Between Home and No Man's land

Friends in Hell

- Wesley, you're up for sentry duty this night - James Wesley  heard a well known voice, colour sergeant Arthur McCarthy. The sergeant was known for his attitude towards lower ranked soldiers - Yes,Sergeant - Wesley replied with a quick nod as he got up from the wooden firestep. He took the whistle which the Sergeant held out in his hand before heading to his post, this particular night was going to  be cold and rainy, which wasn't a good thing, considering his rather poor quality leather equipment would get heavy if the water gets in contact with it.  The young soldier pulling his issued Short Magazine Lee Enfield Mk III, simply known as SMLE Mk III. It was time to clean his rifle,before he was even able to remove the bolt he heard a familiar voice,his older brother,a cocky 25 year old corporal -Hey there brother, looks like you're going to stand here, the whole night, alone, soaked with water- Paul always acted like this, trying to make his younger brother's day worse.
- Piss off - He lightly pushed his brother away before returning to his post - What a bloody idiot - The young man thought to himself, his thoughts were interrupted by footsteps, getting closer and closer - Hey there Wesley,looks like we've got sentry duty together- It was Thomas Anderson,or as James called him "Tom Cat" - Yeah,sure,buddy - He said,nodding a little bit - Atleast this night won't be this bad after all.. -  Hours have passed,Tom and James were soaked with water,the trench they were in was filled with water and mud,the mix of water and mud at the level of their ankles,they had about 3-4 hours till the dawn when suddenly they heard footsteps,ALOT of them. James grabbed the whistle,taking a deep breath before blowing the air out into the whistle,alarming his fellow soldiers about the enemy attack. - We have to go back - "Tom Cat" exclaimed,running back to the main trench,it was a 15 meter walk,with James following him. Suddenly,gunfire errupted,the sound of the Vickers machine gun sounded beautiful to some people,but not everyone shared this opinion. The Germans were too close,the Vickers may have mowed some of them down but a major part of them poured into the trench,the British and the German soldiers engaged in close quarter combat,using knives,axes,shovels or whatever else they had. One of the British soldiers was fighting a German with a sharp wooden stick,but in a matter of seconds,he was stabbed to death. James and Tom Cat bumped into sergeant McCarthy who shouted -  Wesley, Anderson, you're running to the reserve,we need urgent backup -  James grabbed the paper from the Sergeant before jogging towards the reserve trench,they had to run 50 meters in full gear when James fully stopped and started to take off his webbing - Take of your gear,Tom Cat,we will be faster! -  James shouted over the gunfire in the distance before continuing to run towards the reserve trench,as they entered the reserve trench,Tom Cat bumped into the cook,who spilled over the soup for today's dinner, ignoring this they ran to the officer headquarter,  entering the headquarter,they quickly ran down the stairs - Captain Morton,Captain Morton! - James shouted,slamming the paper onto the desk of the captain - We need help at our trench,the Germans are going to overrun it anytime soon! - He heavily breathed,looking at the captain  - Oi,kid,calm down, That's some real bollocks that they Germans didn't get mowed down by the Vickers but whatever - The captain,an energic Scot,got up from his chair before walking out of his headquarter,followed by the two Manchester Regiment soldier - Soldiers grab yer rifles,we gotta help th' manchester boys!- The Scottish soldiers got up from whatever they were sitting on,some of them grabbing their SMLE rifles, one or two of them grabbed a Lewis LMG,climbing over the trench the wave of Scots charged towards the contested trench,the Germans,who slaughtered most of the British,turned their heads towards the clatter,hearing the bagpipes and shouts of the Scots,they knew that they were outnumbered,they atleast achieved their main goal,weaken their defence,so they ran out of the British trench and started running back to their trench,scared of the Scottish soldiers,suddenly their worst nightmare came true,the Scottish manned the Vickers machine gun and opened fire upon the retreating imperial soldiers,after some minutes the gunfire stopped,the front trench was reorganised and everything seemed alright,sergeant McCarthy was alive,allthough some people may have wished that he would die,but it didn't happen and McCarthy was going to make their life in the trench worse for the next year or two.