The Blind Brother (Peaky Blinders)

1918

Somewhere in France August 30th 1918

(Killian's P.O.V.)
"Come on, lads. On your ladders" the Sargeant yelled. I looked to my older brother, Alfie. He was already halfway up a ladder, peaking out onto no-man's land. Always eager for the fight that one. I took a deep breath and climbed the ladder beside him. "Up your ladder! To your work!". We brothers shared a look, telling one another we'll have each others back, no matter what. My heart began to beat faster and faster. "Ready to go over the top!". My breathing became rapidly fast. The sounds around me drowned out by empty thoughts. The Sargeant yelled again but I didn't hear his voice. A bomb exploded 10 metres away from me. Then everything came back to me as the whistle came. The whistle that meant "go over" into no-mans land. Without a thought, my body moved following my brother. To my left and right soldiers got shot and killed. Falling limp to the ground, blood staining the ground dark red. I weaved through the barbed wire. Bullets penetrated the ground just in front of my feet. Mud and debris sprung slightly up in the air due to the impact. I followed Alfie through a bombing crater, now filled with water, towards cover. There I let myself drop to the ground before aiming my rifle at the enemy. No thought of hesitation slipped into my mind of pulling the trigger to kill the enemy. I had done it now for more than a year and it became an automatic move. My brain didn't even register anymore that it was a human life that I took. "Let's go!" Alfie yelled and we made a break for the next covered part. Closer to the enemy line. I dove for cover once the bullets flew past my head again. Beside me a body was limply hanging on the barbed wire fencing. I could smell the blood coming from it. The fast automatic weapon of the enemy went on rapidly killing everything in its sight. I dug into my pocket and found a hand grenade. I pulled the pin and threw it away, toward the trench of the enemy. A body flew a few metres from the ground due to the force of the explosion. I took my chance and ran into the trench of the enemy line. Rubble and debris still trickled down from the grenade I had thrown. With a shaking breath and unsteady arms I carefully walked through the trenches alone. Fear crept inside of my veins. A cold shiver ran down my spine as I saw no one else. No fellow soldiers, no enemies. It was as quiet as a mouse. I turned the corner and froze upon seeing a soldier with a gas mask on pointing his gun at me. I didn't shoot, fear consumed me. I was like a deer in headlights. I thankfully managed to snap myself out of it when I realized that the soldier was already dead. A shakey breath escaped my lips and I turned the other way. Continuing to look theough the trench. I froze when I heard someone running behind me. Foot falls, becoming louder and louder. My heart beat matching the rapid approaching footfalls. I turn around abrubtly and point my rifle ready to shoot the person behind me. "No!" He screamed quickly. I gasp for air, realizing it is just my brother. "Killy" he softly spoke holding up a hand in surrender, showing me he wasn't a threat. I lower my weapon and try to recatch my breath. I lean against a wooden frame that is stood against the trench and take in a few deep breaths. Alfie walks up to me and puts a hand on my shoulder. "We made it" he whispers into my ear as he pulls me in closer. Holding me tight like only an older brother could "we made it, Kill". But then something catches my eye behind him. A slight movement and my heart stops, realsing what it was that moved.

(Alfie's P.O.V.)
Suddenly, Killian pushes me away and raises his rifle. I stumble slightly and hear a shot being fired off. I turn around as fast as I could, holding my own rifle up. The scene in front of me takes me back for a second. Killian is laying on the ground lifeless, while another soldier stands a few metres away from me and him. Anger began to fill my mind. Usually anger is a bad option to solve a problem with. But at this very moment, it was the only valid and good option I had. A scream left my throat as I ran up to the Italian soldier, who tried to shoot me. But, luckily for me, missed due to his struggle of reloading his rifle. I tackled him to the ground and punched him right in the face. Then pulled him to his feet before pushing his face up against the trench. And shoved the six inch nail, that I had grabbed after I had tackled him down, up his nose and then hammered it home with a duckboard. The Italian body slumped forward as life drained out of his eyes. I let go off him with a sigh. I caught my breath for a second and then remembered why I had bashed in the Italian. I quickly turned around and ran back to my 17 year old brother's body. Why did he have to falsify his documents to be 18, why was he so desperate to fucking fight in this war. I fell to my knees, not caring to get dirty and wet. I pulled my baby brother into my lap. "Killian?" I asked him loudly and desperatly as I wiped his curly locks away from his face. His blood staining my hands. "Kill?". Still no responce from him. "Killian!!".

I thought Killian was dead. But thankfully, he was still alive, if just barely. The army doctors worked like hell to save him. His wounds were severe—he would never see again, not only out of the eye that had been hit but the other as well. It was a miracle that he lived. But at that moment when I was kneeled in the dirt, holding him against my chest and screaming his name. I was so sure that he was dead. I felt it in my stomach, in my heart, in every part of me. I’d put him in the spot where he got hit. It was my fault he’d been shot. If I had just looked and made sure that the area was clean. This would not have happened. I remember when he woke up. I'll never forget that first hour when Killian realized he had became blind. He was so frightened and it was hard for him to breath. He later explained that it felt like he had been put inside something that was dark and he couldn't get out. The only thing he saw was shapes that he couldn't identify due to such blurryness. Thankfully, Killy gradually got used to his blindness that surrounded him and forgot that it had ever been different. There was no day or night that passed when he didn’t listen for sounds from the world around him. Both his sense of touch and his sense of hearing were beginning to make up for his lack of sight. He could separate the sound and each became different to him. Which gave him the ability to manoveure easily through familiar places, which he had memorized. So if you didn't know he was blind, he looked like a normal person just walking around town. The only thing that gave away his blindness was his white-grayish pupils and the nasty scar that ran across his eye.

Published: 30th of August 2023