Last Time: Rebecca begins to come to terms with her loss.

"No one ever told me grief felt so like fear." - C.S. Lewis

Now: Rebecca will soon learn a whole new level of pain.


Chapter 26 - Breakdown

Rebecca learned the next morning that the Brass called Easy once again to push back the Germans through the Bulge. Easy was sent to clear the Bois Jacques, the woods near the town of Foy, essentially to prepare for the eventual assault on Foy itself. They set out at first light.

The attack met little resistance and Easy Company suffered a few casualties. Rebecca was relieved, to say the least. Men were dropping like flies and the thousand-yard march intimidated her into believing it would be another blood bath. However, she was pleasantly surprised to find herself wrong.

XXX

Rebecca threw down her entrenching tool with a euphoric sigh. Digging in the frozen ground was no small task and it left her and mostly everyone completely winded and sweaty. At least she was finally done. Rebecca sat down a wooden crate breathing heavy. The only downside to working up such a sweat was the inevitable chill everyone caught once they cooled down. Rebecca might not have been so tired if Dick and Nix weren't called away by Sink. Many hands make light work, but when four of those hands disappeared, Rebecca had to dig the frozen ground herself.

She reached to the top of the wall just dug and grabbed her canteen. Rebecca took a swig of the ice water and rested her beanie covered head on the dirt wall. The body heat she worked up soon wore off and a chill wracked over her body. Rebecca was comfortable where she was, but was soon freezing enough that she decided to pull herself up and get her blood flowing. It was too dangerous to sit around and shiver. Rebecca lectured the men enough not to do it, now she had to practice what she preached.

Rebecca passed a few foxholes seeing how sweaty and tired most of the men were getting, reminding them to stay warm. Getting all sweaty was the quickest way to frostbite. As she made her way through each hole, Rebecca mentally noted who was still without winter clothing kits; for the most part, it was everyone. Patton promised winter clothing and no one had received a single glove to prove it. She needed to talk to Nix about this.

Rebecca continued walking around, her hands shoved in her pockets. She buried her face inside her jacket trying to warm her frozen face and breathed deep. The brief warmth from Rebecca's breath flooded through her face and to her chest, quickly fading. Semi-satisfied with the small bit of warmth, Rebecca looked up and met the cold air that sent a chill through her. Becoming familiar with the cold air once again, Rebecca spotted Lipton and Buck standing near a half dug foxhole. She hadn't seen Buck in quite a while. The urge to talk to him drew a smile on Rebecca's face as she made her way over to the pair.

"Brown and Stevenson." Rebecca heard Lipton reply.

Her smile faded. Rebecca knew what the names meant and guessed Lipton was reporting the casualties during the march. Luckily for them, it wasn't anything too serious. No one died on that march and Rebecca thanked God for that.

She reached the frustrated First Sergeant and Lieutenant who were obviously venting about Dike. Beside them were Malarkey and Shifty still digging in. Rebecca's smile morphed into worry.

"Becca, you seen Dike around?"

Rebecca sarcastically chuckled. Nobody knew where the hell he was. Quite frankly she was glad he was never around her. Rebecca couldn't stand being around the man. Not only did he have not a single goddamn clue what the hell he was doing, but Dike also had no problem in expressing his unhappiness towards taking orders from Rebecca. Just in the way he talked to her, Rebecca knew very well Dike didn't like it.

"That, I don't know. I've been digging the CP for a while now and I don't think I saw him pass by at all. I don't even think I saw him during the march, but that could be just me."

"Where's Dike, where the hell is he? Where the hell does he ever go?"

Malarkey was crouched down in the half-dug hole, clearly not afraid to show his contempt for Dike.

"I don't know, but I wish he'd stay the hell there." He vented.

"It'd be nice if he took Lt. Shames with him too," Shifty said, taking a puff of his cigarette.

Lipton looked at Rebecca apologetically. He knew that Rebecca was easy going, but it was improper to talk like that in front of an officer. It didn't do a damn bit of good to complain about their officers. It only wedged a further divide between the enlisted men and them.

"Shut up, boys."

Rebecca laughed. She didn't care, in fact, she agreed. The company was running itself without Dike and it wouldn't make a difference if he was there or not.

"Shutting up, Sarge," Malarkey obeyed, clenching his cigarette through his teeth.

Rebecca smiled, amused, but the ringing out of a shot soon sent the mood fading. Buck guided Becca into the half-dug hole, Lipton right behind them.

Everyone in the foxhole had their rifles pointing at the direction the sound rang out from except for Rebecca, who merely looked over the side of the half-dug foxhole trying to see where the noise came from.

"Patrol?" Malarkey asked.

"No, we would of heard," Lipton confirmed.

Everyone was looking around, confused. One shot was a far cry from a patrol or even sniper.

"One man, maybe a sniper," Buck guessed.

"That was no rifle," Shifty drawled, his own rifle pressed up to his cheek.

If it wasn't a patrol and not a sniper then it could only be on thing. It was somebody in the company fooling around or purposely shooting himself to get off the line. As horrible as it sounded many men who were so fed up with the cold and lack of supply, they would resort to harming themselves to get away. Woe be it to them if Rebecca found out.

"What do you see, Shift?" Lipton asked.

Shifty had his gaze locked on the woods before him. "Nobody out there."

How could he even tell? Rebecca wondered. The fog was laid down as thick as a blanket and it was snowing.

"You sure?" Buck asked, unsure himself.

"Uh-huh," Shifty confirmed, his sights still trained on the woods before him.

Then, the sound of Hashey called out, finalizing what really happened. He was probably wandering around trying to find out what happened himself.

"Aw, Jesus. It's Hoob, he's shot!"

"Sniper?" Buck called out to him.

"No, no he shot himself!"

Rebecca's heart began to race as she bounded out the foxhole with Buck and Lip, towards Hoob. A little bit of anger piercing through her. What the hell did he shoot himself for?

"Medic!" Someone called out, but Rebecca was already there.

"Captain!" Perconte yelled, desperate for help.

Rebecca crouched down beside him. She did a once over on his body, unable to find any wound.

"What happened?" Buck demanded, falling by Rebecca's side.

"It's my fucking leg!" Hoob groaned, writhing in pain, "It just went off."

Rebecca looked down at his legs and saw the blood staining his left. She touched it with her finger, examining the light red liquid, swearing under her breath.

"Shit." It was arterial blood. This definitely wasn't on purpose. No man would inflict a lethal wound on themselves just to get off the line.

"What the hell are you doing with a loaded gun in your pants?" Buck demanded, taking the Luger away from Hoobler.

"Shit, Buck, I wasn't touching it or nothing!" He explained.

Rebecca realized time was of the essence and reached for her med bag to get her scissors. She pawed around her bag, frantically unable to find them. Rebecca grabbed the bag, looking around once more.

"Fuck, I can't find my scissors! Someone get me a knife!"

"Where are you hit Hoob?" Lip asked again.

"My leg!"

Someone handed Rebecca a knife and she began cutting the pant leg. It was no easy task. Hoobler was wearing a lot of layers. Rebecca knew she couldn't do this on her own, she needed help and quick.

"Someone call for Doc Roe. Now!" She ordered.

"Medic!" Perconte screamed out again.

Everyone huddled around Hoobler were holding him down, trying to calm him, but it was still utter chaos. There was nothing calm about the situation. Hoobler was in too much pain to be reasoned with.

"It hurts like a son of a bitch." Hoobler hissed. "I think I maybe hit bone."

Rebecca wished that were only true. When she finally got the pants opens the blood gushed up with a gurgling sound. It was definitely the artery.

"Doc!" Lipton called out again.

Rebecca took out a tourniquet from her bag and began tying it around his thigh. The bleeding was so heavy she couldn't even see where to start.

"Warm him up!" Rebecca ordered.

Hoobler needed to keep as much body heat as possible. He was losing too much blood and it was evident in the way his skin's complexion was turning a sickly white.

Finally, like a Godsend, Roe came sprinting through the woods, ready to help.

"Captain, Sergeant," Roe said, making his entrance. "What's the damage Cap'n?"

"Not good, artery for sure. In the left leg."

Rebecca looked closely at the wound trying to find where the bleeding was coming from to clamp the artery. She couldn't.

Everyone was around Hoobler doing the best they could to keep him calm and warm, but it only made the situation more chaotic. Buck was telling him how tough he was, trying to get him to fight harder. Lipton was telling Hoob how great of a shot he was, trying to distract him. The others were throwing whatever articles of clothing they had on to him, to keep him warm. Everyone acting in a last ditch effort to save their friend.

"How are we doing, Docs?" Buck impatiently asked.

They both looked at each other confirming their thoughts.

"We can't see a damn thing, we've got to get him back to an aid station," Roe said, pressing on the wound.

"Let's get ready to move him!" Buck ordered.

Rebecca was placing a bandage on Hoobler's quivering leg. It slowed down, then stopped. Everyone suddenly got quiet. Rebecca looked at Hoob and saw his glassy stare. He was gone. Rebecca looked away, sadness and anger filling her up. This didn't have to happen. Tears rolled down her face, she didn't care.

Roe was the only one who wasn't aware and continued working on a dead man.

"Doc," Buck uttered trying to get Roe's attention. "Doc!"

Roe looked up and saw Hoobler's slack face, his eyes still open, and sat back on her legs. Everything was eerily quiet, the only sounds of their previous efforts were from their heavy breathing. They had just lost a dear friend, a Toccoa man.

Rebecca slowly got up with Lipton, feeling like a giant anvil had just collapsed on her.

"We need to report this to Dike." She mumbled.

XXX

Rebecca and Lip walked around looking for Dike for nearly two hours. By the time they circled back around to where Hoob died, his body was already taken back to the aid station. Lipton and Rebecca searched the OP, around the CP, almost every foxhole, and still no sign of Dike.

"Should we just go to Winters, ma'am?"

"Yes," Rebecca breathed out in frustration.

Dike was gone and didn't even know that one of his men were dead. A little bit more of hatred for the man crept into Rebecca's heart.

XXX

"He was wearing so many clothes, we couldn't tell how bad he was bleeding," Lipton told Winters.

Rebecca glanced away from the two captains, a far off look on her face. She just couldn't believe it. Hoobler was one of the originals, a veteran, and a good man. Now he was just another number added to the long list of Easy casualties.

Dick glanced at Rebecca in between Lipton's words. Her mournful look only confirmed to him that there was really nothing they could've done.

"By the time we got him to the aid station, he was already dead."

Rebecca looked up only uttering a little bit of clarity as to what happened. "The bullet hit the main artery in the leg."

"Oh, hell, guys. It wouldn't have made a difference if you had known. Cut that main artery in the leg, that's, that's it," Nixon consoled.

"Yes, sir," Lipton confirmed.

Rebecca didn't bother answering, she knew, and they knew she knew.

"Well, I'm gonna go back and make sure the boys are all dug in, sir."

Lipton raised a hand to his mouth, blowing some warm into it and placed his helmet back on his head.

"Lip?" Dick asked.

"Sir?"

The pale captain looked up to Lipton again, shivering. "Where's Dike?"

Rebecca sat down next to Nix, disgusted. They had no idea where the hell he was, but the loyal First Sergeant would look through all hell and creation for Captain Winters anyways. Dike was off somewhere, probably at regiment, boasting up a storm about how great his company was; and he didn't even know Hoobler was dead.

"You wanna see him, sir?"

"No, I just would have expected to get this kind of news from him."

"Well, we were there, sir. I figured it might as well be us."

With that Lipton left.

Rebecca knew that was a crock of crap. They had searched everywhere for Dike and they couldn't find him. Someone had to tell Winters what happened. What she couldn't understand is why Lip was going to bat for him. Dike didn't deserve to be defended.

Dick and Nix glanced at each other, then to Rebecca.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Becca. You did all you could," Dick said, shaking with every word.

She looked at the frozen man and got up, sitting down next to him and wrapping herself around him. Dick needed to stay healthy for men. The moral of the men would plummet if he got taken off the line because of sickness.

"I know, but it was so unnecessary."

XXX

Dusk was slowly creeping its way through the fog covered forest making the frigid air more unbearable. Night time was usually when Rebecca found herself at the epitome of anxiety. Night time brought along colder temperatures unveiling new opportunities for the men to get sick. Not to the mention that the Krauts seemed to love shelling the absolute shit out of Easy at night.

Rebecca sat on a wooden crate in the tarp-covered CP impatiently awaiting her steaming cup of powdered milk. She needed to do her nightly rounds before sacking out but found herself too frozen to even lift her arms from their permanent resting spot in her pockets. Rebecca had to get something hot in her.

She looked at Dick eagerly waiting for some form of warmth to soothe her chilled body. Dick stirred the liquid trying to dissolve it under the flickering flame. After pouring some into Nix's, he poured the milk into her's.

"Thanks." She sighed, taking the tin.

Rebecca placed the tin at her lips enjoying the warmth from small puffs of steam the cup emitted.

"You know what Dike's problem is, don't you?" Dick asked, pouring Nix a tin of milk.

Rebecca rolled her eyes. Of course, they were talking about Dike. That's all anyone did. Talking their inept CO only made her nighttime anxiety peak.

"Mmm," Nix groaned in response, probably not quick to follow Dick's scattershot topic change.

"He's just another one of those arrogant rich jerks from Yale," Dick explained, slyly looking at Rebecca than to Nix.

Rebecca chuckled into her tin. It was rare to see Dick in a jesting mood. If the man wasn't freezing his ass off, he was busy with the day to day duties of battalion XO.

"Oh, God, not another one of those," Nix sarcastically fretted.

Dick smiled and chuckled, mixing his milk around trying to dissolve the powder completely.

Rebecca, however, speculated differently. "That's not the problem. He's another version of Sobel, just more incompetent."

"Yeah, I think the two would get along just fine," Nix agreed.

"Division's not gonna let me replace him just cause I got a bad feeling about him. Even if they would, who'd I put in his place?" Dick continued.

If only it were that simple. Rebecca thought.

"Shames?" Dick threw the name up in the air suggestively.

Rebecca pictured Shames in her head. The quick-tempered man popped into her head, bringing her back to the times she witnessed Shames yelling at the men as a way of dictating orders. It was so strange the way he felt the need to holler at them all the time. Rebecca watched him once get so worked up about God knows what, she thought the vein that was bulging out of his head was going to pop.

"Shames' seen too many war movies. Thinks he has to yell all the time."

He had neither the patience nor the experience to lead the company. Plus, none of the men would take him seriously. Often times, after going off on one of his spiels, Rebecca caught the men laughing behind the man's back.

"Or Peacock? God bless him, no one tries harder, but he's not cut out to take men into combat." Dick continued

Rebecca's face scrunched up at the thought of the man. She was still salty about what happened on the patrol. She couldn't bear to think of Peacock leading Easy. And, he was almost as bad a navigator as Sobel.

"I'm sure as hell not gonna make him Company CO when I don't even want him as a platoon leader."

Nix spoke up from his silence. "What about Compton?"

"He's the only real choice."

Rebecca knew it too, but the man was off his game. He wasn't the same since he got back from the hospital.

"Buck's a real combat leader," Dick carried on, "But, you know, I want Easy Company to have at least one experienced platoon leader. Not that it matters anyway cause I can't get rid of Dike."

"Well, we all know who you'd like to have running Easy," Nix started, slurping a spoonful in his mouth.

Rebecca looked at Dick, sympathetically. She knew how much it killed him to see Easy fall into the hands of such awful officers.

"Trouble is it's not your job anymore, Dick. We gotta find somebody."

Dick sighed to himself and looked down bleakly. He was at constant odds with himself, knowing it wasn't his job anymore, but he just couldn't shake the feeling that Easy should be his priority. Maybe it was just the history he had with the company

XXX

Rebecca exited the CP, in an attempt to quell her anxiety, and readied herself for her nightly rounds. The wind whistled past her ears forcing Rebecca to pull down the beanie under her helmet a little more.

As she scuffed through the snow, distant figures of Easy guys reinforcing their foxholes came into view. The men were hammering away at tree branches blasted off the trunks from Kraut artillery, trying to give themselves protection from them, but also from the ever-falling snow.

Rebecca looked around at the guys, scanning over their work. The amount of stress they were putting on themselves as night approached concerned her. Working up a sweat as the temperature dropped only invited pneumonia and frostbite.

Her meticulous eye quickly caught Buck Compton climbing out of Guarnere's and Babe's hole. He must have seen her too, as the man began making his way over to her.

"Captain!"

A small smile crept on Rebecca's face as she stopped. "Hiya, Buck."

The blonde haired lieutenant approached Rebecca, swinging an arm over her shoulder.

"What brings you here to these parts, Becca?"

Rebecca looked up at his pale face amused. Even though Buck seemed off since his return, he still managed to bring a smile to her face.

"Ah, you know, just doing my rounds for the night; freezing my ass off." She joked.

"Company?" Buck asked smiling down at her.

"Sure," Rebecca beamed up at him continuing her pace

As Buck and Rebecca, he removed his arm from around her shoulder. Rebecca looked up at him curiously. Buck became more serious all of a sudden. His blue eyes glossed over and his smile quickly melted. His body tensed.

"Buck? Something wrong?" Becca asked, concern etching her words.

Buck came to a halt, his eyes focusing on her. It was like something flicked a switch in his mind. "Promise me you won't do anything to get yourself knocked out of this thing. Not after what happened to Hoobler."

"Where did this come from all of sudden?"

He looked out into the space letting his words resonate with Rebecca. "Nothing, nothing. Let's just go."

The pair started their route talking to a few guys on the way. Rebecca said her peace to each guy, reminding them to stay warm, keep their feet covered and so on. It was her normal routine. However, her focus remained mostly on Buck. Every hole they visited, he reminded every guy not to try anything stupid and get themselves hurt.

Rebecca and Buck found themselves at Luz's hole where Penk and Muck also happened to be digging in for the night. Rebecca watched from the side as Buck began reading them some sort of riot act. It was the same as it had been before. Don't do anything stupid.

"I'm serious," Buck continued.

"Sure thing Buck," Penk assured huddled next to Muck. "We got it, right?" Penk nudged asking Muck who seemed too cold to bother.

"We got it," Muck reiterated.

"Alright." He said, seemingly okay with their responses. "George," Buck continued on again.

The Rhode Islander lifted his head up to the face Buck only able to muster up an "uh huh".

"Nothing stupid, Buck."

Rebecca watched Buck get up and almost like they hadn't been walking together, he just walked off, leaving her flustered.

Part of Rebecca wanted to go after him, but the other part knew she had to finish checking in on the guys. She sighed to herself, choosing the latter. Rebecca couldn't worry about Buck, not now. She started walking again, not before Luz looked up at her.

"Hey, Cap'n? Is Buck okay?"

She was a little taken aback by the question but answered as honestly as she could. "I don't know."

XXX

"Captain Nixon, sir?"

An unfamiliar voice called out to for the intelligence officer, rising him from his sleep. Nixon opened one eye at the call of name, hoping whoever was calling for him would go away.

"Captain Nixon, sir?"

He was wrong. Nixon was not a morning person. As his name was called again, he threw his blanket off of him and groggily roused himself.

"What?" He called out, annoyed.

"Good morning, sir, sorry to disturb you." The young man continued, leaning in and handing Nix and piece of paper. "This came from Division."

Nixon looked up at the young trooper and begrudgingly took the letter. He leaned back into his foxhole only to see the delivery boy still standing, waiting for some kind of signal for him to leave.

"Alright."

With a quick wave of his hand, the young trooper was gone. Nix leaned back on the wall of his hole and tore open the letter. His eyes scanned the paper and widened. He had an idea.

XXX

Rebecca sat in the CP watching Dick as he shaved. She still didn't understand why he bothered doing such a thing. The number of cuts under his chin grew more every day from Dick trying to finish in his haste. The water he used to wet his razor was ice cold. His face was practically frozen by the time he was done.

While watching Dick make a mess of his face she spot Nix walking towards them, carrying a piece of paper.

"Morning." He called out them both, holding up the paper.

Dick finished a strip on his face and swirled his razor in the freezing water, looking at his friend's mysterious paper.

"Lew, eviction notice?" Dick said, continuing the fast strokes of his razor.

"Not quite, but I think I got something that will help you with your leadership problem."

Rebecca stood up and walked over to the two, intrigued. Maybe Division finally realized what a god awful CO Dike was and he was leaving.

"Oh, Dike's being transferred?" Dick asked, stopping briefly.

"No, I can't help you with that."

Rebecca's shoulders slumped. Nixon smiled at her brief disappointment.

"Sorry, kid," Nix said to Rebecca, patting her shoulder as he made his way around into the CP.

"But," Nix carried on, "Division has decided to pluck one officer from each regiment that served in the heroic defense of Bastogne, send him back to the States on a 30-day furlough."

Nixon ducked into the CP and continued on. "Get him out banging the drum for the war bond drive, that kind of thing."

Rebecca and Dick turned around the face Nix as he entered.

"It turns out, I've been plucked." He finished, handing the paper over to Dick as he wiped the face cream off his face.

Rebecca looked at him confused. How in the world was Nix leaving a good thing?

Dick took the paper and began reading it over. "Hey, that's fantastic, Lew, good for you."

Rebecca continued to look at both of them like they had ten heads. Where was this going?

"Thank you." He resounded.

Finally, Dick began thinking the same thing as Rebecca and looked up from the paper.

"How in the world does your leaving help me?"

"Please, explain," Rebecca urged.

Nix looked at the two amused. "It doesn't, I'm not going. I've already seen the States, I grew up there. That's why I came to Europe. Just wished they told me there was a war on."

Rebecca and Dick chuckled, both relieved their friend wasn't leaving them.

"Anyway, the point is, this thing's wasted on me. But, I'm sure we can find an officer somewhere in this battalion who could use a long trip home."

They all looked at each other, the wheels in their mind turning. What officer burdened too Easy could possibly be sent home?

XXX

A unanimous vote between the three decided that Lieutenant Peacock would win the trip back home. Rebecca was unsure of the fact if Dick and Nix knew about her utter contempt for the man. If they didn't, they certainly did now. Rebecca couldn't help but crack a toothy grin as they told her she would be the one informing Peacock of his prize.

After informing him and then gathering up the men, Rebecca watched as his platoon congratulated him. Unbeknownst to him, they were happy he was leaving, not for the right reasons though.

"Congratulations, Lt. Peacock," said Bull, shaking his hand. "I can't think of anyone who deserved this more."

A few more men chalked up lines of the same essence to the blushing Lieutenant. It was Luz, however, who after immediately expressing his joy, locked eyes with Rebecca and gave her the biggest shit eating grin to which she just shook her head and chuckled in response.

All together they silently did a congratulatory Hipp hip hurray, patting Peacock on the back and shaking his hands a few more times. The poor guy couldn't even pick up on their sarcasm.

With that Peacock began walking away, his platoon dispersing. As he did, instead of heading towards the jeep that was to take him away, Peacock walked over to Rebecca.

She was a little taken aback by the monotone look that now captivated his once happy face. He stopped before Rebecca, taking off his helmet, looking down at his feet.

"I have been awarded this furlough, I feel certain, because of the great job you all did in Holland and here, and the only thing I can say is, thanks."

Rebecca was stunned. She was at a total loss for words. Maybe this was his own way of apologizing to her and the guys for what happened with Julian. Maybe he knew he wasn't well liked, or maybe he managed to pull his head out of his ass at the last minute, but for some reason, Rebecca felt his genuine sincerity.

She stammered, not able to formulate the right thing to say. "You're welcome, congrats."

Peacock nodded his head in thanks before putting his helmet back on and finally leaving.

Rebecca just hoped that wherever he was going, whatever he planned on doing when he got home, he was more useful there than he was here.

XXX

Late in the afternoon on January 3, Easy Company returned to their old position overlooking Foy after being in the Bois Jacques. When they came back, there were signs of tree bursts everywhere meaning that the Germans had shelled the place to hell.

Despite the fact that it was obvious the Krauts were going to shell the area again, it was decided that Easy would hold the line right where they were and to fortify their foxholes.

Rebecca and Roe were digging in, trying to give their foxholes more cover before the inevitable attack. Both medics were having a hell of a time breaking off branches and covering their foxholes because their hands were so damn cold.

"This place reminds me of the haunted forest in Wizard of Oz," Rebecca said to Roe.

Roe chuckled as he attempted to dig into the hard ground.

"Maybe, we'll get lucky and some flying monkeys will drop some artillery on the Krauts for us," she continued.

"Yeah, maybe," Roe said, pulling a tree branch near to him.

Rebecca sat on the edge of their foxhole, panting from the strenuous workout when she saw Lipton approach them.

"Cap'n, how are you doing?" He asked, his hands deep in his pockets.

"Oh, just fine, Lip. Digging this foxhole ain't getting any easier but we'll manage."

Lipton looked absolutely frozen. Aside from his bright red nose, he was completely pale and his lips were practically blue. If it weren't for him, Easy would really be up shits creek without a paddle. Because of Dike's continuous ineptitude, Lip had really been pulling double of his fair share of duties.

"Do you happen to know where Lieutenant Dike might be?" Lipton asked.

"Where's Dike?" must've been the second most common question asked by Easy Company. Poor Lip was probably the one who asked it the most.

"If I knew I would tell ya, Lip." Rebecca sighed picking up her shovel again.

He shook his head. Rebecca could tell Lip was practically pulling his hair out trying to keep tabs on Dike while simultaneously doing most of his duties. The poor guy would have gray hairs by the time the war was over.

"Alright, could you keep an eye out for me?"

"Will do," Rebecca said.

After Lip walked off to check on the other guys, Rebecca and Roe continued digging in and beefing up the cover of their foxhole. Once they deemed it good enough. Both medics sat, waiting.

Rebecca could see the town in front of her. There was no sign of Germans, only the abandoned houses and hay piles covered in snow. She wondered what the little village must have been like before the war.

Rebecca was snatched from her thoughts when she heard a distinct boom in the distance followed by the screaming of an artillery shell. Her blood ran cold.

"INCOMING, TAKE COVER!" She heard Lipton scream.

The first round that hit, shook the ground like an earthquake. Bursts of trees and dirt exploded all around her, yet, all she could do was cower in her foxhole until it was over.

One after another, rounds continued to go off turning the world around into hell on earth.

The worst part was the absolute dread that filled Rebecca wondering if her foxhole was going to be the one hit. She was terrified.

Just as soon as it started, it was over. But to Rebecca and everyone else, it felt like forever.

Rebecca and Roe were panting like crazy, a side effect from the adrenaline rush. It wasn't until a few seconds later, she thought she heard someone wailing in the distance.

"Do you hear that?" Rebecca asked, frantically.

"Yeah." Roe was abruptly cut off by the sound of more fire coming down on them.

"FUCK!" Rebecca screamed out.

Someone was hit and she couldn't get to them.

After what seemed like an eternity, the barrage stopped. Rebecca's ears were ringing and her mind raced. She needed to find who was hit.

"Captain, stay down!" Roe yelled.

All was quiet for a few moments until the broken and loud yell for a medic pierced the forest.

It sounded like Buck.

Rebecca and Roe bounded from their hole sprinting with their gear to the cry for help. God she hoped Buck was hit too bad.

Her legs felt as heavy as bricks, but she kept on running. Finally, they got to the caller and it was Buck. But it wasn't him who got hit.

On the ground lay Guarnere and Toye, unconscious and limp like a couple of ragdolls. Their legs were torn up and the blood was stained red under them.

Rebecca could only stand and look at them in horror. Joe's right leg was completely blown off and was laying a few feet from him. Bill's was just barely hanging on by a thread.

Not them. Please, God, not them.

"Come on, I'll start with Joe."

Once the two men came to, an evac team was called to get them the hell out of there.

Rebecca worked on Bill, silently while Roe took care of Joe's leg with the help of Malarkey.

She couldn't stop the tears from flowing as she attempted to work on Bill's leg.

"Aw, come on Becca. Don't get all female on me."

"I'm sorry, Bill." A tear rolled down her cheek.

As she stood by him on the ground, Bill wiped a stray tear from her cheek, then grabbed her hand tightly.

"I'm gonna be alright, sweetheart. Just remember what we talked about."

Rebecca had never felt more helpless in that situation than she did now.

"Bill, you're going first," Roe said,

The men carrying the stretchers approached to take Bill. Rebecca backed away.

"Hey, Lip, they got old Guarnere this time," Bill said, still managing to joke around as his leg was barely being held together by a string.

Rebecca turned towards Lipton, a look of distraught all over her face. She watched as Bill cried out in pain while the evac team hauled him onto the stretcher.

"Hey, Joe, I told you I'd beat you back to the States. Becca, you take care of yourself, doll."

She watched him being taken away, she saw Lip and Luz's rattled faces. They just lost Joe and Bill. Two of the most influential Toccoa men.

Why, God, was this happening?

As soon as Rebecca finished her work, she looked over and saw Buck sitting down on a fallen tree trunk. He stood motionlessly and his eyes were glazed over.

Rebecca walked over to him and sat down next to him. She looked at his deserted blue eyes. When she saw all hope and life lost in his eyes, Rebecca's heart broke one final time.

"Don't come over here if you're gonna tell me everything's gonna be alright," Buck croaked out.

"No, no, I'm not," she said, her voice breaking.

Rebecca placed her hands over her mouth to try and stifle her sobs. She leaned over looking down at the snow, dirtied by the overturned ground by artillery fire. Rebecca's tears fell from her eyes onto the whiteness under her.

She continued to sob until Buck pulled her into his chest and they both grieved together.

XXX

Rebecca sat in her foxhole, numb. She had no tears left to cry anymore. When Roe saw herself and Buck sitting together on the toppled tree trunk, crying, he brought her back to their foxhole and immediately decided to get Captain Winters.

Rebecca felt like a ghost; like she was sleeping with her eyes open and could see everything but couldn't move a muscle.

After Roe covered her up with a blanket, he went on his way to get Captain Winters. He knew she couldn't be out here like this.

He got to CP as quickly as he could and entered the tarp covered fort.

"Captain Winters, sir?"

XXX

Winters walked with Roe to his shared foxhole with Rebecca. He knew this was going to happen. He knew she could only bend so far until she broke.

When he got to her, Rebecca was sitting in the hole, her knees up to her chest, staring off into the distance.

"Rebecca?"

No answer.

"Rebecca, you're being taken off the line."

No objection of any kind.


A/N: Well, there you go. Rebecca has officially met her breaking point. Sorry for the late upload. I just finished school and had to move out of my suite on my usual upload day. I will keep new chapters coming as much as I can now that I'm out of school for summer break. Thank you guys so much for all the support for this story. Reading your comments offering support has been amazing. As always, please let me know how I'm doing. Your feedback means the world. :3