The Soldier of Stars [1] - Band of Brothers

62 | bitter bastogne

" The past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it, or learn from it."

- Lion King

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Easy Company and the rest of 506th arrived at their designated positions. Hazel felt numb by the time they had reached the portion of the Ardennes forest they would be in. The darkness blanketed the entire forest, as an equally thick layer of snow covered the Earth. The trees were massive it seemed, as Hazel stopped to look up towards them. She could faintly see the stairs through the tops and the dark, black sky. She looked around where they were positioned, snow lightly falling. 

Hazel began to see people digging their foxholes. She heard distant bombs going off in the background, a cold reminder that there were in a war, right on the frontlines, and there was an even higher risk of death now. Hazel stood alone in the cold, thinking about how quickly war truly changed on them and how fast they could be warm, happy, anticipating Christmas, to now, digging in in a frozen tundra where the warmest thing was the man next to you. The thing you would relish most. 

Paris was far from her mind as she stared out at the pitch black forest.

" Hey, Hazel." she heard a voice say as an icy blast hit her nose. She turned, her helmet swinging on her head as she looked up. She felt a smile on her face, even if her skin felt numb to the touch.

" Hey Shifty." she said as she looked up at him.

" Foxhole partners?" he asked her, and she nodded.

" Yeah, definitely." she said and the two walked toward a spot nearby to that of other foxholes. Her and Shifty began working together in the numbing cold to dig a foxhole. But it made Hazel feel warmer, working her muscles, pitching snow out of the dark pit of dirt. Each breath let out an icy puff of air into the night and made Hazel shiver even as she sweat.

" Hey Shifty?" she asked him in the quiet of the night, the snow falling gently, covering up any general noise that was made.

" Yeah?" he asked her, slightly breathless as he hefted another shovel of dirt out.

" Why do you think we're here?" she asked, still confused on why they were sent here.

" Supposedly," Shifty started, " the Germans broke through here, in the Ardennes Forest, and the guys who were leaving dumped the problem on us. I don't know, that seems like something Dike would've said." Hazel left out a tiny huff for a laugh as she pulled more soil out, rock hard soil.

" I remember Catherine," Hazel said, " talking about the Ardennes Forest, of Belgium, back before we made the jump into Normandy."

" Yeah, yeah I remember that." Shifty said as he pulled out another shovel of snow and placed it outside of the foxhole. Hazel smiled softly. Once they finished their foxhole, she was freezing again, the sweat now frozen, her cheeks white as her nose remained red. The two finally settled down at about 2 in the morning. Hazel's teeth chattered as her and Shifty threw both their blankets overtop of themselves for more warmth. She cuddled into Shifty's side, trying to find more warmth, as Shifty did the same. It was barely a few hours out in this terrible cold, and they were already freezing.