This is War [ONC 2021] // Honourable Mention

Chapter Ten - Kurt

Kurt laid in his bunk, his back pressed against his mattress. He had received a letter from his mother about the current progress of the war overseas and had only had the chance to read it right before lights out.

Every second of their day contained some form of training and their only respite came in the evening when they could return to the barracks to write home, or in Wilhelm's case, play cards. They had to be up early every morning to go for a run before breakfast and then after breakfast, it could be marching drills until lunch followed by rifle drills. After supper, some of the men had guard duties but those not on guard had their evenings to themselves. Most would go to bed, exhausted from a day of physical exercises and drills, but Kurt would always take time out to write to his family.

On the bunk below, Wilhelm had started to collect whatever money those in the barracks had left. Most of them had already lost their money in the first few days of training but there were those who had yet to play and still had a little left. Kurt, being the only one who knew Wilhelm well enough to know he was a cheat, still had money left and he had no intention of losing it in a card game. He kept some for himself and he planned on sending his soldier pay home as well as any money he might be able to win off the other men - including Wilhelm.

He took the letter and tucked it under his pillow before climbing off his bunk and peering over Wilhelm's shoulder to watch the card game unfold. Paul sat across from Wilhelm, tugging on his bottom lip, he laid down his hand and looked at Wilhelm. Wilhelm laughed and laid down his hand, collecting the money that Paul had bet.

"I told you he cheats," Kurt said.

"I don't cheat, I'm just clever."

"A clever cheater."

"Anything good from your mother? Any news about the front?"

"Not really. There's not much appearing in the papers. Mother reckons it's bad news since it's not been broadcast to the nation. Something bad must have happened for them not to be reporting on the developments."

"Or, there is nothing exciting going on right now." Wilhelm shrugged, reshuffling the cards. "They'll be victory come Christmas, I'll put money on that."

"No, you won't."

"You're right. I won't."

Wilhelm laughed and swung his legs over the edge of his bed. He took the deck of cards and went off in search of someone he hadn't won money off yet - a rather difficult feat. Kurt sighed and climbed back onto his bunk, staring up at the ceiling and listening to the sounds around him. He reached under his pillow and grabbed the letter, reading through it again and taking note of the little things his mother had said about the family.

He read about how Hans had gone sweet on a girl in his class, how one of the cows had escaped its pen and made it over to the neighbours. His mother had also written about how Marie had visited with some freshly baked bread and how his father had invited her to supper for being so generous. Kurt found it odd that his father would invite someone he had never met for supper, especially since he never invited anyone and had a strong dislike for most people.

Still, Kurt didn't like how much he was missing out on back home. He wanted to be there to tease Hans about his crush, to sit through an uncomfortable dinner where his father interrogated Marie until he was content with the idea of them getting to know each other a little more. Glory was fine, winning a war was fine, but he missed his family. Kurt never thought he would get homesick so quickly, but it had been his first full month away from home and he missed everything about it. He even missed the work on the farm.

"Everyone up! Up! Night drills! I want to see you out in that training ground in full uniform in five minutes!" the Hauptmann yelled.

"Night drills? What for?" Johannes asked, scrambling off his bed and pulling his shirt off.

"To make sure we can see in the dark." Kurt swung his legs over the side of his bunk and quickly pulled on his uniform as everyone else scrambled to get dressed in time.

"They better not make us go for a run in the morning if they're doing this to us now," Wilhelm said.

Kurt shook his head and finished pulling his uniform on. He grabbed his pack, swung it onto his shoulder and jammed his helmet onto his head before leaving the barracks. Other men stumbled out of bed, many of them having been asleep when the order had been given. Someone even tried to put their shirt on as a pair of trousers. They had yet to do any night drills, with many of the men thinking they wouldn't do them at all; how wrong they were.

Men stumbled out into the training area, their helmets on at an angle or their packs missing, Kurt saw someone who had done their buttons up wrong. The Hauptmann stood off to the side, watching them all assembly and making the occasional clicking noise with his tongue if someone didn't meet his standards.

Once everyone had assembled, he started to stalk the line of men, looking at their uniforms and checking they had everything they needed.

"Listen up!" he yelled. "You need to be prepared for an attack at any time in the day or night and this just won't do! You are dishevelled, some of you are missing equipment and you are the biggest disgraces to the German army! I wouldn't take you into war if you were the last Battalion in the army! We will be having night drills every day until you get it right. Is that understood?"

"Ja, Hauptmann!" the men called in unison.

"I expect to see you all assembled here for a six-mile run tomorrow morning! Now, fallout!"

The men snapped their heels together and stumbled out of formation. Kurt looked around at the Battalion, many of the men asleep on their feet and struggling to even walk back to the barracks. They were a month into training and Kurt didn't like his odds if he had to stand by these men in a late-night call to arms. He had a feeling they would be doing night drills for a while.

~~~

First Published - February 18th, 2021