yelled as we dashed behind a wall with several other Easy men. Lipton peaked around the corner and looked for the sniper, trying to find the spark of the weapon as the bullet left its chamber.
"Second floor, building on the right." He said as he turned. "Don't miss, Shifty." Our company sniper just stared hard the Lip. "Go." Lip said as he ran from cover. I watched as pops of dirt flew around the First Sergeant. Shifty stepped around the corner and took aim.
One shot. That was all it took.
A cheer went up from the Company as they poured out from their cover to congratulate the Private. I clapped him on the shoulder before jogging over to Lip and helping him up off the ground.
"Everything still attached?" I raised an eyebrow. Lip breathed hard and patted himself down before turning back and looking at me.
"I think so, Benny." He said with a relieved sigh. I squeezed his shoulder and placed a finger on the side of his face, coming away with blood.
"You need to get that looked at." I motioned to the wound and he brought his hand to wipe the blood away.
"Shit." He muttered. "I'll get Doc to look at it in a while." I raised an eyebrow. "I will." He insisted.
"Alright, alright." I raised my hands in defeat and stepped away from him. "Just lookin' out for you, Lip." I turned.
"Hey, Benny." I turned back around. "Thanks." He nodded his head. I returned his nod and ran over to the cart where Roe was hovering over the wounded. A couple of them men laid still as death, their eyes staring sightless at the sky. At least the sniper was clean. I kneeled next to Roe and ripped oven a bag of sulfa, sprinkling one of the wounded men liberally with it before grabbing a bandage and putting as much pressure on the wound as I could. I motioned for one of the bystanders to take my spot and moved to help Roe with the next man. We worked in relative silence, both of us reading the other's movements and anticipating what the other needed. A jeep roared over and the wounded were loaded onto it, bound for the hospital in Baston while the dead were moved out of the middle of town and prepared for pick-up. I look Doc in the eyes as the jeep pulled away, he nodded to me and I forced a small smile we stood up and walk our separate paths, leaving the used and bloodstained bandages in the road as testament to the men we tried to save.
I sighed deeply as I strolled along the edge of Foy and gazed out over the forest that had not only sheltered us and but had also nearly cost us our lives. I felt the strangeness of walking in the town that I had until this day only glanced at through trees and haystacks. I imagined the Germans standing where I stood, looking out over the same view I was seeing, know that we were out there and waiting for the chance to take from them. And there I stood, looking back at where we had lost so many men… at where I had lost Buck. The cost of taking Foy was great and I felt more heavy than I had in years.
"Sergeant Benally." I turned at the sound of my name to find Lt. Speirs lurking behind me.
"Sir." I nodded no longer surprised or startled at his ghost-like appearances.
"Good to see you alive, Sergeant." He nodded in return.
"Am I alive?" I questioned, mockingly patting myself as Speirs' eyes narrowed at me. "Haven't had a chance to properly check yet, sir." I felt my neck for a pulse, "yeah, still beating." He raised his eyebrow at me.
"Well, now that we've established that," the corners of his mouth twitched and I grinned. He took a couple steps forward until he stood even with me, his taller frame towing over mine, and turned to look at the same forest I had been pondering before. I turned from the Lieutenant and back to the forest, lost in thought.
"I heard Nixon ranting about how McArthur's surgeon was treating you before you returned to the front." Speirs broke the silence but continued to stare into the trees.
"Yeah," I sighed. "I feel he's a bit more upset about it than I am." I rubbed the back of my head, the action bringing his attention back to me. I looked over at him and saw an unreadable expression on his face.
"You don't care how your higher-ups treat you?" he asked.
"No, sir, I don't care how some ass kissing officer who has never know the feeling of dirt under his trimmed and polished nails and whose over inflated ego is only a thinly veiled attempt to compensate for is micro dick, treats me." I spouted off "I have been called worse things by better people than him and I've learned to just let that shit roll off my back. I've more important things to worry about than what Major Fuck Face has to say about me." A half smirk curled itself almost involuntarily around his lips and he nearly failed in stomping his humor back down.
"Besides, the only higher-ups' opinions I give any fucks about are those over Easy and as far as I know most of them think pretty highly of me." I grinned.
"Most, Sargent?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Well I haven't the faintest idea what you think of me, sir." I shrugged. "And seeing as you are our CO now…" I trailed off letting him fill in the blank, he cocked his head to the side and studied me for a moment, his dark eyes piercing into mine. Speirs opened his mouth about to say something when he was interrupted by a voice that came from behind us.
"Hey Benny!" I turned and quirked an eyebrow in amusement as I caught sight of Bull carrying Perco on his back. "Lieutenant Speirs, sir." Perco acknowledged as he realised who was standing beside me. He and Bull nodded to the Lieutenant as the stopped in front of us.
"Are we interrupting you, sir?" Bull questioned the CO.
"Not at all Sergeant Randleman." Speirs replied. "I'll leave you to it." He looked back at me and our eyes met for a moment before turning and heading back into Foy. I mentally shook myself and turned back to the two enlisted men.
"Bull." I schooled my face in the most serious expression I could muster and looked the man directly in the eye. "Monkey on your back." Bull grinned at me. "Or did Perco just suddenly get the urge to take up Bull riding?" Bull chuckled and Perco glared daggers at me and the serious look fell from my face as a smirked at Perco's annoyance.
"I got shot in the ass." Perco complained and I snorted. "It's not funny, dammit!"
"But it is." I choked out. Perco reached out and smacked me over the head, sending my helmet askew. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I wasn't.
"It hurts."Perco whined.
"And you want me to do what about it?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Well, you're a doctor, it's your job!" He proclaimed.
"Be that as it may, the US Army is not paying me enough money to even think about looking at your pasty white ass, let alone being forced to touch it." I replied.
"You're a lot of fucking help!" He glared hard at me.
"I try." I shrugged nonchalantly. "Gene should be around here somewhere, and he's the one getting paid for this kind of thing. I wouldn't want to deprive him of treating you. " I pointed out.
"You're supposed to be a God damn doctor!" Perco started to yell, but Bull just rolled his eyes and walked off in search of our company medic while his passenger continued to hurl insults at me. I chuckled and shook my head as he twisted around and flipped me off, throwing him off balance. Bull corrected his grip before he dropped the man and I could see his head turn as he told Perco off.
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January 13, 1945
After we took the town of Foy we were placed in regimental reserve south of the town and had dug in for the night. I had yet to find someone to share my empty foxhole with so I continued to sleep alone, but a cold front had moved into the area and dropped temperatures to 20 in the day and subzero during the night. I shivered and pulled my knees closer to my body. Sleep was elusive and I found myself closing my eyes in an attempt to force it to come to me, but it was no use. I buried my head in my knees and sighed in frustration.
A noise sounded above me and I froze as I held my breath and waited. A body slid into my foxhole and I remained still for a moment before I felt a woolen blanket being draped over me. I slowly peeked out at the man.
"So it's you." I whispered and he jumped. I chuckled and lifted my head from my knees.
"Jesus, Jo, you scared the hell outta me." The Cajun accent of Eugene Roe scolded.
"And you scared the hell outta me." I replied.
"Then I guess we're even." He smiled and sat down next to me. I grabbed the side of the blanket and tossed it over him before pulling my half of it to my chin.
"Why do you go outta your way to check on me every night?" I questioned. "It's literally too cold to function out there. You should be in your foxhole."
"You've been through alot, Jo." He sighed and rubbed his nose before pulling the blanket to his chin. "The few times I was at dat hospital was more dan enough. But you stayed dere and helped those men even though you didn't have to. You nearly killed yourself tryin' ta keep dose boys alive. I thought it was time dat someone took care of you for a change."
"Thank you, Gene." I smiled. "It means a lot to me."
"It's nothin'." He smiled back. We sat in silence and I felt the shivers that wracked my body lessen with the extra added heat of his body. I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, burying my face in the blanket.
"How do you do dat?" I raised an eyebrow at him. "How do you sleep like dat?"
"I have absolutely no idea." I laughed. "I guess it's just warmer when you're curled in on yourself."
"You know, the first night I came ta check on you, your teeth were chattering so bad it sounded like tap dancing." He said. "I wasn't sure if you were asleep or not. And when I found out you were, I was impressed dat you could sleep through it." He grinned.
"Yeah, I've never been real good at maintaining my body heat." I shrugged.
"How did you survive this long?" He chuckled.
"See, that's why I shared a foxhole with Buck. You'd be surprised at how much heat he put off." I grinned and Gene shook his head.
"Well, I doubt I put out as much heat as the Lieutenant, but if you want you can bunk me and Heffron for a while." He offered.
"I think I could handle that." I smiled at the medic. "Thank you, Gene."
"You're welcome, Jo." He smiled back at me. I turned my head and stared up at the stars as they twinkled merrily down at me. I felt my eyelids grow heavy and before I knew it, I was fast asleep.
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January 14, 1945
Outside Noville, Belgium
It had not been easy to reach the town of Noville. On January 14th, Winters ordered Second battalion to maneuver down a deep shoulder that ran along the southwest side of the town but German machinegun fire trapped us as we tried to cross a stream that passed through the shoulder. Speirs ordered our machineguns be setup to return fire and we were able to cross the stream in groups of eight to ten men. It was dark by the time we had reached the southeastern corner of a small town called Cobu. We were ordered to spend the night there but we got little sleep. Lipton, now in charge of Second Platoon, no longer had to worry about watching the Company CO so he was able to give us his full attention. He told us the plan before taking a radioman out with him to scout the town.
"Benny, I want you to cover me." Lipton told me. I nodded and grabbed my gear, following him and the radioman to the edge of town. I hid behind some scrub brush next an old house and watched as the two men made their way into the town and out of sight. It took a while before I saw the forms of two men come running back towards me in the pale moonlight. I raised my gun and aimed at them.
"Flash." I whispered.
"Thunder." Lipton replied and I watched the road until they were safely hidden behind me.
"What'd you find, Lip?" I asked.
"Shermans, three of them, left over from the assault in December." He replied. "And bodies."
"American?"
"Yeah." He sighed. "Keep this to yourself for now, alright Benny?"
"Yes, First Sergeant." I nodded and we ran in a low crouch back to the rest of the Company. I sighed as I set heavily down next to Gene. He raised an eyebrow at me and I just shrugged and closed my eyes, trying to force the sleep that just wouldn't come.
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January 15, 1945
Noville, Belgium.
As dawn broke, we were ordered to start our attack on the town of Noville. Lipton led 2nd platoon to the center of the town where we came upon the remnants of the three Sherman tanks. They were surrounded by the bodies of the American soldiers that had been left behind when the rest of their squad had pulled out of Noville back on December 20th. We went about our task of clearing the buildings that surrounded the burnt out Sherman tanks when a Panzer came out of nowhere. I dived underneath one of the burnt out tanks beside Lipton and a few others. The Panzer took aim and shot at the Shermans in an attempt to knock out their guns so we could not use them against the tank. The Shermans jumped as they were hit with the shells from the Panzer and I pulled my helmet down tight around my head. Finally, the tank had rolled out and we were able to continue with our mission of clearing the buildings and running the German soldiers out of the town of Noville.
"Sonuvabitch!" I growled as a burning trail of fire swept across my right shoulder. I dropped to a wall and took cover; my teeth were grinding against each other as I reached behind my back and hissed as my fingers came in contact with my shoulder, sending a shock of pain down my arm. I pulled my hand back around saw my hand was covered in my own blood. I growled in frustration and slammed my helmeted head against the burnt brick wall, hissing as pain shot through my shoulder in a sharp, stabbing throb.
Taking a deep breath and gritting my teeth against the pain and pulled myself up to rejoin the attack on Noville. I hissed as I swung my gun around and fired into a building after Malarkey had tossed a grenade into a broken window, forcing the Germans out of hiding and into the open. Once we had disposed of the them, we continued to clear each building as we went.
"Keep it up!"I yelled over the din of gunfire.
It was noon by the time we were able to say that the town of Noville in Belgium was officially under the control of the American Army. I had been able to claim the stain on my coat wasn't mine when asked if I was injured but I needed to get it taken care of as soon as I could. We were given a just a short amount of time for rest before we were to be moved off again and I used that time to locate George, dragging him to a deserted alley.
"I must say, Jo. This is a little unexpected." He joked as I pulled him deeper into the alley. "I mean, I know we're friends and all, but I don't know if we're ready to take this to the next level." He chuckled as we came to a stop, but his laugh died in his throat as he caught the pained expression that fell across my face. "Fuck, Jo. What's wrong?"
"I got shot. I think it was a ricochet." I moaned and pulled off my coat. He was immediately at my side, examining the hole in my shirt.
"Shit, Jo. What do you want me to do?" He asked in a panicked voice.
"First off, calm the fuck down," I hissed and he took a deep breath. "I need you to use all you scrounging capabilities and find me a clean shirt and jacket while I take care of my wound." I sat down by the wall and started to unbutton my shirt.
"Right, I'll be back as soon as I can." He said a moment before he shot off out of the alley.
I removed my shirt, groaning in pain as the movement tugged and pulled at the wound. I reached my hand behind and traced it with my finger. The bullet left a jagged laceration about four inches long across my shoulder blade and had sliced fairly deep into the muscle tissue. A scab had started to form at the ends but had opened up again. I grabbed a package of sulpha from my med kit and covered the wound as best I could, which wasn't great as I could barely reach it without putting myself in more pain. I grabbed the absorbent bandage from the kit and shook it out, awkwardly placed it over the wound, pulled one of the straps over my right shoulder and used my chin and neck to hold it in place while I reached around behind me and grabbed the opposite end. I pulled it underneath my left armpit and around my front. I took a moment to catch my breath as my movements had exacerbated my wound and the pain had caused my breathing to become short and rapid.
Wincing, I grabbed the strap from my neck with my right hand and connected it with the strap in my left, bringing them together to tie them across my chest. I then grabbed one of the other loose straps and brought it around my left shoulder. I bit my lip to suppress a shout of pain as I used my right hand to reach behind me and bring the last strap underneath my right armpit. I brought both straps together and tied them securely across the others. I touched the bandage to make sure it was in place over my wound before I slipped my shirt back on.
I groaned and leant gently against the brick wall closing my eyes and taking deep, calming breaths, trying to fight back the pain and nausea.
"Jo." George gasped as he knelt down in front of me. I opened my eyes and met his worried brown ones. "Here," he held out a shirt that was dirty, but lacked any bloodstains. How he had managed to find a spare shirt in all the commotion, I didn't think I'll ever know, but I knew I would never question his scrounging abilities again.
"Thanks." I mumbled. He averted his eyes as I took off my old shirt and replaced it with the new one. Once I was dressed he helped me to my feet and handed me a new jacket that already had the chevrons sewed on it. I raised my eyebrow in question.
"It's a skill." He shrugged. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asked in concern.
"Yeah," I nodded. "I'll be okay. I just need to rest."
But I would get no rest.
We moved out of Noville that day and attacked the town of Rachamps the next. It was a fairly easy mission to accomplish. By the time we had reached the outskirts of town, most of the German soldiers had fled and what was left offered little to no resistance. We were bombarded by mortar fire as soon as we had entered the town but were able to overtake them and declare the town of Rachamps free of Hitler's reign.
That night Speirs set up the Company CP in a convent, It was the first time in a month that we had slept indoors and not in a foxhole. The nuns had brought in their girl's choir and they serenaded us through the night. I sat beside George, leaning my back against him so the wooden back of the pew we sat in wouldn't agitate my wounded shoulder. My mind drifted to the past month, from the night we had seen those men marching past us in a daze and had collected their ammo from them, to the nights spent in the Ardennes forest, to the hospital in Bastogne where I had nearly lost my mind. Then I drifted back to Buck and the jokes and stories we shared. The warmth he gave off in both body and spirit. It still felt wrong without him but I was starting to get used to it. My mind traveled to Guarnere, Toye, Hoobler, Muck and Skip and everyone else who we had lost wounded and dead. All said and done we had lost over half of the Company since we had arrived in Belgium and each of us that were left were exhausted and more than ready for the rest that we were going to get when we were moved off the line and sent to Mourmelon.
"You awake, JoJo?" George whispered. I nodded my head, knowing he couldn't see me but could feel me move. "This sure is something, ain't it."
The choir sang a song so beautifully and between that and the utter exhaustion I felt my vision started to blur with with barely contained tears. I sniffed and wiped them away as I stared at the flames of the candle that burned near me. It danced and swayed with the chorus and my mind drifted in a trance that fell somewhere between sleep and wake. A blurred figure stood up and blocked the space between me and the candle and after a moment spent refocusing my eyes. Speirs had stood up from the pew and was shoving papers into his pocket as he and Lipton spoke quietly with each other about the rumors that circulated around our CO and the leadership that Lipton had shown since Winters had been promoted. Speirs spoke to him about Winters putting in for a battlefield commision for Lipton and that it would be a few days before it was office. The officer turned to leave and caught my eye before doing so.
"Get some sleep, Sargeant." Speirs said as he was walking away, to me or Lip I wasn't sure. Traced his steps until he exited the building before turning my eyes to the soon to be Lieutenant. I smiled as Lipton looked over at me and mouth congratulations to him. He smiled and turned back to the choir as I finally felt myself start to drift to sleep.
The next morning we found out that we weren't going to Mourmelon for rest, we were headed to the town of Haguenau.
We piled into a transport truck, only a few trucks were needed to carry our numbers as opposed to the line of trucks we had entered into Belgium with. I sat on George's left between him and Christenson, using Luz's shoulder to prop myself away from the frame of the truck so I wouldn't bump my wound against the metal during the ride.
"Hey look." George said. "It's first battalion." We all turned and watched them as the trudged through the mud and snow. "Hey." Luz called out to them. "HEY!"
"What do you want?" One of the men grumbled.
"Yeah, thanks for crapping in our foxholes, ya shitheads." Luz called out to them.
"Hey, it's our pleasure!" The man called back.
"Enjoy the walk, boys!" Bull called out as he brought his stogie up to his mouth. The rest of the trip was spent in relative silence. The weariness that had settled into our bones made even the simplest conversation seem strenuous and most if not all of us found ourselves dozing as we were lulled by the rocking of the truck.
The trucks bounced and jolted us down the road to our next destination. We drove through Bastogne on our way to Alsace, passing by the rubble that was once the hospital where I had worked with Renee and Anna. The memories of them and of the men I had tried so desperately save flashed through my mind and I felt an involuntary shiver run down my spine. I closed my eyes and tried to banish the thoughts of being covered elbow deep in blood as ran down my arms and stained my ODs while I tried furiously to save countless men I never even knew the name of.
I breathed deep and forced the pained expression from my face before I opened my eyes and tried to wipe off the blood that was no longer on my hands off onto my pants. George grabbed my wrist to stall my movements and I looked up to find the gazes of men in the truck staring intently back at me. I sighed and gave them a weak smile before I dropped my eyes back to my lap. A large hand reached across the truck bed and rested gently on my knee, followed by another and another. Hands were laid on me from all direction and rested on my shoulders, arms, knees and legs. I forced the tears from my eyes as I looked up at met the eyes of each of the men, their faces showing nothing but support and care. I sniffed and forced a smile onto my cracked lips.
I knew in that moment without a doubt that these haggard and bedraggled men, these tough sons-of-bitches, these bitter battered bastards of Bastogne were my family. They accepted me, worried for me and they loved me in their own way.
And that was the moment that I promised myself that whatever it takes, I would fight to the bitter end for them.
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And that wraps up The Breaking Point episode. Wow, we are at chapter 20 already! I can't believe I have come this far with this story. I have you all to thank for helping me reach such a milestone! Your reviews are what keep me writing this, they inspire me to continue to practice and hone my skills as I writer. I cannot thank you guys enough! You are all the greatest audience I have ever had!
I would like to thank everyone who has stuck with me through the twists and turns of this story. And I would like to send a very special thanks to those who have read and reviewed this story, especially those who reviewed the last chapter. EmmyMK, britt, CP2girls, loveonspeedial, cHoCoLaTe-RuM, mouse, cblols, Ashlynn, Azrael's Darkest Secrets and ally leigh! You guys are the absolute greatest! I love all the support you send my way more then you could ever know!
britt- I liked revisiting the friendship between Jo and Luz as well, it was a lot of fun. So, you've got your answer as to who the blanket-giver is, I hope I didn't disappoint! Still not telling who the love interest is, but it will start becoming more apparent in later chapters. I'm glad you like it! Thank you so much for being one of my faithful reviewers! You rock!
Mouse- Thank you so much for the review! I happy to hear you like this story so far and I hope this chapter has lived up to the rest of the story.
Ashlynn- Ah, another of my faithful reviewers! I loved writing the Jo Luz friendship back into the story, it has been far too long since we've heard from him! I'm glad you enjoyed the portrayal of Speirs and Lipton, and I'm also glad to hear you like the Navajo prayer. Thank you so much for all of your reviews!
As for everyone else who had read the story and not reviewed, please let me know what you think of this story, good, bad, not so bad, just let me know what you like or don't and any suggestions for improvement you may have!
Please take the time to leave me a review, it is always greatly appreciated!
Amanda
Edited 7/21/12