This is War [ONC 2021] // Honourable Mention

Chapter Nineteen - Daniel

Daniel polished his rifle, cleaning every part of it to ensure it would shoot straight and hit every target he aimed at. Beside him, George pressed his Bible to his lips and muttered a small prayer to himself, his rosary grasped in his other hand. The two had developed their own rituals since they joined the front line, with each of them sticking to them whenever they were called into battle. George preferred to pray for his safety, Daniel wanted to be sure his weapon wouldn't betray him.

After the Christmas truce, war returned to Northern France and had started to stretch into the new year. There had been no let-up in fighting, and no end in sight for a war that should have been over months ago. Men had come and gone, replacements bought in to fill the gaps and replace those injured or killed in the brutal gunfire. George had become shakier as the battles went on, but Daniel became harder, tougher to the ways of war and the conditions they lived in.

"Do you think they'll make it back uninjured?" Henry said, walking up to the two of them. He gestured to the two replacements that had taken Tommy and Arthur's beds in their dugout.  Arthur had been executed for desertion two days after he had been spotted walking behind the line.

"Depends. If they go charging in there without thinking, no. A lot of them are excited to be here until they have to fight," Daniel said.

"A bit like we were." George tucked his bible into his pocket. "We'll be eligible for leave soon. Five days at home, being able to sleep in a real bed and not be woken up to sporadic gunfire, sounds like a dream."

"Or in Daniel's case, a nightmare. You were the only one out of all of us who didn't want to be here, but you've taken to war like a duck on water. You're still a Private, but you're one of the most respected members of the Battalion. They'll be watching you today."

"If it means they don't get killed, I can't complain."

Henry laughed and Daniel swung his rifle onto his shoulder, the three of them mingling in with the rest of the men for the usual talk Captain Brooks gave before battle. He always said the same thing and, more often than not, Daniel would lose focus and plan his movement during the assault. Some men went into battle without a plan, they just charged straight forward without a second thought, but Daniel liked to know what he was doing, to know where he had to go.

He had developed a system after all the battles he had fought through, developed a way of moving without being seen. Unlike George and Henry, he had yet to be hit by shrapnel or a bullet and considered himself lucky, although he knew that his luck could run out at any point. No amount of planning could prevent that one stray bullet, that one mortar round from finding its target, but he tried to do whatever he could to stop that from happening.

When Captain Books finished his speech, Daniel placed his hand over his pocket, over the photograph of his family. He made a promise to himself to make it home in one piece for them, a promise he made before every battle. The promise he had made to Ruth became his mantra for survival, although he wasn't sure if his family would even recognise him were he to return. Daniel wasn't even sure he recognised himself, so much had changed in those months since the war started. He certainly wasn't the same person who had left that farm.

A loud whistle cut through Daniel's thoughts and he swung his rifle off his shoulder, scrambling up the ladder and flattening on his stomach. He crawled on his stomach, his elbows digging into the mud whilst bullets flew past his helmet. Around him, he could hear men screaming when a mortar exploded beside him, and hear the sound of a bullet striking a helmet.

Daniel rolled into a shell hole nearby and flattened his rifle against the ground, aiming it in front of him. He squeezed the trigger, aiming it at anything that moved amongst the smoke.

"Taking a nap are we?" George yelled, rolling into the hole beside Daniel.

"I thought I would sit this one out!"

"Good idea, maybe I'll join you."

"Where's Henry?"

"He stayed with the replacements. He wanted to make sure they didn't get killed, not an easy task."

"Right. Come on, we're sitting ducks here."

George nodded and the two of them crawled out of the hole, moving further along the ground. The dirt around them exploded, rocks and mud showering the two of them as they moved as fast as they could to another shell hole. Daniel didn't like to have another man by his side, he thought it dangerous for the two of them to move together and be a bigger target for the mortar shells that showered down around them. Still, he was glad it was someone he knew and not a replacement.

In front of them, shadows moved and the men fired, watching the shadows fall where they stood. Shouts from the men around them broke through the chaos of gunfire and mortars but Daniel ignored them as best he could and focused on what he was doing and where he was going. George followed him, knowing all too well then to offer a suggestion to Daniel when he was so focused on the task at hand.

A shadow emerged from the left, getting closer and closer before either of them realised. Daniel moved his rifle and aimed it at the man, but didn't fire immediately. The German soldier stumbled out of the shadows and looked down at the two men lying in front of him, his eyes wide. To their disbelief, despite the enemy being in front of him, the man didn't swing up his rifle or even try to alert his fellow men that they were there.

Instead, he backed into the shadows and disappeared, with George and Daniel unsure of just what to do.

"He didn't raise his weapon at us," George said.

"And we didn't shoot him."

"We should go, just in case he comes back with his friends."

Daniel nodded and the two of them moved on, but Daniel couldn't shake the image of the man who hadn't reached for his gun. He seemed familiar, but Daniel couldn't figure out why.

~~~

First Published - February 25th, 2021