ONCE AGAIN I OWN NOTHING!

Weston woke up in the same position he had fallen asleep in. Haper's condition was the first thing to cross his mind. He pushed himself up on his elbows and looked across the small open space between the two campfires. Everyone was sleeping soundly so he quietly rose and made his way into the open.

He stretched and for the first time, really looked around. His mouth fell open. There was a thin layer of white covering the ground, bushes and trees. It was whie everywhere but around the fire. Weston shivered as he made his way to the sleeping squad. They were all laying in the twenty or so feet around the charred remains of the fire where there was no snow. All but Reiben who had rolled away and was now coated in snow.

Weston found the medic laying next to Harper. There was a thick army blanket thrown over them both. Careful not to wake Harper or Jackson, who was on her other side, Weston gently shook the medic's shoulder. Wade opened his eyes slowly as Weston whispered, "Snow."

Wade looked around and his eyes suddenly filled with fear. He quietly got up and spread the army blanket over Jackson and Harper.

"Go wake up the captain. We need to-" but he was interrupted by the sound of shells exploding just outside the tree line.

The earth shook and woke everyone up. Even Harper tried to respond to her army training and jump up, but Wade pounced on her and pushed her back to the ground.

"Take cover!" yelled Miller from the other fire pit.

They all hit the ground and Miller and Horvath crawled over. Now there was machine gun fire accompanying the shells. They were inside the tree line now.

"How did they find us!?" shouted Upham frantically.

No one answered but they all had a pretty good idea how the Krauts had known about them. They had probably been waiting out on the field all night and had seen Weston walk across the open area between the fires.

"No use pointing fingers," said Miller as the men angrily glared at Weston. "We need to get out of this first. Wade!"

Wade looked up.

"Get her back."

Wade nodded. He turned to Harper and without a word, he slid one arm under her knees and the other around her back. He lifted her surprisingly easily and with covering fire from their squad, quickly ran back off the line. Wade set her down 300 yards back in a crater probably made from earlier bombings. Harper moaned as one of her stitches ripped. Wade looked at her.

"Where?" he asked already knowing what was wrong.

Harper looked down. Wade stretched her legs out and pulled one side of her olive trousers off her hip. That wound was the easiest to sew up, but the hardest to keep sewed because it was right on her bone. He took a pair of scissors and cut the remaining two out then as getly as he could, he pulled them out with tweezers. Harper gasped as he opened the wound, washed it out and packed it with sulfate powder.

"What no stitches?" she panted weakly.

"I'm going to try just packing it and wrapping it. It has more of a chance of getting infected and I'm going to have to open it every chance I get and clean it, but there will be no stitches to rip," Wade answered.

"Whatever doc. I trust you," she said letting her head fall back.

Wade was quiet as he covered the wound with gauze. Harper looked up at his silence.

"Wade, what is it?" she asked.

Wade kept his eyes on his work so Harper gently touched his face. He lifted his eyes and said, "This is my fault. If I wouldn't have tried saving that damn Kraut, you wouldn't have had to save me and you wouldn't have gotten shot."

He was looking at the ground so Harper leaned over painfully and lifted Wade's face with both of her hands. Tears were on either side of his face.

"You are one of the few of us who hasn't gotten his humanity beat out of him by this war. I don't want you to ever stop trying to save people. Even if they are Krauts. And when you do, I will always be there to save you. You once told me that as long as you were around, I wouldn't die. Remember?"

Wade nodded. The fear in her eyes when he had told her that was hard to think about, but he remembered.

"I came to save you because I had no fear of getting shot because I knew you wouldn't let me die. I trust you completely."

Wade smiled weakly as Harper placed a soft kiss on his cheek. A yell from the line brought Wade out of his state of mind. He looked at Harper sternly.

"Stay," he ordered pointing at the ground with his finger.

He then jumped out of the hole and was gone. Harper sighed and leaned back to wait for her friends.

Wade ran u dodging bullets and falling trees.

"Who's hit?" he yelled throwing himself in a ditch beside Reiben, but he already saw. Upham had a thin branch sticking out of his lower arm. Wade rushed to his side. When he got there he realized the branch was only barely poking him. Wade rolled his eyes and yanked the twig out making Upham squeak with pain.

"Give Wade your gun you moron. Why don't you go back and see if Harper needs anything. Make yourself useful, just don't get shot going back there," yelled Reiben.

Upham didn't have to be asked twice he tossed Wade his rifle and high tailed it back to Harper. It took the squad twenty five minutes to decide there were to many Germans to win this battle.

"We are going to have to make a run for it! Lets get back to Lewis and Upham. We will run for cover from there!" shouted Miller. "Go now!"

They all turned and ran to where Wade had left Harper but they all stopped open mouthed when they got there. Harper and Upham's gear was there, but neither one of them were anywhere to be seen. The crater was empty.

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