A/N:
Thank you BobtheFrog for the review! I'm sorry this chapter caused you so much pain! Believe me, I'm right along there with you! I'm glad you thought I had a good handle on the grief, it was really difficult and I was afraid I wasn't doing a good job. Thanks for the reassurance! :)
Thank you drovingallday96 for the review! Thank you for your kind words, and I'm also sorry for the chapter (almost) moving you to tears. As an aspiring author I'm proud that my writing can do that, but I also feel guilty lol. Thank you, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving too! :)
Thank you Rachel for another review! I know, I've tried to prep myself for this chapter, too, but alas I still cried and was heartbroken while I wrote it. I'm glad I was able to do this part some justice, thank you so much for the assurance! :)
All right, I'm back from vacation and I was just so eager to sit down and get back to work on this story. Although taking a break was a nice recovery from the heaviness of the last chapter, I'm not sure if this one is going to offer much relief. Dialogue from the TV series and book – as usual. I hope everyone enjoys, and feel free to provide feedback! :)
Foy, Belgium
January 13-14th, 1945
It was now or never. Easy Company had been holding off the attack on Foy for as long as they could, but it couldn't be done any longer. The more the company waited, the more the Germans bombed and killed what was left of them. The couple days of rest had felt like nothing but a blur, even though there was plenty of activity to fill in the gaps. The numbers of Easy Company had started to shrink because of causalities and wounded, but some soldiers had grown so traumatized that they had to be taken off the line permanently. It was like Muck's death had brought mass chaos and disruption to the balance of war that the wary company had somehow grown accustomed to. Muck had died and everything had taken a dramatic shift in what felt like the wrong direction. They had, in a sense, all lost their innocence with the coming of his death.
Marie could barely focus as she lay on her stomach, watching Foy with the rest of the company. She could see Germans lurking around the small town, unsuspecting or uncaring of the many tired eyes that were observing them from the safety of the tree line. The assault was going to start any minute, but Marie felt nothing toward it. No fear, no pre-excitement jitters, nothing. Lipton had been checking on her all day, especially after he was assigned to lead 2nd platoon, but her expression remained neutral. She kept herself somewhat busy, loosening and tightening the laces of her boots, hoping to get some circulation flowing to her feet. She could see the red impressions on her skin from the boots and the thick lining of her socks. She kept herself performing the redundant task for a while until she grew tired and was starting to get cold from standing still for too long. She pushed herself upward from the snowy ground, wanting to stretch her legs before they were sent directly into the fire. She slowly made her way around the tight-knit territory Easy had claimed before the assault, seeing everyone busying themselves with checking equipment. Marie was surprised to see Emilia standing with 1st platoon, suiting up in full gear, which included tools. Tab stood beside her, talking to her as she kept her attention on getting ready. The tentative look on his face told Marie that he was trying to urge her to be careful, or something of that nature. Marie walked over to her, wanting an explanation.
"Hey, Marie." Emilia greeted, her voice straining to sound cheery but there was far too much gravel in it. "Looks like I'm being thrown into the fray again."
Marie stared at her wordlessly, watching her friend continue to check everything on her person. Emilia fussed with straightening her helmet on top of her head, then moved onto the gear that was strapped to the sides of her legs. Tab also watched, his blue eyes taking in every detail of the woman standing before him.
"Battalion is worried about there being mines down there, so I'm going to disarm them if we cross any. Might set up a few myself, too. It's been a long time since I've actually got to be an engineer and not just a translator." Emilia explained.
Marie slowly nodded. Tab appeared visibly worried, but Marie knew that part of Emilia had missed combat and felt guilty for not being in the front with the rest of the guys. She also knew that Easy Company's dwindling numbers meant that battalion couldn't be picky with who they sent to Foy. Marie wanted to offer some words of encouragement for her dear friend, but her apathetic numbness just seemed to swallow any ounce of feeling whole and leave nothing left.
"2nd platoon, gather up!" Lipton ordered in the distance. Marie glanced over her shoulder, seeing that the soldiers had started to assemble and fall into their respected squads. Marie turned back to Emilia and gave her a limp hug, unable to summon any comforting words to say to her. Emilia returned the hug, but was lacking the same warmness. Tab immediately pulled Emilia into a passionate embrace as Marie left, wanting to give them privacy as she sensed the loving fervor start to radiate off the couple. As Marie ventured back, she ran into Malarkey, whom had his mortar gear set up and was ready to go on the command. He noticed her stoic figure and gave her a small, pathetic smile.
"How you holding up?" He asked, his voice just as melancholy as Emilia's. It was sad to see her friends experiencing the same strange depressive state, but their wounds from losing Muck were just too raw to fully be recovered in a few days time.
She sat beside him, giving her shoulders a lazy shrug. She didn't have the energy for meaningless small talk. His smile faltered as he turned his attention back to overlooking Foy. The two of them didn't speak the entire time, no 'good luck' or battle pep talks, the silence had said enough about how they felt about this whole operation. Everything had started to happen like the companies were swept up in a whirlwind; the troops gathered and were now ready to sprint across the filed and into the heart of the German occupied town. Lipton had 2nd platoon crouched and ready as he waited for the signal to go. Marie found it hard to focus on anything, her head felt too heavy as her stomach felt too hollow. Nothing seemed right anymore, why should did what they were about to do even matter? She couldn't feel the usual adrenaline pumping its way through her veins, making her body feel slow and heavy instead of light and alert. She already knew that this siege was going to be a struggle.
Suddenly the gunfire started and they were off. A smoke barrage was thrown and 3rd platoon charged into the fog, leading the frontal assault ahead of everyone else. Suppressing fire had started and Lipton yelled in that booming voice of his to run. Marie blindly leapt out of the tree line, following Lipton as the smoke started to clear around the groups of soldiers running directly toward the enemy. The Germans now had a clear shot and were shooting like madmen at the mass of soldiers pouring toward the small village. As the enemy bullets began to fly, the men around Marie were dropping like flies.
"Keep moving!" Lipton screamed. It felt unnatural to leave the wounded and dying behind, but stopping in the middle of the field was suicide. She listened to her squad leader, and followed at his boot heels like a puppy craving attention. It was clear that the frontal charge was only going to hurt Easy's shrinking numbers even more, but with an empty uniform like Dike leading, there was nothing anyone could do about it.
3rd platoon was getting hammered badly, making Malarkey order the other mortarmen to stop and fire the mortars to offer some relief for the platoon. They had stopped in the open, next to some fence. Marie dared a glance back only to see the man next to Malarkey get shredded by ammo and flung backwards. Her heart begged her to turn back and sprint to Malarkey, but she knew she couldn't. She was suddenly so afraid of losing another friend as the memories of seeing Muck decimated into nothing but scattered pieces came to her mind. Large artillery bursts pulled Marie's attention back to the dangerous environment she was running in, forcing her not to picture what could be. Bullets whizzed by them; Marie could feel the force produce gusts of wind as they buzzed by her like a high-speed insect. Lipton continued to shout and order men around him to keep moving as it became harder and harder to plunge forward.
Dike suddenly froze in the middle of the field, and held up his hand in a 'stop' position. Confused, the company halted. Luz and Emilia were beside Dike, the two of them looking terrified to be standing out in the open. Lieutenant Foley, 1st platoon's squad leader, glared daggers at the back of Dike's head.
"Hold up!" Dike ordered.
Frustrated with Dike's continuing incompetence, Lipton ordered everyone to crawl for cover. Marie threw herself to the grown and did as she was told, pulling herself with her forearms and legs as she tried to helplessly duck for cover. She watched with dread as Dike ordered 1st platoon to move back and out of cover, sending Emilia with them out to scout on ahead. The entire operation was falling apart right before Marie's eyes as she watched Dike take cover behind a giant haystack and cower like a child. Lipton ordered 2nd platoon to Dike's position, his nostrils flaring as he led them right to their CO. They made it to the haystack, only to see Dike leaning low against the hay, looking antsy and lost. Marie bit her lip, seeing that Malarkey had fell behind and was now somewhere else with the rest of 2nd platoon. There was no order anywhere; everyone was left to fend for themselves. Everything was growing out of control, Malarkey was out of sight and Emilia was being sent out like a target for the Germans.
"Hold fast 2nd platoon." Lipton told his bewildered platoon as they waited for orders behind the haystack. He turned his attention to Dike. "Why have we stopped?" He demanded.
"Fall back! Fall back!" Dike started to scream in a panicked frenzy. Foley started to ask him about the next plan of attack, making Dike flip out even more. "I don't know! I don't know! I don't know!" He cried in helplessness.
Marie stared at the man, aghast at his behavior. He was nothing but a man that would pop up every once in a while before, but now he was just a bad leader that was going to get them all killed unless he started coming up with some ideas. The group of men around him began to shout, causing the CO to become even more flustered and overwhelmed. Dike was even more useless than he was before.
"Okay, okay, Foley, Foley! You take your men, you take your men in a flanking mission around the village and attack from the rear!" Dike stuttered. An artillery strike hit in front of the haystack, causing them all to duck on instinct.
"Dike! We cannot stay here!" Lipton growled through gritted teeth. That strike had missed them by only a few feet; the Germans had them zeroed in his field.
"You want 1st platoon to go around and attack the village by itself?" Foley asked the CO as if he was crazy. Marie gaped at him; it was the most ludicrous order she'd ever heard.
"We will provide suppressing fire!"
"We're going to be kinda alone out there, Lieutenant!" Foley stressed.
Dike slammed his fist into the ground. "We will provide suppressing fire!" He repeated, finalizing his order. Foley had no choice but to comply with the stupid command. He sent 1st platoon out, which were by the fence post outside the town now, waiting to be told what to do next. Marie peeked around the haystack, spotting Emilia in the mix. As Foley signaled the platoon to move forward, Emilia turned her head and her eyes locked with Marie's for a moment. Marie wanted to smile at her to make her friend feel somewhat at ease, but she couldn't muster anything.
Emilia's nervous expression suddenly morphed into one of alarmed surprise. The cracking sound of two bullets hitting a solid target erupted, sending Emilia's arms flailing upward as her BDU above her chest started to soak with blood. Her eyelids stretched open wide, as her mouth formed an 'O' shape. She toppled to her knees, as if she attempted to get her bearings and catch her breath, her helmet falling off her head. 1st platoon ran around her, trying to get to cover as the Germans easily mowed them down. Everything was happening so fast that Marie couldn't comprehend the horror that she was witnessing. Then there was another sickly crack of a bullet; a bullet that made time speed up again and slam all of Marie's senses right back into her. The back of Emilia's head had exploded as the bullet passed through and traveled out of her forehead, right above the spot in between her eyes. Emilia's lifeless body fell forward onto the cold ground, her expression forever frozen in surprise as she realized she'd been shot multiple times. Marie felt her body began to violently tremble, her eyes welling up with tears as if waves were forming behind her eyes. Her mouth hung open and quivered with intensity as a strange sound constricted deep within her throat. The world started to spin around her as she gazed at Emilia's motionless body that rested face down in the distance.
This can't be happening. Not again, God no, please not again…
"EMILIA!" A strangled cry erupted from Marie, making the gathering behind the haystack become alerted. She started to hyperventilate as she felt Lipton pull her back into the safety of cover. She was shaking so badly that he almost couldn't get a grip on her. Her tear filled eyes found Dike's figure, still slouching against he haystack without a care in the world. Something snapped within her as her eyes locked onto him, some lingering anger that had been built up within her for weeks. Marie lunged herself at Dike, her hands outstretched and ready to claw, slap, and punch him as she swung at him. Lipton instantly wrapped his arms around her, restraining her as she tried to reach and swat at the CO. Lipton fought to hold her back as she struggled against him. She couldn't break free from his strong grip as his arms wrapped around her collarbone and under her chest in a bear hug.
"IT'S ALL HIS FAULT! HE KILLED HER! HE LET HER DIE!" Marie hysterically shrieked as she continued to attempt to attack the lieutenant. She wrestled against Lipton until she couldn't take it anymore, her wild emotions draining all her energy out of her like a vacuum. Eventually she gave up, collapsing in grief and heavy sobs as Lipton continued to hold her.
"Sir, we are sitting ducks here! We need to keep moving." Lipton snapped, but Dike's only reply was a blank expression. Lipton was stuck, 1st platoon was mostly gunned down trying to catch up with Martin's team – even Perconte had been hit. A large majority of 2nd platoon had fallen behind and was hiding out somewhere or was in the town by themselves. Luz was desperately trying to get Dike to talk to Winters over the radio, but Dike was doing nothing, just staring at them dumbly like a man that had just had a lobotomy. The only medic in the vicinity was crumpled in Lipton's arms, nothing but a shell of extreme shock and sadness as she wept for her fallen best friend.
Out of nowhere Lieutenant Speirs ran up to the haystack, appearing through the cloudy smoke of artillery strikes and smoke barrages. He kneeled down in front of Dike, his green eyed steely gaze cutting into Dike's pale eyes like a razor. Speirs grabbed Dike's lapel, pulling the CO close, holding his intimidating stare.
"I'm taking over." Speirs said, his voice even and strong enough for Dike to know that this was an order from the top and there was no arguing with it. Dike wordlessly nodded in reply. Speirs drew his attention to Lipton, seeing that he was still holding onto the grief-stricken medic. Luz had tried to also console her, but Marie was so far gone that she couldn't hear their words. "What've we got?" Speirs asked Lipton.
Lipton explained everything, how everyone was spread out and about what had happened to 1st platoon. And about the German sniper that was giving everyone trouble, located in a caved in roof in what looked like a barn. Speirs listened intently, taking in every word.
"All right, I want mortars and grenade launchers on that building 'til it's gone. When it's gone I want 1st to go straight in, forget about going around. Everybody else, follow me." Speirs' words quickly spilled out of his mouth and he was gone, already running into the fray.
"Yes, sir." Lipton and Luz managed to say before Speirs ran off.
"Thank God, huh?" Luz commented before repeating the order into his radio.
"All right, you heard the word, 2nd platoon on the CO!" Lipton lifted up Marie and led his platoon out of the cover of the haystack and into the village. Lipton spotted Alley as he ran and carried Marie. "Sergeant Alley!"
"Got it, Sarge!" Alley replied, already knowing what to do. Lipton couldn't believe it, things were finally starting to move forward again.
Lipton carried on the battle cry to move out as they ventured deeper and deeper into the heart of Foy until they caught up with Speirs, whom was taking cover behind the corner of a building. Luz followed, hugging his radio as all of them stopped and were waiting for Speirs' next order. Marie's head and limbs were still hanging with so much slack Lipton was afraid she had fainted. Her sobs and swallowing for air assured him that she was still conscious, but he wasn't sure how much she was mentally. He lifted her head up, her eyes closed but leaking endless tears that streamed all the way down to her chin. He tapped her red cheeks, trying to get her attention, but she didn't seem that responsive. Finally he tapped her harder this time, making her eyelids pry open.
"Marie, for God's sakes you need to snap out of it! You know this isn't a time to grieve! Don't become a liability out here!" Lipton felt a pang of guilt for his harsh words, but he couldn't stop his frustration.
Marie sniffed, looking sad and wounded with her puffy, glassy eyes and reddened face. She heard his words loud and clear, pulling her back to reality. She managed a nod as she tried to compose herself. She wiped her sensitive eyes on her BDU sleeve, sitting fully upright for the first time since Emilia's death. Sobs still escaped her as her breathing remained uneven, but at least Lipton was able to get her attention and have her move on her own. This wasn't a good impression for the new CO to witness, Lip didn't want Speirs to think she was a bad solider. After Lipton talked sense into her, he peeked around a corner just as a bullet skidded the side, almost brushing Lipton on the face. He yelped a moment. Marie could see he was bleeding. With trembling hands she reached into her pack and pulled out a bandage, but Lipton lowered her hand and shook his head.
"What do you see, Lipton?" Speirs asked.
"Armored infantry. A lot of infantry." Lipton answered; wiping the dust from the building off of is face.
"I Company is supposed to be on the other side of town. You see any sign of them?" Speirs asked, raising his voice over the gunfire.
"No, sir! Sir, I think they're gonna pull back, if we don't connect with them they're gonna slip away!" Lip replied.
"Wait here!" Speirs ordered before taking off around the corner.
"What the hell?" Luz exclaimed, watching the lone lieutenant run right toward the Germans whom appeared to be too stunned by what they were seeing to fire back. The man single-handedly ran over to I Company then rushed back in such a swift motion that everyone witnessing him thought they were daydreaming. Even with Marie's foggy state of mind she gaped at the new CO and watched as an admirable smile spread across Lipton's face.
Easy Company finally started to gain the upper-hand.
After the fight and Easy Company's unexpected victory, the village was filled with celebrating and singing. There was even a group of men taking pictures together and filming what had happened. Over 100 German POWs had been taken in, leaving the companies in good spirits for the first time in ages. Echoing choruses of 'I've Been Working On the Railroad' were heard everywhere as men joined in merrily with the singing. But Marie was in no mood to celebrate. Lipton didn't let her see Emilia's body, afraid that the medic would be even more traumatized than she already was at the sight of Emilia's remains. She'd already seen one good friend blown to bits, it wasn't healthy to see two. Lipton had Roe collect her dog tags and give them to Marie. Receiving the silver tags made Marie break down again, sinking down to her knees in another fit of uncontrollable sobs as her limp hands dropped the dog tags to the ground. Emilia Valdez's name, a serial number, and address glimmered in the dull sunlight; soaked with blood from Emilia's bullet wounds as a dark reminder of her demise.
It was too much to handle. Muck had only died a few days before, and now Emilia was gone too. In a split second she was dead, and it could've been easily prevented. Because of Dike's inability to lead Emilia was now gone forever. Anger coursed through Marie again, fueling inside her like hot coal. She stood up and hastily wiped the tears from her face as she slipped the dog tags into her pocket. She felt an overwhelming urge to find Dike and attack him, give him a steady punch right on his philtrum and watch his body tumble backwards. She wanted to pummel him until he was black and blue and felt the same pain that she had experienced. Marie stormed over to an overturned crate littered on the ground, along with many other piles of debris lying all over the place. She clenched her fist and punched it with all her might, plowing the piece of wood and cracking it. Her hand ached in pain as the rigid wood left cuts on her knuckles, but she didn't care. She chambered her fist and struck the crate again, this time fully breaking through. Her knuckle had split open and was now bleeding, but she was still unfazed. Marie just wanted to keep hitting things until her fury lifted.
"Marie?" A gentle voice came from behind. Marie turned her head, her fist shaking from pain. Malarkey stood behind her, his M1 slung around his shoulder. He took in Marie's bloodshot eyes, her disarrayed appearance, and murderous look that haunted her eyes. "What's going on? What are you doing?"
He didn't know about Emilia. Tears welled in Marie's eyes again as she fought to hold them back. How could she tell him that another one of his friends had been killed and taken from him? She couldn't bear it. She bit her chapped lips, shaking her head in an ill attempt to change the conversation topic. Before Malarkey could further question her, a single shot rang out along with the cries of surprise and outrage from the men. Malarkey sprang toward Marie, getting the two of them to cover. Three more shots followed.
"Sniper! Take cover, take cover!" Lipton shouted from the distance.
The surge of fury spiked in Marie again. Easy Company just went through hell to secure this place, yet there was still some kraut son of a bitch killing men that she knew. She gritted her teeth, thinking of the cowardly sniper sitting up somewhere high, picking off unsuspecting soldiers.
"Someone kill him!" She roared, her voice shaking with violent anger. Malarkey held onto her, bewildered from her sudden change in behavior. The two of them watched Shifty take out the sniper as they received the all clear to come out of hiding. As the two of them stood up, Malarkey gripped her shoulders.
"Care to tell me what the hell is going on?"
In the distance Marie could hear someone screaming, drawing Malarkey's attention away from Marie. She followed his gaze to see Tab pacing and crying as a soldier stood before him, looking sullen. The men around him watched Tab wail in agony before dropping to his hands and knees. Marie knew that he'd just heard about what happened to Emilia.
"What's going on?" Malarkey asked again, his voice in a whisper.
"Emilia…" Marie's hoarsely replied. Malarkey's eyes snapped back to her. Marie didn't need to go on any further, Malarkey knew what happened. He gently pulled Marie into an embrace.
Turns out Malarkey had been so busy fighting his own battle within Foy; he hadn't realized what became of his old friend. With the mortar crew he took out as many Germans as he could, only to watch his young allies get killed around him. Malarkey had also become angry, taking his M1 and seeking revenge from the German that had shot the corporal and replacements down. Malarkey was horrified to find that the kraut was just a kid, sixteen years old to be exact. He was part of Hitler Youth, but Malarkey didn't hesitate when pulling his trigger. The Germans had brought too much grief upon Easy Company with their living conditions, killing and wounding his friends, and now this. After the company regrouped, he still had no clue about Emilia or Marie's misery.
Another one of their friends was dead. First Skip Muck now Emilia Valdez. There was only two of them left. The thought made a wave of nausea pass through Malarkey, but he didn't release his hold on Marie. He could feel her trembling and hear her crying.
"I came to tell you that we're resting in Foy for the night. In the morning we're going to move out to Noville." Malarkey explained. Marie's only response was a hiccup. He pulled away so he could wipe the tears from her face. "You need to take the rest of the day off, go lie down and just rest."
Marie didn't argue she only nodded slowly as he continued to wipe her tears.
"Hey, things are starting to look up. There's a rumor that we're going to be relieved and head to Mourmelon soon." He comforted weakly. Marie didn't reply, not believing his words. With Muck and Emilia dead she didn't think things would ever "look up" again. There was too much tragedy surrounding them and their battered company to fully look forward to something.
Malarkey led her to a secluded area where other battle-fatigued soldiers were lying. It wasn't exactly a makeshift style aide station, but it was close enough. Marie fell into a restless sleep as the hours passed and the sun became lower and lower in the sky. Her dreams were filled with nightmares and horrific images cycled and repeated before her again and again. She'd jolt herself awake, sweating despite the snowy weather, only to nod off again and dream the same thing.
The two bullets struck Emilia, both on her back. One in the shoulder blade, right behind the heart, the other one a few inches lower. The force had knocked her to her knees, with that alarmed look on her face. Then the third bullet was fired – the instant killer. It had passed right into the back of her skull in a gory mess, then went all the way through the other side, leaving a perfectly circled exit wound.
Marie woke up again, rolling to her side and throwing up from the memories of the nightmare. She wished the entire attack on Foy was just a dream, that she'd wake up and see Emilia alive and well, her arm slinked around Muck, the two of them smiling down on her. Marie reached in her pocket and felt the cold material of the dog tags. She pulled them out, seeing Emilia's blood splattered name. Just like Muck's rosary, the dog tags had finalized it. Marie brought the tags close to her chest and hugged them as her body curled up in a fetal position. Marie didn't fall asleep again the rest of the night, she lay there, holding Emilia's dog tags until the sun came up.