"WE SHALL FIGHT ON THE BEACHES, WE SHALL
FIGHT ON THE LANDING GROUNDS"
It was right there. It was right in front of them, teasing them by sitting just beyond their reach on the horizon. It was like you could blink and you would be th...
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"Off you three! Back of the line!"
When Tommy set foot onto the dock, he turned to see if the other soldier was following. Kris looked down below and saw him hiding in the architecture beneath the dock. Tommy glanced back at the lieutenant that ordered them off, and then to Kris before dropping below the mole.
Kris took one last look before following Tommy, because if she didn't stay with him, there was no chance at survival let alone a chance of finding her brother.
The ocean water lapped at their boots. Kris settled in between the two soldiers, and she looked up to the stranger to inspect him. He had hair similar to Tommy's and green eyes. His dog tag stated that his name was Gibson.
Kris stuck her hand out for Gibson to shake, "I'm Kris, and this is Tommy."
Even if they weren't ever going to see each other again after the war, or even if they ended up dying, Kris needed a sense of normalcy. Gibson looked at her before nodding his head and taking her hand. Tommy watched the interaction but said nothing.
Tommy and Gibson listened in on the higher ranked officers from above, but Kris was too busy staring off into the horizon. She could imagine home, even though it never was much of one. Her brother was all she had. Going back without him would be like going back to a whole new world. She couldn't pay attention to a single word the men above her were saying, all she could hear was her brother's voice telling her that it was okay.
Kris imagined that Flynn made a great soldier. He was brave and willing, and he loved his country. Kris was the opposite, and that was why she needed him. She had to get to him somehow. She couldn't let him die here with the rest of the soldiers. Kris was all that he had left, and even if he didn't know it, she did.
There was the sound of a plane nearing the beach. The distinct whining sound caused Kris to snap out of her thoughts and focus on the situation. Bomb after bomb was dropped onto the mole, but it was inescapable. The soldiers could only hope that they would make it out alive somehow. The dock shook with each bomb that landed, and Kris could feel her heart leap into her throat when a bomb hit the hospital ship adjacent to the three soldiers.
There were shouts and commands being thrown at the crew of the ship. Kris watched as men abandoned the ship by jumping overboard and into the water.
"Cut her loose and push her off! We can't let her sink at the mole!"
Tommy and Gibson took to helping the soldiers up the beams they were sitting on. Kris watched out for any men in danger and she kept her eyes on the boat. She knew that they left the wounded on the boat to die, but she understood that there was nothing any of them could do to save them anyway.
