Thank you to Ilovemedia, I bow at your feet, now lets get that WiFi fixed
Dana had never been so cold in her entire life. It was the coldest winter Belgium had seen in the last thirty years and everybody was freezing their butts off. On top of the cold, they were fighting the fog and the lack of wind, which was need if the fog was to lift. Roe had almost got lost that morning while he was out scrounging for supplies. The German and American soldiers walked through one another's others front lines which resulted in Winters capturing a German soldier wandering through the American MLR looking for a place to relieve himself. Winters sent him back to regiment and the German looked rather happy over the fact he was would begetting out of the cold.
Dana was running from the CP to the OP. She had to check on Christenson and Gordon who had been out there for hours now waiting to be replaced, but she had no one to replace them with seeing how they were her last machinegun squad. Immediately upon their arrival in Bastogne, 2nd Battalion deployed into the Line south of Foy where they had set up their forward positions just inside the woods overlooking the plane southeast of Foy. The men immediately prepared their foxholes and attempted to get a few hours of sleep. Winters had established battalion HQ seventy-five yards from the forward outposts so he could be close to the men at all times.
Easy had been out on the MLR for two days now and Dana knew it would only be another two days before the fog lifted and they would be resupplied. Dana slid into the OP; she smirked at Christenson and asked
"How are you holding up?" Smokey looked at her,
"As good as we can in this hell." Gordon smirked back,
"Well I know one thing and that's that we are not in hell. It's too damn cold," Dana said.
"Anybody found our boundaries or the mission statement yet?" Smokey asked her.
"Nope not yet, Strayer stays at regimental HQ most of the time along with Major Hamlin. Winters has Nix and Charlie running from Sink to here so he can get his orders." Dana told Pat and Smokey.
"Major Hamlin?" Smokey asked her.
"Yeah, our medic has a sister. She got engaged to Strayer and she is now the new S4 commander," Dana said then slapped Christenson on the back and told him about the visit they had at CP from Sink and the general, "So Sink and the acting division commander show up and ask Strayer and Winters to give it to him straight. Strayer tell him how we're taking positions in one place and loosing them in another, then Emma tells him we're taking a lot of hits and that we don't have any aid station. Then she tells him that we don't have any supplies, the lines are spread thins and we have problems covering the whole line. So at this point, Nix and Charlie wake up and Charlie tells him how her and Nix took a walk last night and they couldn't find the 501st on our right flank. Nix tells him he tied in with a squad from second and how we have some big ass gaps on our perimeter. Strayer tells him we're short on men and the General just tells us to hold the line, close the gaps, and then tells us there is a lot of shit heading this way before taking off." Christenson just shakes his head,
"Damn brass." he mutters and turns to watch the line again.
"Well you guys in hang in there." Dana slapped Christenson on the back again and dug out of the foxhole.
Dana passed Camilla and Roe, they had been scrounging supplies and one of the men had made a joke about them using the morphine for recreational purpose. Their supply of morphine was so low they only had two syringes between them. They found Spina who was digging a foxhole and handed him what supplies they could, they told him about how first battalion had pulled out of Foy and Spina mumbled something not so nice under his breath. Suddenly they heard Dike calling out for Lip, which meant he was lost again, when he came across the foxhole with the medics in it.
"What's this? Three medics in one hole" Dike said. Camilla looked at him and smarted off,
"Yes…sir"
"Well what's going to happen to us if you take a hit?" Dike asked. Before Camilla could tell him she would come back to haunt his ass, Lipton showed up. He smiled at Camilla who gave him a small wave. "First Sergeant Lipton, where is my foxhole?" Dike asked.
"Its back here, maybe... Maybe you missed it." Lip said Dike mumbled god damn it as Lipton escorted him back. Camilla gave Dike the one finger salute and right at that moment Lipton turned around. Camilla blushed, she knew what she just had done was wrong but she hated the man. He had tried to corner her more than once, but one of the men always showed up before he could do anything. Lipton came back after escorting Dike to his foxhole and made sure he was tucked in. "Lieutenant, Can I talk to you?" He asked Camilla. Camilla knew she was in trouble when he addressed her by rank,
"Sure first sergeant." She answered him. They walked for a few yards before Lipton stopped and looked at Camilla,
"Now I know you hate the man, but you need to set a good example for the boys. They look to you for guidance on how to handle this situation." Lipton said. Camilla knew he was right; the man just pissed her off,
"I know, but if he touches me again or even looks at me or Charlie funny, he is going to die." She said and turned around and walked back to Roe and Spina. Lipton just looked after her, she would shoot the man if she got the chance and he was looking forward to the day they got rid of foxhole Norman. Camilla and Roe went scrounging for supplies again and while they were at it they tried to find some scissors for Roe. They passed Guarnere who was complaining about how it hurts when he pees. Camilla looked at him, "Well that's what happens when you visit a place like Lulu's. I'll get back to you, drink a lot of water." Camilla points to him and Guarnere turns and mumbles about why he should drink when it hurts when he pees "It cleans out the system, that's why." Camilla said and ran toward the next foxhole.
They were talking and joking with Smokey when they heard someone yelling "in coming" and they took cover. After the first round, they took off to see if anybody was wounded. They passed Muck who was looking at his helmet, "They peppered my helmet." he yelled. Penkala was yelling for a medic and was in a foxhole with Bull. When they got to him it turned out he was barely wounded.
Camilla took his aid kit,
"I need this you don't, not yet." she said and the two medics took of again. Camilla had sent Babe and Spina out to regiment to get some plasma. On their way there they wandered through the German MLR and Babe ended up in foxhole with a German waiting for his buddy Hinkle. Dana, Malarkey, Camilla, Muck, Babe and one or two others were sitting around and joking about Domingus's ability to cook when lieutenant Shames walk by asking for Dike. He got several responses, like how he should try Cp, Paris or Hinkle. Babe joked about how he should have shot Hinkle while he had a chance and Julian asked him how he would have done that by running back wards? Dana and Camilla looked at each other and smiled they both knew it would be a long siege at Bastogne and the guy's needed to keep their spirits up. After finishing their meal, the little group broke up and scattered back to their foxholes to secure for the night.
Dana was making her rounds, making sure her men was secure and ready to fight when she slipped into a covered Foxhole. She found her two OP guys there who had finally been relieved by a squad she had snatched from Fox. She sat with them for a short while, just shooting the breeze when Smokey told her to go check on Joe Toye and that he was missing something. Dana sneaked up to the foxhole and slid in,
"Hey Joe, You missing something?" she asked him.
"Home" Toye answers. McClung looked at Dana ,
"Ask him to Dance."
"Joe show me your feet, come on." She urges him and he complies. Toye's feet were wrapped in some cloth, "Where are your boots?"
"In Washington, up General Taylor's ass."
"What the hell happened?" Dana asked him.
"Took 'em off to dry my socks." Toye says.
"I get you some new ones, what's your size?"
"Nine, just like everybody else." Toye says. Dana Watched the line with Toye and McClung for a bit when she started to hum and when Toye joined her they were singing,
"I'll be seeing you in all the old familiar places
That this heart of mine embraces, all day through
In that small café, the park a cross the way, the children's carrousel
The chestnut tree, the wishing well
I'll be seeing you through every lovely summer's day
In everything that's night and day Ill always think of you that way.
I'll find you in the morning sun and when the night is new."
Dana decided it was time to try and find Dog Company, so she stood up and said goodbye,"Well you guys take care." Then she disappeared. She wanted to talk to first platoons lieutenant. She needed to borrow a machine gun squad so Pat and Smokey could get sometime at the CP; she was sneaking around when she heard the distinct sound of a 105 flying over her and the trees started to explode around her. She dove for cover and two seconds later she felt a sharp pain in her side, she screamed out and a moment later she felt herself being picked up and thrown in a foxhole, a hard body covered hers and a soft voice whispered to her that everything would be ok before she passed out.
Speirs looked at Dana and noticed she was unconscious and she was bleeding from her side. He ripped open her jacket and called out for a medic. Ten seconds later Roe slid into the foxhole, he had been wandering around trying to scrounge some supplies from Dog Company when he heard the call for a medic. Camilla joined him in the now crowded foxhole.
"Ron, go find a blanket somewhere. Go!" Camilla yelled when Speirs hesitated. Speirs was more or less in shock and he just scrambled out of the foxhole and took off.
"What you need a blanket for?" Roe asked Camilla,
"Nothing, Sparky was about to panic and I wanted him out of here." Camilla ripped open Dana's jacket further and examined the wound, it wasn't as bad as she initially thought. Roe and Camilla cleaned the wound before Camilla stitched up the wound and bandaged it. Just when she was done Speirs came back with a blanket. "You stay with her and keep her warm; she is going to kill me if I send her to Bastogne." Camilla said. Speirs wrapped Dana in the blanket and held her tight whispering comforting words to her.
A couple of hours later Dana woke up, she could hear someone breathing next to her. She turned a bit and looked Ron straight in the eyes.
"Hey you." Speirs smiled and kissed Dana on the top of her head.
"Hey...Hey," Dana didn't know what to say she hadn't talked to Speirs since Aldbourne. "Look Ron, I am so sorry about everything. I should never have left you, I missed you the whole time and can you ever forgive me?" Dana looked at Speirs. Ron looked at Dana, she was with out a doubt the love of his life, and he knew she was sincere in her apology; He almost lost her twice he was going make sure he never lost her again. Dana was searching Speirs face for an answer,
"I forgive you, if and only if… you marry me." Speirs said. Dana couldn't believe it,
"What? Are you sure?"
"I almost lost you twice, I'm never letting go of you again." Speirs held Dana tight.
"Yes, let's get married then." Dana smiled. Speirs kissed her and didn't stop until Dana whimpered out in pain.
"Are you ok?" Speirs looked down at Dana.
"Yes, just a little sore." Dana snuggled closer to Speirs. The two officers settled in for the rest of the night.
Camilla and Roe were on their way to Bastogne with a wounded Sisk. They were going to beg some supplies from the aid station, and the jeep driver was telling them about how the Germans had captured the 326th Doctors and all. The Jeep pulled up in front of the church and the two medics jumped out and hurried into the church with the wounded Sisk. A nurse came running towards them, when she noticed who it was she smiled,
"Eugene." she said.
"Renee." Roe smiled. The two of them stopped and smiled at each other.
"Why don't the two of you go outside, take a break, I'll help out here." Camilla pushed the two of them towards the door. Camilla went over to Sisk to take a closer look at his leg; she found a pair of sterilized tweezers and started to dig out the shrapnel from his leg. It took her about half an hour to get the wound cleaned and bandaged. When Roe and Renee returned Camilla was ready to get out of there, she knew she needed to get out of there or she would never be able to leave, "Ready?" She asked Roe,
"Ready." he said. They hitched a ride back to the line with a priest and his driver, the priest was on his way to hold a sermon for second battalion. When they arrived back a CP, they noticed most of first and second platoon was gathered and all of third was there. Camilla noticed Lipton talking to Luz and Perconte a few feet away, she walked over to them and put her arm around Lipton's waist.
"Hey guys, what's going on here?" Lipton looked down at her,
"Well we're invited to another wedding and then these two yahoos' get to go on another patrol."
"Who's getting hitched?" Camilla prayed it wasn't Nix and Charlie, because that would be bigamy.
"Speirs and Grey." Lipton whispered to her.
"What? NO, really?" Camilla was surprised or maybe not, she knew Speirs was a quick draw and he had Dana in a position where she couldn't run from him or her feelings. Camilla stomped over to the CP, "What the hell Grey?" Camilla walked over and hugged Dana.
"He asked and I couldn't say no."
"Well good for you." Camilla smirked,
"I am sure your man would marry you in a heart beat if you asked him." Charlie smarted off to Camilla. Camilla just shook her head,
"No and don't give him any ideas." The Priest had set up on the hood of the jeep, and Speirs, Lipton, and Nixon was waiting by the impromptu alter for the Bride. Winters walked Dana down the snowy aisle and she couldn't stop smiling. When they reached the alter Winters kissed Dana on the cheek and gave her hand to Speirs.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here to day to fight a war, but also to witness the sealing of the bond between these two officers…" Dana spaced out, she couldn't stop smiling and she was too busy looking at Speirs to pay attention to what was being said; she had managed to say yes in all the right places though. Speirs kissed Dana and the two of them got on their knees to receive the blessing along with the rest of the men. "Fight well for your God and your country. Stay safe." the preacher ended the blessing.
The men got ready for the Patrol, the order was to keep going until they made some kind of contact. Peacock would lead the patrol, Luz turned to Dana,
"I wish it was you Captain, that asshole couldn't find a snowball in a blizzard."
"Well this is another SNAFU operation and we are being led by mister indecision himself." Christenson mumbled as he passed Dana.
"I know George, Pat; I would rather be leading you, but doc Hamlin says I can't go." Dana patted Luz on the arm. The patrol walked into the fog and Dana was starring after them, she picked up her Thompson and was about to follow the patrol when two sets of hands stopped her. She looked over shoulder and found Lip and Speirs holding her back,
"Sorry Captain I can't let you go, Camilla would kill me if I did." Lip was dead set on not letting the Captain go anywhere. Speirs put his arm around her,
"Come on lets get you tucked in at the CP so you can rest. I need to get back to the line, but Nix, Charlie, Emma, and Winters will keep an eye on you and if you make any attempt to escape I will come back." Speirs kissed her and walked back towards Dog's line.
"Well so much for a honey moon." Dana mumbled and sat down on a cot in the CP; she rolled herself up in a blanket and eventually fell asleep.
Camilla heard gun fire and before anyone could stop her she ran towards it. When she encountered the patrol she stopped, "Good to see you doc!" Sergeant Martin yelled. Babe was trying to get to Julian but he couldn't,
"Babe, stop! Get back! Julian lay still!" Camilla said. She tried to get to Julian, but ended up with a flesh wound where a bullet graced her. "God damn son of a bitch." she mumbled,
"Doc you ok?" Martin yelled.
"Fine! Get Heffron out of here and pull back." Camilla ordered, "Where the hell is Peacock?" Camilla asked Bull.
"He ran ma'am." Bull said.
"He what?" Camilla asked, she never got an answer. They had to pull back. Camilla stomped back to the CP prepared to rip Peacock a new one only to find she didn't have to as Emma was already tearing into him.
"You left your men in a fire fight. What were you thinking lieutenant?" Peacock started to explain himself but Emma lifted her hand in the famous Emma Winters gesture and when Peacock once again started to say something she gave him the Emma Winters glare and that shut him up. "I suggest you get the hell out of here before the men come back and I will deal with you later." Emma dismissed Peacock. The men who had went on the patrol gathered around the CP to get a cup of coffee. Babe was upset and his coughing was getting worse, Emma sat down next to him and put her arm around him. Babe leaned into her and wiped away a tear,
"I promised him, I would send his stuff back to his mom. Now those bastards are going to strip him." Babe was about to cry. Emma looked at Spina,
"Take him back to your foxhole and get him secured for the night." Emma said. Spina nodded,
"Come on Babe, let's go." Garcia and Babe walked back towards the line. Emma looked after them and shook her head; she walked back to the CP and found Winters and settled in for the night. The next morning second battalion woke up to the sound of planes flying over them, the weather had cleared up and they were about to be resupplied. Camilla ran towards the CP,
"Get me a jeep and some men so I can get to Bastogne to get medical supplies." She said to Winters,
"Take first platoons first squad and stay in Bastogne for a couple of days. Give the wounded an amazing Christmas." Winters ordered Camilla. Camilla panicked, the church would be bombed,
"Dick, it's really not necessary." Camilla said.
"I won't budge, you stay there the night." Winters turned and walked off. Emma put her arm around her,
"Just stay out of the church." She said and pushed Camilla towards the now waiting Jeep.
Christmas was a miserable affair for all of second battalion, and not even Sinks pep talked helped them. It got even worse when they could hear the Germans singing Christmas songs all night, it was especially miserable for Buck who had gotten a dear Buck letter. Welsh lit a fire and ended up calling down a barrage on them. Welsh was wounded and Roe called a Jeep and they drove him to Bastogne. When they arrived at Bastogne the buildings were exploding around them, and just when they pulled up in front of the church it exploded in a fiery inferno after taking a direct hit.
"Camilla and Renee was in there." Roe mumbled, he had to tell Lipton the love of his life was dead. Killed by the Germans. It would be the second time the war caused Lipton to loose someone he loved. Roe drove back to line and he walked straight to the CP, "Sir, Bastogne was bombed last night and the aid station took a direct hit. No one made it out alive." Roe said with out showing any emotions. Winters sat down, Camilla was dead. Gone, and it was his fault he made her go to Bastogne and now she had paid with her life.
"Thank you for telling me, I will inform the Captains and the First sergeant." Winters said. How the hell would he tell his wife and her best friends? He killed their friend, and what was he going to tell Lipton? "Liebgott, find me the officers and the first sergeant." Winters said. Half an hour they were all gathered at the CP. Winters was fidgeting; this was even harder than he thought. He sat down, "Bastogne was bombed last night." He said. The group all stared at him, "And Camilla was in the church when it took a direct hit." He continued. Charlie broke down and Emma immediately hugged her and held her tight. Dana turned and walked away causing Charlie to look up,
"Where is she going?" She asked Emma.
"To yell at someone or to pick a fight with Speirs so she can get all her anger out." Emma said. Lipton felt the rug being pulled from under him, he looked at Winters,
"Thank you for informing me." He said and walked away as well. He found Guarnere in a foxhole and jumped in,
"Hey serge, what's happening" He asked Lipton Lipton looked at him but didn't answer, "Seriously Lip, what happened?" Guarnere could tell something was wrong; Lipton looked like he had lost his best friend. Lipton looked away from him,
"Camilla died. She was in the church when it took a direct hit, nobody got out." Lipton didn't even look at Bill.
"Man that's…that's rough, wow I can't believe Hamlin's gone. Man I am so sorry, you need me to do anything?" Bill asked Lipton
.
"Nah, there isn't anything anyone can do. It seems like I am destined to be alone." Lipton just stared at the line.
"Well let me know." Bill said before the two men sat in silence. Lipton was thinking about how he met Camilla, the day he first talked to her and how it seemed like everything fell into place. It was like they were supposed to be together, his love for her was so much different from the kind of love he had for his late wife. And now Camilla was gone too, now it didn't matter if he lived or died because if he died he would be reunited with Camilla.
Dana stomped through the lines as the men scattered left and right, they recognized the look on the Captain's face. Captain Dana Speirs was usually really friendly and easy going, so something was wrong, very wrong.
Luz found Guarnere and Lipton in their foxhole, "What's wrong with the Captain?" Luz asked Guarnere. Bill looked at Lipton and he nodded,
"Camilla's dead, got hit in Bastogne." Luz felt tears well up in his eyes; he had come to think of Camilla as a sister. She was funny and always nice and good for a joke, he felt like he lost his best friend and he knew the only one who was suffering more than him was Lipton.
"I don't know what to say, I can't believe she is gone. Man how is Charlie handling this?" Luz said.
"She broke down; Emma is taking care of her until Nixon returns."
Dana stomped through Easy's line in search for her husband and when she found him he was bending over one of his men who was dying and there was nothing anyone could do for him. All the anger Dana was feeling at the time disappeared and a rush of sadness filled her. This war was claiming too many lives and Camilla, who wasn't even supposed to be here, was gone. Warm tears ran down Dana's cold cheeks, Speirs turned around he saw his wife standing behind him crying.
"Hey don't cry he is in a better place now." that sent Dana over the edge and she broke down, Speirs picked her up and carried her to his foxhole and wrapped her in a blanket and let her cry. "Shh, care to tell me what have you so upset?" Speirs whispered.
"Camilla's dead" Dana said. Speirs couldn't believe it; Camilla, the girl who had kept everybody spirits up in this miserable hell was gone.
A series of coughs sounded and a soldier dressed in a bloody jump uniform staggered out of the ruins of the bombed out church. She walked straight towards a group of medics and before she could reach the group she collapsed. A broad shoulder medic carried her to the aid station where he dropped her on a stretcher and a nurse rushed to his side.
"What happened to her?" she asked.
"Dunno, found her by what was left of the church." He said. When the soldier woke she looked around, where the hell was she? Who the hell was she?