The Hell That Is

[Magic Odd Effect]

     There was no question of it, any soldier would have been scared out of his mind if he were ordered to run straight into machine guns and artillery shells. We all knew it, and we all dreaded it.
Sure, we were a sniper squad, but we could still be ordered forward if the need arose. Day after day, whole platoons of men were sent forward, only to be cut down within a few moments of arising. Those who were lucky dug foxholes, and from my observation tower, I could see their little openings and maybe the helmet of the man inside.
     It was a rather small tower, only big enough for two men. Me and my buddy Jared had the day shift of watch. From the 50-foot high tower, you could see for miles from every imaginable angle. And this was no battle in a field; all of the trees and hills had been shelled until they ceased to be. The entire area looked like the surface of the moon; cratered, desolate, and barren, save for the trenches. They made wide, dark bands across the wasteland and were dotted all over with helmets. We could clearly see them from our tower, all the sad faces with the wounded in the bottom. At least there was some kind of chivalry here; both sides, when declaring war at first, had agreed to let the other extract wounded at precisely 1500 hours every day, until 1600 hours. During that one hour, torrents and floods of vehicles all carrying the red cross poured up to the trenches from both sides and rushed away, full of the dying men who we also tried to help.
     Being snipers meant that we were meant to be a lone pack of wolves; we could live alone for months, even years, in enemy territory, due to our training in survival, medicine, and the like. We were sort of a multipurpose unit, able to perform many duties, but we were used as snipers and medics to the men.

(Will post new chapters soon.)

[Brock]

I don't get it.

Is this supposed to be a story?  About WWI?

[Clawbug]

Err. What are you talking about?

[Pie]

does this belong in the fan art section thing?

[Magic Odd Effect]

Trenchwars fan fiction.

[The Rogue]

So who won?.

[recruit]

lol next chapter he said

[Magic Odd Effect]

     Being a frontline medic is a taxing job, especially on your mind. Seeing all the soldiers, some merely teenagers, in such terrible condition, your mind cannot become immune to it. You know it will haunt you, you know that that could happen to you, so your thoughts need to be locked down in any aid station to avoid horror.
     Our little sniper tower was our home for a night, once when the other half of the squad was called into medicine. Though it was night, the shelling and death did not stop.
     We heard a whistling noise, which we had only heard from afar before, above us. 
     Everyone around knew what was up, and what was coming down. Men scattered. The aid station was evacuated in a stampede. We couldn't get off of our tower, and had to simply duck into it.
    The first few thudded 100 meters away. We ducked down below the walls of the tower. The sound got louder, and louder, and louder...
    BANG.
    The tower lurched, swayed, and made cracking noises. We held on as its top fell off, and we ended up falling onto the roof.
    Crash.

[Laser Guy]

Airstrike!

[Magic Odd Effect]

Airstrike!

Exactly.

[freeloader]

Looking forward to more of these.

[Brock]

Good WWI book: Generals Die in Bed

[Tactical Sniper]

This reminds me of the book that I just finished reading: "All Quiet On The Western Front".  It goes into alot of detail when describing the trench warfare of WWI.  Thousands of men getting cut down by machine gun fire and getting pasted by shells raining down.  An interesting read.

[Magic Odd Effect]

I looked to my right through a small opening, and saw them keep falling. Boom, boom, boom, smoke, fire, eruption.
They silenced.
I looked to my left, and Jared was out like a light. I tried to move, and felt something on top of me.
I looked forward, and there was the roof, upside down on the ground.
I knew what was on me, but the question was, how did it get on me?
I was forced to wait for what seemed like hours. Jared finally woke up.
He was about to yell for help when they stepped out from around the tower. They carried guns, much like the ones we had seen other men carry, but their uniforms were of the other side.
Jared stuck his hands on his head. He knew they would kill both of us if he fought back.
I could only sit there and watch as they bound him up and took him away. They lifted the tower off of me and took me away to a line of prisoners, with Jared in front of me. We marched across the battle-torn front, past dead bodies, barbed wire, craters, and lines of trenches. We finally reached their command post.

Date Posted: December 02, 2007, 06:27:40 pmThey singled us out of the crowd and took us into the command bunker.
It was damp and stuffy, almost like a cave. We walked past the secretary, still bound, and into the commanding officer's room.

He looked far better than his comrades did, well kept and not covered in caked mud.
His uniform was starched and crisp, without a speck on it.

"Well, well, how'd you keep outta them trenches?" I commented.

His accent was thin and hard to hear when he spoke in English.

"I stayed away from them."

They sat Jared and I down in chairs in front of his desk.

"Why aren't we being tortured or something?" Jared asked.

"Men of your...skill, deserve more than mistreatment. You're snipers, are you not? All snipers are officers, correct?"

We nodded.

"Good. We treat officers differently than mere grunts. We still have honor, even in this hell that is war. You have trained longer than they have, you have volunteered instead of been forced, and you shan't be harmed as they have been."

Hope, of some sort, was felt by both of us. His words made us realize that we weren't going to die or be beaten or something.

"We know your duty as officers is to disrupt and destroy when captured. We urge you, please do not do so. You will be away from the war, and its thoughts, duties, and burdens should not follow you."

Jared spoke again.
"Is there any chance of us, maybe, being released?"

"If you have good behavior for at least two years, or if your allies are willing to exchange prisoners, then you shall be free."

[.Long-Range]

I sense some type of future mix of Jailbreak and Soldat. Nonetheless, liking the story so far!

[Magic Odd Effect]

We were led out, with a farewell from the commanding officer.

They took us into a truck along with some other officers, one of whom Jared and I had saved in the past. He immediately recognized my face.

"Hey, you were that guy...I got blown up, and you and your buddy there carried me out, right?"

"Uhh, yeah."

"I never got to thank you two, did I?"

"I guess not."

"Well, thanks."

I didn't respond, and neither did Jared.

The truck started moving along a dirt road. We could see the camp get smaller, smaller, smaller still, until it disappeared completely.

This was beautiful country. None of us had seen anything like it in at least a year.

There were vast valleys with rivers and foliage everywhere, mountains in the distance...it was simply stunning.