A BROKEN BRIDGE, is the only obstacle that couple possibly stop Will and Juliana from continuing their mission.
Will, however, was determined. He wasn't going to let a something like this stop him. He studies how he and the nurse will make it across. After thinking it through, he turns to the young lady beside him.
-"Follow me,"
Juliana nods in response. Quickly, and of course carefully, they start to cross. With the middle part being destroyed, they descend the side, and climb up onto the rail. This way they could walk steadily along it. Juliana was slightly terrified after she climbed up, one foot in front of the other, walking with extra caution was easier said than done.
A gunshot slaps the water just in front of then, and birds fly up, frightening them slightly.
Will doesn't take time to jump across to the other side. As soon as he's over, he turns and motions for Juliana to do the same.
Dresses.
She thinks to herself while rolling her eyes. After gathering the bottom quickly, she leaps across and lands somewhat in Will's arms on the other side. Her foot slips into the water, and she clings onto the Lance Corporal for dear life.
He pulls her up while holding onto the metal craftsmanship. Quickly, they pull themselves together and climb up the side of the bridge, shots firing at them as they went.
Will jumps down once they reach the end, and he helps Juliana do the same. With a sense of knowing where the shots are coming from, he
walks towards the them.
After carefully ascending a flight of cement stairs, Juliana grabs his arm, pulling him down in the process.
-"You be careful, I can't lose you too." She states seriously while looking into his brilliant blue eyes. A nod is his response, and he inhales deeply before doing anything else.
He loads his rifle and stands, shooting at the window where the sniper was. He quickly ducks behind the stone wall that gave them cover, and the sniper fires back. He reloads, his hands trembling as he did so. Will squeezes his eyes shut, and regains his breath. He then stands, and begins to fire continuously at the window, the sniper not firing back.
The window was located at the top of an old building. The two young people dash to the door of said building and walk slowly in. With their hearts pounding wildly in their chest, they walk up a flight of wooded steps to the top where the window was.
-"Stay behind me," Will instructs in a whisper to the nurse. To anxious to speak, she nods vigorously in response.
As they climb to the top, a closed door is the only protection that the sniper has from possible harm. Will creeps up to it cautiously. After the two share a glance, which could very possibly be their last, Will swings open the door ready to take on whatever might come at him.
A German solider is slumped against the far wall, wounded with bullets wounds, and yet he has his gun raised. A split second goes by before both raise their guns and shoot.
The German's bullet hits Will on the helmet, sending him into panic, he steps back, and stumbles, knocking over Juliana, who yells out in surprise.
They tumble down a few steps before Juliana bangs her head and immediately is knocked out. Will sees this, and calls out the nickname he gave her before hitting his own head, on a rock.
• • •
Darkness engulfs them completely as the hours go by. Will is the first to wake, as a single droplet of water falls on his face. He groans as he slowly rises, his movements made gingerly as he feels the back of his head, which is covered in black blood. Once his senses are regained, he notices Juliana's not there.
-"Jules?!" He calls out, hoping for a quick reply. He calls out again as he turns to his left, and gasps at the sight of her lifeless seeing body. He crawls over to her, and gently shakes her, praying she'll wake up quickly.
"Jules come on." He raises his voice while shaking her harder. Tears sting his eyes as he realizes that she might not wake up.
But it wasn't God's Will for Juliana to die that day. She slowly opened her eyes and moaned as Will continued to shake her, his vision slightly blurred.
-"Will!" She says while sitting up quickly. He sighs in relief and carefully helps her sit up.
-"I thought I lost you." He whispers, tempted to pull her close to him and hold her tight. She nods, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.
He watches her as his eyes adjust to the darkness.
"What's wrong?" He inquires in a low voice. She shakes her head, not wanting to waist time telling him of her troubles.
"It's about Tom, isn't it?" He guess, and because lying is a sin, and he would've found out anyway, she nods and covers her face with her hands while taking shaky breaths.
"You can't save everyone Jules. Not even the best Doctors could've helped him. You can't blame yourself, no one saw it coming."
-"But I just stood there and did nothing! I a made promise, a stupid promise that I couldn't keep!" She yells in a whisper, the nostalgic feeling of guilt coming over her.
-"Those promises weren't stupid, they gave us a motive, to keep going, to help no another. Juliana through them, we were all bonded." He insists, speaking the truth, as the truth is always best, especially in situations like this.
-"He was so young. He didn't deserve to die." She says quietly while gulping down a sob. Now was not the time for tears.
-"No one deserves to die. Not even the Germans or the worst people in world."
Juliana registers this, and nods slowly in agreement. For it was true, and she was happy to see that even in the darkest of times, Will had a good heart.
He stands and reaches for his rifle and after positioning it on his arm, helps the nurse up. He then checks his watch, which was smashed during the fall. Their attention is then drawn to a light which came from the night window ahead of them. They watch it for a bit, transfixed by it.
Together and slowly, they descend the stairs, not wanting to waist any more time. The light from the flares cast their shadows on the ground when they walked through what was left of the streets. Juliana watches them in slight amazement. A gunshot pulls them back into reality as they drop down to the ground.
Now they're running. The darkness blinding their surroundings and the only light source coming from the flares. They weave through what was left of the city of Ecoust without much sense of direction.
They weren't as invincible as they would've like to have been, as they lost their helmets in the fall. A flare flys right above them as they make their way down a dark alley. Will pulls Juliana into a corner and hides her by putting his body, in front of her.
Buildings are demolished, windows are smashed, and doors are nothing but pieces of wood scattered about. As they turn down another dark alley, Juliana hears quick and light footsteps behind them.
She freezes, not knowing what to do. She turns ahead to see Will, who keep going. After convincing herself it was nothing, she runs after him, and stops short on Will's left when she sees the sight before her.
Ahead, is an enormous burning Church. The flames lick the sky as it burns wildly in the night. She grabs his left arm for support, and stares at the sight with a shocked expression.
Will looks to the right and sees a figure in the distance. He steps forward, with Juliana still holding onto his arm. It's hard to tell what they're looking at, until the figure runs towards them, with a rifle raised.
"Go go!" Will says breathlessly whilst pushing Juliana forward. She runs as fast as her legs could, daring not to look behind her. The German is practically on their heels, and he openly fires at them.
Ahead, is a low broken cellar window. Juliana sees it, and uses all her strength to kick it open. She slips inside with Will right behind her, as the German approaches with heavy steps.
When inside, they stand still, too stunned and scared to move. Juliana now reacts on instinct, and throws her arms around Will's neck. He's a bit surprised, and slowly warps his arms around her.
The hug only lasts for a moment. They pull apart, each now missing the comfort from the other. A sound from behind, scares them, and Juliana hides behind Will. He gets his gun ready, and turn to where the sound came from.
Rifle cocked and ready to shoot, Will walks forward through a thick curtain and into a makeshift home. In the darkness is a figure, and the two stop. They wait to step forward and see a young woman crouched in the corner.
She holds a look of terror and fear on her face, and she stares at the two Brits, with wide eyes.