B O O K   T W O

Chapter One

December 17, 1944

Camp de Châlons, Mourmelon-le-Grand, France

The list of things that Alice wouldn't give up in order to acquire warmer clothes kept shrinking by the hour. She'd gladly trade her civilian dress for a hat, or her Mary Janes for gloves. She'd even give up a carton of smokes for more socks.

Well, maybe not that. Not yet, at least.

The sky had clouded over sometime around noon. For maybe the first time ever, Alice found herself wishing for Camp Toccoa. Camp Toccoa had been warm, sometimes too warm. But Mourmelon-le-Grand in mid December had biting wind and a fierce cold that found Alice no matter how many layers of summer clothing she covered herself with.

The clouds had started raining sometime around dinner. The rain came more as a mist than anything else, not enough to drive the companies indoors, but enough to make everyone totally and completely miserable. Why she had decided it necessary to watch Easy Company outside, Alice didn't know. Some twisted sense of solidarity, perhaps.

At least she had found an overhang for some small amount of shelter. Why Lieutenant Dike had decided to make Easy Company fall into formation before letting them eat, she didn't know. She had a sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with the fact that she'd managed to acquire passes for three of his NCOs without asking his permission.

As another gust of wind threw frozen droplets of rain into her bare cheeks, Alice groaned. This was not the way to make friends with the enlisted, Foxhole Norman. Even Babe Heffron, usually fairly mild tempered unless egged on by fellow Philly, Bill, had a gaze that could've killed Dike.

The one bit of fun that was to be had by standing outside in the freezing rain waiting for Easy Company was in fact watching the various expressions of her friends. Bill Guarnere's jaw had clenched so hard, it became a right angle. She also noticed him favoring his right leg. The weather could not have been helping his recovery. Alice added this to the list of grievances she held against Norman Dike.

Skip Muck's expression had become so straight, it almost made her laugh. She'd known him long enough to be able to predict the snarky internal dialogue he likely had. He and George had been the driving force behind spreading the moniker Foxhole Norman. His disdain for the man was hardly unknown.

And perhaps her favorite of all, George Luz's look of pure, unadulterated disdain, which he clearly only half tried to hide, touched something in her soul. She knew that look. That was the look they'd all had for Sobel by the time they'd gotten to Aldbourne: less anger, more complete and utter disgust. Poor George had to stand in the biting, wet cold while hauling around a forty pound radio. If anyone had a right to be furious, it was him.

With the sun almost gone, the cold somehow only increased. When Norman Dike dismissed the men to the Mess Hall and then recreation, the anger that had been pent up for self preservation exploded in groans and grumbles. She smirked to herself. Dashing out of the overhang, Alice fell in amongst the men.

"If you're going to plan another mutiny, count me out again," Alice said quietly.

Johnny, Lip, and Bill, all near her, looked at her in surprise. But when she started smiling, they all joined in to various degrees. As Lipton shook his head at her, she snickered.

"I'm not saying I'd disagree. But it already worked once, so I wouldn't count on it again." She shrugged. It took a bit of effort to keep up with the disgruntled soldiers of Easy Company. "Two in a row is a bit of long shot-"

Johnny sent her a glare. Alice shut her mouth, but she couldn't quite suppress her grin. When they finally set foot into the mess hall and out of the freezing rain, the general grumbling began to subside. They soon had warm food and dry seats.

Alice ended up at the edge of a table, across from her, Skip Muck and to her left, Malarkey. Where Alex had gone off to, neither of them knew, but that hardly stopped them. A good solid five minutes of Skip muttering about Norman Dike passed.

"Hey boys, what're you doing?" Lipton came over and stood at the end. Then he glanced at Alice. "And lady."

"Singin' Dike's praises, as usual, Lip," Skip said.

Alice nearly choked on her pasta at his comment. The noise caused Malarkey, Skip, and Lip to all look at her. She wiped her mouth with a napkin.

"You alright?" asked Lip, smiling.

She shook her head, suppressing a laugh. "Did not expect that. Sorry."

"I hope you choke on your food," Malarkey teased. "That's what you get for taking the others to Paris and not us."

"Hey!"

"Malark, shut yer yap," Bill said. He scooted in on the man's right, plate full of pasta. "Just because she likes us more don't give you an excuse to bother her."

Alice looked at him in exasperation. "Hey!"

They all started snickering into their food. The meal passed fairly quickly, as the Third Battalion eagerly awaited their turn. After returning her plate and utensils, she strolled out of the Mess Hall between Malakey and Skip.

"Hey, Alice, think you could lend me some money? A couple of guys from Dog Company are setting up a poker game," Malarkey asked her. "Unless you blew your whole savings in Paris?"

Alice smiled and shook her head. Then she looked over at him, where he walked, eagerly awaiting her response. "Fine. Fifty bucks, and I get to come watch."

"Deal. You won't regret it."

By 1830 hours, Malarkey ate his words. The three men from Dog, highly amused to see Alice hanging around their poker match, had cleaned Malarkey completely out. But never one to be beat down, he left formulating a plan. Alice refused to lend him anything more for betting purposes, so he went to Skip.

Alice watched Skip fork over his sixty dollars. Malarkey hurried away. She walked over to Skip and folded her arms.

"You can kiss that money goodbye," she said.

He just snorted. "What else is new? But I already set aside the money I'm taking to Paris."

"Planning to get something cute for Faye?" When he looked over at her, she started smiling. He never failed to blush at her name. Alice placed a hand on his arm. "It's adorable how much you love her."

With another small scoff, he just shook his head. "Yeah, well, don't go saying it around everybody else." Then he smiled. "I think you'd like her. She'd like you, that's for sure."

"Yeah?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

As they were speaking, standing under the entrance to a movie theater, Lieutenant Dike stalked by outside. They both watched him go. With a small scoff, and shake of his head, Skip took the cigarette out of his mouth and pointed after him. "She wouldn't like him, though."

Alice laughed. "Well, we knew she was smart already."

"Shoulda put you in charge over him," Skip muttered. "Or Welsh."

"While I'm flattered you'd follow me into combat, I'm not so sure the replacements would," she reminded him.

Skip agreed. "They're pretty stupid."

They continued to stand quietly, finishing up their smokes. Men had started gathering inside for whatever picture would be shown that night. Alice just prayed it wouldn't be Casablanca. She'd seen it four times in the past three weeks. Suddenly a blonde haired man caught her eye as he walked up the path to the theater.

"Buck!" She grinned and waved him down. "When did you get back?"

He stopped in front of them as Skip said hello too. His face looked worn, far older than she remembered him ever appearing. But he smiled and nodded. "Got in just before dinner. Had to meet the new CO."

"Hey, Buck, are you XO now?" Skip asked.

He nodded. "Yes I am."

"Good. Maybe you can keep Lieutenant Dike straight," he said with a nod.

Buck looked from Skip to Alice in confusion. She just sighed and nodded. "He's..."

Nothing else needed to be said. And nothing else really could be said, as at the same moment, Lieutenant Foley walked near them. But Buck got the picture.

"I'm gonna head inside. Do you know what's being shown?" he asked. They both shook their heads. With a forced smile, he shrugged. "Guess I'll get surprised then."

With Buck heading inside, they turned back to their smoking. In the shelter of the lean-to theater entrance, the wind didn't hit them, but the air still felt cold. Yet again, Alice bemoaned the lack of winter clothing. How the Army could be put together enough to plan entire invasions but couldn't supply basic gloves, hats, scarves, and boots for winter in Europe astounded her.

Sure they were on leave, but they still did field exercises. Not that the veterans took them seriously; they didn't, at all. At least that was Norman Dike's problem, not hers.

"God, it's cold," Skip muttered.

He stamped out his cigarette. Once she had done the same, they went back inside. Alice didn't know whether to be excited or irritated that George Luz had come to this movie. Depending on the picture, he would quote along with the actors. Hilarious, until it wasn't. She decided to sit next to him, hoping to curb his impressions for the sake of the rest.

"Hey, George," she said.

He grinned. "Hey." Taking his cigarette out of his mouth, he gestured to the front. "Is that Buck?"

"Yes it is! He got in a few hours ago."

Alice looked around. She saw Smokey and Perconte. In front of her and George, Lip and Joe Toye took up seats. That wasn't going to end well, if George started his impressions. Though she supposed they should be thankful for those two: both liked George too much to break his face. Skip slipped into a seat behind her. She wondered if he sat there so he could kick George if necessary.

As it turned out, it was Seven Sinners. Alice had to tell herself not to audibly groan. She had seen Casablanca four times, but she'd seen Seven Sinners six. Though, at least it hadn't all been in the past three weeks. However she knew George would have a field day with this one. John Wayne was one of his favorite people to imitate.

As the movie went on, George did more and more impressions. Alice tried to get him to keep it down, but based on the tensing shoulders of Lip and Joe in the front, she had a feeling it wasn't working. It didn't surprise her at all when Joe finally turned around with a glare that screamed murder.

"Luz, shut up."

Lipton turned around with him. "I'm trying to watch this."

George just took the cigarette out of his mouth lazily and gestured to the screen. "I've seen this movie thirteen times, ok?"

"Well I haven't, so shut up," Joe snapped, though he tried to keep his voice down. Then he looked right to Alice.

Alice just threw her hands up in protest and defeat. Just as George seemed to resign himself to being quiet, however, Malarkey rushed in, whisper-shouting for Skip. Again, the evil eye of Joe Toye and the equally as put out Carwood Lipton followed the noise. Alice nearly laughed when George protested the interruption.

"Hey, Skip, where you been?" Malarkey asked.

He didn't even turn from the screen. With his arms across his chest, he just drawled on. "Well, Don, I was at home in Tonawanda, but then Hitler started this whole thing, so now I'm here."

Alice chuckled along with Perconte at his reaction. But Malarkey, unphased as usual, just shuffled into the seat beside Perco and tried to get comfy.

"How'd you make out in Craps?" Skip asked, still not looking at him.

"Not so bad." Malarkey's rustling money pulled Alice's attention away. He soon handed Skip a stack of bills. "Here's the sixty bucks I borrowed."

"You're paying me back?" Skip's eyebrows raised. He looked down at the bills. "Surprising."

"And to say thank you, a tip."

Alice, Perconte, and Skip all gasped, the former two releasing hushed expletives. Malarkey handed over what looked to be several hundred dollars in cash. He grinned.

"Where's my money!" Alice demanded.

Malarkey snorted. He shooed her away. "If you'll let me count it, you'll get yours!" As he did so, he explained how the game went. "I was up six grand, but I only have 3600 left."

"They may have jumped you if you'd walked away with six grand," Alice muttered. Soon enough, five hundred and fifty US dollars lay in her hands. "God bless you, Don Malarkey."

"Luck of the Irish," Skip muttered.

Perconte, still looking at the wad of cash in Malarkey's possession like a madman, asked for some. "What are you gonna do with all that dough?"

The whole room shushed them. Joe and Lipton seemed about thirty seconds from committing mass murder. But nothing could phase Don Malarkey. He went on to explain he wanted to use it in Paris on leave.

No sooner had Malarkey lowered his voice and started actually paying attention to the movie did George "John Wayne" Luz start up again. At this point, Alice found the enraged men of the front row even funnier than the movie, so she stayed out of it.

George kicked Lipton's bench. "Lip! Favorite part."

Now Alice knew George was doing it to get a rise. As she organized her cash, she just smiled and listened. He continued on.

"Got a penny?" He smirked. "Got a penny?" With a last, sad attempt at a Marlene Dietrich impression, he drawled, "Got a penny?"

As Lipton whirled around on George, he started downright giggling. Even Alice couldn't contain herself any longer and laughed with George. When Joe Toye looked at her, eyes blazing in fury, she just shrugged and lit a cigarette.

Loud footsteps filled the theater. They all whipped around in surprise, half the patrons ready to murder whoever dared interrupt them again. But to their surprise, as the lights were flipped on, they found two men in full gear block the screen.

"Quiet! I said quiet!" As the Technician Fifth Grade yelled at them, they barely softened their protests. "Elements of the 1st and 6th SS Panzer Divisions have broken through in the Ardennes forest." He frowned at the groans of the men. "Now they've overrun the 28th Infantry and elements of the 4th. All officers, report to respective HQs. All passes are cancelled. Enlisted men report to barracks and your platoon leaders."

As quickly as the men had barged in, they hurried out. While most of the men in the theater continued to protest loudly, Alice didn't move. She stayed where she was, quiet. While the enlisted hurried out, she caught sight of Dick. He was watching Buck closely, but soon his gaze turned to her. He gestured out the door.

Alice nodded. After a deep breath, she stood from her seat and followed him. She tossed her cigarette away as they exited the building. A blast of cold air and light rain hit her in the face. Alice shied away.

"At least we went to Paris already," she muttered.

Dick gave a small huff. "Yeah. So much for three months to train."

She frowned. Both hurried off towards Battalion HQ, eager to find more information. Where would they be going, when, and with what supplies? What supplies. Alice felt a pit form in her stomach. The Ardennes weren't pleasant in the winter on the best of days. The reports she'd been hearing from Belgium pointed towards an even colder season than usual.

With a quick prayer that they'd either be supplied before leaving, or not need to be supplied at all, Alice fell into step behind Dick. For the first time since returning to Mourmelon-le-Grand, she regretted leaving Paris. But it wouldn't be the last.