Shouts pierced the darkness, almost like the bullets that flew by. Smoke was drifting up into the sky, dissipating as planes flew through the clouds. On the ground below, dark figures ran across an open field, jumping into trenches and pausing occasionally to fire their guns, the crack of the shot almost defened by the explosions that occurred around the figures.
On the ground, one figure ran for his life towards the nearest trench. The figure was a dark green rabbit, holding a rifle in his hands, a canteen clanking at his side as he ran. An explosion from his right made him instinctively duck and grab his helmet with one hand. Leaping, the figure landed in a trench, sitting against the back. Other soldiers ran around him, shouting and shooting, while others were cut down as they tried to reach the safety of the trench. With every scream the rabbit felt his heart beat faster. Another soldier hopped into the trench, landing on his right.
"Quite a show, eh lad?" remarked the other soldier, a dark red fox. The rabbit stared at his friend, shaking his head. "Foxy, I'll never understand how you can find humor at a time like this," he remarked, getting up to shoot. "Keep yer damn head down Steve! We got a damn sniper on us!" Foxy shouted, yanking him back down into the trench as a bullet flew past the place where Steve's head was. Steve scowled, aiming at the bunker the shot had come from. Suddenly, the bunker was torn apart, exploding into a cascade of fiery red, yellow, and orange. A tank was nearby, methodically taking out the bunkers that were littered along the enemy trench line. "Shit, man. Sniper's gone," a human soldier remarked.
Steve's ears suddenly detected a whistling noise, like an angry bee, and his eyes widened. "Shit! Incoming!" Before anyone could react, an artillery shell slammed into the trench. The close proximity of the explosion caused Steve to temporarily lose hearing. In hindsight, it was probably a good thing as the screams from the other soldiers was not something he wanted to hear. Steve tried to get up, but his vision was blurry. "Foxy! H-Help!" Steve exclaimed weakly. In his blurry vision, Steve saw Foxy come towards him. "Shit, shit, shit!" The fox swore. As Steve's vision cleared a little, he screamed.
The shell had hit closer to Foxy, and as a result, the fox now had a piece of shrapnel lodged in his shoulder and another large piece in his eye. "Fuck!" The fox swore as he coughed up blood. "Oh my god… oh my god," Steve whimpered. "Steve! Stay with me! We're going to get out of this shit, ye hear?" Was the last thing Steve heard before he passed out from the shock.
Foxy shook Steve, but to no response. The fox suddenly whirled as he heard footsteps behind him. "Thank god!" he exclaimed as he saw the company medic run through the trench. "Afton! Over here!" Hearing Foxy's desperate shouts, Michael Afton, the company medic, ran towards the voice before stopping short. "Foxy, holy shit! You're eye!" The fox shook his head. "T' hell with my eye! Steve's hurt!" Michael bit his lip. Knowing that Foxy would refuse treatment, Michael knelt near the fallen rabbit. "Crap, I don't have the supplies to treat this!" As Michael gently picked up Steve, he muttered to himself, noting the multiple pieces of shrapnel embedded in his fur, with an abundant of cuts and blood.
Another figure stumbled through the smoke, a dog. "Dude! You're eye-" he started before Foxy interrupted him. "Yeah, ah fucking noticed!" Michael shouted to the two over the explosions. "I need to get him back, behind the lines! Both of you need to get airlifted the hell out of here. Foxy shook his head. "Ah'd never make it," he said as he pointed to shrapnel pieces in his leg. Foxy turned to the dog, biting his muzzle. "Go with him, get Steve out of here!" The dog hesitated. "I can't just leave you here, man!" Foxy shoved the dog backwards and grabbed his rifle. "Go!" He hissed.
Michael glanced at the dog. "There's no time. We don't have time to persuade him to come." The dog sighed. "Take care… please." Foxy nodded, raising his rifle over the trench and firing. Michael used a crate as a boost to get out of the trench while holding Steve in his arms, the dog soldier right behind him. The two ran towards the rear lines, trying to ignore the screams and cries for a medic from their wounded brothers.
As the two ran for their lives, Foxy was having complications. "They're gonna over run this line… Gotta move…." The fox pulled himself to his feet and limped along the right side of the trench, hoping to find an ally. Suddenly, movement caught the fox's eye. A wave of enemies were surging forward. "Shit! Counterattack!" The fox cursed. Turning, he tried to judge the distance between him and the next trench before giving up. "So… this is how ah die, eh?" Foxy muttered, spitting blood on the ground. "Then so be it." Raising his rifle, he pulled the trigger. Again. And again. And again.
"Finally!" Michael shouted as he neared a group of soldiers. Two medics ran up to him, eyes wide as they saw the battered and limp body of Steve. "Shit, that's not good." One of the medics muttered. The other nodded, looking behind him. "Sarge, call a chopper! We got to airlift him out." Slowly, the two medics and Michae lowered Steve onto a stretcher, near other bodies waiting to be lifted out. "Damn… we made it!" Michael exclaimed as he turned, only to find the dog he was with was no longer behind him. "Did he… oh shit…" Michael muttered as his eyes failed to find the dog. "Foxy, crap... " Michael muttered again. Michael began running to the battlefield again only for a soldier to pull him back. "You can't go back out there! We're bombing the field!" He shouted. Michael's eyes widened as he saw their men running away as a flock of planes approached. Michael turned away, tears in his eyes, as the enemy's counterattack was cut down by machine gun fire and bombs.
As Steve lay on the stretcher, he suddenly woke up. "Foxy! Foxy! Michael!" He began screaming. "It hurts! Oh shit! It hurts!" The bloody rabbit screamed as a medic ran towards him, a needle in his hand. Injecting the needle into the rabbit's arm, the medic smiled at him. "Don't worry, we'll get you out of here. We'll save you…" As the drug kicked in and Steve calmed down, the last thing he saw was an airplane far above him exploding as it made contact with an artillery shell, blowing into shades as red as the blood of the pilot.