❤️FROM
https://archiveofourown.org/works/8589298?view_adult=true
blind!dan
World War I au
(smut and angst)
Words:10186
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The trenches vibrated as shotguns blasted into the dirt around us, sending dirt flying into the air. My arms ached under the weight of a wounded young man's body that we were transferring to a safer area. The blood soaking into the front of his uniform indicated that he probably wouldn't survive, but moving his body wasn't completely for his own sake.
Keeping the trenches unclogged was more for the living. Looking down while you stumble away from the blasts of a shotgun only to see dead eyes and blood dripping down a man's chin wouldn't do very much to keep up a morale. Almost all of the men, or should I say boys, that I had transferred today had been killed pretty cleanly. They had all been killed by a shot to the head that would have taken their life immediately, so I couldn't suspect much pain or suffering.
Knowing that most didn't go that cleanly had done quite a number on my psyche.
A particularly harsh spray of shots just in front of me sent us down to the ground, crouching down beside the wooden walls of the trench. I let out a grunt as another wave of rounds sent a spray of fresh dirt over me.
"You know, Lester," the man I was working with began, lighting up a cigarette, "When I volunteered at the beginning of the war to be in medical, I thought I'd avoid getting out here in worse spots." He commented with a humorless chuckle. "Here," he said, handing me his lit cigarette. "You look like you could use this." He was tall and had brown mustache adorning his face. His eyes were a pleasant hazel, and mud was smeared all over his uniform.
"Thank you." I muttered croakily, taking the simple gift and bringing it to my lips. It had been a few months since I had smoked. Regarding my uniform, I was in similar circumstances, with mud covering my clothes and a fine layer of dust covering my entire body.
"It's no problem." He said, straightening up a bit. "I thought I would get out of the draft with medical, but look where we are -" He began, but his words were cut short as a bullet whizzed through the air and hit his head.
"Oh my God!" I screamed, scrambling away from his body as he crumpled to the ground, dead. The cigarette fell from my mouth on onto the ground and immediately went out. I began to shake as I looked at him, blood trickling from his ear. "Oh my God!" I repeated shrilly, hugging myself and closing my eyes.
"Get up, soldier! Help me get these bodies out of here!" A deep voice yelled from behind me, but I was only capable of rocking myself back and forth.
"Soldiers!" The voice boomed again, this time I assumed he was talking to someone else. His voice was loud like the sound of bombs dropping, and it frightened me.
A hand grabbed my arm and helped me up to my feet, but I barely registered it as I was still in shock. My mind was reeling as the person pulled me away from the bodies. My vision started going fuzzy and I leaned forward, then my world went black as gunshots and screams could be heard all around me.
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It was dark in the trenches.
That was my first thought when I came to after I had passed out from the shock of seeing my fellow soldier shot through the neck. I groggily sat up, only to realize that I was lying in a small nook not far from where I had fallen. I exited from the small cranny and listened for any noise.
It was quieter now, the only sounds being the occasional stomping of heavy boots on the ground or the whispers exchanged between comrades late at night. Everything in my body was screaming one thought: get out.
