The Spirit of the Corps » Band of Brothers

73: No One's Done More

"Do they still have all of their nurses?" Charlie wondered.

Alton shrugged. "That, I don't know. You'll have to ask your CO."

"Right," Charlie agreed.

Just before the men of Third were about to start walking back to the Bois-Jacques, news came from Battalion CP that Lieutenant Peacock was being sent back to the States on a furlough. While this was good news for him, it was arguably even better news for the men in his platoon; while everyone agreed that Peacock was a really nice guy, what he wasn't was a good combat leader, and his ineptitude had served only to drive his men up the wall in the previous days.

So, after lunch on an otherwise entirely uneventful day, Easy Company and their dwindling number lost half of Third Platoon to Dog Company and one of their only remaining officers with combat experience, competent or otherwise, to the States.

"It's going to be so weird not having Alton around," Charlie said as they watched the group depart. This wasn't to mention Perconte and Shifty, who were also going and were also going to be missed.

Alex nodded. "Damn," he sighed, "they're droppin' like flies."

"Getting real empty out here, huh?" Skip replied.

Charlie nodded into her scarf. "The less men the better for me, I suppose."

"Right," Skip acknowledged her with a laugh. "How're you doing for supplies these days, anyway?"

Charlie shrugged. "Same as always." Which was to say, they had barely any medical supplies at all.

Charlie was still sitting with Skip and Alex when the foreboding whistling of a shell pierced the air.

"Incoming!" Lipton screamed. "Take cover! Take cover! Come on, find some cover!"

Charlie, Skip, and Alex all threw themselves into the ground, a tangle of limbs as they bundled themselves on top of each other.

Shouts went up all around as the shells started to hit. Men screamed on their way to foxholes, cried for each other to hurry up, and swore as they leaped over fallen trees in their attempt to get to safety.

Hit after hit shook the ground, the same terrible rumbling Charlie had experienced everyday for weeks now and yet had never gotten used to. Between the collapsing of trees, the shaking of the ground, the bursting of the shells, and the screams of men running from them, the world was a complete wall of sound. All Charlie could do was lie there and listen to it, waiting for it to end.

There was always a ringing in her ears when the chaos ended. For a minute or two, she could hear nothing but the pressure in her skull. Her brain felt like it was thumping, trying to escape, while the whistling in her ears was so high-pitched she had to squeeze her eyes shut just to bear it.

And then came the quiet. As the ringing faded the noise around her grew in volume once more. She realised Alex was talking to her.

"- you okay?" he was asking. "Charlie! Are you okay?"

"I'm okay," she reassured him, her voice muffled by someone's shoulder, whether hers, Skip's, or Alex's she wasn't sure. "Are you both okay?"

They both assured her that they were and then they lapsed into silence. Now they had to wait. Wait for the all clear saying it was safe to get out of the foxholes and start to try to repair the damage. Wait for the call for a nurse. Wait for the next round of bombs to rain down on them.

Shouts did burst into the air, but they were too distant to hear. Charlie thought it sounded like someone was calling for help but she couldn't tell who it was or where they were, so she stayed put, trusting that someone else would come to their aid.