Her feet dragged through the snow as she walked from where the jeep dropped her off into the Battalion CP. The sun hadn't even fully risen yet. The cuts on her face, especially the one above her left eye, made her skin feel tight as she yawned. It took serious thought to make her feet lift above the snow drifts.

The CP stood quiet. No one moved around, a surprise to her. Usually someone was up before the sun. Taking a few moments to just breathe, Alice slipped her helmet off. It hung by her side. A gust of wind forced her to turn her face away, trying not to freeze. She sputtered as she attempted, poorly, to suppress her cough.

Muscle memory took her towards the Intelligence tent. Everything looked the same as the hour before the bombing. Even her mostly melted Vat 69 snow cone still sat at the table. As light began to fill the CP, the lean-to include, she sank down into the wooden chair. Her body absolutely ached, fatigue taking over in a way it hadn't perhaps ever before. The cold, the lack of sleep, and, she realized, the fact that she hadn't really anything at all the day before, completely sapped Alice of all energy.

Alice put her arms on the table. Her helmet lay beside her. Shifting the snow cone to the side, she all but collapsed onto her arms. The warmth of her breath in the little crevice of her arms offered a strangely lovely relief from the frigid winds. With the warm air and her steady breathing calming her down, Alice drifted off to sleep.

It was Dick who found her. He moved into the tent, reading a report that Ron had brought from Dog. But the pile of messy, grimey blonde hair on the table made him stop. A mix of relief and disbelief filled him. Reports of the bombing of Bastogne had trickled in throughout the night, but no one had exact casualty counts or names for anyone. He'd seen Gene half an hour before but hadn't had a chance to flag him down.

With a deep breath, he turned and walked out of the tent. In the center of the CP, Nixon, Ron, and Buck stood around a small pot of coffee. They'd watered it way down, but at least it was something.

"I found her," Dick said. Gesturing behind to the tent, he took the cup offered from Nixon. "Thanks."

"She alright?" asked Nixon.

Dick nodded between sips of the watered down coffee. "Looks like it. She fell asleep at the table."

Handing his cup back to Nixon, he moved towards her foxhole. Blanket in hand, he moved back inside. With the blanket draped over her body, he rejoined the other officers outside. Dick sighed. "How many k rations do we have left? When she wakes up she needs to eat. She didn't eat dinner with Easy last night."

Nixon nearly choked on his drink. "What?" When they all looked at him strange, he shook his head. "Well she didn't eat lunch either. She said she wasn't hungry."

The cup left Dick's mouth. He stared at Nixon first, then back to the tent where Alice slept. He shook his head. "Are you telling me she hasn't eaten in at least twenty-four hours?"

The half-scoff, half-sigh that came from Ron summed up all their opinions. "That sounds just like her. I swear, how she can be as smart as she is and still be so stupid, I will never understand."

None of them disagreed with him. Buck just shook his head with a tiny smile. "At least she's got guts."

Both Buck and Ron had to return to their companies. It left Nixon and Dick standing in the center of the CP, Strayer back in Bastogne with Sink surveying the damage of the air raid. They inventoried their supplies for rations. It was only when they got ready to sit down to a meager lunch that Alice made an appearance.

The blanket Dick had brought to her wrapped around her body like a cape. Alice had put her helmet back over her head. With droopy eyes and borderline clammy skin, she joined them.

She had to blink against the bright sunlight bouncing off the snow. A shiver passed through her. "Did it get colder? Is that even possible?"

"Sit your ass down, Alice, and eat some goddamn food," Nixon ordered. 

She didn't snap back. After tossing her blanket back under the tarp and into her foxhole, she moved over to where they stood eating beans and k rations. With a sigh, she accepted what Dick handed to her. "Thanks."

After making sure she ate a few bites, Dick asked his first question. "How's Eugene?" 

Her demeanor changed immediately. Her chewing slowed. Lowering her small spoon, Alice just stared at the ground. "He's been better. But I think he's going to be ok."

Dick just gave a little nod. Both he and Nixon watched her as she picked at her food. After a few minutes of letting her stand, eat, and think, he interrupted her again. "Harry?"

She glanced up at them in confusion. "Oh." With a nod, she stirred at her beans and shrugged. "He should be alright. But we still can't evacuate any wounded."

"Well, at least he's safe," Nixon replied.

Finishing up her small meal, Alice handed it back to Nixon who collected all three. It took her a few moments to collect herself. Then she turned to Dick. "I'd like to go up to the line tonight. I want to talk to a few of the men."

Dick looked at her in concern. "About Doc?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I want to talk to Gene, and Spina."

From the other side of the center of the CP, Nixon added, "Why Spina?" 

"Well." She paused, choosing her words carefully. "I think of everyone up on the line, Spina probably has the best grasp of how Gene is doing right now." She paused. With another nod, she tried to explain further. "I also want to make sure he's doing alright, given Gene's recent behavior."

Dick looked at her thoughtfully. After a moment he turned away, looking out past the edge of Battalion CP towards the space occupied by Easy Company.  Then he nodded. "Right. You can stay up there for the night." Then he gave her the tiniest smirk. "Just let me know if Dike gives you any trouble."

Alice nodded. She did her best to not roll her eyes. But with that settled, they got to work on their mid morning tasks. Alice walked the line up to Fox Company with Nixon before lunch, checking on the border with the 502nd. It came as no surprise that everyone looked to be in sour moods. The bombing of Bastogne had done a number on everyone's morale.

After having lunch, which seemed to give Alice a bit more energy, she grabbed her rifle and pistol and headed towards the Easy Company CP. The wind had died down considerably, much to her relief. But still she found herself attempting to suppress her cough whenever she breathed in too deeply.

Alice came across More, Liebgott, and Alley at the Easy Company CP. The latter both looked to be in moderately high spirits. Alton More looked cold, but the cigarette seemed to be maybe helping with that as they stood in a little circle.

"Well, well, look who showed up," More said. He nodded to her. "Lieutenant."

"You three are keeping warm, I hope," she said, smiling. Picking her way over to the three men, she crossed her arms over her chest to hopefully do the same. "How goes it up here?"

"Better than Bastogne," muttered Alley.

Her smile fell. "Yeah. I was there last night."

"What the fuck were you doing there," Liebgott demanded. "Jesus. In the middle of the air raid?"

"Lieutenant Welsh got hit. Gene and I took him back to the aid station," she explained. She shrugged. "Then the aid station got hit, so we stayed to help the wounded."

"Jesus Christ," Lieb muttered. 

"Well, welcome back up to the line," Alley said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "We've gotta get back to our hole. C'mon Joe."

"Yeah."

More snickered as he threw his cigarette into the snow. "Just keep your singin' to yourselves, boys."

The heckling continued between all three as More went right and they went left. Watching them go, she couldn't but smile a little. Alice shook her head. When Peacock walked up a moment later, she turned to him and nodded. "Peacock."

"Lieutenant," he said with a nod. "Have you seen Lieutenant Dike?"

Alice had to suppress a scoff. "No, I'm sorry. He wasn't at the CP, though."

"Right." 

With a glum expression, he stormed off. If Dike had somehow managed to even annoy Thomas Peacock, who himself had similar issues to Dike, truly the Company Commander had screwed up. With that thought, Alice moved towards the foxholes along the line.

"Well look who it is, everyone's favorite Lieutenant."

She heard Alex Penkala before she saw him. But a moment later, he and Bull waved her over from a foxhole. She hurried over, kneeling at the edge of their spot. "Keep your voice down, Penk. Don't make the others feel bad about not being as well liked as me."

Both Bull and Alex snickered at her joke. The former shrugged before looking out across the line. "Yeah, well, that's on them. Don't take much to be liked 'round here."

Alice laughed. "Now that isn't true."

"What'd'ya mean?" Alex asked.

She turned to him. "Word is, you Toccoa boys aren't being very inviting to the replacements these days."

Alex groaned and shook his head. "Look, I've already been lectured by Lip-"

"Oh good. So that means you'll engage with them more. My work here is done." She stood back up. "Bull already put in his time with the new kids. I expect to hear you did some of the work too, Alex." After he groaned, she smirked down at them again. Turning first to Bull, and then to Penkala, she smiled. "Now, how's your arm doing? Gene said you'd been hit."

"Barely a scratch," boasted Alex.

Bull snorted. "That so? Shit, you was squealin' like a piglet when it happened, Penky."

Her laughter exploded before she could contain herself. While Alex just glared at Bull Randleman and then at her, she struggled to get a hold of herself. Bull looked smug as he took a Lucky Strike from his pocket and lit it, out of his cigars.

"Hey! Quit it. I thought it hit the artery, ok?" he rolled his eyes and settled further into the foxhole. "Goddamn it."

"And on that note, I'll leave you two to your work," Alice said. 

Her eyes watered as she backed away. Once she got a ways away from any foxholes, her cough took over. The laughter hurt more than a gust of wind. Alice collapsed to her knees and grabbed a tree. "Scheisse." Another cough wrecked her body. "Verdammt!" She eased herself against the tree and took a few breaths. Snow had gotten into her jacket. All the mirth she'd felt a minute before melted away instantly.

After sitting in the cold snow for a couple moments, her gloves thoroughly soaked through and her feet frozen even through her leather boots, she pushed herself up. She took a few hesitant deep breaths. Her lungs sounded clear. She breathed deeper. Still clear. 

"How long have you been coughin' like that?" 

Even confined to her helmet, her hair whipped into her cheeks when Spina spoke up from her right. He walked over to her. His eyes scanned her up and down. Just like Gene. Must've been a medic thing.

"It started up towards the end of our stay in Mourmelon-le-Grand," Alice admitted as he came to stand next to her. "I'm used to getting a cough in the cold. This only feels a little worse."

"Hm, well, cough for me."

She frowned. 

"Come on, Alice. Or would you rather Gene be the one to discover you've gotta cough like that."

As she frowned again, even deeper, he just sent her a smile. They both knew he'd won with that comment alone. Both knew how protective Gene got over his patients, especially anyone he considered a close friend. Those were few and far between, but Alice definitely counted among them.

So she coughed. It hurt, the movement of the cold air through her throat and lungs. Spina looked at her again. 

"Well, it ain't as bad as it could be. But you gotta watch it, right? Lemme know if it gets worse."

"Yes, sir," she muttered sarcastically.

Spina cracked up. "Now, you looking for Gene?"

"Gene and you actually."

"Yeah, why's that?" 

The two of them started off towards what she presumed was his foxhole. The snow crunched beneath their feet. It had been a couple days since the last snowfall, but the ice and frost reformed every night. Now, as the sun began to sink a little lower in the sky, the cold increased.

"I wanted to see how you were doing," she ventured. "And ask if Gene had been normal today."

Spina cracked up. "Normal? What's normal these days, Lieutenant?" He shook his head. As they reached a large foxhole, he slipped inside. When she followed, he shrugged. "You know what he's like. I think we're all done playin' doctor."

Alice frowned. "I know. I'm sorry."

"He spent a while up near the OP with Babe. I don' know where he is now," Spina took his canteen out and downed a large drink. "I think all those trips into town did more harm than good."

"Have you ever gone in," Alice asked.

He shook his head. "Nah. Gene always went in, insisted he could do it 'imself. But I heard stuff from one of Dog's medics. Said it looked like a graveyard."

"It's not pretty," she admitted after a moment. Taking a drink from her own canteen, Alice wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. A bit of dirt scraped against her skin and she grimaced. "They line the dead up along the sides of the main road. The ground is too cold to dig graves, and they can't burn them."

"I hate this whole fucking thing," Spina said. He shook his head, lying a bit further back into the foxhole. The last rays of the sun broke through some of the cloud cover and he sighed. "You stayin' the night?"

"If you don't mind."

"Nah, it's fine. Gene might fight ya' for his spot, though, if he ends up back here."

With a tight smile, she nodded. Another few minutes passed, Spina going through his medical supplies with the last bit of daylight. After a minute, she spoke up again.

"Spina, you didn't answer my first question."

"Yeah, what was that?"

"How are you doing?"

He stopped rummaging through his pack. With a sigh, he just shrugged. Spina looked over at her. "Hanging in there."

"Right." Hoping her small smile would bring some comfort, she looked him in the eyes. "Well, don't worry about coming to me for something to avoid Foxhole Norman."

At the use of the Company Commander's moniker, he snorted and shot her a smile. He agreed. With the sun setting below the horizon and the darkness overtaking the forest, they settled back. Silence reigned. Both tried to get as much sleep as possible.