Rise

September 11, 1916.

It's been 2 weeks since that day we were attacked. We lost at least one hundred men, but nobody would know, so many have died in this god forsaken and damned war. I was in a coma for about a week after that mortar shell hit, ever since I woke up we've been walking. My feet are killing me, but Captain Davies says it's all so we make it to Courcelette in time for the big day, whatever that means. We're supposed to arrive there on Wednesday, which is 2 days from now, so we're walking fairly quickly. Right now we're taking rest in a forest about a few miles from Courcelette, or what is left of it anyway. Now the dead trees remain, and the ash covers the ground.

"Andrew, ya got water lad?" Sheppard asked.
I turned to face him, feeling my canteen then shaking it. "Only a little, so don't drink too much," I replied, handing him the quarter full canteen.

He drank only for a slight moment, enough to leave at least an eighth of water, before handing it back to me. I clipped it back onto my waist band. My SMLE was always kept handy, my finger resting slightly above the trigger guard.

"Let us take a break, shall we?" Captain Davies said after a long moment of silence. We all nodded our heads and took a place to sit on, a rock, or the ground.

I laid across the dirt ground beneath me and took a breath, my ankles throbbing, thanking me desperately for resting. I stared at the sky, the smoke from the battlefields nearby covered the sky, then more smoke coming the Captain's cigar.

"Feels like we're going to be stuck in this god forsaken war forever, Cap'n," Paul spoke. "Well, the sooner America joins us in battle, the sooner we get to go home, but I'm afraid that may not happen," Captain Davies replied solemnly.

"So many lives just because one Serbian twat decided he wanted to kill somebody he didn't like, now we've lost thousands, if not millions of young men already. I should have just stayed home with mother," I spoke, pained in my heart and longing for home.

We sat in silence, Captain Davies smoking his cigar, I staring at the sky, Paul twiddling his fingers, and Weaver and Sheppard playing a quick game of cards to pass the time. My breaths were long and peaceful, not like the long ones I had to take that were filled with dread and fear. I closed my eyes only for a moment.

I woke up a full hour later, my eyes slowly opening, and I slowly sat up. I looked around for the rest of my squad. I couldn't find them. "Damn twats, left me behind didn't you," I mumbled.

I rose to my feet looking around the open fields. I was only joking to myself, but it looks like the squad actually left me behind. "Captain Davies?" I called out. "Paul?"

None of their voices responded. "Sheppard! Weaver! Is there anybody there?" I continued crying out. "If you're hiding, this isn't funny, come out!"

Suddenly I heard a group of maybe 4, 5 men, speaking German close by. I dropped onto my stomach, and watched from where the sound came from. They made no footsteps, they made no sound, as though they were just standing there. I fixed my bayonet to the front of my rifle. The Germans sounded as though they were laughing, giggling slightly amongst themselves. I heard their voices and laughs from behind one of the larger trees. Suddenly they were telling each other to shush and quiet down.

I was confused, and rose to my feet, aiming to catch them unaware. I sprinted towards the tree, yelling in as deep a voice I could, to intimidate them. I went too far past the tree and was out of bayonet range. I whipped around and faced the men. There I saw my squadmates losing their minds with laughter, slapping their knees, catching breaths. I lifted my rifle above my head and smacked Weaver in the back of the head with the stock of my gun.

"I was worried," I scolded them. I watched Weaver rub the back of his head in pain.

Captain Davies chuckled lightly, "alright, we need to keep moving, otherwise we won't make it in time."

We all nodded and followed behind Captain Davies, leading us onward to our destination. I walked, silently and peacefully, the branches of the dead trees crunching beneath my boots as I looked to the smoke filled sky. Wasn't the type of peace anybody would willingly wish for, but in this hell of the western front, it's the closest thing you'd get.

Hours had passed, dusk was slowly approaching. My feet ached greatly, but I kept pushing on. The sun was falling just above the event horizon, only a few minutes later did it fully set, giving rise to the bright white moon above. "You think the soldiers on the Italian front get this kind of night?" I asked, breaking the silence that had held for the past few hours.

None of my teammates gave an answer, simply pondering to themselves, desiring home, or rest, or water, or all of the above. I took a deep inhale of the crispy air around me. I held my breath for a moment, looking at the area around me, no trees, just a large field, filled with craters and mud. "My toes are starting to come through my socks, can we take a break?" Paul asked, on the verge of begging.

Captain Davies nodded, "we rest here for the night, we're only a few kilometers from Courcelette anyhow, we'll finish the journey tomorrow."

We found a crater that would support our backs to sleep in for the night. I laid down first followed by my the rest of my squad mates. "Will we have to take turns on watch?" I asked.

Captain Davies shook his head, "no, we're too far from the front to have to worry much, we should be ok, but if we do get awoken in the night or tomorrow morning, we need to be prepared."

We all nodded our heads and agreed, then set our backpacks aside as well as our rifles and canteens, then we settled into the trench for the night. The others were all quickly off to sleep, but I simply stared at the night sky for a while. I wonder what the black sky had to hold, if it was more than we could see. Would it be possible to take a plane that high and fly all the way to the moon? I frequently saw myself taking morning strolls along the moon's surface, it seemed like a nice fantasy, but I doubt I would have had that experience in this life time. I finally let my eyes rest and closed my eyes, then soon drifted off to slumber.