A Longer War

Corporal Becket was nodding off, he was trying to stay awake, the others around him were trying to do the same thing so nodding off wasn’t going to get him into trouble he thought. It was 4 am and they have been fighting for more than 3 days, the fatigue was getting worse on everyone. Becket was tired and knew at anytime there could be a call to fight again the war was still on.

This war has gone on for far too long.

Picking up his rifle Becket tried to clean it as way to stay awake but it was not working, his fingers were stiff due to the cold and the much that covered his unform make it feel like he was wearing think sheets of paper. He was shivering and was hungry, the food that he had was harder than the stone he sat on, there was no movement around him. Most of the other soldiers were huddled near small fires trying to keep warm but it was not worth the effort, the flames were too small to give any form of warmth and light. Becket finally nodded off.

The day will end soon, hopefully.

He woke with a start, there was shouting coming from his left. It was the lieutenant walking the trenches barking orders again, looks like another push will be commence in a short while. Becket tried to move but the frozen uniform felt like sheets of metal now, cold and hard. He tried to stand up and could see more were trying to do the same. The trenches were covered in mud and early morning frost. They had come when the summer was still early and now they were still here while winter clawed its way in.

He wanted to eat something but the biscuit he had was too hard to chew on, still he had to eat something. Looking around he found a small group huddled over a small cooking fire, he moved closer to them and asked if he could join. The oldest one nodded and asked if he had anything to add to the pot, he brought out his meagre ration of 2 biscuits and a few strips of meat. Putting them into the pot another solider stirred it in, the water was murky but it felt good to have something warm to eat. After some time they each got a bowl 3 quarters full, it was thin but it was hot. Nothing more, the other soldiers were grateful and so was Becket.

This war has gone on for far too long.

It was day again and the mist was thick, Becket was flat against the wall of the trench. The others were doing the same, this was war. All they did was wait and when the shots started they would scramble up the wall and try to make some ground to the next objective or trench, the enemy would try to do the same. Men died in many ways and it was a mercy to die quickly, a fellow soldier had the misfortune for getting tangled in some barbed while being shot in the stomach, it took hours for him to finally die and it was painful till that last breath.

Becket heard the shots and waited for the command, any hesitation would mean being reprimanded and that would result in no food rations for tonight. The signal came and he like the rest scrambled over the top and started running in the direction he was told to. Keeping an eye out for shadows ahead, once he saw one he would quickly fall to one knee and fire a round. Then get up and run again, this continued and bullets flew in every direction around him, all the while saying prayers in hope he can make it to the trench.

The mist was lifting and he could see the trench ahead and also the treeline, he was almost there. He heard the calls of his fellow soldiers from all round as they pushed the enemy back, he fell to one knee and aimed his rifle while men from behind ran past him. If he saw a helmet pop up he fired, this way the enemy was suppressed and his fellow soldiers had cover to get to the trench and finish the job. War was brutal and this was a fact he did not expect when he was push into this. His father was also a soldier who made sure his son followed his footsteps now knowing that he had done the ultimate sacrifice.

Becket got up and ran for the trench, he reached the line and climbed into the trench. There were bodies everywhere, men crying for their mothers and fathers dying on the floor covered in their and other soldiers’ blood and guts. The scene was brutal and lucky for Becket there was nothing in his stomach to throw up, he was weak from the rush and right now he was about to fall from the fatigue. Placing a hand on the side he used the steady wall from falling over. More soldiers rushed over the walls and into the trench, many looting friend and foe bodies for food and munitions, nothing was sacred, everything was taken.

This was war after all.

Becket finally gained some composure and walked to the nearest bunker, he needed to find a place to rest before it was taken. The Lieutenant had also made it across and was barking out orders to hold positions and asking for roll calls. Becket made it to a bunker and found men looting everything inside, wounded enemy soldiers were executed without remorse. Becket found a corner and hunkered down to rest, it was dry here and soon a fire will be lit so warmth will follow.

He slept for as long as he could, a voice woke him up. It was his fellow soldier who had come to this forsaken place in the same truck, he let him know another push was happening and he needed to get ready. Becket had no idea how long he slept but it wasn’t enough. Hunger was still a problem, so he tried to see if there was anything to eat, asking a few soldiers got him a few pieces of bread and meat.

As he made his way through the trench, he found the friend and took up position next to him. Looking up at the darkening grey sky he thought about his mother who wanted him to be a carpenter like his grandfather, she knew better unlike his father but there was no point in thinking about this. Checking his rifle he saw that he had only 4 round left, he had no reserve bullets left, his friend had only 2. This war had taken more than it promised, all wars were the same.

Wars are made up of the Blood of the poor.

The call was made and the men pushed again, he scrambled up the wall and was about to run but everything went blank.

He was swimming, why was he swimming, the water felt warm but he could breath. What was happening?

Becket tried to make sense of what was happening but nothing made sense and now there was no lights to follow, he tried to move but his body felt like it was frozen. The mud with the cheap cloth turned the uniform into a solid mass and along with his weakness it was the most difficult act to just move his feet, with a little push he managed to finally move and also managed to open his eyes. The dark sky lay infront of him, trying to move his head he saw it was a few metres away from where he jump over the trench, there was a smouldering crater further on and now it made sense a bomb near his position.

After a lot of effort he managed to sit up and finally look at the area he landed and confirm that he was able to walk. There were body parts and dead bodies all over the place, no allegiance could be seen as men from every side lay scattered around Corporal Becket. The ground was already peppered with white which indicated that snow was coming and soon the white snow will cover the ugly cost of war.

As he turned to stand up he saw the shadow, something he only thought was a myth his grandfather would talk about he was now looking at a corpse eater. A formless shadow hovered a few metres away from him holding up a body of a soldier, the light from the field lights barely gave him enough to see but the black mass was unmistakable. He heard the squelching sound of flesh being torn and the cracking of bones, Becket was too weak to walk so knew that crawling to the trees maybe his only hope so as silently as possible he started to crawl. The shadow did not notice nor care for Becket and this was good and seeing that this was the only good luck all day he moved inch by inch to the forest.

Left, right, left … he moved his hands, crawling on his stomach. The snow did not fall but the temperature was and his fingers were stiff making it infinitely painful on every reach to move. The forest was close and there were no calls or sound of fighting so it seemed the battle was long over, he needed to find a camp and a fire with some food if he was lucky. Inch by inch the trees came closer, the shadow had finished with the man it held up and moved to another within the trench, the moved like a wisp of smoke and as it moved any moan caught its attention.

“If you find yourself unable to move in a battlefield pray to any god so you can die soon, if the corpse eater finds you it will be like being torn apart slowly as it consumes your insides and your soul. What will feel like days will only be minutes in real Becket, remember that.”

The words kept repeating in his mind over and over again. He needed to move, then he felt a cold touch on his left foot. Looking  down he saw the shadow hovering near him.