Genesis: the Beginning and the End | Band of Brothers

【Ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ ７５ － Ｈｕｍ】

Chapter 75 - Hum

Skinny ended up being taken to the hospital in Bastogne. Mortar hit. Messed his leg up a bit.

But he'd be fine.

What Peggy was choosing to focus on was how pissed off she was at not going on the patrol. Normally, something like that wouldn't bother her. But Dike never sent her out. In fact it looked like he'd explicitly ordered for her to never be on a patrol. And how she griped. It made her incredibly angry. She had a world more experience than he!

But, for a moment, she pushed that down to tell Skip off for saying "That's it, guys. Nothing more to worry about. If we're gonna die now, we're gonna die in a state of grace."

"No, you're not going to die. You're all going to stay safe, or so help me, I'll march out there, drag your body back, resuscitate you just to kill you again."

Skip laughed, and patted her shoulder. He assured her that he'd be just fine.

"You know they'd be firing at you right?"

"Like hell they will!"

Then everyone was chuckling at Peggy's suggestion that she wouldn't get shot up.

But after that, they had to get on their way. So they did. Peggy sighed as she saw Gene hurry after them. He needed a break. Hell, they all did, but the medics especially. The Ardennes were hell on earth - but so fucking cold she couldn't feel her tits.

Hopefully the environment she was in was stressful enough for her menstrual cycle to skip.

She didn't move for a while, before shuffling off to find someone to talk to.

Later, she heard distant gunfire, and hoped that it wasn't the patrol.

Soon, she'd find out it was. And that Julian had been left behind.

Babe was adamant that he was still alive, that they could go back and get him. But it wasn't safe, not when the patrol had come across their line. She'd stayed with him for the rest of the day, even slipping into the covered foxhole with him and Spina, hugging him tight and giving him some semblance of warmth. It was the warmest she'd been in a while, and soon she drifted off to sleep.

She was vaguely aware of movement beside her, and a chill at her side, but it was the sound of planes and gunfire that finally jerked her and Babe and Spina awake. There was a supply drop apparently. That was when it finally registered that the sky was clear and there was no fog in sight.

People were whizzing past, heading to jeeps to Bastogne to get some much needed supplies.

Peggy stayed.

There was food, aid kits, morphine syrettes, smokes, all the good stuff. The team Lipton had taken were the first to arrive in the town of Bastogne, and took what they could before hurrying back to redistribute. Peggy smoked one of her eked out cigarettes.

Throughout the sporadic fire of the day, she stayed with her friends, even following Bill when he headed out to the Observation Post. She couldn't smoke in there. They were crammed in, Bill, Buck, Babe and Peggy. But it was nice. Cold, but almost warm too. Nearly cosy.

It started to snow again.

But the novelty of snowfall had already worn away. It wasn't magical or beautiful anymore, not really. It was cold. It was miserable. It was another thing obstructing their view.

Despite this, still she watched them flutter slowly down. She'd never seen flakes so big. Imagining the shapes made her smile. Just like Bill's arm around her. Peggy wasn't listening to the conversation around her, which is why Bill whispering in her ear made her jump.

"That smile of yours is stunnin', Peg."

Her face was all warm, and she ducked her head away as Bill pulled her closer still.

Gene didn't so much as bat an eyelid when he arrived to give them a blanket.

"Never calls anybody by their nickname."

Now that wasn't true.

"He once called me Edward."

Peggy giggled, she could imagine it happening, and Doc being confused at Babe's displeasure.

"You don't look like an Edward."

They went back to watching the line.

"Y'know, he calls me by my nickname." They were all utterly flabbergasted. Was it really so hard to believe? "And he told me I sparkled on my birthday. Do you remember that? I...I wonder where Ripley is now..."

It wasn't until that moment that she missed Ripley.

But now she missed him dearly and her heart hurt.

Before she knew what she was doing, she was solemnly humming a song she'd heard once. A song about a maid lamenting about her homesickness.

Oh the oak, and the ash, and the bonny ivy tree

All flourish and bloom in my North Country.

How sadly I roam,

And lament my dear home-

Buck told her to shut up.

So she did.

A little while later, Bill asked her what she'd hummed, but Peggy didn't want to talk. And so she slept