All Things Nice » Band of Brothers

75: Midnight

The last few days of December hadn't been going well. Patrols were leaving men behind more often than not and the Germans seemed to be hitting them with all they had. They had no aid station after Bastogne had been hit in the air raid on Christmas Eve and supplies were at an all time low.

Morale was struggling more than ever. Replacements were being hit left, right, and centre and one of those who had been killed on patrol was John Julian, a replacement sharing Heffron's foxhole who he'd become rather fond of. Heffron hadn't been the same since - he'd left a shred of his innocence on that patrol and come back a shell of a man.

Posey tried to be there for him as much as possible, as did the others, but it was hard when everyone was dealing with so much. There just wasn't much to say that could be helpful. Life was terrible and seemed to only be getting worse. How, then, could anyone hope to raise anyone else's spirits? How could they force a smile and pretend everything was going to be okay?

By the time New Year's Eve hit, Posey was more than ready for the new year. 1944 had been hard. There was always the chance that 1945 would be worse but it was easier to be hopeful about a new year than it was to be defeatist, and she wanted so badly to believe it would get easier. So when New Year's Eve came Posey was glad, for surely that meant that better days were ahead.

Being the last day of a shitty year, the Germans made sure to give them hell. Bombs were dropped on them from above and shells launched across no man's land. The now-familiar sound of cries for a medic went up in waves when the silence resumed.

Toye got hit in the arm during one of these just such attacks. "Nice New Year's Eve gift from the Luftwaffe," Bill had joked when they found out he'd been taken off the line, using humour to mask whatever he was really feeling in the face of one of his best friends being taken off the line.

"Next year will be better," Posey said, which had become somewhat of a mantra for her during the last few days. She didn't know what difference a day could make, really, but hoped it would be significant.

When Bill left their foxhole to go and check on some of the men in Second, Posey left to go and sit with Johnny a while. She didn't know why, she just felt she needed to see him. She'd have gone to check on Gene and Spina but the both of them were away treating new wounded, so over she trekked to Johnny's foxhole and jumped in without asking.

"Sure, Wells, come in," Johnny drawled sarcastically as she made herself comfortable. "Make yourself at home."

"I will, thank you," she chirped in reply, shooting him a grin before sitting back against the wall. "Where's Perco? I swear he's never in here."

"Good thing, too, 'cause you always are," Johnny fired back. She rolled her eyes but huffed a laugh as he went on, "I don't ask where he's going when he leaves. Frankly, I don't care."

"Aw, you love him really," she crooned, just to watch him scowl.

"Shut up, Wells." This had become somewhat of a mantra for Johnny during the last few years. "Where's Bill?"

"Again," Posey said, feigning irritation, "Bill and I aren't attached at the hip. But if you must know he's off checking on the rest of Second. I got lonely so I came here."

"Yeah, glad to be second best," Johnny said.

She laughed. "I know. That's the only reason I ever come here."

A silence fell over the pair of them and left them shivering in the icy wind. Night was coming and it was getting even colder, dangerous territory for a wandering mind. She thought back on a conversation they'd had back on the Island and mulled it over a while, before eventually asking, "Hey, Johnny, do you remember on the Island when I got that letter from John? Do you remember what you told me?"