The Way Back

- 16 -

Lia leaned against the truck, a smoke lit between her fingertips. The cold that snuck in through the rear end of their transport bit at her face, creeping up the sleeves of her jacket. They were on the road to Bastogne, and she didn't have the slightest good feeling about the new position. It was cold, and this wouldn't even be the worst of it. Easy Company was heading into the coldest months of the year. The temperature was only bound to drop. 

The trucks pulled off the street and soldiers clambered out. Fires were lit and surrounded quickly with men trying to savor any warmth they could. 

Lia watched as soldiers who had previously been holding the position in the forest came walking down the street through the trucks. They were battered, bloodied, and broken. Their faces held looks of sheer exhaustion and terror. Lia removed the cigarette slowly from her mouth, her eyes scanning each of the men in front of her. 

These men were leaving the line, and Easy was heading in. 

Lia threw her cigarette on the ground, motioning to the men around her towards the soldiers on the road. "Ammo." 

They pulled what ammo they could from the men who didn't need it anymore, stocking up as much as they could. They were short on ammo at camp, heading in to a defensive position with barely anything to actually defend themselves with. 

Not only was the ammo on thin supply, so was their gear. The transition from being off the front to being thrown at the line again was swift, and time was short. The entire company was left with their uniforms that were in no way suitable for the harsh winters of the Ardennes. And yet, command was throwing them into the forest that would soon be packed with snow. 

They had been informed by a Lieutenant that a panzer division was to be cutting the road soon, surrounding the men in the woods. But, as Winters said, they were paratroopers. They were meant to be surrounded. 

Lia sought Piper out. The young girl was stood next to a fire with her hands splayed in front of her. Her whole body rattled with shakes from the relentless cold. Lia pressed a scarf she snagged before they headed to the line into her friends hands. 

"Keep yourself as warm as you possibly can, Pip. I don't have a good feeling about all this." Piper wrapped the scarf in between her fingers, savoring in the warmth it brought her frozen limbs. 

"Make sure to keep walking around, okay? Don't stay in one position for too long." Their defensive position would rely heavily on foxholes. How long they would be in one single spot was unknown. They could be in Bastogne for a week, or they could be there for months. Months seemed the more likely possibility due to the German resilience to surrender. Lia feared that would be the case for Easy Company. 

Piper smiled up at the lieutenant. "I will, Lia. I promise. You do the same, okay?"

"Screw that little bastard Luz for stealing my foxhole spot with you." Lia muttered, the joke light on her lips. Prior to the conversation, Luz made it adamant that he would be with Piper, using the fact that Lia already had enough time with the blonde sargeant. 

The smile grew bigger on Piper's face. "You could just kick him out. He's terrified of you, you know?" 

Lia waved her hand. "Yeah, yeah. Then i'll just have to listen to him bitch for hours over it." 

The pair shared a laugh before heading their separate ways to the trucks. Shortly after gathering as much ammo and food as they could, bundling up with the scraps that they had, the men along with Lia and Piper headed down the road towards Bastogne. 

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Snow covered the forest floor. The sheer purity of it was a stark contrast to the horrors Easy Company was enduring. The men were cold, freezing. While thick fog descended down above them, coughing racked the mens bodies that echoed off the broken trees.