Almost There

Chapter 2

My ears were ringing from the sound of the shells erupting all around us. I clung to the wooden beam for dear life, my nails digging into the chipped paint coating the woodwork. I opened my eyes which had been squeezed shut as I had braced for impact, only to see the hospital ship sinking slowly into the sea. Soldiers were jumping ship, left, right and centre, plunging into the icy waves below to escape the grave fate of the drowning boat. Men were swimming frantically to get away from the ship which was tilting dangerously close to the walkway. I stretched out my hand to pull one of the soldiers up onto the wooden beam I was crouched on, pulling him free from the sinking ship which had nearly crushed him moments before. I continued to help men out of the water, as did Tommy and the soldier he was with, until they were all out of the freezing surf.

I looked in horror as the ship was finally submerged by the swirling tide, bubbling like a pot boiling on a stove. I turned my gaze towards Tommy and the other soldier, and we exchanged a look between us which would best be described as a mixture of worry and fear.

Several hours passed before the next ship arrived, but I managed to get on it along with Tommy, his friend and another soldier that Tommy had pulled from the water. I soon realised that the soldier who'd been tagging along with Tommy wasn't much of a talker, but I noticed that the tag he wore read 'Gibson'; I guessed that that must have been his name.

As the four of us climbed aboard we were directed below deck by one of the nurses, who handed each of us a blanket as we passed by. I took it from her hands gratefully and wrapped the large piece of fabric around my shoulders, in an effort to warm up as much as possible. I stepped down the steel staircase into the crowded deck below. Nurses were busy serving water to the thirsty troops, and trays of bread and jam were placed on tables throughout the room.

I grabbed a piece of bread from off the table and devoured it hungrily, savouring every last bite. I spotted Tommy and the soldier he had rescued a little way ahead and decided to stick with them, finding some small form of comfort in a pair of familiar faces. I caught up to them and they both turned their heads to look at me, the new soldier giving me a small nod upon my arrival.

"Alright?" he said, looking down at me, "I'm Alex."

"Sam," I spoke, craning my neck to look up at him. I did wonder sometimes how my rather short height hadn't tipped anyone off to the fact that I was a woman. I guess it was lucky for me that there weren't any height requirements for joining the army.

Alex turned his attention back to Tommy and began to ask about his friend; I guessed he was talking about Gibson. As he did this I glanced up at Tommy, only to find him looking right back at me. Just as before, it felt like he was eyeing me suspiciously, as if he suspected I was hiding something. His stare made me uneasy, and I had to look away. I let my helmet cover my face as I looked down at the ground absentmindedly, and when I brought my head back up again he was chatting with Alex once more. I could only hope that he didn't catch on to my nervous behaviour, or at the very least that he hadn't figured out why I was acting so nervous.

The next thing I remember is being hit by a multitude of frigid blue liquid. I felt like a dead goldfish swirling around the toilet bowl after being flushed. Suddenly the ship was on its side, and I searched desperately for an escape, an opening, a way out. There had to be something.

Nothing.

But then, the cabin door overhead was being opened, and I was using every ounce of strength I could muster to swim up and out of the submerging vessel. I struggled all the way to the surface, my water-sodden woollen uniform pulling me back with every stroke I made. Eventually I came up, gasping for air to fill my empty lungs.

I looked back at the ship which was almost completely underwater, and saw Gibson crouched on the side of the ship by the cabin door. He dived into the water and I realised that he must have been the one who'd freed us.

Few of us had made it out alive. Tommy, Alex, Gibson and I were four of maybe fifteen or so men who had managed to escape.

"Quick thinking with that door," I said to Gibson, slightly out of breath from both the cold and the physical strain, "You saved our lives."

He offered no spoken response, but instead simply gave me a small smile and a polite nod. I moved my head to the left, and spotted several life boats not too far away from our position. I began to swim towards the closest one, the other men in tow behind me.

Once we reached them, each of us went to climb aboard. Tommy reached up and grasped the edge of the boat, only to have his hands smacked away roughly.

"We're full. You can't come aboard," said one of the men, who appeared to be in command, "Head to shore, there'll be more boats soon."

Not likely, I thought to myself as they rowed away into the black abyss.

As they drifted away, fading out of sight, we had no choice but to swim back to shore in the pitch black of nightfall. After what felt like forever, we stumbled to shore, just as my muscles were about ready to give up. We collapsed onto the wet sand one by one, and I rolled onto my back, not caring about the rifle still slung around my body that I was now laying on top of. I breathed deeply as I gazed up into the darkened night sky; inhaled, exhaled, and let my eyelids fall shut as I welcomed sleep.