Until we meet again (A war romance) (#Wattys2015)

Part 9 - Matthew

We were standing on the ladders in the side of the trench. I was clutching the ladder so tightly that my knuckles were white. Will stood next to me, trembling. I was reminded for a moment, of the man I had met in the reserve tent.

“Will,” I said quietly, “Don’t run back, just keep running forwards, you’ll make it, and I’ll be beside you.”

He turned to me, “I know.”

“READY MEN!” The sergeant bellowed. It was more of a statement than a question. I still nodded.

“Good luck,” I said to Tommy, smiling reassuringly, even though I was shaking now,

“Good luck,” he said, his voice trembling.

Then, I heard the whistle, and all around me, everyone was moving. I took a deep breath, put one foot in front of the other, and I was over the top.

Just like this morning, there was silence. It was eerie, and just reminded me that the silence could be broken at any moment. Will was right by my side, and I smiled proudly, we’re going to make it!

And then the German’s opened fire.

I jumped to the floor, pulling Will down with me. I looked up, and saw a hole, where a bomb had landed previously and blown up.

“We need to get to the hole!” I shouted over the roar of the guns, “We’ll be safe there!”

Will nodded, and we crawled over to the hole. We fell into it, just to discover it was filled with more mud. Great! It came up to our knees, and was very unpleasant, and the bullets still flew, and in the distance came the sound of explosions. I was shaking, and I clutched Will’s hand. A man fell into the hole, face first. We rushed over to him, and picked him up, but he was already dead. We had to let him go, and sink beneath the mud. “I’ll poke my head out, and see if there are any German’s nearby!” Will cried, and before I could stop him, he climbed over the hole.

It all seemed to happen in slow motion from then on: Will was standing there one moment, and he was falling into the hole beside me in the next.

“WILL!” I cried, and lifted him up. He looked into my eyes, and I saw tears.

“Matt… m-m-my side!” he wailed. I looked down. Blood leaked through his clothes, and the blood was on my hand, Will’s blood.

“No,” I said, “No no no no no!”

“Help me!” Will cried, tears spilling over his cheeks. I pushed on the wound, and he cried out in agony.

“I’ll get you back, Will, but you have to stay awake!” I was crying now, “Please!”

Will smiled sadly. “Tell my Mum I love her. Please…”

“No Will, you tell her yourself. You can do this, you have to do this!”

“I- can’t…” he rasped, his breathing becoming shallower, “Please…”

“No, Will, NO!” I screamed in anger and sadness, but suddenly, he stopped breathing.

“WILL!”

No answer.

“WILL!” I waited, as the bullets flew, and men screamed, for a reply, but he became limp, and silent. I help him close, as if he were my brother. “Please wake up!” I cried, but to no prevail, “Please!”

I don’t know how long I waited, but those guns never became tired. I lay Will down next to the other man who had died, and let him go. His body disappeared below the mud, and I couldn’t bear to watch as his dead eyes disappeared. I was shaking, but now I was angry, angry at everything, everyone. I picked up my rifle, poked my head out of the hole, and fired at a German I saw coming towards me. The bullet hit him in the chest, and he went down, without even time to scream. I shrank back. That man probably had a wife and family, just like Will- and I had just killed him- but what if he had killed Will? My eyes darkened, what if he had killed Will? I had murdered a man. Murdered. My stomach churned, but I had no choice. I climbed out of the hole, and ran, just ran. Oh God, if Will had just done that, would he still be alive? Tears fell down my cheeks, blurring my vision, and still I ran. I could see barbed wire ahead, and jumped to get over it…

And that’s when the grenade went off behind me.