The Miracle {Dunkirk}

CH.5

Peter went above deck to join the captain.

"George, I'm Bailey. Your friend told me that you hit your head." I said as I sat down the floor next to him.

He turned his head towards me. "I did, and I can't see."

"I've heard that too." I told him as I pulled some bandages out of my supply bag.

I removed the cloth that Peter had wrapped George's head with and began putting my own bandages over the wound.

"Are you in any pain." I asked him.

"No. Everything is kind of numb now." He replied.

I gave him a side smile, even though he was blind. "If you don't mind me asking, how exactly did you hit your head?"

He let out a sigh. "We had picked up a soldier way earlier on, and he wanted to turn back to England. He didn't want to go to Dunkirk beach. He tried to grab the steering wheel from Mr. Dawson, the captain, but of course Mr. Dawson didn't let him. I went to go pull him away but he pushed me and I fell down the stairs over there, and hit my head on the piping behind me."

"That's terrible. I can't believe he would do something like that." I commented, shocked.

"It's fine. I know it was an accident. He had no intention of pushing me down here." George said.

I noticed a cup of water near his head. I reached for it and brought it up to his lips. "Here, drink some water. It might help you feel better."

George simply shook his head. "I've done nothing in school. I told my parents I was going to be something. Do great in life. Now I can't do anything. It's all over."

"George don't say that. You have your whole life ahead of you. We're going to get you back to England and fix you up properly so you can keep that promise you made to your parents." I told him, tears beginning to form in my eyes.

I saw an ever so slight smile start to form on George's face. Before I knew it, his head tilted to the side and his small smile crept off of his face. His chest stopped rising and falling, and his body went limp. I placed two fingers under his jaw to check for a pulse, but received nothing. Swiping my fingers gently across his eyes, I closed his eyelids. I wiped my own eyes and stood up, making my way above deck.

"Peter." I said as I got above.

He turned around from talking to a few of the soldiers and faced me. "Well? Is he alright then?"

I looked down slightly and shook my head. "I'm so sorry mate. He's gone."

All of the colour drained out of Peter's face. "What?"

"He just lost too much blood and couldn't make it back to England. He needed more blood now, and I don't have the proper equipment with me." I explained.

"I understand." Peter whispered. "You did what you could."

He then turned around to a soldier that was curled up in the corner of the boat. "You! You're a bloody murderer!"

Peter lunged at him and tried to throw him overboard. "How could you do this?! That was my friend!"

I rushed forward and tried to separate the two of them. "Stop it! Stop it!"

Collins came over and pulled Peter away, holding him back. "Mate, calm down. What's done is done, you can't change the past."

"Did you enjoy that?! Killing my friend!" Peter yelled at the man who was now shaking. "You're a murderer you know that?!"

"Mate! This is a bloody war, everyone's a murderer!" Alex finally shouted.

Peter desperately tried to escape the grip that Collins had on him. "But my friend was innocent. He was killed by someone on the same side as him!"

"What's going on back there?!" Mr. Dawson called from the steering wheel.

"Don't worry dad! Everything's under control!" Peter called back.

There was a sudden plane crash nearby, and it definitely was not a Spitfire.

"German in the water!" Mr. Dawson yelled.

I looked around the deck. "Does anyone still have their rifle?"

"Yeah, yeah I do." A frail looking solider said, holding it up.

"Give it to me." I ordered.

He looked confused but handed it over to me. I took it and stood at the edge of the deck, looking over at the German who was escaping his plane.

"Hello!" I called out to him.

He said nothing in response and started swimming towards our boat.

"Bailey are you bloody insane?!" Alex whisper yelled at me.

He stopped about twenty feet away from our boat and pulled a pistol out of his uniform, aiming it directly at me.

"Bitte nein! Nein!" I shouted at him.

He laughed then spoke with a heavy German accent. "You can't fool me, I know you are English! Now I shoot you!"

Before he could pull the trigger, I positioned the riffle in front of me. I squeezed the trigger and heard a bang. The bullet had hit the German square in his forehead. He began sinking below the surface.

I turned around and all of the men on the deck had their mouths wide open in shock. "What?"

"You can speak German?" Alex inquired.

I shook my head. "No, I only know how to say a few words."

"Was that your first time shooting?" Tommy asked me.

I smiled and tossed the ruffle back to the frail soldier I took it from. "Yes, yes it was. Good aim I reckon."

"Yeah, it was." Alex laughed. "Bloody hell."

By this point, Peter had managed to get out of the grasp Collins had on him. He once again lunged at the soldier he hated with a burning passion and the two of them broke out in a fist fight.

I moved to go break them up again but I was stopped by someone's hand on my shoulder. I turned my head to see Collins.

"Don't." He said. "You're going to get yourself injured love. Just let them sort it out."

I watched the fight grow more and more intense. I was going to step in soon whether they liked it or not.