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24 Somme pt2: through the Mud and Blood

September 1916
Somme, Northern France
0100 am

[POV of Jason]

The broken British Mk1 tank in the middle of no-man's land had an old Graphaphone playing eerie old french music, the music was seriously screwing with me, and was being changed by someone out there. We walked slowly through the mud above the trenches at a half prone style, the moonlight occasionally caused out bayonets to glisten. The mud then got ankle deep and caused our movement to slow to a halt, but we shrugged on, even when the cold water came into the craters where our feet had left. Speaking of craters, it was dark enough to the point you couldn't see shit, and the shelled craters were fuckin' deep. I then heard a heavy crackle and a *spluschhh* I looked down to see I stepped right into the chest cavity of a dead French soldier, and if that wasn't bad enough... I had to get my damn foot untangled from his esophagus and ribcage. As we walked further, the smell of death and sound of flies became putrid and almost made some us hurl. I got tobacco from a Prince Charles tobacco can and shoved some in my nose to semi control the smell. My foot kept tapping bodies and when I looked into a shiny pool of water... it was red. We then reached the next trench to find only a couple of British and a handful of Frenchman, all around them were fallen commerades. I then pulled out my pipe and loaded it with tobacco, I hope the other guys got what they were hoping for. I've seen hells gates before, but nothing this close.

[POV of Skull]

This was insane, the death was everywhere. There were bodies half covered in mud and decaying, along with piles of literal shit everywhere. I then saw a bottle in a dead soldiers hand, I picked it up and saw it was half full, it had Barbed Wire Whiskey carved into the glass. I then had a couple of hard swigs of the barely aged whiskey, it sure warmed and loosened me up. I found a deep admiration for the dead laying around me, they seen hell... and now they a heroes. We then found little dug outs carved into the dirt, we settled in and slept the best we could.

[Unknown time]

Jason: Jay...[blur]...get above the trench and find a solid position away from the combat. We will need your assistance.
Jay: It's too...
Jason: Now Godammit, if you don't we could all die as a result.

[Sunrise- about 0700]
[Booom, ba-booom, booom]

Mike: what the.... INCOMING!

Morter blasts struck all around us and softened the dirt causing it to basically bury me in the mud and dirt that was once the dug out. I put on my gasmask and started pushing mud out of my way to unbury my self. I then got light and barely pulled through the mud to find the Germans leaping into the trench. I pushed my Winchester M97 trenchgun out of the mud and shot a German point blank causing him to quickly stumble back hit the wall of the trench and land face first in the mud. I then pulled my self out of the mud to see a bayonet which I bashed out of the way with mine, then I pushed the bayonet on the into the front of the German's neck and push him to towards the trench wall where I pulled the trigger and blew his Pichelhaube off of his head, this action was followed by a pulpy mess. I seen Jason had taken off A German's helmet and wash bashing another German in the head with it, and Mad Jack was pushing through bayonet attackers with his Welsh Blade. I then sweeped the trench by slam firing my trenchgun and annihilating German foes. I Angered Brit pushed me out of the way and started bashing a German in the head with a trench mace, and other Brits were using mele too... The french were getting crafty with their knives. I saw a German with a pipe and tank in his back stand on top of the trench Line and light all of the Brits and French in it on fire. I jumped on top of the trench and charged him, but when he saw me I had already drawn my MAS revolver and shot him in the chest twice and once in the head. I then slinged my shotgun and slung it low as I picked up the German Kleif flamethrower and walked towards the German trench lined. The machine gunner aimed at me... I felt a panic go down my spine. Then a Red mist came from under his helmet and his helmet pulled the top of his skull off and some brains with it, this was known as a "brain bucket." I walked across the thick Mud, the trees were blocking me from the line of view of the Germans. I then looked behind me and saw some bloody, snarling, French soldiers with grins on their faces. I remebered I was wearing A French Foreign Legion Uniform, and nodded at them. I then got ontop of the trench and seen the fear in the Huns (Germans) eyes, and I said "VIVA LA FRANCE, MOTHERFUCKERS" and lit those bastards on fire. Their agonising screams fueled me up, I then went above the zig-zagged German trenchline and lit it ablaze. Blood curtling screams and Germans begging for their lives didn't stop me, I then noticed the tank was out of fuel and jumped into the trench whilst leaving the Flame stick behind. I walked cautiously through the Trench line and blew away any German who got in my way with the Shotgun. A German then jumped me and knocked me to the ground and drew his knife.

German: Du hast meinen Vater getötet!

I then grabbed his hand with the knife and pulled out bolo-knife from its sheath on my leg and cut a large gash in his neck. The blood drained onto my gas mask and made it Impossible for me to see, I then stood him up and slashed across his chest cavity. I felt a bunch of stuff run down my leg and land on my feet, it was hot and heavy. I then wiped my goggles to see I had disemboweled him, His guts were spread across my feet. And with all of this the soldier still stabbed me through the top of the foot with a boot knife, I then then took the bolo-knife and Jabbed it into his skull. A hot rain started as I was trying to exit the trench, my foot was seriously fucked. The mud caused me to slide back into the trench. I pulled out the bottle of 'Barbed wire' whiskey and started drinking as I examined the soldier. His face looked familiar... it couldn't be... the soldier had the face of my dead brother. I then crawled over to the soldier and grabbed a picture from his breast pocket, it showed a Picture of him and his dad... and me. I had just killed my brother from another time and place. I sat in the mud beside him and started crying.

[POV of Nako]

We charged the trench and seen the French had taken the Northern half, we then went through the labyrinth of the trench maze. I slung the Mauser 91 onto my back and got out my MP18. Brax and I were then taking turns on who had the next section of the trench, this happend until we seen a mosh pit of death that we had to, inevitably, go through. We were crawling through the bodies and getting shot at by dying Germans, it was all close quarters. I could see the anger in the Germans eyes as I crawled over the bodies... we shot at eachother and sent bullets into the dead. I then pulled my colt 1903 pocket pistol and sent all 8 .32acp rounds into the German whom was shooting at me. Brax rolled over, then leaned up, and shot a german though the helmet with his Winchester '73. We finally got out of the deathpit and continued through the trench. We looked out of the trench to see thousands of bodies stuck in mud and barbed wire, hundreds of odd looking tanks stuck or exploded and craters upon craters. We got out of the trench and crawled under the barbed wire, and into No man's land we went. It was cold, not because of the mud, but because everything felt empty and yet screamed in fright. Acres of death and machines of war lay upon this open graveyard, Brax and I continued through the smokey/steamy, muddy, 5 acres of horror. Faces of dead soldiers permanently stuck in fear, then the music started, the goddamn creepy French music. Here, there was no sound exept silence itself. God must look down upon this scene and cry... Then the hot rain started pour.

[POV of Jay]

I got out of my position and seen a dead British sniper, I took his bloody cloak and slung it upon my left arm. Silence, it was killing me, no one was shooting. Occasionally you would hear screaming, or the sound of bashing. I walked into the trench and saw burned German soldiers, the smell of burning hair and flesh caused me to hurl. I walked down the trench and seen the French picking stuff of the dead Germans, they looked at me and went back to looting. I seen a French soldier crying by a dead German and passed him, I then saw a German holding a Wine bottle. It was from 1845, I popped the cork off and smelled the smell of ripe grape. The dry red wine was smooth and was very fragrant. I then found a blackening ration can that hadn't been opened yet, It was hot. I set on an ammunition crate and feasted, only after I finished the ration can did I see a dead German staring at me.

[POV of Mad Jack]

Jason and I were sitting on the front of a Broken down MK1 British tank and were drinking bourbon. We were soaked in blood, and the rain felt good. Steam started rolling off of us as we drank down our bourbons. We then had the fortune of finding more in the tank, and chocolate to go with. We then saw Buddy and invited the, beat up slender, man over to the tank to drink with us

[POV of Mike]

Where the hell am I, I was fighting one second, now I'm in the middle of a Junkyard of Tanks.