A War of Love

Chapter 1 - The Battlefield

The sound of German troops marching followed the beat of the war drums. The hollow singing of bagpipes followed as the Scots prepared for battle. The whistling of the artillery shells rung in the troops ears while lightning rips the sky open with it's white streaks of electricity every ten seconds. The beat starts to quicken and the splashes of mud start to climb up the troops legs. Behind the Germans, the kilted soldiers of Scotland follow with the mud climbing up their bare skinned legs. The two armies scuttle into the trenches and ready their weapons and load the MGs. The battle of Edinburgh was about to commence. The rain started to create a swampy feeling within the trenches. The rain started to fall like a bucket of water had been poured from the sky. The trenches started to fill with the water, making it very slippery but the Scottish weren't wavered by it, Their pride for war kept them dry and warm. Days passed before the battle ended. The sound of rifles firing and ricocheting, artillery bombarding the other trenches, biplanes fighting for control of the sky and the sound of tanks exploding in No Mans Land echoed throughout the barren streets of Edinburgh. The dust settled on the third day, revealing a battlefield that had converted into a silent graveyard with murmurs from a far in the trenches. No Mans Land... It was a Death Sentence for any who went there. A body, A Fallen soldier, Stands up. Dripping with blood, sweat and mud. He gazes round No Mans Land, inhaling through his eyes the horror of war. Tanks on fire, Craters in the ground, pools of blood. The Bodies litter whats left of the green grass with the stains of blood. Next to Him, His brother lies on the ground. Dying. The brother reaches up to him and pulls him close to his lips and whispers

"Richard, take bloody good care of yourself. Don't you die..." His head then drops and his silent whispers are taken away by the wind.

"Bill? Bill!? Please no. Please don't let this be real. Open your eyes damn it!" His eyes start to gather tears. He realises Bill is gone and isn't coming back after ten minutes of holding him in his arms crying his name.

"Alright then Bill... I'll try to keep the family line going. and one day, I'll see you again. I promise" He then carries Bills body back to the Scottish Trench to have it coffined and sent to be buried. He goes back to No Mans Land to where Bill had been lying dead to find the family photo of his Mother and Father with Bill, Malcom and Richard. He picks it up and puts it in his pocket, making sure he has a firm grip of it so it doesn't fall. He takes another glance to see more Scottish Brethren dying, flopping like fish out of the water.