Warning/disclaimer/author's note: This chapter is set during the battle of the somme and can be skipped if you don't wish read about this battle. It is not as historically accurate as I wanted it to be but I have tried to make it as realistic as possible. Thank you.
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Tommy
Tommy's hands shook as he felt his way through the dim tunnel. The light had gone out only minutes ago and the group of soldiers were sent into darkness as they finished their mission. They were silent. Only shallow and frightened breaths filled the thick air as they pushed on.
"Think of the medals, my boy!" An officer had exclaimed to him happily, as he was given his order.
He had acted as if a medal was a token for happiness that people killed for. But what use was a piece metal to him, when he was risking his life, and the life of many others, to set off bombs beneath the enemy trenches?
The idea of a medal had been welcome to the rest of his division. They were young, much like Tommy, but it seemed that the realities of war hadn't quite sunk in for them yet. Or perhaps, he had been away in comforting arms too long, and had forgotten the cause of which he was fighting for.
"One meter away from the last placement sir." The soldier beside him told him, awaking him from his thoughts.
Tommy nodded, signalling for the tunnels to be dug further. Paranoia had sunk in again, as he heard the familiar sound of shovels against a dirt wall, once again. They had already been digging under the trenches for hours, but he still hadn't gotten over the sound that had plagued him for so long.
He believed he had heard German voices amongst the rumbled of the ground, and he silenced them, walking toward the wall and getting as close as possible. He was greeted with silence. They carried on, stopping only as they had reached their last position- the position of the last bomb.
"Prepare to set it." He ordered, watching as the package was shuffled carefully between them.
But as the soldier moved forward slowly, the ground above them caved in, dropping upon the unsuspecting group with great force. The dirt piled upon them, as they attempted to hurry from the tunnel. They had to get out. The mines had to be blown.
"Keep going!" Tommy screamed as he looked behind them to the tunnel that had collapsed upon the last bomb and the soldier that had placed it there. "Don't look behind!"
"Help!"
The thought of Lucille drove him forward. The thought of the mother's and wives and sisters and daughters who would miss theirs soldiers pushed him to pull the stragglers in front, forcing them from the reach of the tunnel walls that tumbled down around them.
The harsh scent of the dirt that they trekked through filled his senses. Tommy's face was covered in it- the mud pricked his eyes sending dirty tears down his face. He pushed those in front of them, forcing them through the tunnel until the top could be seen, allowing only a streak of light into the usual darkness. Tommy felt as if he was imagining it.
Another soldier was down behind him, wailing as the dirt piled upon him, suffocating his cries into silence. Up ahead, his group had begun to scramble out of the tunnel, pulling one after the other out until all of their small group were crouched around the entrance. Faces were solemn and darkened by dirt and coal- but they had made it out. And the mines could be blown on July the first 1916.
You didn't think that the last chapter was the end did you? I couldn't do that to my two favourites x
