War-Torn
The enemy came quickly, covered by backfire of artillery shooting violent shells at our minuscule defences, I thought to myself is this the end? What did I Do to deserve this? Then I remembered why I did this. So I could make sure my family and the rest of Germany was safe, even if we had started the war, I was still here to fight and end it. The enemy yelled words that I didn’t understand. All I knew was I had to fire back, It was what I was taught back in training. I remember the General’s cold harsh voice, yelling at me and the rest of the squadron. “Why can’t you be like Squadron 32, they can shoot the bullseye, With every shot, you guys are useless, no one even shot a person yet. How do you think you will survive in the war”. The general’s cold voice became comforting in the confronting times of war, it was almost like a sense of familiarity and a sense of normality. Normality that was stripped away as We had declared the war. I remember the times when I sat at the table with my family, slowly and conservatively eating the supper that my wife had made. I remember the warm taste of the fresh bread, It reminded me of home. Suddenly a large shell exploded behind me, If I was outside the trench, I would never be able to see my family again and they were the whole reason I was even participating in this war. To save them.
Abruptly screams came and the alarm started screeching. We all knew what the enemy had done. They had launched a gas attack on our trenches. A million things raced through my mind. Will I live or will I die. Now was not the time to think, a large man had grabbed a hold of me from behind and he dragged me through the wet trenches filled with dead and rotting bodies as well as being home to maggots and rats. He took me to my bedroom and made sure I grabbed my mask. He grunted at me in a thick German accent. “You and your squadron are going through the gas, get them ready and bring your guns”. I hastily grabbed the gas mask from his hands and grabbed my rifle. I started rounding up my men, Karl, Stefan, Uwe, Walter. They were all ready. It looked as if they had already come to terms with the fact that they were going to die. This shocked me, men that used to look so full of life now had a sunken tone to them. They all stood stiff as a board, it seemed as if they were robots. I gave them the instructions that my commander had given me. They all listened. This was rare, normally they stood at ease and whispered to each other to ask what was going on. But they already knew this time.
The long walk to our imminent doom began. Breaths became delayed but they still went through, this was their mission. They marched through the forest, what had once been a menagerie of beautiful wildlife had turned into a hollow filled with the essence of death. As they saw the artillerymen they started their run. The enemy had thought they had won. Oh, how wrong they were. What was once a uniform line of men became a debacle of arms and legs flying everywhere. Even Stefan had grabbed his grenade. The enemy didn’t know what was coming. This was the end for them. What had once been certain death for us had become certain death for them.
