Love's Not Allowed in the Trenches

1

All of this story will be from Harry's POV

"May god bless all of you, good luck." 

And then I was left there. Me and nine other men, with our brand new uniform, name badges on the inside of our coats, pockets full of ammunition, a small bag hanging on our backs with a few possessions and a flask of water, guns resting on our shoulders.

We turned as one to face the two men walking towards us, one slightly behind the other. We saluted, just as we had so many times back at training camp. The two men saluted back, coming to a stop in front of the group of us ten.

We were new soldiers, most of us between 16 and 18. I was 18, finally I had made it to war, to fight for my King and Country.

"I am Sergeant Payne, this is Corporal Tomlinson. You listen to us, you follow our orders, you respect us. Half of you, if not more, will not go home. You will be remembered though, as the brave men that fought for our families, our country. But if you go down, you take as many of the enemy down with you as you can." the man in front, Sergeant Payne, said. 

He was tall and strong and a natural leader. The man standing beside and slightly behind him, Corporal Tomlinson, was smaller and skinnier but he was standing with his jaw tightly clenched, his arms smartly by his sides.

"You all know how trenches work. You stay down, you stay quiet and you stay strong. Follow us to the bunkers." Sergeant Payne said and he turned sharply on his heel and walked off, Corporal Tomlinson right behind him.

I swallowed nervously and followed them with the rest of the group. The boy beside me, blonde hair poking out from under his helmet, held out a hand.

"Niall Horan, I'm from Ireland." he said.

"Harry Styles." I replied and I shook his hand.

Niall sighed and I saw his knuckles clench around his rifle. 

"Let's fucking do this and get back home am I right?" I said.

"I'd drink to that if we had anything decent to drink." Niall replied.

After about two minutes of walking we reached a wooden trapdoor in the dirt. Corporal Tomlinson grabbed the handle and pulled the door up.

"Home sweet home." Sergeant Payne said and he disappeared down the dirt steps into the bunkers below. The rest of us followed him, me and Niall in the middle of the line and once we were all inside Corporal Tomlinson closed the trapdoor after us, joining us in the middle of the dark and cramped room.

There were wooden bunk beds in the bunkers, along with a small wooden table that held candle stubs, two lanterns, and a pack of matches. The walls were constructed of mud and dirt, a doorway went straight into the trenches, hidden behind earth walls and piles of sandbags.

"In here is where we keep food. Don't be greedy, share what we've got and eat only when you're told to. Always need nine men outside in the trenches at all times minimum, there are three other bunkers in the trench, we're bunker two, so at least three men from this room have to be out there at all times. We have schedules. You all know what to do incase of bombs, landmines, aircraft and explosions. We keep stretchers under the bunks." Corporal Tomlinson instructed.

"Alright men, we're going to need Donovan, Styles, Horan, Patmore and Finch out there, leave your things on a bed and keep an eye out. Make sure everyone knows if anything's happening. They've been quiet for a while which means they're bound to start an attack soon." Sergeant Payne said.

Me and Niall put our bags down on two bunks next to each other and loaded up our rifles, following the other three men, Donovan, Patmore and Finch out into the trenches.

Corporal Tomlinson came out with us, his rifle on his shoulder and stationed himself down, peering between two sandbags out across the silent and slightly destroyed space of land. I sat down and rested my rifle on the sandbags, right through a gap in the barrier.

"You lads ever visit France before?" Corporal Tomlinson asked, pulling some binoculars out from his pocket and putting them up to his eyes.

"No sir." I replied.

"Then you'll only ever know this place as the trenches where you fought, won't have any other memories." the corporal said.

"Here, Styles is it? Take a look across there and you can see the German trenches." Corporal Tomlinson said, handing me his binoculars. I adjusted them to my eyes and looked along the desolate land. I saw more stacks of sandbags and distant movement behind them, a Nazi flag was waving in the breeze.

Someone appeared over the top of the trenches but before they could crouch back down there was a bang and they fell back behind their sandbags. I looked across, Corporal Tomlinson's finger was still resting on the trigger.

"First rule, don't be afraid of killing someone who isn't afraid of killing you." he said. I nodded and gave him his binoculars back.