Pitschen ma en gamba - Small, but powerful [A Band of Brothers Story]

Cold

A/N: Hi guys! Just wanted to thank you all for reading, voting and commenting on my story. Your support is amazing and I'm so happy that you like my writing.

Fyi: I am already planning a second Band of Brothers story where more than 1 woman joins Easy. I have a few characters set up, but if you would like to add one (or if you have any ideas / requests for the story itself), feel free to shoot me a message.

Character requests should include:

- Full Name (including middle name if they have one)
- Age and/or Date of Birth
- brief description of their looks
- description of their character, attitude, life before the Army...(optional: who they are close to from Easy)
- why they signed up (note that they won't all be in Easy. They'll be in the other companies, too)
- what position and rank you want them to have (e.g. scout, translator, spy, regular soldier, medic...)

Now, PSA over and on with the story.

Ella had no idea what day it was. The freezing, grey weather took away all sense of time. The artillery barrages and sporadic enemy fire blurred the days together. But she knew one thing for certain:

She had never been so cold in all her life.

It wasn't the first time the girl had cursed her own body, but that had always been in a different context. Being small and having virtually no fat reserves, it was much more difficult to keep her body temperature up without proper clothing or blankets.

Considering the circumstances, the young medic was quite surprised that she hadn't fallen ill yet. Spina was another one of the fortunate few who had neither a runny nose nor a cough.

The Germans had cut the road behind them. They were surrounded and there was little hope for a supply drop with the heavy fog that clouded the forest. But stubborn as she was, the small girl refused to let that get to her.

She had to stay positive, for the boys' sake. She did what she could to cheer the guys up, smiling at them and exchanging jokes and pleasantries on her rounds. She kept a close eye on all the men, including officers and medics, watching out not only for signs of injury or illness, but also combat fatigue and stress reactions.

***

It was snowing lightly as the brunette finished her rounds. Spina had taken over digging their foxhole. Gene was off trying to find his way to 3rd Battalion, hoping to get some supplies.

They had lost so many men already.

Some had simply frozen to death in their foxholes, falling asleep and never waking up. Others had been killed in the artillery and sniper fire the Krauts liked to send their way. And a fair few had turned themselves in to the hospital in Bastogne with trench foot or frostbite, though those returned to the line after a few days.

Sighing, Ella shook herself out of the bleak thoughts as she neared another foxhole. The mood was depressed enough without her adding to it. Keep smiling. The snow crunched beneath her boots.

Hands buried deep in the pockets of her jacket, she took a knee at the edge of the hole, hiding a wince as her bruised ribs protested before peering inside.

"Hi guys", she greeted her friends with a smile.

Liebgott and Alley smiled back at her. Their faces were a chalky white from the cold, noses and cheeks flushed.

"Hey Shorty, fancy meeting you here", Alley quipped.

She chuckled, glad to see them in relatively good spirits. "You keeping warm?", the young girl asked.