Half Sick of Shadows » Band of Brothers [2]

41: When You Lose

"Man, when you lose your laugh you lose your footing." - Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

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Getting everyone assigned somewhere to stay takes (understandably) an awfully long time, so whilst we're waiting to receive our billeting I take the time to look around at our new temporary home. Zell am See is, to put it simply, draw-droppingly gorgeous. Everything seems to shine with a certain vibrancy the rest of Europe has lost during its time in the war; I don't believe I've ever seen a bluer sky or greener grass.

Mountains rise up over the town in every direction and they're breathtaking. They're tall and snow-capped, and I can't help but wonder what this quaint little Austrian town looks like at Christmas.

Christmas. I wonder how I'll be spending Christmas now that the war in Europe's over. I haven't spent a Christmas in England since 1937. My God, it's been a long war.

Tom, Martin, Will, and I take a short stroll to explore the town a little bit - really, we want to find the lake but familiarising ourselves immediately with a new place is a habit of spies and old habits die hard.

Zell am See, in a direct contrast to Berchtesgaden, is full of locals and bustling with activity. The Austrian people seem more than happy to welcome us in and we greet them in polite German whenever we come across them.

We don't actually end up making it to the lake, for Tom makes us all circle back around before we can get too far to ensure we don't miss our billeting and risk handing it over to another group of soldiers. When we get back to the main area we only have to wait a further five minutes before we're assigned rooms in a nearby hotel; the main hotel has been reserved for the officers, predictably, but we're two to a room in the next nearest one and that's certainly good enough for me.

Entering a hotel room which is actually still in use is some sort of uncharted bliss. The beds are freshly made, the sheets clean, the curtains pulled, and there are fresh towels in the bathroom. Tom beats me to the shower but I don't mind so much, content to get first pick of the beds. I choose the one nearest the window, so I can lay down and see the mountains at the same time, and the mattress is so soft and bouncy I'm already half-asleep by the time Tom emerges from the bathroom.

"Shower's all yours," he announces with a grin. "I've been charitable in giving it up for you - I could've stayed in there forever."

I laugh and slip my boots off before heading in. I'm hit immediately in the face by the steam and humidity still coming off of the shower, but I don't mind all that much.

When I step under the water I understand what Tom meant because it really is heaven. The water is a fast and constant stream and it's so warm I could honestly live under it. And they have proper shampoo and conditioner, brand new unlike the dregs we had to make do with in Berchtesgaden. Needless to say, I end up spending much longer than I initially intended in the there.

When I emerge, wrapped in the fluffy white dressing gown I found under the sink, I shoot Tom a smile, still wringing my hair out.

"Incredible, isn't it?" he asks with a grin.

I laugh and nod. "I think Austria's my favourite place we've been yet."

"Beats Paris," he replies easily.

"God, doesn't everywhere?" I joke back and come to sit on my bed.

"We'll never have to do another mission in Paris," Tom comments mindlessly once I've sat down. When I look to him he's staring up at the ceiling, a lazy smile on his face. "With any luck we'll never have to do another mission again at all."