Bury

THREE

The deafening explosions make me flinch, I'm going to die. I want to run. The sand is suffocating but I'm too terrified to move. An explosion erupts from my left and the weight on me tenses up, fingers curling around my shoulder. Tommy. The sand crashes onto me and prickles my skin, the ground below me quakes and rattles my bones to the core. As more bombs drop left and right, I lightly raise my head to breathe but get pushed down almost instantly
"Stay down" Tommy growls seemingly through gritted teeth.

After what seemed like an eternity, the roaring propellers fade away and the sound of the waves and the wind can be heard once more. Tommy's arm slides off my shoulders and I slowly flip my body around so I can face the sky.  I gasp for air and slowly with ragged breaths my lungs burn no more.

The sky is still blue and clear, grey smoke evaporates into the soon to be grim sky. However, there's something different. The voices of men screaming in agony register making me stand up, struggling due to the weight of my heavy bag. A wave of dizziness slams into me but it doesn't waver me, I fumble towards the nearest injured soldier. My knees slam into the hard sand as I swing my bag off my shoulders. The soldier lets out blood curling screams as I examine his injuries, he's missing his leg from the knee down. A shocked combat medic drops down opposite myself and pulls out a morphine syrette and slides the needle into the solider's arm. I nod in gratitude and slide latex gloves over my trembling hands. I wrap what is left of the soldier's leg with a messy fashion and secure it with a large pin. Another combat medic rushes into view and drops a stretcher, quickly working with the first medic to bring him to the medical tent. I frantically look around to help another injured soldier but Tommy yanks me towards him

"Dave" he frowns, leading me to the stretcher of the wincing soldier. Tommy takes hold of the rear handles once again and I match his actions with the front handles. Once again we jog through the sorrowful beach with combat medics and nurses frantically running around to assist the injured and bury the dead. I wish to jog faster to remove myself from this horrific sight but my body refuses, the stretcher pulls against my arms as if my bones are threatening to snap. I'm not built for this, I'm not bloody built for this. My body fights my mind, as my mind screams to stop jogging, my legs continue to trudge into the sand.

The ship horn blares. Faster.

Our feet meet a small flight of wooden stairs and my footing is almost lost, Tommy's footfalls echo through my mind. The east mole comes into sight, the wooden platform stretches out deep into the violent waters. The jogging continues as I eye the endless amount of rifles lined facing the smoky sky, my eyes skim the rifles like a clock hand ticking through the numbers.

An officer arguing with a group of five soldiers grows audible, brows furrowed and spit flying. Unsure I look back at Tommy, he simply nods and I continue to jog to the troubled officer. We near the distressed group and with my best efforts I try to make out what the soldiers are shouting about. However, the words spoken are not English but French. The troubled officer frantically tries to communicate with the French with no avail

"No, no French! English only, English only beyond this point!" The officer shakes his head violently and push the French back from the lined up English soldiers

"It's a British ship. No, you have your own ship!" The horns blare once more, ricocheting through my head

"That's two minutes. You've missed it" The officer frowns, holding me back. I'm not giving up. Shrugging his bony hand off my shoulder I proceed to jog.

Tommy and I push through the congested platform with a few escaping grunts. An explosion to my left sends the soldiers to lower themselves and protect their heads. With my best efforts I lower my head as water sprays all over the soldiers and I. After a sea of towering men, a hole in the sea of men stop me in my tracks. A gaping hole in the platform nearly sends me off the edge and into the jungle of support beams with only a single plank for crossing. Another explosion, more lowering. More water and more ringing in my ears.

"Take a run at it!" A blonde solider shouts from the opposite side

Moments of hesitation play out before me, Tommy nudges my back with the stretcher as if signaling me to move. Taking a deep breath in, I quickly tip toe onto the unstable plank and nearly jump to the other side. Once Tommy succeeds with crossing to the opposite side alongside myself cheers erupt from the soldiers with a smile forcing its way on my lips.

Tommy and I return to navigating through the sea of soldiers. It finally clears, the large white vessel comes into sight pushing me to jog even faster. Almost there, Kathy. Almost there. Tommy and I cross the remaining bridge to the ship full of injured men groaning in pain with combat medics and nurses running about. Tommy and I set Dave down on an empty spot among the injured. My arms feel as if they have been dislodged from my shoulders and my fingers tremble at rest. Once again I kneel beside him and inspect his bandages to ensure they have not undone. My fingers tremble as I do so, the weight of the stretcher was too much.

Tommy lingers around the ship when I step foot on the bridge, he wants to stay. He wants to go home. Reaching my hand onto his arm, my fingers curl around the thick jacket. Once our eyes meet, I give him a sympathetic smile and I nod to reassure him home is near

"Back out the line, come on off you go! Nurse, stay back and tend the injured" an officer shouts. The boat rocks gently against the waters and the seagulls quack overhead as I look at Tommy worried, I do not want him to leave. His face is expressionless except for his eyes, leaving is not an option for him either. A loud sigh leaves the officer as he stomps over the wooden bridge and yanks Tommy away from me making me release him. He doesn't take his eyes off me and neither do I

"Off you go!" The officer shoves Tommy violently off the vessel, instantaneously the bridge retracts and the weight of my heart mimics my backpack once again. Tommy takes hesitant steps away from the vessel with his sharp eyes still on mine.

His hand skims over the wooden railing of the platform, abruptly he looks down and glances back at me before lowering himself and disappearing before the platform. Frightened, I push through the frantic nurses and determined combat medics without taking my eyes off that platform.

However, before I reach the side of the ship, a German bomber terrorizes the sky above us once again. Bombs fall like rain, passengers aboard the vessel crouch down and shield their heads. Gunfire sprays around me but I stand my ground dazed.

Tommy

"She's going down!" A soldier shouts

"Abandon ship!" A soldier cries behind me before plunging into the violent waters. The ship, ever so slightly begins to tip towards the platform. The able-bodied passengers do not hesitate to evacuate and plunge into the water but I rush back to Dave who is remains unconscious, peaceful in his stretcher. I gingerly lift his head and drag his dog tag over his heavy head and dragging it over my own. I place my hands on either side of his face and shut my eyes

"I'm so sorry, Dave" The ship has tilted to the point where sliding from one side to the other wouldn't be a challenge so I do just that. I slam into the railings of the ship and a short shriek forces its way out of my lips. I frantically scan each individual face of the scattered soldiers within the water, I must find Tommy.

There he crouches, sheltered within the support beams of the platforms, hair wet and messy and for the first time in a long time my heart feels light.

However, before a smile could find its way on my lips a strong force slams into my body and sends me plummeting into the water.

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