"About 13,000 dead in the massacre." Thirteen thousand. Alice couldn't even begin to fathom the size of that number. She had no frame of reference. But her blood boiled and her body trembled at the thought.

As her fourth glass of wine sat half finished before her, she couldn't concentrate. She'd been called into Intelligence that afternoon. They'd shown her some files that had been smuggled out of Poland, some papers in German they'd wanted her to translate. Not far from her in the room, Nixon and several others examined the transcript from the Bermuda Conference. Alice had listened intently.

Thirteen thousand dead. The entire Jewish population of the city of Warsaw had been eradicated after they'd revolted against the Nazis. Thirteen thousand dead. And yet, the British and the Americans still restricted aid to Europe's Jews. Platitudes of the necessity to win the war stood in the place of actual, meaningful help to the Jews as the Bermuda Conference had come to an end.

Her hand shook violently as she lifted her wine to her lips. The quiet club had very few patrons. Alice sat in the back, half leaning over her table, drowning herself in alcohol and cigarettes. Her second smoke had almost run out. The world spun every so often, the alcohol rushing through her system. 

Thirteen thousand Jews, dead. They'd died choking on acrid black smoke or burned alive, skin seared off where they stood. Some had gone down fighting. Others died screaming. Alice could almost hear the screams of the men, women, and children when she closed her eyes.

She lit a third cigarette, tossing the now dead second one to the ground. Her trembling hands flicked up the lighter. The small flame licked at the white cigarette. She paused. Thirteen thousand Jews, burned alive as Warsaw's ghettos had been razed.

The metal lighter clinked against the dark wood table as she dropped it. Sucking in the smoke, Alice willed her body to calm down. But her trembling didn't stop. She shot up from her seat, wobbling only for a moment. Alice fled the bar.

Her feet pounded across the grounds of Camp Mackall. Grass flattened under her boots. An ache had settled in her head. When she finally opened the door to her barracks, Alice went straight down the wooden aisle to her bunk.

"Hey, how was your afternoon without Sobel," Don asked her.

She didn't respond. Instead, Alice just dug around in her footlocker for her shower kit. Her head spun. Thirteen thousand dead. Her fingers fumbled with the buttons on her dress uniform. It took effort to strip down just to her undershirt.

"Have fun?" added Gene, turning to her from his lower bunk.

"It was brilliant," she snapped back. Alice slammed the footlocker top closed. Her hand went to her temple as the noise echoed. "Brilliant."

Without sparing any of the men another glance, she stalked back down the aisle and out the door. When it slammed shut behind her, she paused. She considered going back in and asking for someone to stand watch while she showered. But she didn't have the energy.

When she got to the D, E, and F Company enlisted showers, Talbert and Sisk were just leaving. She huffed. "One of you make sure no one walks in on me." She didn't even wait for them to respond before walking inside the empty stalls.

She turned the water on and stripped. It fell cold all over her skin. The chill brought relief, a shock to her system. For a few minutes she stood silent, face under the stream. What did thirteen thousand people even look like? They'd been killed at Passover. But the angel of death hadn't passed over them in Warsaw.

Alice barely bothered to dry her hair before changing into her sleeping clothes. With the white shirt sticking to her damp skin, she ducked back outside where Talbert and Skinny both stood silent.

"Thank you." Alice nodded to them. She started back towards her barracks.

"Lieutenant?" Floyd Talbert's voice stopped her. He didn't offer his half salute. Instead he watched her carefully.

"What?"

"Are you ok?"

Alice turned back to them. Both Tab and Skinny looked at her in concern. She bit her lip. "I'll be fine."

They didn't look satisfied. But Alice didn't give them a chance to push further. She started back towards the Easy Company barracks, going a bit slower than her rampage from before. When her boots hit the steps up to her barracks, she took a deep breath and went inside.

Guarnere, Toye, and Luz stood together. Most of the rest of the men were back in the barracks as well, and they all turned at her entrance. Alice used her small washcloth to pat down her wavy hair as she moved to her bunk bed.

"Right, what happened today?" Joe asked. He folded his arms as she walked past him. 

"Drop it."

But Bill was having none of it. He snickered. "You're on a fucking rampage. Who pissed you off this time?"

Alice felt her body trembling again. With her back to most of the room, she tried to take a deep breath. Only Gene, lying on the lower bunk, could see her face as she stuffed her shower essentials into her footlocker.

"Qu'est-ce qui ne va pas?"

Alice glanced at him, pulled out of her thoughts. What was wrong? Thirteen thousand Jews had been murdered, thirteen thousand men, women, and children wiped from the face of the Earth, burned alive until only black charred ash remained.

"Sweetheart-"

"Drop it, Sergeant!" Alice spun on Guarnere, seething.

As the members of the barracks stared at her in equal parts concern and surprise, Gene put down his rosary and stood up from his bunk. He eyed her carefully. "You're shaking."

What he said was true. She could feel her body trembling, and she couldn't control herself. Her breaths came short. But she just glared at him. "I said-"

"I heard what you said." Gene folded his arms over his chest. Matching her stare for a few moments, he pointed towards the door. "Walk." When she didn't move, he shook his head. "I got no issue goin' over yah head and getting Winters to order you to go with me to the aid station."

Alice felt her eyes widen in surprise. Clenching her jaw in fury, she gave him one last glare before striding down the barracks. Gene followed her close behind. They didn't speak until halfway to the aid station on Camp Mackall.

"What is wrong, Alice?" He looked at her closer. "Have you been drinking?"

"I had some," she snapped back.

Gene grabbed her arm and made her wait. She spun around as they stood in the middle of a field. He watched her carefully.

"You ain't acting normal, Alice." With a sigh, he softened his voice. "What's wrong?"

She hesitated. With a quick glance around, Alice tried to calm her breathing. She still couldn't stop her shaking. She looked at the stars. The stars had been a promise to her people. Then she looked back at Gene.

"Some intelligence information I had to work on was… unsettling." Alice folded her arms over her chest. Her heart hurt. "I may have had a bit too much to drink, and smoke."

"How much?" Gene looked at her eyes, and then took her pulse. 

"I think it was four glasses of wine and three cigarettes."

He muttered under his breath. Together they resumed their walk to the aid station. Gene didn't ask any more questions. When they got inside, he sat her down.

"I can't give you any meds cause of the alcohol," he explained. "Stay here." When Gene came back, he had a full canteen of water. "Drink it."

She sighed. But Alice obeyed his order, and she drank the splendidly cold water slowly. Gene watched her drink it. After nearly ten minutes of silence, he nodded.

"There. Now you ain't shaking."

Alice nodded. She took another drink of water. With a frown, she looked at him. "Sorry I snapped." 

Gene shrugged. "I can take it. Malarkey and Guarnere, on the other hand, that I don't know."

She glanced up at him. After a moment, he flashed her a small smile. She chuckled at his joke. They fell back into silence, and Gene moved away to refill her canteen. Once she had calmed down further, he nodded and said they could head back.

"Thanks," Alice muttered. 

Gene didn't respond at first. As they trudged back across Camp Mackall, he shrugged. "No more cigarettes tonight, Alice. And definitely no more wine." Then he paused before continuing. "I will go to Lieutenant Winters, if this happens again and you don't listen to me."

"I know you will."

Together they walked the few steps up into the barracks. Half an hour at least had passed, and the men had mostly fallen quiet, some sleeping and some playing poker. At their entrance, the ones still awake glanced over.

"Leave 'er alone," Gene said quickly. "She don't need you all bothering her."

Alice smirked, turning back to look at Gene. But he didn't reply. Instead, she just took off her boots and climbed up the ladder of her bunk. Beneath her, Gene Roe settled into his own cot.

After a good ten minutes of silence, in which a handful of the Easy Company boys started groaning over a large poker loss, Alice shifted in her cot. She sat up and looked down the room. Luz, Martin, Guarnere, Toye, and Randleman had set up two footlockers for the poker game. Martin had a rare smile on his face as he collected his winnings. She decided to climb down.

"One more round?" She stood behind George and Bill, looking down at where they had the cards flung all about. When they all looked at her warily, she huffed. "I won't court-martial you. I promise."

George scooted over. "If you've got money."

Alice scoffed. "I've got enough saved up to play a round."

"Cigarette?" 

Alice looked at the smoke that Guarnere offered her. She grimaced. "Gene might actually murder me if I take another one. Either that, or report me to Dick." But she glanced at Bill. "I appreciate the offer though."

"Long as you don't punch me, we're good, Lieutenant." Bill winked at her and smirked as she glanced at him.

"No punches. I promise."