This is War [ONC 2021] // Honourable Mention

Chapter Eight - Kurt

"Attention!" the training officer called. All the men snapped their heels and straightened their backs. "The enemy has been working, and they have been working hard! You have to do the same if we are to defeat them. Your task here is to do everything in your power to ensure you are up to the task. You will be pushed to your limit and I will be trying to kill you, the theory being that if I can't kill you, neither can the enemy."

Kurt glanced at the men he stood beside out the corner of his eye as the training officer continued to yell about what to expect with the training. Neither of them looked old enough to be part of the army but Kurt felt pride swell inside him at the thought he would be serving with people far younger than him but who had the same enthusiasm for their country. Although he promised Marie he would look out for her brother, he couldn't hide the immense pride he felt towards him.

He would rather serve in a unit with people younger than him who wanted to be a part of the army then someone who had been forced into enlisting and would run at the first sound of a gunshot. Age had nothing to do with it as far as he was concerned, only the pride and honour of wanting to defend one's country would be enough for him.

Still, despite feeling grateful that the country was full of young men, of-age or otherwise, willing to put their lives on the line, Kurt had made a promise to Marie that he intended to keep. Even if the war would be over by Christmas, he wanted to make sure that Johannes stayed out of the firing line until the inevitable British surrender. The plan would be for them to only spend two months on the front line before peace and he didn't want to break his promise in those two months

"I expect you to be here at zero-five-hundred hours for the start of our training procedure! Your beds are to be made and your quarters clean before you assemble here. Is that understood?" the training officer yelled.

"Yes, sir!" the men called out in unison.

"Fallout!"

Kurt and the other men snapped their heels, the sound echoing through the training area. The training officer turned and began to talk to the men who had stood either side of him during this instruction to the new men. Kurt moved through the crowd of people in search of Wilhelm who he found talking to Johannes just off to the side of the main group. To keep a closer eye on Johannes, Kurt had managed to get a bunk close to his in their sleeping quarters.

He slapped Wilhelm on the back and the three of them made their way across the field where they had been forced to stand and inside the building where their barracks were kept. They followed a group of other men through the hall and into a large canteen, the cooks having just started to serve a supper of beef, potatoes and vegetables. Each one took a plate and slid into the spare chairs dotted around the room.

"How many men in our unit do you think lied on their enlistment form?" Wilhelm asked, shovelling a forkful of potatoes into his mouth.

"About half. Maybe more," Kurt replied.

"If Mother hadn't locked Friedrick in his bedroom, he'd be here."

"'I'd have jumped out the window," Johannes said.

"Good man."

"What do you think training is going to be like?"

"If that speech was anything to go by, tough."

"Good. I want to be a new man the next time I see Anna, then she might finally talk to me rather than slap me."

Kurt snorted into his food and disguised it as a cough before Wilhelm twigged that he had been laughing at him. All day he had gone on about Anna and it certainly hadn't helped that Kurt had told him about Marie's promise to get her to write at least once. He didn't think Wilhelm had any chance of getting close to Anna, even after the war was won and they had returned home. Still, once they had returned home a hero he would have plenty of women fawning over him that he should forget about Anna.

After supper, the three of them returned to their barracks to bunk down before the early start the officer had warned them about. Kurt clambered onto his bunk and pulled out a sheet of paper and a pencil from under his pillow, one of the few things they had been allowed to take with them. He had promised his mother a letter about the barracks and the people he had met, although he wasn't sure why that would be important.

The small candle stub next to his bunk flickered and Kurt scribbled away at the sheet of paper, trying to keep his information as brief and to the point as possible. On the bunk below, Wilhelm had started a game of cards with some of the other men, something Kurt knew better than to join in with. He had always been a cheat when it came to cards and would have all their money before Kurt had finished his letter.

"Are you going to join us, Kurt?" Wilhelm asked.

"I know how you play cards; I'd like to keep my money."

"You're no fun."

"Maybe I know you better than everyone else here."

"Oh well, I'll just take everyone else's money."

Kurt shook his head and signed the bottom of his letter. He tucked it under his pillow, blew out the candle, and laid down on the bed staring up at the ceiling of the barracks, the sound of the card game unfolding beneath him. It would be his first night away from home. No Hans in the other bed whining, no sheep outside the window or cows. Just the sounds of the other men in the barracks as Wilhelm stole everyone's money.

With the sound of the card game and visions of returning home a hero, Kurt drifted off to sleep.

~~~

First Published - February 15th, 2021