Chapter two everyone! Thanks so much to Churchlady63, who is constantly inspiring and encouraging me, and thanks to all my readers, you know who you are, so be proud of it and enjoy this fic! BTW, I decided to write from another POV in this chapter, just because I liked the way it flowed.

Disclaimer: Nuh-uh. Nope. Nada. Zilch. No ownership here. I'm sobbing: (

Sergeant Chip Saunders swept off his helmet and tucked it under his arm. In one motion, he ran his grimy hand through his even dirtier hair while sucking in a tired breath and sitting on an over-turned grocery crate. The whole town, destroyed by bombs and shells. All of it- no thoughts on the people who once lived there, only the fire, death, and then the silence. Just ghosts of memories now, not even that. He'd never seen their faces; they'd been too late to evacuate the town.

Already he'd lost Lawrence and Casey, two green replacements fresh from HQ. Caje and Nelson were wounded, and the rest of his men were just tired. Worn down to the very bone. And he had to admit, the last time he'd felt this bad was Omaha Beach. Before that…. Well it was a different kind of tired, a nice kind. Where your muscles ache with exhaustion, and the whole word glows in afternoon splendor. He remembered this one night…

(Flashback)

"Chip, where is Louise?"

"She's sitting with Henry," Chip replied stretching. He glanced up at the two. Ten-year-old Henry Wilson Saunders sat with his baby sister on his lap, bouncing her lightly. The last of the winter sun glinted off their skin, and from afar, the two were like a pair of angels. Chip stood up and mounted his bicycle yelling, "Mom, I'm heading to Clark's house. I promised him I'd help to find Russel."

"But Chip, it's almost five o'clock." She appeared in the doorway, hair wild and falling out of its loose braid. She sighed, watching as her teenage son sat perched in a position that spoke volumes of his need to get out some energy. "All right." She glanced at the sky. "But it's chilly, and it looks like a storm, so be careful and don't be out long, you hear?" She smiled. "Now off with you."

"Thanks," he flashed her a grin and pushed off, pedaling down the driveway, and sharply left.

All the way to Clark's house, he kept his eyes open for Russel, Clark's little sister's missing dog. The mutt had been astray for three days, and Chip had a feeling that it had either died, or been stolen.

"Clark," he announced his arrival, ditching the bike against a small tree. It wobbled under the tiny amount of added weight. "Find anything?"

"Nope. But Sadie is going crazy, and I think she's gonna blow if we don't find him soon."

His friend sat hunched on the steps of the house. His brow was furrowed as he studied a piece of paper. When Chip sat down next to him, he saw that it was a map of the town, with small markings all over it, paths and X's. It looked like some kind of treasure map to Chip.

"Here are all the place's we've found him before, whenever he ran off. So… that's where I figure we ought to look. First I'm going to go here." He pointed to a house on the map.

"Has Russel ever run there before? I thought the Reed family only moved here a week ago, or at least that's what Lily Reed said."

"Well…. No, Russel has never gone there…." Clark answered slowly. The sixteen-year old looked up a Chip with guilty eyes. "But…"

"Ahhh," Chip reclined, keeping his expression neutral, "Lovebird." A moment later, the map smacked him in the face.

"Well you like Colleen!"

"Not anymore." Chip ran a hand through his hair. "She's already got a sweetheart. But…" he sat upright, "I bet we can make Lily like you, if we really tried."

"What about Russel?"

"That dog is always going missing, he'll come back!" Chip, in a moment of unprecedented enthusiasm, dragged Clark into the house. "You ought to comb your hair to wave in the front, like Gary Cooper does." They stopped in front of the hall mirror.

Clark tried; he really did, but without anything to hold the wave, it only flopped back onto his forehead.

"If only we had some hair gel. My Dad has some." He glanced wistfully at his reflection in the tarnished glass.

Chip looked a Clark, and Clark stared back.

"Should we?"

"NO." Clark backed away from the mirror, "No way. Dad doesn't think I should even go for girls till I'm older."

"You're sixteen."

The boys looked again at each-other via the mirror.

"Okay. But if we get caught, he'd gonna kill me."

"We won't," Chip answered seriously. "Now where does he keep it?"

Thirty-seven minutes, several groans and excruciating second opinions, courtesy of Chip, and two exhausted boys later, they were done.

Chip had to admit, Clark did look pretty good. The wave was gelled to perfection, and he was dressed in plain black pants, a button-down shirt, and a argyle vest over top. He looked very sharp, despite how lanky and pale he was.

But it was almost dark out, and they didn't even have a plan to get Lily's attention.

"I've got it," announced Chip as they walked the long street in the glow of evening. "Why don't we knock on her door and ask if she's seen Russel?"

"Yeah, that'll work." But Clark didn't sound too sure of the plan.

A minute later they arrived on her doorstep. Chip regained his serious composure, choosing to remain silent and only stare emotionlessly at the door-knocker, bidding his friend to knock.

Clark laid three raps on the door, and stepped back.

A boy about their own age answered. "Hello? I'm Russel."

"HI, uh…" Clark faltered, glancing helplessly back at Chip for help. The younger boy buried his grin of amusement, and coughed importantly. "Uh, is Lily home?"

"Yes. Why?"

"We'd like to- that is- uh, never mind. I've got to go…. Get…. Dog," he turned around, grabbing Chip by the arm, and whispering, "She might as well be married to the fella, the way he says her name!"

"He didn't say her name," Chip smirked.

"Well, if he did…"

As they were walking down the street, Lily's voice penetrated the dimming lights of evening.

"Wait, Clark, Chip! Hold on!" She trotted up beside them, pulling on a coat over her cardigan and dress as she walked, "where are you going?"

"We were just walking. Lovebir- uh, Clark here was wondering if you-"

"Nothing." Clark stopped and looked at Lily, "…. But I was wondering, who's your friend?"

"Russel? He's not my 'friend.'" She laughed, "Oh is that what you were running from? He's my brother!"

"Oh, well, gee… that's…." Clark shot a look of sudden triumph at Chip, "Swell! Say, Lily, do you want to walk with me?"

"Sure." They linked arms, and Chip was left behind, smiling quietly to himself. Through the growing darkness, he walked back to Clark's house, and picked up his bike. He began to pedal home.

By the time he got there he realized that half of his trip was already forgotten; he slid off the bike, exhausted, and leaned it up against the porch steps.

"M' home." He hollered, shedding his coat. It was only now that he noticed the bits of snow melting on it. He glanced through the window at the swift flurries.

"Mmm," his mother hugged him, "You're so cold, Chip! Come eat some dinner, then you'd better be off to bed, love."

Chip thought that nothing in the world could sound so sweet.

So what do you think? Please let me know, and thanks for reading!