This is War [ONC 2021] // Honourable Mention

Chapter Twenty-Eight - Kurt

When the grenade went off, Kurt ran out of range and ducked, pulling his helmet over his head to protect himself from the mud and debris that rained down around. His gun, which he left behind, burst along with the grenade, ruining any chance he might have had to defend himself against the British soldiers. He had been further down the line than the man who threw the grenade and hadn't seen them creep up on him. Everyone else had left that end of their trench to deal with the approaching British forces down the other end, only it hadn't worked out that way.

Kurt watched the British soldier roll over the top of the trench and land on his knees, pointing his rifle around the trench, but Kurt stayed hidden. He didn't have a weapon, he didn't want to fire a weapon, and the man who was supposed to be his enemy would kill him the moment he laid eyes on him.

He hoped the grenade explosion would draw some of the other men towards his position, but so far, no one had turned up. Several other men rolled over the top of the trench, some landing on their knees and others being sent sprawling against the trench floor. Kurt watched them move forward, some walking just past his position, but not even noticing he was sitting there. When they headed down the length of the trench, Kurt slowly started to detangle himself from his hiding position.

For a split second, Kurt considered climbing over the top of the trench and disappearing behind the lines, his sudden disappearance being put down as a death in combat. Then he remembered Johannes, his promise to Marie along with Wilhelm, his friend since before he could walk. He couldn't leave them behind when the British were launching an attack from inside the trench and they had no idea.

"Get out, find them, warn them," Kurt said as a mantra to himself.

Every gunshot made him jump, every grenade shook him to his core to the point that he just wanted to turn around and leave, but he had to protect his friends. Kurt hoisted himself up out of the trench, keeping as low as possible and crawling on his stomach towards the back end of the trench. He moved away from the trench wall and kept as low as possible so he wouldn't be spotted.

"Looks like the plan worked," one of the British soldiers said.

"Don't celebrate yet, we need to secure the trench first." Kurt recognised that voice.

He crawled harder, passing the British soldiers and moving further down the line to the spot the machine guns from the British trench had been firing at. Men were running around inside the trench, firing in the direction of the British trench with no idea that there were soldiers already inside and on their way to secure the trench and either take people prisoner or wipe out the entire Regiment.

Kurt rolled back into the trench, dropping down onto the mud but somehow managing to do so unnoticed by everyone around him. They were all too focused on when the British army might breach the trench that anyone could sneak up behind them which was exactly what they were hoping for. He moved against the tide in the trench until he found Wilhelm and Johannes aiming their guns towards the British sector and firing.

"What are you doing here?" Johannes asked when he turned to grab some more ammunition and spotted Kurt just behind them.

"The machine-guns are a diversion. The British are in the trench, I didn't see them coming."

"Find the Hauptmann, tell him they're coming," Wilhelm said. Johannes nodded and abandoned his gun, disappearing into the crowd of men.

"It'll take too long to get everyone down there, they're moving forwards and they're moving now."

"You're not even supposed to be up here, Kurt. Take Johannes' gun and aim at the British position. We need to knock out the machine gunners."

Wilhelm took Johannes' gun off the sandbags and forced it into Kurt's hands, pushing him back up the line before turning to his own gun and continuing to fire on the British trench. Kurt took the gun but moved through the crowd of men and back towards the trench he had just crawled along the top of, making his way through it. He knew this would be a suicide mission, but the other men didn't stand a chance. He had to at least try and do something, or everyone else would get killed.

The rifle felt heavy in Kurt's hands, as though he wasn't supposed to take it, it wasn't supposed to be in his hand. Still, he gripped onto it and sprinted through the trench, following the wooden beams and hopefully heading in the direction of the British soldiers. He wasn't sure how much help he could bring, especially being on his own with no one around him to assist, but he was willing to try for the sake of his friends.

He had disappointed them in more ways than one, become nothing but a useless body in a war that required each man to be at his best. The least he could do was offer them a chance to defend their trench, to protect themselves even if he died in the process. Perhaps this was meant to be. Perhaps this would be the one in a million wounds that would send him home, offering him the chance to get out of the war that he had been begging for.

Kurt rounded a corner. He could hear the sound of footsteps in mud, the low breathing of men trying to keep themselves from getting caught. The gun weighed him down, but he moved slowly through the trench, keeping close to the wall and trying to keep his breathing from sounding shaky.

It felt like his heart was in his throat. His lungs felt tight, constricted even, and his finger danced around the trigger of the rifle. Could he pull it? Could he take another life?

With a deep breath, Kurt rounded the corner and came face-to-face with a Platoon of British soldiers.

~~~

First Published - February 28th, 2021