Our Final Stand

Bombing

I was exhausted. I lay down on the dusty carpet of a house, one of the few that hadn't been destroyed. Around me were fifteen members of my company. A few of us were wounded. We were in the living room of the house. There was a large hole in the wall, which allowed us to look outside if we needed to see anything that was going on. The furniture was peppered with shrapnel and dust. The rest of our company were scattered around the buildings next to us. We had two men in each building on sentry duty at a time, and we took it in half-hour shifts. Our company originally had around 150 men, but now it had dropped down to about 100. I daydreamed of me and Maria before I was drafted into the war. We had great times together. But as soon as I turned eighteen I was drafted into the Wehrmacht. Our country was always in need of more troops. I didn't want to join the army. I wanted nothing to do with this war. But I didn't have a choice. Before I left, I said goodbye to Maria. We sent each other letters, up until the fighting got to Berlin. The situation here is so desperate, that there is no one to deliver letters. Even children fought. Hitler threw everything he could at the rapidly advancing allies. I had no idea how Maria was doing. All I knew was that she was probably dead or imprisoned. I was about to fall asleep when I heard someone call my name.
"Christoph, Jakob, take over."
I reluctantly picked myself up and grabbed my rifle. I then headed over to the gaping hole and took my place. Jakob, my friend stood next to me. We watched carefully for any movement, but there was nothing. We heard artillery and gunfire in the distance, as always. Rubble was all over the place, and bodies lay in the streets. The buildings that still stood were badly damaged as a result of the relentless allied bombing raids. In the distance I saw a burned out tank. I could identify it, it was one of ours. A Panther. We were expecting a Soviet attack in the next few days, so we stayed especially vigilant. No one made a sound, except for the moans of the wounded. All we wanted to do was to go home. Not that many of us had a home now, Berlin had been obliterated. We were all extraordinarily worn out. We had been fighting for a long time with little rest. This was our only chance to get some sleep, so we seized the opportunity. The sky was grey and depressing, matching the state of the city. I stared out into the streets trying as hard as I could to spot something, but their was still nothing. Then, I heard a faint drone. I looked to my left, and I saw about fifty British Lancaster bombers, with Spitfire escorts, and they were heading our way. I pushed Jakob away and turned around.

"Bombers!" I yelled. "Bombers!"
The room erupted into panic as men got to their feet and grabbed their weapons. We all chattered worryingly and we collected our supplies as quick as we could. We picked up the four wounded men and headed into the hallway. Someone opened the front door and we sprinted out into the streets. The bomber formation was coming from the west, so we headed south. Because the Luftwaffe's power was now so small and our anti-air defences were virtually non-existent, the allies now bombed us in broad daylight. The bombers were now around 10 miles from us, but they were closing the gap. We kept running, but we were exhausted, plus carrying the wounded added more weight. I heard more engines, and as I looked up, four German Focke-Wulf Fw 190s flew over us. They were sent to intercept the bomber formation, even though it would almost certainly be a suicide mission. We carried on through the streets, which were still littered with bodies and rubble. I saw a group of civilians behind us, running in the same direction. We came to what used to be a hospital, which was half destroyed. Our sergeant called out to us.
"In the hospital!", his hoarse voice croaked.

We were huddled together in the basement of the hospital. It was very dark, but we could see a speck of light coming from the door. We all waited silently, dreadfully waiting for the bombs to fall. We waited for what felt like an eternity, before I heard deafening bangs. The ground shook violently. We screamed and covered our ears, praying that nothing hit us. The bombing went on for what felt like another eternity, before it stopped. My ears rang. I felt disorientated and dizzy. Everyone just sat there for a minute, staring into space, before the sergeant told us it was time to move. As we stepped outside, the smoke burned my eyes and lungs. I coughed violently. Not many of the bombs had struck where we were, but one had exploded right in the middle of the road. A huge crater hole was in its place. We were supposed to be traveling west by now, by we had been interrupted by the bombing. We walked through the desolate, abandoned streets. We were still silent. We had no idea what happened to the rest of the company, we had not seen them running with us. We couldn't worry about that now though. Our orders were to help defend Berlin by moving west and assisting the rest of our soldiers there. I suddenly heard a shout a couple hundred metres down the road. It was in German. Judging by the sound of their voice, it was a civilian. We rushed down the road to see what was happening. As we got closer, I realised it was a mother calling for her child.
"Peter, Peter!" she yelled. We called back to her.
"Where are you, we can help!"
She ran out of an alleyway towards us
"It's my son, I don't know where he is!"
We knew we should have been heading towards our objective, but we couldn't just abandon her. Her face was black with soot and her dress was ripped and dirty. She walked alongside us, calling for her son. We checked the shops, but there was nothing. But as we turned a corner, a small body lay in the road next to a pile of rubble. The lady ran towards it and we watched.
"Peter, Peter, No!" she screamed.
She leaned over the small childs body. She cried and screamed in disbelief. We stared at the lady and her dead child in horror. She wailed like ghost. I had never seen something so depressing in my life. Jakob ran into the nearest shop and I followed him in. The shelves had been knocked over and there was items all over the place. Jakob broke down. He lay on the floor, crying and wailing loudly. I kneeled beside him did the same. I felt like I was going to be sick. My world twisted and turned as I yelled and screamed. I was blinded by my endless flood of tears.
"I CAN'T FUCKING DO THIS ANYMORE!", Jakob screamed.
We were both a