" We are all broken that's how the light gets in."

- Ernest Hemingway

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Hazel had been in her foxhole alone when the first shelling of the day occurred, raining down on them as if God was throwing them down himself. Hazel had dove for the covered side of the foxhole, pressing herself against the Earthy wall, forcing her eyes shut closed, as she wrapped her arms around her head, praying for the world to stop shaking underneath and all around her. It was like a billion fireworks going off at once, upending the Earth and shaking it all at once. Hazel's ears rung with each explosion and each quiver made her stomach lurch. She just wanted the world to stop shaking, she wanted it all to stop. And then it did, just like that it was over, as she began to hear voices again.

" Stay in your foxholes." she heard Lip's voice say somewhere in the distance. Hazel slowly uncurled herself from against the wall and moved towards the opening of the foxhole, throwing a few bits of shrapnel from the opening to the outside. She weakly looked around, softly gulping as she took in the sight all around her. People slowly climbing out of their foxholes, looking around, making sure people in their foxholes nearby were ok.

" Hazel!" she heard a voice cry and she looked up to see Shifty coming towards her in a frenzied panic.

" Shifty! You scared me, when I didn't see you." Hazel said as Shifty slid down into the foxhole and didn't hesitate to wrap her in a warm hug. The minute he hugged her, Hazel felt like crying. A hug meant so much in a cold wasteland such as this and couldn't brighten anyone's mood. Hazel wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged Shifty closer, she had never appreciated her friend as much as she did now.

" I feared the worst," Shifty said as he pulled back and looked at her, " a replacement back there, got his whole arm blown off, Lizzie and Gene are there now. Neither look too good though." Hazel bit her lip worriedly.

" Who was it?" Hazel asked him.

" Robert Lennings." Shifty said, and Hazel sighed softly; she couldn't imagine.

" Lizzie's getting sick." Hazel said softly, as Shifty's eyes softened slightly.

" Really?" he asked weakly and Hazel nodded.

" And they can't do much for her, but now she's pushing herself even harder." Hazel said, " I'm worried."

" You're not the only one." Shifty said, " Bumped into her this morning, she barely even made eye contact." Hazel's heart skipped a beat, that was unlike Lizzie. She always smiled and cracked a joke and then would make sure you were alright.

" I'll try talking to her again, later." Hazel said, rubbing a cold hand on her cold forehead with a sigh. So, Hazel went later to the medic foxhole, where she knew either Gene or Lizzie would most likely be. Hazel slowly approached it and crouched by the side, seeing Gene and Lizzie both inside, exchanging supplies.

" I lost my damn scissors." she heard Gene mutter to Lizzie, as Gene let out an angry huff, pushing against the pocket where the scissors had disappeared from.

" We'll find you another pair, I'm sure they're somewhere." Lizzie said softly with a nod as Gene nodded looking at her. Gene sighed.

" Hey," Hazel said and both medics looked up towards Hazel crouched by the side of their foxhole.

" Hazel," Lizzie said, a forced smile on her face. Gene gave a forced smile as well.

" Can we talk for a sec, Lizzie?" Hazel asked the medic, looking at her with a soft expression.

" Sure," Lizzie said as she pushed herself to stand, coughing into her arm as she did so, with a stern look that followed from Gene. Hazel led Lizzie to a small side of the forest, and then looked at her.

" Lizzie, I'm worried for you." Hazel whispered, her voice sounding louder than it actually was in the desolate wasteland. Lizzie looked at Hazel.

" Hazel, I'm fine, I promise, it's just because it's cold out." Lizzie promised. But Hazel stared at her.

" Lizzie, I know you're getting sick. And overworking your self to accomplish things won't help you get better, especially here." Hazel said softly. Lizzie bit her lip and then looked away.

" Just trust me, Hazel, I promise that I'm ok and you don't have to worry about me." Lizzie said, squeezing her shoulder gently. Hazel sighed internally watching Lizzie sat that with evident sickness in her eyes. But Hazel let her walk away; her first mistake.

Joe Liebgott slid into her foxhole that afternoon, as Hazel forced herself to watch the sky through the trees, searching for a bit of blue sky. She couldn't find any.

" Hi Joe," Hazel said as Joe glanced over at her, looking at the sky in wonder.

" What are you looking for?" he asked her. Hazel smiled and then sighed before looking at Joe.

" The sky." she said and met his eyes with her own hopeful eyes. Joe felt a smile creep onto his face. His damn heart missed a beat.

" You staying warm?" he asked her softly. Hazel glanced towards him.

" Best I can," she said with a hopeful smile in his direction, crossing her arms tightly over her chest," but I try to ignore it." He watched her face grow concentrated, his eyebrows furrow as she bit back her lip.

" What's on your mind?" Joe asked her, watching as she glanced towards him and a small laugh escaped her.

" It's stupid, Joe." she said. Joe quirked a smirk her way.

" Really? Try me, Parker." Joe said and Hazel grinned, shrugging.

" I don't know, as a little girl you always think about life when you're older and stuff like that," Hazel said and Joe watched her softly, " I've just been thinking a lot about life, after the war." Joe dropped the smirk and a smile filled his features.

" Just the little things, what I might name my first daughter, or what pictures I might hang up in my living room, just little things like that." Hazel said, with a shrug, a small smile. Joe watched Hazel smile and then loop her fingers together, nodding softly.

" You got a name in mind?" Joe asked her and she glanced towards him, fighting down the tiny blush that was on her cheeks.

" I don't know," she said, a nervous giggle escaping her lips, she never had told anyone she thought about this often.

" Why you nervous, it's just me." Joe said as she giggled softly again.

" Juliette." Hazel said quietly, with a small nod, before peaking up at Joe who watched her intently, " Not from Romeo and Juliet, but the French way. There was a girl in my elementary school who spelled her name that way and she was always so nice to me. I've always liked the name." Hazel smiled fondly, as if a memory were resurfacing in her brain.

" It's a pretty name." Joe said and Hazel looked up at Joe.

" Yeah," Hazel said," I don't know, it's a unique spelling, I like it." Joe smiled at her, and she smiled brightly back.

Even in the cold, she found a way to smile and that warmed his heart because currently she was the only thing making him smile.

Catherine was assigned orders to make daily runs into the town nearby. Bastogne, they're only source of medical supplies, possibly clothing, blankets and shoes, and food. And she was willing to make as many runs as possible if it meant all the guys were equipped for the icy winter that the Ardennes offered. George Luz had wonderfully agreed to join her on the journey to Bastogne in the cold.

" You know, George, I studied the Ardennes in college, when I took my geography course. We did a full year on central Europe." she said as she looked around at the sloping trees, covered in the bitter snow that riddled the entire ground. Her teeth chattered as she looked around before glancing over at George who had a smile on his face.

" Tell me that's not the only thing you did it college," George said as he sent her a cheeky wink. Catherine rolled her eyes with a chuckle.

" How long were you there?" George asked her curiously.

" 3 years, but I stopped mid year of my 4th so that I could join SPARs, I don't regret it." Catherine said with a nod," Best decision of my life." George grinned as they continued walking forward. Catherine smiled.

" 'Course some of the guys there were total assholes, but I wasn't entirely surprised," Catherine said.

" Did ya scare the shit out of them with those presentations of yours?" George asked with a smirk and Catherine grinned.

" Oh yeah," Catherine said with a slight laugh, " they didn't want to work with me, because they said I cheated when in reality I studied instead of got drunk every Friday. Paid off I'd say." George grinned and looked towards her. But both their smiles fell once they reached the town of Bastogne.

Catherine's footsteps slowed as she looked around at the buildings which looked bombed in, dark grays and whites the only prominent colors amongst the entirety of the picture that was painted with bits of burning fire in various places. The roads were filled with ongoing mud and slush from snow and ice being mixed in, and once your boot hit the surface, it was automatically a magnet for the substance. And it was blistering cold, the wind racing around every corner of the town, slamming into you like a brick wall.

Catherine looked up towards the pale blue sky, which lay devoid of all color, the fog that was lying over the town still persistent in not letting the sun in. The only bit of color was the faded red medic symbol hanging above the church not too far away. But it was the only color. Even the peoples' faces who lived in the town were pale and devoid of emotion, recked by war for almost half a decade, too long. Their clothes were tattered in mud and they were old. They'd been living this for years.

" Hey Mack, look," George said as he bent down to pick up a blanket that didn't have too much mud on it like the rest. Catherine stepped forward and noticed many more, similar to it along the sides of the streets.

" Grab as many as you can George," Catherine said to him patting his shoulder before reaching down along the sides to pull blanket after blanket into her arms. Catherine moved along the sides of the road, picking up blanket after blanket for the men of Easy Company. Soon enough her pile became large and she had a mountain of blankets in her grasp. As she walked around Bastogne, she felt sick to her stomach seeing it all, seeing everything the way it was, all bombed out, seeing the debris everywhere, seeing everything as it was. It was horrid thing to take in and to realize these people had lived like this for years.

Julius Caesar had entered the region during his time; he called these people the Belgae as they were inhabitants of present-day Belgium, northwestern France and the German Rhineland, or the northern part of Gaul. Julius Caesar has seen them as a different group of people, like a tribe.

Now, they were just people. They always had been.

Catherine picked her way with the armful of blankets she had towards George who stood with his own armful of blankets.

" Can you believe how this place looks, Mack?" George asked her as she watched his eyes travel the length of all the peaks and window sills of the bombed in homes.

" No, I can't," she said softly, as she followed his gaze, to where a tattered Belgian flag hung, limply over that of a window. Catherine bit back her lip.

" We should probably get moving back." George told her. Catherine softly nodded, her eyes stuck on the flag lying as it did.

" Let's go." Catherine said, stepping past him, eyes glossed over. George took an idle walk beside her, giving cautious glances every so often towards the unnaturally quiet Lieutenant who walked with slumped shoulders.

" You okay, Lieutenant?" George asked her. Catherine slowly met his gaze and nodded.

" Yeah, I'm fine," Catherine said, looking back over her shoulder at the town, " fine." George watched the Lieutenant the rest of the way back to where Easy was camped out. Her gaze remained emotionless and her eyes looked heavy. It scared George, personally. Catherine was a fighter, a naturally positive person and brave, she didn't let anything scare her except well, death. But this, her entire mood changed entering the town.

And that's what truly scared him.

Dinner that night was dreary just like every other meal before it. Catherine had previously gone around delivering a single blanket to each foxhole for the men to share, before heading around and doing what rounds she could do for each member of the company before heading back to CP and doing a geography report for Winters. Her mind was still fogged over by the reality and horror that had struck Bastogne previously but she tried to not let it bother her, even if it floated with her. And Richard Winters seemed to notice that, but they just read each other easily.

" How're you doing, Catherine?" Winters asked her, and she glanced up at him from her scarf.

" I'm ok, especially for it being below freezing." she said, " Fucking cold." Winters no longer her gave her a look when she cursed, looking at the current conditions, cursing seemed needed to get through. Winters was now just looking at her because she was freezing. Her ears were red and so was her nose, and under her eyes were dark rings of evident exhaustion. Her brown eyes were sad, filled with anger and frustration.

" Have you eaten?" Winters asked her and she glanced up at him.

" No," she said quietly.

" You should," Winters told her and she knew he was right. Winters did rounds each night, just like the NCOs and the medics and the Lieutenants. He knew she didn't sleep well at night, she was never in her foxhole with Peacock when he dropped by. She was always out on rounds. He hadn't seen her eat in a while either.

" I'm not that hungry, Dick," she said quietly, using his first name nickname, with soft pleading eyes. Winters looked at her. The two held eye contact for a second. It was Bastogne, it had made her sick to be there and now thinking of it standing here, she felt sick to her stomach and food was least palatable thing she could imagine at the moment.

" Honestly," she said with a nod, before swallowing and looking back towards the men getting their food.

" I'm gonna try and get some rest." Catherine said, before turning away. Winters watched her walk away through the cold, where Peacock joined her at her side with his own food, offering some to her but she declined. He was worried.

That night it snowed a lot again, and Lizzie and Gene moved through the foxholes to make sure everyone was bedding down ok. Lizzie was freezing her butt off, and she could feel her toes going numb again as she moved through the foxholes her arms crossed. She peaked into each foxhole, checking to see if the boys were asleep yet. When she did, she scurried off again to the next one, hoping they got their well deserved sleep.

" Hey, boys," she called to Skip and Malarkey who were huddled together side by side in their foxhole.

" Lizzie!" the two called out in a quiet whisper noticing the medic there, smiles on their faces.

" You two still up?" she asked them.

" Don't worry, Doc, we're just talking, we're staying warm though, for your sake." Malarkey promised her. She smiled bashfully and nodded to them.

" Thanks," she said, and met their eyes.

" You stay warm too, alright?" Skip said, " You looked a little pale earlier today." Lizzie smiled softly; she knew the boys were just looking out for her. Gene had mentioned the same thing to her earlier in the day.

" Yeah, definitely," Lizzie said with a soft nod, " get some rest." The two men smiled as she hurried off and slid past Johnny's foxhole.

" Hey Johnny," Lizzie said as she approached it.

" Hey, Lizzie," Johnny said as he sat up a small smile blossoming on his face, " you feeling ok?" There it was again.

" Yeah, I'm fine, how are you though? Are you staying warm?" she asked him.

" Don't worry about me, kid, I'm worried for you," Johnny said as he slowly stood and shuffled to the edge of the foxhole, " you sure you're okay?" She nodded.

" I'll be okay," she said, " it's cold, but everyone is, I'm just glad we all have each other." Johnny smiled at her.

" We're glad to have you." Johnny said and Lizzie grinned again. These boys always made her grin.

" Get some rest." Lizzie told him and he nodded as he sat back down. She gave a final smile before hurrying towards Smokey and Alton's foxhole which sat right near Tab and a replacement machine gunner's foxhole.

" Hey," Lizzie said as she slowly crawled inside the little foxhole cover and slipped in beside Alton.

" Lizzie!" Alton said, as his eyes lit up. She smiled.

" Hey there Lizzie," Smokey said and she smiled gratefully at him.

" You two staying warm?" she asked, even though she knew they were; it was much nicer inside with the foxhole cover.

" Warm as we can Doc." Alton said as he worked on a Cup of Joe, sipping it, " Want a sip?"

" Yes, please." she said and gladly took a blissful sip of the liquid. it tasted fairly good and was actually warm.

" Almost as warm as that day in Aldbourne on the bike, right?" Lizzie said looking at Alton who chuckled.

" Almost as warm as that, I'd say," Alton said and Lizzie laughed, " Except I didn't get chewed out by Sobel." Smokey snickered.

" Malarkey and I took the hit there, Alton," scoffed Lizzie as Alton snickered beside her sipping his Cup of Joe again.

" Took it like champs though, he definitely would've told me to go run laps around the airfield." Alton said as Smokey chuckled.

" He definitely would've made you do that." Smokey said, " I'd bet on it."

" Wanna go?" Alton said as Smokey and Lizzie snickered.

" I gotta get moving, check on Tab and Chuck, but you boys stay warm alright?" Lizzie said.

" Hey you two Doc, you're only human remember?" Smokey called to her, like a mother, pointing his finger at her. She gave the tiny mock salute that the group of her, Smokey, Tab and Shifty usually did that spread to the company.

" Will do." she said as she stood and eventually crawled out into the snow again. She hurried through the bitter forest, checking in on replacements foxholes before hurrying again forward, and finding Chuck and Tab's foxhole where the two were talking quietly together.

" Hey," Lizzie said as she approached and the two looked up, smiles lighting up their chilled faces.

" Elizabeth!" called Tab," Was wondering when you're rounds would finally start and you'd take the trek over to me." Lizzie smirked slightly, sniffling.

" How long are you going to milk that?" Chuck grumbled to him crossing his arms.

" As long as I can there, Chuckles." Tab said and Lizzie suppressed a laugh.

" As you can tell he's been a joy to sleep with." Chuck said looking up at Lizzie who was smirking widely.

" Oh yeah I can tell," Lizzie said as the two chuckled, " at least you didn't have Cobb think you were his wife back home."

" You're kidding," Tab said as Lizzie laughed.

" Nah, one of those replacements said Cobb was talking in his sleep last night," Lizzie said as Chuck snorted.

" As if my day couldn't get any better," Tab said as the trio laughed.

" Why? How was it already better? Waking up curled beside me in fetal position?" Chuck muttered sarcastically.

" I can knock you out of this world as fast as Momma Grant brought you in," Tab threatened.

" I'm terrified." Chuck said as Lizzie met his gaze and laughed. She needed this. She just needed seeing the guys everyday to keep her head out of the snow. She loved these guys, and they never failed to bring a smile to her lips whenever she saw them.

" You two are nuts," she said shaking her head.

" I'll take it as a compliment." Tab said proudly. Chuck gave him a look with a raised brow.

" What type of compliments do you normally get?" Chuck said as Lizzie laughed.

" You two stay here and battle it out, and stay warm," she said as the two looked at her.

" You stay warm, too," Tab said to her, " we can't have our medics freezing up." She smiled, with the mock salute to him.

" I will, Catherine and George brought back a bunch of blankets today," she said with a smile and the two men genuinely smiled at her.

" Good night," Chuck called.

" Sweet dreams!" Tab called.

" Don't let the bed-bugs bite," Chuck said as Lizzie walked away with a smile.

" Did you seriously just say bed-bugs, Chuckles" There's not a single bed-bug in Bastogne, Belgium, we're in a fucking foxhole." Tab said with a scoff.

" They said that about Krauts in Holland and look what happened." Chuck shot back.

" I'm biting my tongue for you, Chuck," Tab murmured back and Lizzie just laughed shaking her head.

Crazy boys.

Crazy boys, she loved to be with.

Once she finished her sector, she headed towards the medic foxhole, where she knew Gene would most likely be. As she reached the foxhole, she saw his little medic helmet and was quick to slip in beside him, diving under the blanket for the two of them, and curling up like a cat to his side as she shivered, hoping her teeth wouldn't start chattering. She heard Gene let out a tiny laugh.

" You okay?" he asked her, " You came in pretty fast." She nodded against his shoulder.

" Fine," she mumbled back, " it's just cold." Gene smiled before gently wrapping his arm over her shoulder and pulling her closer for more warmth, as the two shivered a bit in each other's grasps. The two medics sat in a comfortable silence, listening to the snow fall around them and their medic satchels, making no sound as it touched the floor of the Earth; explosions did make sounds.

" Gene?" Lizzie asked him, as her nose began running and she sniffled to keep it at bay.

" What is it, cherie?" he asked her quietly, looking up through the thin tarp to the falling snow.

" How long do you think its gonna last? All this?" she whispered to him. Gene looked down at his tiny, blonde haired partner, her nose bright red, as her blue eyes met his, shivering against him.

" Soon, I hope, but probably not in time for Christmas." he said softly. Lizzie nodded, usually talking just helped her keep her restless mind at bay when she thought of such things, the darkness that filled her brain sometimes. But she was glad for Gene's quiet company, and his warm arm around her.

" I'm just glad that if the war runs past Christmas that I'm here with you and the girls and the rest of the guys, I couldn't imagine fighting with another company." she said softly, cuddling closer as a shiver racked through her entire body.

" I'm glad you're here too," Gene said quietly and from the way he said it, Lizzie knew he was smiling, a rarity, but a thing she loved to see. Gene concealed his emotions better than anyone else she knew, even Catherine, so just seeing a little smile from him made her heart warm. The two slowly fell asleep to the silent falling snow.

They could hear artillery in the night, hitting different areas of the battalion, but Lizzie, sadly, thanked God it wasn't Easy that took the hit that night.

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hey! i adored this chapter, just to see lizzie being in her element. episode 6 will be medic heavy, mostly because i felt i want to do episode 6 justice for that, the medics deserve that :) thank you so much for reading!! <3