We Happy Few/// Band of Brothers fanfiction

Chapter 15: Alone in Foy

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Foy, Ardennes Forest, Belgium

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It had only been two days since Gabriella and Joe had been driven off to a hospital, but Bill was still close to losing his mind with worry. He did his duties as platoon Sergeant, but with more angst, more concern and more paranoia. The Germans hadn't let off any more artillery since then and everyone was nervous. Not only had Lieutenant Peacock been let go, but they lost two more well-respected Lieutenants- one to serious injury, another to war. Gabriella was expected to return before Joe, but everyone knew Buck wasn't coming back. And if he made it home, he was sure he would never join the military again, unlike some other members of Easy Company such as Winters or Nixon, or even Lieutenant Spiers of Dog Company.

Bill knew his friends would return from the hospital and they would fight until they couldn't fight no more. It was almost predicated of the two considering they were the toughest fighters around. Every time they got knocked down, they got right back up. It was shown through the amount of times they were sent to a hospital or aid Station and came back after only a couple days or so. More recently, since they arrived in the Ardennes Forest. By now, everyone knew that if Gabriella hadn't pulled Joe and herself in a different direction, Gabriella would most likely be dead and Joe would be missing his leg from above the knee. The story managed to spread and Gabriella was deemed the savior of her closest friend in combat.

"Hey, Bill. You doin' alright?" George asked the man, keeping his promise to the young Lieutenant currently in the hospital. Bill had been sitting in his foxhole most of yesterday and only today did he find the energy to check on his platoon men and find something to eat.

"Oh, you know me, Luz. Still worryin' about the two in the hospital." he answered in all honesty. How could someone lie about something like that.

"Ah, those two are made of steel. They'll be fiiine." The radioman assured, extending emphasis on the 'i'.

"You gotta remember, Luz: steel still rusts." Bill stated. He wasn't one for sugar-coating anything since he found his two best friends bleeding and torn at the bottom of that hill a couple days prior. The Sergeants remark had left the young radioman speechless, almost for the first time since he joined the Paratroopers. Without any parting words, the two separated; Bill went off to do some Sergeant stuff and George to find something to do besides walk around and blast through a pack of smokes, eventually finding Skip, Malarkey and Penkala standing around talking.

Telling the impersonational story of Lieutenant Dyke and his remark to Lipton when the first round of artillery attacked the Company. All until Lipton noticed and told him to stop. Dyke had since returned, but remained unnoticed in his foxhole for that last two days. The group of four had parted when George was called to the side by Lipton, thus scattering and rendering the group of friends unprepared for the next round of artillery blasts that came out of nowhere: no whistling, no firing noises. The only way they knew they were being fired at was when the first round hit the ground.

Skip and Penkala took shelter in the nearest foxhole, Luz had been thrown to the ground and Bill hit a tree. The not so distant memory of his friends' situation a couple days prior had struck Bill like a truck, and hearing Skip and Penkala screaming for Luz seemed to ignite some sort of heroic sense within him as he ran towards the voices. When he got closer, he realized there was a round coming straight for that foxhole.

"You can't stay here! Move!" He screamed at the men, pointing to the sky before running to Luz. When Skip and Penkala noticed the incoming round, they were out of the foxhole faster than they were in it. Bill had dragged Luz to his feet and the two ran away from the foxhole. When the artillery round hit the foxhole dead-on, Bill and Luz were in the safety of a foxhole with Lipton, but Muck and Penkala were thrown a bit away, sporting minor injuries and concussions. But it was enough.