This is War [ONC 2021] // Honourable Mention

Chapter Twenty-Seven - Daniel

Daniel made it over the top of the ladder first. He flattened himself against the ground and crawled forward, leaning on his elbows and using his rifle to help move himself through the shell holes and barbed wire that covered the space between the two trenches. The sound of machine-gun fire echoed around him and he could hear the other men huffing and crawling their way through behind him.

As they crawled, the German trench started firing on theirs, but they were out of the line of fire and the bullets just whizzed by them in the direction of the machine-gunners. The distraction seemed to be having the desired effect but it made crawling towards the German's trench a lot harder than they had planned. Of course, they knew it wouldn't be easier and that they would end up in the firing line when they crawled, but it made movement a lot harder and Daniel knew they would catch on to the plan if they didn't move quickly.

With the bullets flying, Daniel rolled face-first into a shell hole and peered over the top at the trench they were approaching. The other men followed him into the hole with a few of the newer privates taking a second to drink from their canteen before they kept going. Daniel could feel sweat dripping down his back and he wiped his sleeve across his forehead to try and cool down. The weather was one of the biggest enemies of the war.

"What's the plan," George asked, looking over the trench beside him.

"We keep going. We've come too far to stop now."

"Right. Do you think we can do this?"

"Of course we can."

George nodded, but he looked apprehensive about the continuation of the assault. Daniel grabbed onto the edge of the shell hole and hauled himself out, continuing to crawl along with the others close behind him. A loud whistle echoed in front of him and Daniel braced himself against the ground as a mortar shell exploded just a short distance away from the group. Debris and mud showered them but Daniel pushed forward.

More mortar shells exploded behind them and Daniel wasn't sure if they were supposed to be aiming for them or had missed their mark of the trench behind them. Still, they were halfway there and they didn't have time to turn around and head back the way they came. They had to keep going, the end of the war was resting on the success of their mission and even if the mortar shells were aimed at them, they were going to keep going.

They crawled past barbed wire, wooden posts that had been erected as a barrier, unexplored shells and even fallen soldiers. Daniel saw the remains of men who had made the same journey he was making, men who hadn't reached their destination and had fallen just short of the mark. Behind him, he could hear one of the newer recruits vomiting into the mud after seeing the remains of a fallen soldier.

Daniel pushed it all from his mind and focused instead on moving forward and the task at hand. Bullets flew past them, shells exploded around them but still, they crawled forward. He ignored what was happening around him, even going as far as forgetting that he had a group of men following right behind him. They had a task to complete and he was determined to do it.

"Taylor has been hit!" George yelled in his ear.

"Leave him! We need to reach the trench!" Daniel replied.

"We can't! He's only sixteen, Daniel. The wound is to his shoulder, we can get him back to the line."

"Take him and go. We can't stay here, we're sitting ducks."

"Here." George handed over two grenades and some extra ammunition he had in his pockets.

"I'll see you when this is over."

"See you on the other side."

George turned and started to stomach crawl back the way they had come. He grabbed onto the wounded man and together they started to crawl back towards the line and away from the German trench. Daniel looked to the other men, many of whom had never been in battle before and looked shaken at the thought of someone being hit so close to them, someone they would have trained with, perhaps even grew up with. Daniel understood that feeling, but emotions had no place on the battlefield.

With two fewer men in their ground, Daniel continued to move forward, changing direction on occasion to be certain the Germans hadn't noticed them and were firing at them on purpose. The shells appeared to be falling in the wrong place, and Daniel hoped that meant they had no idea they were even coming. They needed that element of surprise if they were going to get away jumping the trench and ending the war completely.

They kept crawling until Daniel could see the sandbags of the German trench. The sound of the gunshots didn't appear to be coming from the part of the trench they were close to, but they needed to be certain that the spot was a safe enough place to enter without losing anyone. He stopped just before the sandbags and looked over at Henry who had kept at the rear of the column since they had started. Henry crawled up the column towards him.

"It seems quiet, but we need to be sure," Daniel said.

"I was supposed to scout it with George, but I can go alone," Henry said.

"No, you stay here. I can't be a leader if I don't put myself in danger to protect my men. If the grenade doesn't go off, turn and go back."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Henry nodded and handed over an additional few grenades so that Daniel had enough to ensure that anyone remaining in the trench didn't survive. He moved forward until his head was pressed up against the sandbags. No one had tried to shoot him and he assumed it meant that no one was even in the trench. Still, he grabbed one of the grenades, pulled the pin and threw it over the top of the sandbags, ducking just as it exploded and showered him in mud, debris and shrapnel.

Before the dust had settled, he rolled over the top of the sandbags and into the enemy trench.

~~~

First Published - February 28th, 2021