Bury

TWO

When all of the 1,300 nurses have stepped foot on the beach, the sun has peaked in the sky. We salute the suffering men before us and the returned gesture is tear-filled and full of hope.

I spot a group of stretchers peaking out through the line of men and take off in a sprint. My feet dig into the wet sand with my heavy ransack weighing me down and bouncing off my back. As my feet made contact with fine sand, I shifted to a jog hoping to keep the injured in their resting state. A particular soldier had dirty rags to cover his gun wound, foul work. I drop myself into the heated sand and shrug off the heavy bag. The soldier stirs in his sleep as I remove the bloodied rag from his chest. An infection would've formed if I arrived a day later. I treat him with my best efforts, ensuring the wound is free from bacteria and secured with a proper bandage, causing the soldier to wake.

"My friends..." He croaked "They're still... in the city..." The soldier starts wincing in pain, I gingerly shush him and caress his wincing face

"Rest now," I glance at his bloodied dog tag "Dave" Dave Weekes. He responds by shaking his head violently, eyes closed in pain.

"Get them..." He wheezes "Tommy... Jack... John..." He grips my hand firmly, his sorrow passes into me

"Yes, sir" I hesitantly nod, letting go of his hand as I stand up. I dust the sand off my uniform and examine the other stretchers but Dave is the only survivor. I line the four deceased men and conceal their faces with their helmets. They have served their country well. I eye a large alleyway into the city and glance back at Dave, he nods sluggishly.

I near the alleyway where I can hear a spray of gunshots intersect each other. My bag weighs as heavy as my heart, I'll surely perish if I enter this city. Ignoring my thoughts, I take a step forward taking a deep breath. A low thumping resonates from the ground, bombs are dropping onto the city. Every step I take sinks my heart deeper into fear, the path splits, leaving me with a decision. My body turns left before I could even comprehend. I plaster myself against the ruined walls and rubble as an attempt to hide from the Luftwaffe aircrafts terrorizing the city from above. German bombers release more bombs onto the city, destroying the beautiful architecture in the distance. I witness the horror of building after building crumbling into nothing. Deceased citizens and soldiers fill the streets, I identify every soldier I pass with a heavy heart. My heart breaks every time a deceased soldier comes into view, so many men are lost.

We humans are so insignificant, death spares no one.

My back is starting to give in to the weight of medical supplies, Dave's comrades must be found soon. I maneuver through a small alleyway and emerge to an untouched part of the town. It hasn't been targeted by the Luftwaffe meaning I need to move quickly if I want to come out alive.

I near a makeshift wall made of sandbags and quickly duck behind a dumpster, gunfire echoes in the distance making me clench my fists. A loud rustling above catches my attention, causing me to gasp in fear. I am cornered, I cannot run. A loud thump vibrates through my bones and I shut my eyes completely, catching a glimpse of a figure. More gunfire bursts out behind me, this is the end. This is the end.

This is the end.

"ENGLISH!" A voice shouts "WE'RE ENGLISH!" A male voice booms and shocks my system. The gunfire ceases, slowly prying my eyes open to see a young dark-haired boy

"Come on" He drags me to my feet and breaks into a sprint.

"Wait!" He tugs me harder, his boots clomp against the cobblestone road, echoing throughout this undamaged part of town. The soldiers drag us over the sandbags and shouts of French erupt from the commander. Even though I cannot understand a word from his mouth, I point at my medical cross sewn into my armband. The French soldier furrows his eyebrows and leads the young boy and I to a wounded soldier leaning against the sandbags.

"I'm looking for a group of soldiers with connections to a soldier named Dave Weekes," I turn to the British soldier "Tommy, John... Jack... Have you seen them around?"
The boy looks at me solemnly "I'm Tommy" He mumbles

"How about the res-"

"They're dead" His words are flat but hiding despair, looking down I bite my lip. I kneel beside the wounded soldier in silence and examine his burnt thigh. Most likely due to an explosion

"Can you cut it?" Tommy nods and flips out a Swiss knife, tearing through the clothing

"There"

"Thank you," I look into his eyes, his green and sharp eyes "why are you still here..?"

"I can't leave you alone, you're a defenseless nurse" His accent British and thick

"Right. Thanks" I murmur rummaging through my backpack, I take a bottle of drinking water and pour it over the burn. The soldier writhes in pain, I apologize and gently pat the injury with a clean cloth. I loosely wrap gauze around his thigh and secure it with tape

"Merci..." The soldier whispers all I can do is nod in return. I stand up and look up at Tommy, freckles dot his nose and dirt decorates his stern face

"Let's go" Tommy and I jog on the cobblestone road, through more tight alleyways and rubble until we reach the split path and large alleyway. As the beach comes into view, the sea breeze smacks into my body like a grim reminder.

As the fine grain sand meets my shoes I run up in front of Tommy and take the lead, making him follow me. I maneuver through empty stretchers and up to Dave. Tommy drops onto the sand next to Dave and starts murmuring to him, the words are too soft to hear but I do not want to listen in on a private exchange

"Water," Tommy looks up at me somberly, the most emotion I've seen from him so far" do you have water?"

"Yes, of course" I swing my backpack off and pull out a bottle of water that is half full, I hand Tommy the water bottle with it nearly being snatched. Tommy pours water in Dave's mouth with great caution taking a swig once Dave is satisfied. Tommy's eyes gaze into the distance, eyeing a few soldiers carrying stretchers to a docked ship

"Help me"

Tommy takes hold of the rear handles while I reach for the front handles then pacing into a light jog. As I jog, the handles starts to dig into the skin. The weight of my bag and rough handles are irritating me. However, I refuse to stop because of a mere discomfort. Tommy and I run past countless soldiers then the stretcher abruptly stops, my arms yanking against the handles making my shoulders crack

"What is it?" I shout over the waves and wind, all the soldiers in line look up in fear and horror

"Bloody hell Tommy, what is i-"

"GET DOWN!" Caught off-guard, the stretcher drops to the ground and an immense force slams onto my head as loud thuds resonate all around me. Over the wind and crashing waves I hear it.

I hear the roaring propeller, getting louder and louder,

And louder.

It is the only thing I hear as the ground quakes and sand erupts into the dark sky.

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I hope you enjoyed this! Please leave a comment and a favorite! Let me know if you want more please :))

For every chapter, I put a picture of the real Operation Dynamo. Just thought it would be a nice touch. Much love to you all <3