While everyone was discussing amongst themselves, Pelk made his way to what remained of the companies command structure.
Out of the corner of his eye, Bell saw the approaching medic and gestured for a pause in the discussion he was currently in.
Pelk stopped a few paces short of his Captain.
"Sir."
"Is there something the matter?"
There must've been a look on Pelks face as he came over.
"Yes, I believe there is, Sir. I would prefer we discuss somewhere more…"
He was tempted to say private, somewhere out of hearing distance would do.
"Somewhere not near, Sir."
"Ah, that, I can arrange. Though you may need to help me with that."
The Captain attempted a laugh but could only manage a wheezy cough.
"It is simply my duty as a medic to assist the injured to the best of my abilities, Sir, I do not mind."
"An attitude I'm glad that you have."
I'm sure that sentiment will change soon enough.
Pelk watched as Bell shooed away his Lieutenant's , with Flynn sparing Pelk an annoyed glance before walking away.
Soon after, it was just Pelk and his Captain.
"If you will."
Bell had his arm outstretched, waiting on Pelk to take hold of it.
Quickly, Pelk got to work, wrapping the arm around his shoulder and bearing part of the man's weight.
Pelk found that the Captain favored his right foot, with his left being audibly dragged along.
He mentally resolved that he would need to fix that.
Somehow.
They slowly made their way further from the group.
Neither spoke, the only noise being of the violent wind that wished to break against their fragile bodies and the crunch of the snow under their weight.
Pelk increasingly frustrated as he suffered through it all.
They wanted the near dead to work in this weather.
He glared at the plastic man most responsible for these feelings.
How could He expect anyone to do anything in this core chilling cold.
As he was ready to speak out these thoughts, Bell spoke out first.
"Personally, I don't want do it, y'know?"
Stunned, he reactively replied.
"What?"
Neither stopped walking.
"Getting everyone to work. They just got done fighting for their lives in that dusty attic and now they're told there's more to do before they're allowed any rest. Before they can sit down for a meal, before they can be warm again, before they can set their rifles aside and enjoy a moment of peace."
Pelk felt the Captain trembling.
Bell continued.
"They do not even get to enjoy the peace that comes with their death. Not even a second of it, a sliver. I cannot, will not, allow it to come to pass. It is against my principles as your commanding officer to even entertain the thought of allowing any one of you to die.
Bell slowed, Pelk along with him. The medic was silent, listening to his Captain. Almost too stunned to speak.
Bell continued.
"I am aware of why you sought me out. And from what I said, I would like trust that you would understand my reasoning behind the decision that was made."
This finally brought Pelk out of his silence.
"Understanding does nothing to soften the fact that your essentially forcing those on the edge of death to…"
He was at a loss for words.
What could possibly convey the frustration that he felt of this situation in it's entirety?
He wracked his brain but nothing could satisfy him.
"Feed themselves to the hungry mouth of death."
Bell had whispered the answer to him but he had heard it as if it were a gunshot next to his ear.
There was more silence.
So.
He understood what was going to happen.
But that nagged at him as well.
How.
How then, could he say such words so simply. Utter the death sentence of his own men without even a simple hitch in his voice.
He adamantly states that he could not simply let them die.
Yet that same voice commanded them to dig their own graves.
Disgusting.
Pelk tried to bite down on his irritation.
His frustration.
His anger.
Volatile emotions were building up within jim as if her were a well, threatening to spill out and muddy the earth around it.
He tried.
He tried so very hard to entomb the words that wished to escape through his mouth and touch the cold air that surrounded him.
He could not keep it all bottled within.
He simply lacked the training to endure such a despicable notion and remain unfazed.
"So you're saying you'd rather have them break themselves against the growing ice that riddles this ground, for as long as they last then? All to give a chance for our poor, poor selves to make it through this horrific situation. It's not like everything is simply solved then either. Our enemies still live. Our bodies will remain cold. And our food stores are…"
He paused.
Their situation truly was unenviable.
He continued.
"…low. We weren't prepared to be booted out of that attic. Those Tans will find the stomach of our frozen corpses hollow."
"Captain."
He said with contempt.
"What would you have me do then? Hm? Sit down and just fucking die? Watch as each and everyone of my remaining soldiers freeze to death or get shot at by Tans hiding away in that damned house of there's?!? I cannot, for the life of me, even speculate why you would think, I, Captain of this bloodied company, would be okay watching it being slowly chipped away by the plethora of our issues. The lives of all those that follow me rest on my shoulders. Whether they are able to see tomorrow at all depends on the decisions I make, the course of action that I choose. And I decided, dear medic, that the company must survive. And for that to happen, everyone will work. Even if the man is missing a leg. Everyone will work. In order for any chance of survival, all hands are required. I cannot let my concern for the welfare of our wounded blind me from the needs of the group as a whole. Even if I can barely stomach uttering the words, it's what must be done."
At some point, Bell had escaped Pelks hold and was now standing in from of him, a sad, withering expression on his face.
The Captain looked down and muttered a few words.
"We don't have the bodies for anything else."
Pelk was speechless.
They stood there in the cold, silently pondering to themselves as they gazed at one another.
"We've been out for long enough, dear medic. There's work to be done."
Listlessly, Pelk once more supported the weight of the injured man.
"I understand now, Captain."