Hope at Dunkirk

3.

The small boat made it to the ship, and the Navy soldiers let down a sturdy net to allow them to climb up the side and on to the deck. Soldiers waited for nothing as they scavenged to the net and climbed up the side of the ship, pushing and shoving each other out the way. Harry was shoved multiple times and decided it was best to wait until the near few were left, before climbing up as well. He side glanced at the Nurse that still sat in the boat, seeming to have the same idea as him in order to not get crushed by Men way bigger than her.

"You go first", Harry said his first few words to her, making her look up at him with slight surprise. He motioned his hand towards the net and stepped back, letting her climb before him. She carefully and hazardously climbed the net, shaking to the brim from fear. The Nurse pulled herself up on to the deck, before stepping back and unknowingly waiting for Harry to climb up as well.

Once he hauled himself over the side, he was shocked to see the Nurse was waiting for him before going to the other Nurse that held blankets for the wet and cold soldiers. He stuck his thumbs in his trousers and pulled them up higher, nodding to the Nurse to move forward as he was now right behind her. Harry cleared his throat before taking a blanket from the other Nurse who smiled at the two, before gesturing for them to go down to the lower deck again. This frightened the Nurse deeply, seeing as being in the under deck last time nearly killed her.

Sliced bread with Jam on top was being handed out to the soldiers, with cups of water and more blankets for those who missed out first hand. More Nurses tended to the Men, giving a safer feel to the cramped room. Harry caught sight of one of the boys who were the fake medicals on the previous ship. He noticed that the other boy wasn't their with him, making him walk over with a slice of bread with Jam on top in his hand.

"What's wrong with your friend?", he asked while chewing, making the other soldier look at him with his own bread in his hand.

"He's looking for a quick way out", he replied. This made Harry stop chewing and look around at the room, seeing near about 50 soldiers with 13 Nurses all in one place. If this ship were to follow the same fate as the other one, it would near enough kill them all. "In case we go down".

The Nurse walked around the cramped room, looking down at the ground with a longing to be at her home and in her bed, where she was safe. She volunteered to be a medical help in the Army, but didn't expect to be sent to a foreign land and stranded with a bunch of soldiers who had been through Hell. She'd love to have a cup of tea in her hand with her pet cat called Misty on her lap, in the comfort of her family home. What was even worse, that her family didn't know she signed up for the medical force. She did it in secret, knowing her parents would never agree.

A hand was settled on her shoulder, making her turn around to see Harry behind her, standing with the boy from before. They had now learnt each other's names (the other one being Tommy) and decided it would be good to have some company for the ride home. The Nurse looked between the two boys, and gulped at their tall figures.

"You should hang with us for now", Harry stated. "You know,  so that you don't get lost".

"What's your name?", Tommy asked, the Nurse snapping her head to him.

"O-Olivia", she answered, a small smile coming to Harry's face at her name. It suited her well: a beautiful name for a beautiful girl, he thought. "I'm Harry, and this is Tommy".

A shout soon came from outside the lower deck, loud enough to pass through the shut door that lead to the outside. Harry, Tommy and Olivia turned their heads to the door but no one else noticed the frantic shout. A faint sound of the word 'Torpedo!' was yelled, before a loud bang shook the ship and water began to pour into the lower deck. 

The boy who was originally with Tommy, stood outside the door and on the front deck held on to the railing as the ship began to tip, about to suffer the same fate of the previous ship. Small boats filled with soldiers were perched behind it, originally wanting to come onboard the ship for salvation but stayed where they were when the torpedo from an enemy ship was launched into the side of it. The boy was about to jump over to side to save himself, until he heard shouts and cries come from the lower deck where the rest of the soldiers were.

He watched as the Navy soldiers abandoned ship and swam towards the small boats, leaving the soldiers trapped and ready to drown. The boy turned around from his place, and staggered towards the door. He turned the wheel with great strength and unlocked the hatch, heaving it open before jumping off the side of the ship.

The lower deck had already filled with water, drowning Nurses and soldiers alike once again. Tommy saw Moonlight sink into the water, making him frantically swim to reach the surface and out of the ship's hold. Harry was struggling to swim for any longer, but saw Tommy swimming to what seemed like an escape. Before he went to swim for his survival, he turned to see Olivia was already unconscious and sinking to the depths of the sea, still with no life jacket on her shoulders. Harry reached out his hand for the second time to her and grabbed hold of her wrist, yanking her along with him to the surface, praying to God that she wasn't already dead.

The three broke through the surface and saw the small boats waiting for them with soldiers and Navy soldiers already filled up. Harry pulled Olivia up and rested her head against his shoulder, panting once again and shouting to the soldiers.

"You have to help her! S-She's not breathing!", Harry shouted as him and Tommy swam to the boats, who already looked reluctant to let more survivors on.

"We're already full, we can't over fill the weight", a soldier said to them from the boat, looking worried and guilty to the three. A general stood up and looked at the floaters intently, before speaking up. "You have life jackets, the water's not too cold, just wait a while and we'll come back for you".

"She could be dead! We could be dead!", Harry yelled. "Just take her at least! Do some CPR shit!".

The soldiers gave into his one request and pulled Olivia up on to the boat, making as much room as they could. The two kept themselves barely afloat, their life jackets basically keeping them alive at this point.

They would soon have to wait again.