The word cold couldn't even begin to describe how he felt.
The snow crunched beneath his boots, he shivered, hands shoved in his pockets. All he could think about were supplies.
Medical supplies.
Syrettes, bandages, and scissors.
Third battalion had to be around here somewhere.
The fog.
The impenetrable goddamn fog as thick as pea soup. He nearly walked straight into a tree a few times.
He thought he spotted something on the ground, bent to pick it up and pricked his finger.
He felt a slight sting and watched the blood come.
At least he didn't have frostbite. Only one of a hundred worries for him out here.
Eugene kept walking, hoping to find the third battalion.
He stalled.
There, in front of him, lay dead, at least a dozen frozen corpses of German soldiers.
He recognized two of them.
Their faces resembled porcelain. The tips of their noses black from frostbite. Their eyes were glass.
He stared at them. Wondering if he should have wished them good luck when he had met them an eternity ago.
Had it been warm then? He doesn't remember. The cold had sunk into him so deeply, he couldn't remember what it felt like to be warm.
What were their names? Did they tell him their names?
He couldn't recall.
Supplies. He needed supplies.
Screw it. He was lost.
He backed away, and made his way back to find his unit.
Eugene came upon Captain Winters shaving. He admired the man for wanting to keep himself looking clean and put together, but he himself didn't mind the extra layer of slight warmth his own facial hair provided. Even if it was patchy and thin.
He was twenty-two, never had a full beard before.
"Doc. Doc. Doc." Captain Winters whispered, grabbing his rifle.
Doc crouched and made his way over to Winters.
They had spotted a German soldier, pants down, squatting. He was unarmed, and saw Captain Winters and Doc.
Winters let him finish his business before ordering: "Komm jetzt her. Schnell. Schnell!"
The German obeyed.
Winters took him as prisoner and tossed Doc a bandage.
"Take him back to Regiment." Winters ordered to a Private standing by.
A jeep pulled up with Colonel Sink and General MCauliffe.
"Major Strayer, give it to me straight." MCauliffe commanded.
"We've been taking ground in one area, Sir. But losing it in another." Major Strayor said. "Now it looks like a standoff, we're digging in on the edge of the forest."
Eugene kept his distance but listened in, observing the interaction.
"We're under sporadic artillery fire." Winters stepped in. "We're taking a lot of hits but we don't have an aid station. We've run out of food, lack winter clothes, and have little to no ammo. The line's spread so thin the enemy wanders into our CP to use our slit-trenches, Sir. We just can't cover the line."
Captain Nixon emerged from his covered foxhole.
"Good morning, Captain Nixon." Colonel Sink greeted. "Do you have anything to add for General MCauliffe?"
"General." Nixon stammered. "Uh, yes Sir." He climbed out of his hole. "General, I took a walk on our line about 0300 last night. I couldn't find the 501st on our right flank. I tied in with a squad from our second platoon, but we've got considerable gaps in our perimeter." He nodded at Eugene.
Eugene grimaced with a shiver and nodded back.
"I don't have enough people, Sir." Major Strayor added. "We're spread too damn thin."
"Hold the line Colonel." General MCauliffe ordered, walked back to the jeep. "Close the gaps! This goddamn fog won't lift anytime soon, so you can forget air cover. First Battalion just left Foy with Krauts on their tail. Tanks. Artillery. Got no backup. There's a lot of shit headed this way."
Oh, that's encouraging. Gene thought to himself. As they drove away.
He followed Captain Winters back to his foxhole, where the Captain resumed applying shaving soap to his scruffy face.
"Doc?" Winters asked.
"Can I scrounge a bandage from your aid kit, Sir? I'm real short." He asked, rubbing his hands together to liven them again.
Winters reached into his aid kit for the bandage. "How are you fixed?" He asked while handing the bandage to Roe.
"No plasma, a couple o' bandages, an' practically no morphine." Gene answered with a nod of thanks as he put the bandage in his bag. "I tried to find third battalion to see if they had anythin' they could spare and lost my way."
"Find what you can, Gene." Winters encouraged. "You're gonna need it."
Eugene nodded. "Yes, Sir."
He trekked into the forest to find Spina, who was currently digging his foxhole.
"Hey Gene. Did you find third?" Ralph asked breathlessly, sitting down to drink from his cantene.
Gene shook his head. "Got lost, saw a lot of dead krauts. Here, have a kraut bandage." He said, tossing the bandage to Spina.
Spina looked at it. "That's it?"
"Yep, that's it. That's all we got." Gene said, sitting down in the foxhole with him.
Spina muttered something under his breath.
Gene pulled out a syrette and looked at it with shaking hand "I know first Battalion's pulled out of Foy. Heavy casualties."
"So they're pulling back, then what the hell are we doing sitting here?" Ralph grumbled.
"I need morphine, this is all I got." Gene said with a sigh of exasperation, putting away the syrette. "Ya got extra scizzahs?"
Spina shook his head. "Just the one. The v-mail came while you were out. They were looking for ya. Here." He said, digging in his jacket. "Your girl wrote."
Gene perked up and took the letter. "Thanks."
"First Sergeant Lipton!" Came the voice of Leutenant Dike, approaching the foxhole. "What the hell is this? Two medics in one hole?"
"Yes, sir." Spina said.
"What will happen to the rest of us if you take a hit, huh?" Dike asked then turned to Lipton. "First Sergeant, where's my foxhole."
"Back this way Sir, I'll take you there. You're a bit close to the line, here." Lipton said, guiding their CO to his hole.
The medics traded looks and Gene opened his letter.
Darling Love,
As the days grow colder here, everyone seems to love talking about Christmas. They all sing carols and reminisce about Christmasses past. Yet, for me, it is a somber time of missing my family, my boys, and most of all, you. I hope you can stay warm, wherever you are.
There are days that I can barely bring myself to get out of bed and function, because I miss you so. I have decided to become a land girl again. Perhaps the change of scenery and hard work will help me cope. I set out tomorrow.
I love you.
Always yours,
Alice.
"Anything interesting?" Spina asked.
Gene smiled. "She's becoming a land girl again. Y'know, a girl who works on a farm."
"Huh, I can't see her doing that." Spina remarked, standing up to finish his foxhole.
"She's a strong woman. Ain't afraid of a little mud an' hard work. Not like there's a lotta men workin' on the farms these days." Gene said standing up while pocketing his letter.
"Do you see her working on one of those shrimp boats you worked on?" Spina joked.
Gene rolled his eyes as he walked away. "Keep diggin'. Imma make my rounds."
Eugene walked a few paces until he saw Bill.
"Sergeant Gaurnere," he said, running up to him. "Did you keep your morphine from Holland?"
"No, but hey Doc, I gotta talk to ya." Bill said as he kept walking with a limp.
"Latah, how's that leg?" Gene asked, breaking off.
"To hell with the leg, I'm pissin' needles." Bill complained.
"Latah." Gene said, running off.
He found Smokey Gordon, making coffee in his helmet while Skip Muck dug out his foxhole for him.
"Hey Doc." Smokey said, staring out in the distance.
"Hey Gordon. You see 'em?" Gene asked, following his gaze.
"No. But they're out there. Depend on it." Smokey said. "Cup o' Joe, doc? It's my last from Alice."
"No thanks. Gordon, I need scizzahs. Do ya got scizzahs? Sharp scizzahs."
"Scissors?"
"Yeah."
"Well, let's see. I'll have to check the sewing room. Might be upstairs in the study in that skinny little drawer in the middle of the desk." Smokey teased.
Gene cracked a small smile. "Alright alright. What about an extra syrette in your aid kit, huh?"
Smokey chuckled. "Hide your morphine guys-"
BOOM
Artillery explosion no less than 10 feet behind them, cutting a tall tree in half.
They dove into the unfinished foxhole while Muck crawled out and rolled into Malarkey's.
BOOM
"Muck! You okay?!" Malarkey shouted.
BOOM
"Yeah, I'm good!" Skip shouted back.
BOOM BOOM BOOM
Gene jumped up and bolted. He knew somebody had to have been hit. He felt it.
"MALARKEY! MUCK! PENKALA!" He shouted. The three were always together. Best friends since Toccoa.
"WE'RE OKAY!" Malarkey assured.
BOOM
"MEDIIIIC!!!"
BOOM
"MEDIC!" It was Penkala's voice in the distance.
"LOOK AT THIS SHIT!" Muck cried. "THEY PEPPERED MY HELMET!"
Gene started running off toward the voice, keeping low.
"DOC DOC!" Muck shouted, pulling out his aid kit. "MORPHINE! TAKE IT!"
He tossed the syrette to Gene. He caught it swiftly.
"WHERE'S PENKALA?!" Gene asked.
"CHRIST KNOWS!" Malarkey shouted.
Gene took off toward Penkala's cries.
BOOM BOOM
"MEDIC!"
BOOM
"DOC!"
On his way to Penkala, Gene checked every foxhole to see if they needed aid.
He finally reached him.
"It's the artery, Doc!" Penkala panicked.
BOOM
"RELAX YOUR ARM GODDAMMIT!" Gene ordered.
BOOM
"IT'S THE GODDAMN ARTERY!" Penkala cried.
BOOM
"RELAX YOUR ARM PENKALA!" Gene barked.
BOOM
Penkala relaxed his arm.
"IT'S NOT THE ARTERY!" Gene assured.
BOOM
"I'M NOT GOING OUT IN THIS SHIT!" Penkala shouted.
BOOM
"AND YOU'RE YELLING FOR A MEDIC?" Gene asked, while he bandaged the wound.
BOOM
"I DON'T NEED TO GO BACK TO NO AID STATION!"
BOOM
"WELL YOUR IN LUCK, PENKALA!" BOOM "WE AIN'T GOT NO AID STATION!"
The Artillery fire had finally stopped.
They heaved a sigh of relief.
"Penkala, I need scizzahs, you got scizzahs?" Gene asked.
"What the hell would I need scissors for?" Penkala asked.
"You got your aid kit?" Gene asked.
Penkala handed it over.
"You don't need this. Not yet. I do." Gene said before taking off to check on everyone.
"Who got hit?" Spina asked as Gene jumped into Spina's foxhole.
"Penkala. Just a scratch." Gene sighed.
"Jeez." Ralph muttered.
Gene pulled Penkala's aid kit out of his bag and handed it to Spina.
"Alright, here's what I want you to do. I want ya to take someone and work your way to the third battalion, 'kay?" Gene ordered. "You know what we need. Bandages, plasma, whatever you can beg, you beg! And get me some goddamn scizzahs! I can't get any!"
"Okay." Ralph said, getting up.
"Oh, get yourself a hot meal too." Gene said. "Go."
With Ralph gone, Gene took off his helmet and sighed in his moment of peace. He pulled Alice's picture out of his pocket, feeling some semblance of warmth touch his soul as he gazed at her face. He tried to study every detail he could.
He pulled out her letter and reread it. He wished he knew what to write her that wouldn't get sensored, besides how much he missed her. But, if he was truly honest with himself, he wasn't afforded much time to think about her, except at night. Even then it was difficult due to how exhausted and cold he was.
He kissed her photo and placed it back it's special pocket before checking his bag and leaning his head back, letting the exhaustion overtake him.
A couple of hours had passed and chow was finally called. Gene kept his distance, as he normally did.
Malarkey, Muck, Penkala, Babe, and Julian all sat together, talking and laughing.
Spina had taken Babe with him to find the third battalion. On their way there, Babe had fallen into a German foxhole. The Kraut in it thought it was a soldier named Hinkle.
He shot at them as they ran away. Miraculously, none of the bullets hit their targets.
"He should have shot you in the ass!" Penkala joked causing Malarkey to nearly fall on Muck in laughter.
Joseph Domingus served them more food.
"Joe! These smell like my armpit!" Julian commented.
"At least your armpits warm." Muck quipped.
"You fellas want syrup with that?" Joe asked.
"Joe, be honest, what's in these things anyway?" Malarkey asked.
"Nothing you won't eat, Malarkey." Joe replied as he walked away.
"I won't eat Malarkey." Muck joked, causing the group to laugh.
Gene couldn't help but smile, listening to them, smoking his cigarette.
"Hey, maybe Hinkle will like your share!" Julian suggested.
"I shoulda shot him when I had the chance." Babe said.
"What? Running backwards, Babe?" Penkala asked.
Leutenant Peacock walked up to the group. "Has anyone seen Leutenant Dike?"
"Try battalion CP, Sir." Malarkey suggested.
Peacock stormed off in a huff.
"Try Paris." Muck muttered with a snort.
"Try Hinkle." Malarkey guffawed.
"Hinkle, Shveetie! I'm home!" Penkala cheesed, getting up to fake kiss Babe, who playfully shoved him off.
Babe turned to look at Gene. "Hey Eugene! Leutenant Dike's got a full aid kit, try him."
"Yeah, I'm sure he's not using his." Malarkey joked.
"Maybe Hinkle's got a syrette for ya!" Julian added.
"Eat your strudel." Penkala said.
"Hinkle, Vinkle, eat ze armpit, huh?" Muck quipped, causing Gene to let out a chuckle.
"Hey Gene, you think Alice could send us some more food to save us from Domingus's cooking?" Malarkey asked.
"Aw! It ain't that bad!" Gene shrugged.
"Really?" Babe asked with a brow raised.
"Naw! Once my smokes burn th' taste outta my mouth, the cooking is quite edible." Gene burred with a grin.
The men lost it.
Night fell.
Heffron was right, Leutenant Dike did have a full aid kit.
"Here, I don't plan on getting hit." He had said.
It was all Gene could do to not roll his eyes at their incompetent leader.
Dike was a good soldier, but he didn't know how to lead men like Easy company.
Not much Gene could say about it, though. He was just a lowly medic. He kept his head down and did his job.
After getting the aid kit, he made his rounds.
Smokey Gordon told him Joe Toye was missing something, and that Perconte had scissors.
Gene went to Toye first.
"You guys okay?" Gene asked.
"The Krauts got hot food, smell it?" McClung answered.
"Toye, are you missing something?" Gene asked.
"Home." Joe answered.
"Where are your boots?" Gene asked.
"In Washington up General Taylor's ass." Toye snarked.
"What happened?" Gene pressed.
"Took them off to dry my goddamn socks. And they got blown to hell, ok?" Toye answered.
"What size do you take?" Gene asked.
"Nine, just like everybody else." Joe answered.
Gene left Toye and McClung and made his way over to Perconte.
He dumped out Perconte's bag, much to his dismay.
"You got a drug store in here?" Gene asked
"Doc, I own my own stuff." Perconte whined. "What are you doing?"
Gene picked up a pair scissors victorious.
"Scizzahs. Thank you, Perconte."
"He took my goddamn scissors!" Perconte grumbled.
The dark, cold, and quiet was the worst for him. He could never be in a restful sleep.
That night, while looking at a picture of Alice, he recited the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi before slowly drifting off.
BOOM
"MEEEEEDDIIIIIC!!" Came the scream from Sisk.
Explosions from kraut artillery sounded off in the distance while Gene cup open Sisk's pant leg to examine the damage.
Splinters from tree burst stuck out of Sisk's leg.
"Perconte, you gettin' the Jeep?" Gene asked Frank while pulling the splinters out.
"Yup, on it, Doc."
Sisk hissed with each wood fragment being pulled from his leg.
"You're okay, Sisk. It ain't that bad, it ain't that bad." Gene cooed while pouring sulfa powder on the wounds.
"It ain't that bad?" Sisk repeated, baffled.
Gene wrapped the leg in a bandage and pulled out a syrette.
"No! No! Doc save the morphine, I can make it." Sisk said.
"Are you sure?" Gene asked.
"Yeah, save it. I can make it." Sisk assured.
Perconte helped Gene get Sisk out of the the foxhole and helped him carry him to the Jeep.
"Tell Spina I'm gettin' us some plasma!" Gene told Perconte as he climbed onto the Jeep.
When they pulled up to the local church, deceased soldiers lined the outer walls in stacks.
With Sisk on the bed in the makeshift hospital in the church. Gene looked around. It seemed to be a miracle they found a place for him.
Gene spotted a surgeon. "Hey what's goin' on? Why aren't these men evacuated?"
The exhausted surgeon looked at Gene. "Haven't you heard? We're cut off, this is as far as it goes."
Gene was stunned and walked back over to Sisk, who was given wine while two nurses looked him over.
"I'm in heaven, Doc." Sisk said, causing Gene to smile.
One of the nurses began to walk away, Gene followed her.
"Nurse." He said.
"This way." She said with a French accent.
"I need morphine, bandages, plasma, whatever ya got." Eugene said.
She led him to a back room and handed him a box. "Here. Do you have sulfa?"
"Oui, you got plasma?" Gene asked.
"No, maybe ask your surgeon?"
"We don't got no surgeon."
"Take these." She placed rolls of white linen in the box.
"What are these?" Gene asked.
"They're from the beds." The nurse explained.
"Sheets?"
"For bandages."
"Oh."
"That's all I can spare." The nurse said with finality.
"Quel est votre nom, s'il vous plaît?" Gene asked.
The nurse smiled faintly as they walked to the steps. "My name is Renée. What is yours?"
"Eugene Roe."
"Where are you from?" Renée asked, intrigued.
"Louisiana, half Cajun." Eugene answered proudly. "D'où êtes-vous?"
"Bastogne. I came back here to visit my parents for Christmas." Renée explained.
"An' now you're roped into all this?" Gene asked as they parted.
"I wanted to help." Renée said wearily.
Gene nodded in understanding. "Prends soin de toi maintenant."
"Pleasure to meet you." Renée returned warmly.
Gene ran out to the jeep. "Can y'all take me back to the line?"
"Sure!" The driver said. "Hop in."
Gene looked over at the bodies. "Hol' up."
He walked over and took a pair of boots off one of them.
"Eugene!"
Gene turned to see the nurse Renée toss something to him, he caught it.
"Du chocolat pour ton âme."
Gene smiled and nodded at her.
"She's pretty." The driver observed.
"She's nice." Gene said.
"Gonna have some action there?"
"I get enough real action on the line."
"You know what I meant."
"And I know you know I'm spoken for. You're a sick man."
"Sorry, Roe."
When Gene got back, the chaplain was just finishing up a sermon.
"God bless you, be safe." The chaplain said.
"All right boys! You heard the man, now if we die, we'll die in a state of grace." Malarkey joked.
"That's true, Don." Muck said, placing his prayer book in his pocket.
Spina ran up to Roe. "First platoon is going out on patrol. Kraut hunting."
"I'll go, you take these boots to Joe Toye, tell him they're a nine." Gene said, handing the supplies and boots to Ralph.
Sergeant Bull Randleman, John Julian, George Luz, Donald Hoobler, Burton Christenson, and others assembled. Doc jogged over to join.
"Doc, it's just a patrol. Follow us but stay back to keep your ass out of trouble. Okay?" Sergeant Martin said holding Gene back.
"Yes, Sergeant." Gene said, hesitating.
He followed them a bit, then crouched against a tree. With shaking hands, he lit a cigarette and waited.
He waited, listened, and watched.
A heaviness pressed on his shoulders.
The fog made it impossible to see the men.
POP POP POP POP POP
Shit. Gene thought to himself.
Shouting. The men were shouting something.
Gene forced himself to follow orders. To stay put.
Leutenant Peacock emerged from the cloud.
Gene stood up. "What's happening, Sir?"
"We're pulling back, we made contact. I gotta get to CP." Leutenant Peacock explains.
Dread seeped into Gene's bones.
POP POP POP POP POP POP
The men came running back, a man was struck in the side and went down.
Gene put the cigarette in his mouth and sprinted over before he was even yelled for.
"Anyone else hit?" Gene asked.
"They got Julian!" Sergeant Martin answered.
"He's still alive." George said.
"He was shot in the throat, you saw all the blood!" Martin said.
"He was moving! We gotta go get him sir!" George said.
"It's too dangerous. We tried!" Martin said.
Gene was present when George gave the news to Babe.
Babe began to shake. "I-I never thought it would be him."
"Heffron?" Gene asked.
Babe looked at Gene with red eyes. "I thought I would die here. Not him."
Gene broke a piece of Renée's chocolate, sat down, and handed it to him.
"Eat." He instructed.
Babe took it and bit into it. "We promised each other that if anything were to happen to either of us, we'd grab each other's stuff and bring it to our ma's." He rasped. "NOW THE FUCKIN' KRAUTS WILL STRIP HIM!" He sobbed.
Gene put an arm around him and looked up at George, who could only soberly shake his head and walk away.
Nightly rounds again. Somehow it's colder. Gene didn't know it was possible.
Meeting Renée made him miss Alice even more. He tried to focus solely on the men. He knew he wouldn't be able to write now if he tried, his fingers ached from the freezing temperatures.
He checked on Toye.
"Thanks for the boots, Doc." Joe said.
"Are you still havin' trouble with your feet?" Gene asked. "C'mon, lemme see 'em."
Joe lifted his left foot, Gene checked it.
"It's trenchfoot, Toye. If it turns gangrene you could lose it."
"I ain't coming off the line, Doc." Joe said firmly.
"Well, ya gotta stay dry. Change your socks every day and tie the wet ones 'round your neck."
"I'm tryin'."
"Do it."
Gene was about to stand up when Joe looked at him. "How's Alice? She write you yet?"
Gene froze. "Uh yeah, she's leavin' the base and becoming a land girl again."
Joe looked confused. "Land girl?"
"A girl who works on a farm. A farm-hand." Gene explained.
Joe mulled this over. "Good. Good for her. I'm glad. Better than being around those rowdy replacements who don't know what's good for them."
Gene cracked a smile.
"That's true. Take care now, I need to check on the others." Gene said, walking away.
Gene awoke to clear skies and sun.
C-47s flew overhead. Everyone rejoiced.
"It's a drop! IT'S A DROP!" Lipton cheered.
They dropped in the village of Bastogne. They got all they needed. Food, medical supplies, and ammo.
But not winter clothes.
He saw Renée again, she needed help with a soldier who was bleeding out.
Eugene jumped in to help. He shoved his hands inside the man's body to find the artery so he could pinch it.
The man drowned in his own blood. Eyes unseeing.
Eugene was always composed, even when his men died on him.
But this.
He let himself have this moment.
That was his mistake.
He threw the blood soaked bandages to the floor. "NO!" He growled.
Renée and Gene shared a long look filled with disappointment, understanding, and frustration.
Hers was as if to say "Your war is on the line. With gunfire. Mine is here, with the dead and dying."
They sat outside, to get away from the groans of wounded men.
He asked about the black nurse, Anna. How she got here.
"Same as me." Renée answered.
Gene looked away. He felt exposed, suddenly. Unguarded. He had never let anyone see him crack like this.
"Chocolat?" Renée offered.
He shook his head politely, turning to look at her.
"Your hands." He observed, the blood stained fingers. "You're a good nurse."
"I'd rather work in a butcher shop. I never want to touch another wounded man again." Renée sighed with a shaky voice.
"But your touch calms people." Gene said.
"That's a gift from God."
Renée shook her head, pulling off her blue headscarf. "No it isn't. God would give such a painful gift."
They sat in silence for a moment
"Do you have someone, waiting for you at home?" Renée asked after a moment.
"My parents." Gene answered quietly. "But my Chérie is in England."
Renée smiled. "Is she pretty?"
"Beautiful, through and through." Gene smiled, pulling out a photo of Alice and showing it to Renée.
Renée looked at it. "Elle est très charmante."
She is very lovely.
"Nous sommes fiancés et nous nous marierons dès que la guerre sera finie." Gene explained softly, kissing the photo and placing it back in his pocket.
We're engaged to be wed as soon as the war is over.
"Cela semble être une longue attente." Renée observed. That seems quite the wait.
Gene nodded. "Est-ce que tu a quelqu'un?"
Do you have someone?
Renée looked down. "Il a été arrêté par la Gestapo plus tôt cette année."
He was arrested by Gestapo earlier this year.
Gene inhaled sharply. "Je suis tellement désolé d'entendre cela."
I am so sorry to hear that.
Renée shook her head. "Je ne veux pas en parler."
I don't want to talk about it.
A jeep pulled up and Renée jumped up, putting her headscarf on as she made her way to yet another wounded soldier.
Gene made his rounds that night, handing men blankets and telling them to wrap up.
"First Sergeant Lip!" Shifty called out, causing Gene to look up from his coffee. "How fast do ya suppose trees grow?"
"They don't stop, Shift. But to be fully grown to the size of these ones, I'd say about a hundred years. Why?" Lip asked.
"Because there's a tree over there that was not there yesterday." Shifty drawled.
Gene perked up and looked over where Shifty was pointing.
"Shit." Popeye muttered, stepping up behind them. "That's artillery, disguised as a tree."
"And it's heading this way." Shifty drawled.
Lipton ran back. "Get ready! Doc, it's gonna get real busy!"
Smokey set his gun and reached for his coffee. Just to get shot in shoulder.
"MEDIC!"
Gene found himself unable to move. All could see were the Germans and their artillery.
"Gene!" Babe appeared next to him. "C'mon, let's go!"
Gene snapped out of it. "Right! Go!" He shouted getting up with Babe.
He ran to Smokey, McClung taking over the gun.
"You alright, Gordon?" Gene asked.
"I can't feel my legs Gene!" Smokey cried.
He rushed to fix up Smokey, bullets buzzing past his ears like bees. He gave Smokey a syrette and called for Lipton to help drag Gordon off the line.
They stopped when they were a safe distance from the action.
"Doc, you gotta hurry up. I need to get back to the line!" Lipton pressed.
Gene inserted the long needle for the plasma.
Lipton bent down to look at Smokey.
"Stay with us Smokey! Stay with us." Lipton pleaded.
"Lip." Smokey said. "You're standing on my hand."
"Oh, sorry." Lip said. "I'll get you another purple heart for it."
The jeep came and took Gene and Gordon to the church.
The bodies were stacked higher.
Gene noticed.
He robotically took Gordon inside.
"Where are his tags? What's wrong with him?" The doctor asked.
"He's paralyzed." Gene muttered.
"What?" The doctor asked.
"Paralyzed. He can't feel a thing." Gene answered.
He stood there as the doctor examined Smokey. Not sure what to do with himself.
"Eugene?" He heard Renée. Her voice sounded so distant.
He looked at her, unfocused.
"Eugene, are you alright?" She asked as if that wasn't the most loaded question in the world right now.
Before he could think of an answer, she was called away.
He decide to just head back to the line. That's all he could do.
He mechanically did his rounds. He did not look at Alice. He couldn't bare it. Not tonight.
--
Christmas Eve. 1944.
General MCauliffe had replied "NUTS" to a German commander requesting the Americans to surrender. It had brought morale to the men.
All the levity did was remind Gene that these men were going to die or get badly wounded sooner or later.
Dick, Bill, and Babe noticed how hollow Gene's expression seemed.
Bill walked over to Gene while he sat in his foxhole. Gene looked up at him, blinked a couple times, as if he had been asleep.
"Need something, Gaurnere? Is something wrong?" Gene asked, pulling up his bag to reach into it.
"Nah nah, calm down, Doc. I jus' wanna talk to ya." Bill said, sitting down on the edge of the hole.
Gene rubbed his eyes. "Sure, what is it?"
"You remind me of someone." Bill said.
"Who?" Gene asked, confused.
"Alice." Bill answered. "More specifically, Alice when we first met. Alice right before you swept in to look at that right hand she so beautifully punched Cobb in the nose with."
Gene raised a brow.
"She told me she hated fun and happy moments. Because she didn't see the point in them when we all were going to be devastated later." Bill regaled.
Gene felt a pit in his stomach. "She said that, huh?"
Bill nodded. "Y'know, I don't think time really started movin' again for her until she saw your handsome mug."
Gene felt a bit of warmth touch his face.
"Just think on it, Gene." Bill said before walking away.
Night fell. Gene did not make his rounds.
He bunkered down with his blanket and stared at Alice, listening to the Germans sing Silent Night.
It was the coldest night in all the time they had been in this hellish place.
He brought the photo to his lips, his hands shaking as he fought back tears before he tucking it away.
He closed his eyes, trying to imagine himself sitting by a fire with her.
He could almost smell a fire.
He almost believed he could smell a fire.
BOOM
"MEDIC!"
Gene sunk himself further down into his hole, trying to ignore it. He could still picture it, Alice snug against him, making him feel safe and warm. Peace. No more screams of-
"MEDIIIIC! DOC!"
"ROE! WE NEED YOU!"
"Up and at 'em Eugene! We need you." Came Babe's voice. He was pulling Gene up. "Come on, Doc."
"Okay okay." Gene said, not feeling his legs working, slumping back down.
"Not okay lie down, okay get up! C'mon, get out there!" Babe said pulling him up and pushing him out of the hole. "Ouch! Goddammit!"
Gene ran off to the cries. It was Leutenant Welsh and Captain Winters. Welsh had a third degree burn on his thigh, Winters was applying pressure to the wound. He saw an extinguished campfire next to them.
"Roe!" Captain Winters called, breaking Gene from his haze.
Gene made quick work of applying a tourniquet and told Winters to give him morphine and where.
"Gene, get yourself into town and have a hot meal." Winters ordered as Harry was loaded onto the Jeep.
Eugene nodded.
Fire burned everywhere.
Explosions surrounded and followed them as the jeep drove into the village of Bastogne.
Planes flew overhead as the Germans bombed the village.
Gene jumped off and ran to the church, ready to help the wounded escape.
BOOM
A bomb hit the church while he was still a few paces from it, causing Gene to jump back and watch in horror as a few men escaped.
He ran in.
There she lay beneath the rubble.
An angel of Bastogne.
He picked up her scarf.
Why?
He didn't know.
How he made his way back to the line, he couldn't say. But he did.
He found Babe sitting alone.
He thought about Julian. Poor kid.
"Are we doing okay?" Gene asked as he jumped in.
Babe nodded, watching the line.
"Babe?" Gene asked.
Babe held out his hand. It had a nasty cut in the palm.
"How'd you do that?" Gene asked, looking at it.
"You did that." Babe said.
"I did?" Gene asked, bewildered. "I'll fix it up."
He reached in his pocket and pulled out the scarf. He looked at it, thought about putting it away.
She was a nurse. He knew what she would have done.
Gene ripped it and began applying sulfa to the wound.
Babe cracked a smile and looked at Gene.
"Hey Gene, you called me Babe."
Gene glanced up at him. "I did? When?"
"Just now." Babe said, chuckling.
Gene paused his work. "Babe." He burred. "I guess I did."
Babe laughed. "Babe." He mimicked.
Gene sighed heavily and looked at him in mild annoyance. "Heffron... just watch the goddamn line."
Patton came the next day. Ending the Battle of the Buldge. Everyone claims he rescued the 501st.
None of the men of Easy Company agreed with that.
Mon Chérie, ignore what everyone says. They're f--ing liars. We didn't need to be f--ing rescued. Pardon my language, darling. It's still a sore spot for me.
Eugene had written in his long awaited letter to Alice.
Alice giggled as she read it. Causing all the other land-girls to as her to read it aloud.
She refused.