The Boy of Company B

[4] Its A Lovely War

"Ay! Get your ass up!!" Barked a familiar Scottish accent.
I slowly pried open my eyes and stared blankly at Lewis who was fiercely towering over me. His green eyes were surrounded by dark bags and his usually neat brown hair was sticking out from every angle like spikes.
"It's time to wake up, you've been asleep for years, Lawrence." he said.
"Get up, get up, get up, get up!" Finn chanted from behind Lewis, obnoxiously banging his fist on his helmet like a drum.
"Okay, okay, damnit, I'm up!" I lifted my head off of the parapet and stretched.
The sky above was absolutely gorgeous. A light pink faded into a deep orange and a pastel yellow. The sky was decorated with fluffy white clouds that made room for sunlight to pass through them.
I remember as a kid my mother always told me that the rays of sunlight were Angels. I didn't care how old I got, I always believed that statement. I held it very near and dear to me in the toughest of times. It made me feel at peace in a way, having the reassurance that I was being watched over and that I was safe made me ever so calm. I turned to Charlie who was sat next to me with his head hung over his helmet that rested in his hands.
"What're you doing?" I asked him.
He turned his attention towards me.
"Fixing the strap" Charlie pointed towards the severed fabric.
"What'd you do to it?"
"I don't even remember," he chuckled.
I breathed a laugh before turning my gaze to Thomas and Will. They were playing a visions game of poker together. It included the usual cursing and bantering back and forth about the other cheating. I scooted my way next to the pair.
"Who's winning?"
"Me, so far I've got £1.25," Will boasted.
Thomas interrupted, waving his hand objectively, "you took that last pair of aces directly from the stack!"
"You have no proof!" Will retorted.
"I just know you did!"
"Restart the game and I'll watch to make sure neither of you cheat." I suggested.
William nodded and shuffled the cards. He dealt five to Thomas and five to himself. They picked the cards up and scanned them.
"I'll take two," Thomas said, shoving two cards in my direction. I slid them to him and watched as a wide grin formed on his face.
"Three," Will said.
I gave him three and heard him groan in frustration.
Thomas threw a farthing into the center of the parapet.
"I bet you £0.25,"
William looked at him with raised brows.
"I fold.." he said in a low, defeated tone.
Thomas took the coin back and goofily smirked at William, who gave no reaction.
The game continued for about 15 minutes, ending in William winning, again.
"I thought I had this one..." Thomas grumbled.
"Thank you for making me £3.00 richer," William teased.
Thomas flicked Will's nose and shook his head.
I laughed at the two and sat down on the boards that covered the dreaded mud below. My knees hurt so bad. I had been kneeling for 15 minutes straight. I felt as though I had just aged 30 years. I let out a sigh and rested my head on the mud soaked wood behind me.
"Suppose we'll be doing anything of significance today?" I asked Charlie.
He was still bent over his helmet, fiddling constantly with the strap in an attempt to repair it.
"Who knows?" He said.
Charlie stretched and met my gaze.
"I'm sure we'll be on watch duty tonight,"
I rolled my eyes.
"Can't a man just sleep?" I mumbled.
"Not in the Trenches. You're on the Western Front, remember that."
I glanced up at him and nodded to let him know I acknowledged his statement. I had a great admiration for Charlie. He was a great soldier, and a very caring young man. He was very good looking, which made me a little envious of him. He had a strong jawline and neat brunette hair. His deep blue eyes were surrounded by subtle freckles and thick brows. Charlie always helped his fellow soldiers, consoling those who were in an awful state of shock and grief. He was an amazing leader, and it came as a bit of a surprise to me that he was only a Lance Corporal. What struck me as strange was his ability to sense what the Germans were doing. Where they were going, what weapons they used, how to operate them, and so forth.
"Night watch isn't THAT difficult," he protested.
I shrugged my shoulders, "it's boring."
"How about you rest and I'll watch, that sound good?"
I nodded without any hesitation.
Charlie smiled warmly and nodded.
A sudden loud explosion echoed from above, startling the five of us. Dirt flew at us from left and right.
"What the fuck!?" Finn shouted.
He poked his angry Irish head out of the trench just enough to get a good view at what had happened.
The Germans were shelling us again.
"Damn you, Jerries!" He yelled with a waving fist.
"Get down, private!" Charlie demanded.
Finn cursed under his breath and slumped down against the trench.
"What's with you and caring so much about those blasted Germans, anyway?" Finn questioned.
Charlie's face went red.
"It's not that I care about them, I just don't want you to anger them and get shot."
Finn crossed his arms and hung his head in shame.
Charlie's face was still a rosy pink as he continued to mess with the frayed strap on his helmet. I wondered if he was upset or embarrassed.
Thomas and William were now silently playing Go Fish. Nobody said much, we just sat there with our heads down doing nothing but keeping to ourselves.
***
At 2100, Charlie and I stood watch in the trenches up the line a bit. Charlie sported a pair of binoculars and his gun.
He seemed rather anxious, he fiddled with his fingers and binoculars. I asked him if he was okay a few times, but all he did was wave his hand and claim that he was just dandy. I shrugged it off and just assumed that he was tired, or maybe something was bothering him but he didn't want to talk about it. I dozed off a few times throughout the night. I'd jump awake whenever a gun was fired or someone shouted. It was rather peaceful, which usually wasn't the case whenever I was on watch. Typically there was some sort of shelling mixed with ear-drum puncturing gunfire. The ground would shake a few times when a shell met with the dirt.
I opened my eyes, standing in front of me was Charlie. I could hear the soft murmur of his voice, but I couldn't quite make out what he was saying. A dark figure, that lie on its stomach perched along the top of the trench facing Charlie, shifted in the night. I could clearly tell that he had been talking to someone. But who the hell was crawling through No Mans Land in the middle of the night? And why? Who was it?
I brushed it off as just a dream and fell back asleep.