A Soldier of No Importance [ Band of Brothers ] 1

FIFTY TWO

"Hey, Alice, Lip's got a matchin' wound with you now!"

Bill strode over to Alice as she wandered in and around the various buildings, checking for any sort of Intel she could gather. It seemed like any sort of intelligence that might've, and should've, been with a garrison holding Carentan had disappeared. It made her wonder where they'd gone. But as Bill made his way up to her, she shook herself from her thoughts and just looked over in confusion.

"Your face," he clarified.

Alice frowned. "But he's ok now?"

Bill scoffed. "Yeah, 'course he is. That bastard ain't about to get knocked outta this war in the first week."

They stood next to each other, surveying the area. Some men of Dog Company had come in to help Easy clear the area. In the center, as the sun beat down on them in the early afternoon, she watched the guys lounging about.

"How's Tipper?" she asked.

Bill's smirk fell. He turned to her and sighed. "Fuckin' Krauts got him good. Doc sent him right on to the hospital."

Alice nodded. She'd guessed as much. When she'd run into Liebgott after taking Dick to the aid station, he'd been shaken up. His testy mood had only increased when she pressed him on the issue so she'd left him alone. Her heart went out to them.

"Any other casualties?"

Bill sighed. He listed off a few men of Easy who'd been injured enough to warrant a hospital stay, but over all, they'd only suffered light injuries. Alice listened closely.

"Word is Blithe got cured by Lieutenant Winters. Cured 'is sight, or some other Jesus-type shit," Bill muttered. "Crazy stuff."

Alice nodded. She'd seen Albert Blithe leaning against a wall, unable to see. Later, after Dick had limped around outside to find the commanders, she'd gone back to see Gene. From him, she heard about Blithe's 'hysterical blindness'.

Blithe now lay on the warm stones with More, Malarkey, Muck, and Penkala. The four other men lounged about, eating or otherwise talking of random things. She couldn't quite hear them from where she stood in an archway with Bill. When he walked away to go find Joe, she just stood in silence, alone.

Turning back to the five men lounging in the center, Alice wondered what they were talking about. Beyond them, Ron Speirs picked his way around various men. Alice made to walk over to him when he stopped to talk to the others. She couldn't hear what they said, but she didn't miss how they all instantly tensed, all except Blithe, who wasn't paying attention, and Alton More, who just continued smoking and looked entirely unconcerned.

Ron moved away. She lifted her hand to get his attention. Meeting her gaze, he nodded and headed her way, only to stop in his tracks. Alice watched him turn back to the others. Malarkey, Muck, and Penkala looked all but terrified, especially the first of those. Before long, Ron turned away and headed back towards her.

"What the hell was that about?" Alice asked. She kept her voice low, half watching the other men and half paying attention to Ron.

"Seems your men don't want to get moving. They like it here," he said.

Alice scoffed. With a roll of her eyes, she shook her head. Then she turned back to him. "Stop terrorizing my men, please."

Ron suppressed a laugh. He didn't respond before walking away, leaving her alone yet again. She thought about rejoining him, or perhaps going over to the men that Ron had managed to scare, but at that moment, Harry Welsh wandered over.

"First Platoon, get up! We're moving out!"

From beyond them, she heard Buck and Dick also getting their platoons together. Once Harry had made sure his men were getting up, adding a second command for Blithe specifically, he moved to her.