Darkness. I stand in a small boat with god knows how many other men. I hear the waves gently brushing against the steel of the large boat our sub-boats are in. I just made sergeant. My name is Gary Heyes. I am shaking like a leaf. I clutch my M1A1 Thompson firmly. A thin line of horizontal light appears above us as a small opening is made. The larger boat has stopped moving. The opening grows in size as the boat drops the ramp. I become overwhelmed and close my eyes as the light stings as my eyes try to adjust to my suddenly bright surroundings. Suddenly, the boat jerks forward and slides steeply downwards. I thrust my eyes open and see we are heading towards a large, enemy beach.
The sky is a dark, purpley-grey colour. The clouds are dark grey, slowly turning black and closing in on each other, soon to block out the dull sky completely. I shake more, but gulp back any signs of shakiness from my voice. "Alright men, THIRTY SECONDS!" I call out to the men around me. I am so numb with cold and fear; I feel as if I am watching someone else control my body for me, that I am just a passenger to my possible fate. Loud bomber planes fly over head, reaching our destination before we do.
D-Day, they called it. We were given a letter, only to be opened after we passed a certain point. It stated that we were headed for one of five codenamed beaches on the coast of Normandy. It was an operation to liberate France from Nazi rule. We were headed for Gold but, my God, we were off. We hit a storm on the journey that blew us quite a ways west, towards an area designated to the Americans. The Beach was Omaha. We are British soldiers (English myself) but we were ordered to st course for Omaha after we the storm cleared. They said we would miss both of the beaches if we didn't act now, so we set course for the closer beach, Omaha. We were to mix with the Americans until further notice.
"TWENTY SECONDS!" I called again. I tensed every muscle in my body. I heard a soldier throw up. I swallowed deeply. I began to breathe heavily. "TEN SECONDS!" I yelled. Now I was really scared. "FIVE SECONDS!" I choked. The boat jolted up a large wooden ramp. "DROP THE RAMP!" I exclaimed, reacting faster than I thought I could.
Then it started. The ramp dropped faster on this boat than on the other. Before any of us knew it, the bodies of my fellow soldiers dropped. Blood spurted everywhere; screams of pain filled the air alongside bullets, splashes and explosions. I staggered forward, bewildered by what was going on around me. Bullets flew quickly passed my head, the pressure of the wind taking me aback, the whistling shattering my ears. By some dumb luck I was caught by not one bullet. I swayed from side to side as the weight of my bags pulled heavily against me. Suddenly I was falling off the ramp and submerged in water. I choked on the dirty, salty water, mixed with blood. My eyes bulged as the bags around me threatened to drag me to the depths of the ocean. I dropped my weapon and reached for the straps that held the bags on my shoulders. By now my lungs were fit to burst, but I held on and drove up. The light began to fade, I was sure I was going to...
Air. I was above water once more, gulping down fresh, delicious air. I was sure I was going to drown. I was suddenly dragged back to reality by the sounds of war raging around me. I shook my head and swam forward. A few seconds later my feet were on soft, soggy sand, once yellow, now grey under the dull sky and the gruesome implements of war. But I could not stand. I crawled forward, still gasping for air, my clothes and body heavy. I moved forward, desperation alone stopping me from collapsing on the wet ground around me. I reached a barricade. I turned my back on my objective and sank back against the hard, sharp trap. I breathed heavily, trying to compose myself. I assessed the situation. My best bet was to reach the objective area, regroup with any survivors and grasp my bearings from there.
A weapon. I needed a weapon. If I was to have any chance of survival I needed something to protect myself with. I rubbed my face hard with my dirty hands as water dripped down my face. I looked in every direction, searching frantically for any weapon I could. It was useless. There was nothing nearby but craters and more barricades. "Hey, Sarge" a voice called from quite nearby. I turned to face the soldier who called me. I was greeted by a gun being rammed hard into my chest and a rather sweaty, out of breath man kneeling over me. I looked down at the gun, a M1 Garand, and up at the soldier who helped me. It was a young man, barely even eighteen, thick, jet black hair shooting out wildly from under his helmet. He had piercing blue eyes and a solid jaw line. "John! Thank god you're alright" I huffed, the wind still knocked out of me. He nodded solemnly, a troubled look on his face. I followed his gaze and saw a shocking sight. A man, no younger than John, lying on the ground in a puddle of his own blood, screaming in agony, his intestines sprawled all around him, waiting for a medic that may never arrive.
When I looked back at John there were tears in his eyes. He sniffed strongly a few times and shook his head quickly. "Let's move" he said and I nodded. He remained crouched but scouted out a possible route. "Follow my lead, but only when I tell you to move" he said firmly and I nodded simply again. I was in shock. Everything that had happened had happened so fast. It was shocking to believe man could cause so much pain and suffering, as well as destruction. John took a long, deep breath in. Then he was gone.
He sprinted away, jumping over dead bodies, dodging land mines, until he reached another barricade to hide behind that was closer to the beach head. I watched him as he held up a hand to indicate for me to wait. He looked worryingly at the Nazi bunkers. He waited a moment, then lowered the hand and nodded. I jumped up and sprinted. Almost immediately, bullets were spraying all around me, the fear mounting up. I jumped around obstacles in my way until finally I reached John. I was panting heavily when I got there. "The crater next" he said, pointing to a large, deep hole in the sand. A few other soldiers were already in it; being sprayed down upon by enemy MG42s. John leapt up and sprinted again. The bullets rained down on him, only this time, they hit their target. One struck John In the arm, causing him to stagger for a second, and then he continued. The next few struck his body and finally his ankle. He slipped and fell painfully into the hard sand, blood seeping from his wounds. He made his way into the bunker. I couldn't wait for instruction from John this time. This time, I was on my own. I looked up at the bunkers from which all this hell was being let loose from.
I jumped up and sprinted over to the crater. I was luckier than John, and was not struck by any bullets whatsoever. I dived forward and slid into the crater, my skin raw from the friction of the sand against skin. I panted heavily and looked around. There were three other men in the crater (excluding John) with me. There was a sniper, aiming contently at German machine gunners, a sub-machine gunner who was curled up in a ball, holding his helmet tightly to his head, lay next to the sniper. There was a final man, a machine gunner, clutching a Browning M191919 tightly and watching the bunkers, concentrating hard. John was in bad shape, he lay cringing in a pile in the middle of the crater. I dragged him over to the edge of the crater, joining the three other men. "Sergeant Heyes, 789th British Machine Gun Division," I said "B.M.G.D for short, you?" The machine gunner looked at me sideways. "What the fuck are the British doing here? This is an American designated beach head!" he yelled over the sounds of the raging war. "We were blown far west" I explained. He nodded and looked at John. He turned to call a medic but a bullet that nearly caught his face cut him off. "I'll scout ahead for a path" John murmured, propping himself up against the edge of the crater. Bullets swarmed down, blowing large grains of sand all over us, causing us to jerk down. I ducked and put my hand on my helmet, to keep it in place. John strained to get up, and it was even more of a struggle to run. He moved awkwardly forward, jerking from side to side as he ran slowly. MG42 fire rained down on him, ripping his stomach open. He cried out painfully. "JOHN!" I yelled, but it was too late. He fell to the ground, still.
"Basterds, they just keep pinning us down" the machine gunner said. "I'm aiming for the gunner on the left, third bunker" the sniper said, calmly. I looked where he described and that was the gunner aiming right at us. He was reloading. A loud shot came from the rifle as the recoil sprung it back. The gunner went down, blood spurting from the hole in his head. The sniper cocked the gun and a shell flew out. He aimed in again. "The gunner next to him" he said. The shot went off again and the second gunner went down, almost identical to the first. "I'll give you cover and see you up there sarge" he said to the machine gunner. He grabbed me and dragged me up "You're coming too, Luke" he snapped at the sub-machine gunner who jumped and followed. We ran forward, dodging as many obstacles as we could, jumping over the remains of the dead. There came a point when the dead bodies stopped. We had reached a patch of sand where it was clear, only a long stretch of barbed wire separated us from the beach head. He dropped down, panting heavily, at small hill that was a few feet away from the barbed wire. The machine gunner assessed the situation carefully, studying the landscape, the traps and the positioning of the bunkers. "They've got this place well defended, I'll give 'em that, but they don't know us Americans" he said finally. "Ahem" I said clearing my throat to indicate something was wrong. He looked and me and a grin broke out over his face "They don't know how the British can be either, proper pain in the ass" he chuckled. I grinned too, I would have been offended in normal circumstances, but these aren't normal circumstances so I allowed it. A few bullets flew at us cutting off our momentary laughter. We looked and saw, at the top of the beach head, a few German sub-machine gunners were camped behind a wall of sandbags, spraying at us, sand jumping up and scattering all over the place. Luke pouted next to me. I looked at him and, if I weren't a sergeant, I'd be doing the same thing. I looked at the machine gunner again. "So then, you know a lot about me, so who're you?" I asked, I couldn't carry on calling him "machine gunner". "I'm Sergeant Alphonse Elrack, Al for short" he said. I nodded. Another set of bullets hailed down around us. "We've got to do something, Sarge" Luke cried, shaking like a leaf as sand sprayed over him. "I know, you idiot" Al snapped. He searched around for something. "It looks like this barbed wire stretches all the way down the beach. We have to blow through it" he said. He reached in his back pocket and produced a walkie-talkie. "Cover me for a few seconds" he said, holding it to one ear and putting his finger in the other. I propped my M1 Garand against the sand and aimed up at the Nazi's behind the sand bags. One popped his head up and aimed and MP40 in our direction. I shot at him quickly, before he could shoot us. The bullet struck him in the shoulder and he fell back in pain, screaming in agony. Another German put his gun over the sand bag wall and sprayed randomly in our direction. I ducked down as more sand dance from the ground over my head. I heard Al on his walkie-talkie. "-ng the explosives down here after that. He should give you enough cover for you to get over here" I heard him saying. The bullets stopped coming so I presumed the German was reloading. I aimed up again and watched the sand bags carefully. A head popped up and I pulled the trigger. His helmet bounced around his head before falling off. By now he was standing with an MG with a bipod. He rested the bipod on the top of the sand bag wall. I aimed for his head. He aimed down the iron sight of his machine gun ready to fire. I pulled the trigger again, this time there was no helmet in the way. The bullet flew through the air and smoothly penetrated his forehead. Blood squirted from the wound and he fell backwards. Almost instantly another German leapt up the take his place. I aimed for him but this time I was too late, he aimed down the sight and pulled the trigger. Bullets rained down on me. I ducked but the sand above me threatened to cave in and allow the bullets to hit me. "WE'VE GOT TO GO!" Al shouted over the sound of the bullets. I nodded quickly and crawled over towards Luke. "We're going" I said in his ear and dragged him away. We moved underneath the bunker, so we were safe from enemy fire. We lay there for a few moments in silence, listening to the war raging around us. "What now, Al" I asked quietly. "We wait" he croaked. His lips were dry and cracked. He cleared his throat. "For what?" I asked "for the explosives team" he said, this time he sounded more confident.
We waited for minutes that felt like hours, slowly, slightly sinking into the sand, my wet clothes that stuck to me were drying and becoming increasingly flaky on my skin. Al looked towards the crater a few times where the sniper still lay down, patiently waiting; shooting the German machine gunners that replaced their dead allies. "There they are!" Al said eventually. I spun round to see five soldiers in the crater, waiting for the sniper to clear the path for them. A few more minutes passed and the sniper finally nodded. At last three of them jumped up and sprinted in our direction, one was carrying a bag that looked rather heavy. When they reached us they slammed themselves down next to Al. "We got enough here to blow a hole wide enough for thirty men," the one with the bag spat. "Or at least we will once those two fat asses get over here". All five of us (Luke was still cowering by my side) watched them nervously, contently and waited for the sniper to allow them to pass. The sniper eventually slapped one of them on the back and the two sprinted for ward, each carrying a bag. When they arrived they looked as if they had run a marathon. "How you two were allowed to enlist I will never know" the captain of their team (the one with the bag) sighed. He shook his head and took the bags off the two men who nodded thankfully before dropping to the floor, panting the heaviest I had ever seen anyone pant. The captain looked at me and said "The names Collin, Captain Collin Barber, pleased to meet you," he said "These two are James and Carl and them two fat asses are Jake and Tom". He looked at Jake and Tom in disgust. "I'm Sergeant Gary Heyes" I said. "British?" he snorted, recognising my accent. "Boat went off course, storm blew us all the way down here" I said, avoiding eye contact with Collin. "Hey, he accomplished in minutes what a beach full of Americans couldn't do in almost an hour" Al snapped, sticking up for me. I smiled gratefully and Collin shrugged. "I guess you're right, but we'll talk of that later, now we work" Collin said, unzipping one of the bags. He took out a rather large explosive charge. "Jake, Tom, set these up, James and Carl, lay them down when they're done" Collin commanded. Jake and Tom sat up and set to work preparing the charges. It took them a while but half an hour and fifty "Can't you go any FASTER!"s from Collin, they were finally ready. James and Carl picked them up and spread them around the barbed wire in less than half the time. They returned and Carl nodded at Collin. "Cover your ears and get down" Collin said and slammed his fist into the button on the detonator. I slammed my head into the sand and jammed my fingers in my ears.
The explosion was huge. It blew more than just the barbed wire away but left craters the size of footballs where the charges were. I took my fingers out of my ears and sat up. I heard ringing in my ears and my vision was blurred and fuzzy. I blinked a few times and then I was fine. I picked up my M1 Garand and gripped it tightly. By now more men had reached the wall of barbed wire, including the sniper. I was no longer in charge here; Al was, so I was waiting on orders from him. We all waited silently, listening to the MG42 fire that rained down on the still incoming soldiers. Al studied the landscape again before nodding.
"CHARGE!"
I leapt up and ran forward, alongside fifteen other men, charging up at the Nazi soldiers who had caused so much pain and suffering to the men we once called friends. We headed up the hill and reached the bottom of the bunker. A soldier ran out on the rocky hill that the bunker was standing on and was mowed down by machine gun fire. He cried out in a mixture of surprise and agony and fell backwards; he hit his head off the rocks and machine gun fire rained down on him again. He landed in a bloody heap at the bottom on the hill, entangled in barbed wire. Al jumped back and pressed his back up against the foot of the bunker. He slowly looked around the corner. I was sat next to him. We were in a group of nine; me, Tom, Jake, Carl, James, Collin, Luke, the sniper and Al. The others were dotted at various points below us. "Matt, do you think you can take them out?" Al asked. The sniper nodded, picked up his Springfield, and crawled over the rocks to a spot just in range of the MG42. He balanced the rifle on the rocks and aimed in. He waited calmly as we watched him carefully. Matt tensed his hand around the trigger but would not pull it. He waited. Al looked round the corner. "The machine gunner isn't there right now he-" Al suddenly swung his head back around the corner. "He's back" he said. We all watched Matt again. He waited again, tensed his hand again, then fired. The shot rang out loudly and he cocked the gun again. "Frag" Matt said simply. Al nodded and produced a frag grenade from a pouch near his back pocket. He bit the pin and pulled the grenade away from his face. He listened silently for a few seconds then spun round and threw it up at the sand bag wall. It exploded and the sandbag wall collapsed, taking the Germans with it. As they fell, soldiers shot at them, showing no mercy, anger all over their faces.
"Alright, let's move up, but only me, my squad, Sergeant Heyes and Captain Collin and his squad" Al said. We climbed the rocky hill slowly and silently. When we reached to top Al looked at Collin who looked at James and nodded. James shifted over to the top and peered over the top. He ducked down again and nodded "All clear". Al pulled himself up, followed by Collin then James then me and Carl, leaving Tom and Jake to struggle to lift themselves over the top, forcing Matt to pick up his sniper and wait for them to get up. We approached the entrance to a bunker and separated, me, Al and James on one side of the doorway, Collin and Carl on the other. Al held up three fingers and lowered them one by one. Three. Two. One.
We burst through doorway shooting towards the slit in the concrete wall where two Nazi soldiers were based on MG42s firing down on our allies. The wounds to their backs caused them to cry out in pain and fall immediately. There were a few sat to the sides of the bunker, waiting to take the place of their allies if they were K.I.A. They crawled around on the floor for a few seconds, so we shot them again. We left the bunker and Al went to call up the other soldiers that had surely grown in numbers by then.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, German fire sprayed all around us. A few bullets hit Carl in his arm and leg. He yelped and fell down, cradling his injured arm, his leg outstretched. I sprung into action, taking cover by the side of the bunker wall. Collin and James had done the same as I had. "FUCK, where the fuck are they shooting us from" Collin screamed. Carl had barely any cover. "MOVE YOUR FUCKING ARSES!" Al exclaimed at Tom and Jake from over at the top of the hill. Jake and Tom were still struggling to get up, even with Al's help. "Shit, we're screwed if they don't hurry the fuck up" I said. Bullets flew at the wall we were hid behinds, parts of the concrete flicking off. I gritted my teeth and looked at Al. He was struggling to pull Jake up. I took a deep breath in. I ran.
I sprinted across to Al, bullets flying in every direction. I was almost hit a few times but it proved to be just the distraction Collin and James needed. Collin opened fire and James picked up Carl, taking him over to the bunker. I reached Al and helped him pull Jake up. When he was up we got Tom up, then Matt. We got up another soldier; he was the Sergeant of another squad. "I've got it from here, my squad'll be up in no time" he assured us. Al nodded and grabbed me by the shoulder. I turned and we ran back to the bunker. I saw they had set the injured Carl on a chair. "What've got?" Al asked Collin as we arrived. "They're fucking everywhere, we take out a few in the trenches over there but they return fire" he replied nauseously. Al nodded and looked at Matt. Al opened his mouth to say something but Matt nodded and left the safety of the bunker. "How're doing?" Tom asked Carl. "I've been better" Carl said through gritted teeth. A sniper shot sounded. It made Jake jump. "That didn't sound like Matt's shot" said Al, looking suddenly worried. He rushed outside. I followed him. Al looked on in horror as Matt lay still, rifle in hand, dead with a bullet in his brain. Al sank to his knees, tears streaming down his face, looking very pale. My legs nearly gave way underneath me. I stared at Matt's crinkled face, his lifeless, glazed eyes. A tear rolled down my cheek.
My thoughts of mourning were interrupted by a sudden sniper shot. I saw the bullet fly past as nothing more than a blur but the wind pressure flying off the bullet slapped my face and was so strong that I fell over. My eyes widened in fear. I crawled backwards, towards the bunker but then saw Al, still knelt there, crying. I grabbed him and pulled him back. A second bullet flew past where Al's head used to be. I dragged Al inside the bunker and propped him against the wall. He sat there, motionless and pale; from a distance he would have even looked dead. "M-Matt's dead" I croaked. Collin's face softened. "He was a great sniper, one of the best" he murmured. James nodded slowly. Outside a squad had reached the top of the hill and were charging at the German trenches. Some men were being mowed down, most men being injured, but they never stopped coming. The number of soldiers reaching the top of the hill did not decrease and the speed of which they came did not slow.
I stood up. "Then, WE will just have to finish what Matt started" I said. "What is that then?" Collin asked. "Blowing the brains out that Jerry sniper" I replied, my eyes welling up. It was weird, I had known John longer than I had known Matt but already I shed more tears over him than I had over John. I shook my head and stepped outside. American soldiers were stood at the top of the trench, firing down on the Germans inside them. I gritted my teeth and straightened up. Collin walked out, followed by James. "They'll be safe in the bunker" James said, downfallen. I sniffed and nodded. I walked on, right towards the trench. Germans were running further away, towards another fortified base. There were sand bag walls and MG42s. "More of those basterd machine guns" Collin sighed. I nodded, a grim look on my face. Men were chasing the Germans up to the flanks of Germans that were protecting the final road to the towns of France. They were using the retreating soldiers as a sort of cover, they could not open fire on their own men, but the friendly soldiers reached the top, only to be shot down by the Germans. A sudden sniper bullet struck the ground at my feet. "That's him" I said. "Basterd" Collin growled. "Stay calm, you lose your head now and you're screwed" I told him. He relaxed but continued to scan the sand bags for signs of a sniper. We ran over to a group of soldiers who were taking heavy fire. They were crouched behind a low wall, shaking uncontrollably. "Need any help?" I asked, jumping down next to them. "W-We a- are going t- to DIE" one of them yelled, balling his eyes out. "Man up- if you want to live, then start acting like it" Collin snapped, a stern look on his face. "He's right, you've made it this far" I said. "Only because someone got us this far, six soldiers made it all the way to the fence! Then managed to blow a hole in it! I bet they're super soldiers, I bet they're up there fighting the Nazis with their bare hands!" another one of the soldiers said. I shared a look with Collin, a look that said "If ONLY". "Actually, I think you'll find one of them injured in that bunker over there," I said, pointing at the bunker where Carl and Al sat "another one too distraught to move and three more here". His eyes widened with excitement and shock. "You're the soldiers who... but wait. You only mentioned five, what about the sixth one, the sniper?" he asked curiously. I took a long, deep breath in. "He's dead. He was shot by a German sniper" I said, blinking back tears, my voice cracking a little. The man's face fell. "I see" he said. I swallowed and straightened up. "So we're going to find that sniper and blow his brains all over the floor" I said. He nodded, beaming at me. I looked at Collin, "Which way?" I asked. He pointed at a small hill leading up to the flanks of Germans firing down on us. The hill was unprotected and otherwise unnoticed. I nodded. "Let's go then" I said. I tensed, ready to sprint across. I gripped my M1 Garand and was about to set off when someone grabbed me. I turned to see Luke had stopped cowering momentarily to stop me. "I have been a useless coward all this time, I haven't used one bullet of it" he said, holding out a M1A1 Thomson. "Take it, use it well, and avenge Matt" he said, a tear rolling down his cheek. I grabbed him by the arms and said "None of this is your fault, you're still young, and you have your whole life ahead of you. I won't let you throw it away" before turning and sprinting for the hill.
I was surprised to find that no bullets were being fired at me. I reached the hill and lay down, panting. I watched Collin ready himself. He strapped his M1 Garand to his back, threw the Nazi's a worried look, then sprinted over to me. Halfway between his starting point and the hill, bullets flew at him. I cried out for him not to stop. He kept running. He jumped over to me and landed just next to me. He was panting heavily with a grin on his face. "That was WAY too close" he said, chuckling. I looked across at James who was waiting for the right moment. "WAIT," I yelled at him "THROW ME MATT'S RIFLE". He nodded at me and ran back to fetch it. A few moments later he reappeared, holding the gun in his arms. He threw it across to me. It landed and skidded just short of my reach. I glanced up at the German machine gunner who was waiting for me to make a move for it. I racked my brain for something to do. I realised we needed to start again. I tensed my leg and with all my might I kicked the rifle back to James. The machine gunner fired at my leg but the rifle was still moving. It skidded just short of his reach but the gunner was caught off guard and he managed to get it. James threw it higher this time and it landed next to me. I picked it up and aimed for the gunner. I held my breath and the cross hairs steadied themselves. I put the point where the crosshairs met on his forehead, underneath his where his helmet stopped covering his face. I squeezed the trigger. The gun jumped backed strongly, I thought the scope was going to slam into my eye but it stopped just short of doing that. I cocked the gun and a shell flew out. I aimed in again. The MG42 stood unaccompanied. I smiled and dumped the rifle. "Let's go" I said, getting up.
The three of us ran up the hill and finally reached the top, meeting the Nazi soldiers that had retreated this far. "AIM FOR THE MEN ON THE MGs; GIVE OUR MEN TIME TO GET HERE!" I yelled as we opened fire. There were only four or five MG42s but there were many sub-machine gunners blocking our bullets from reaching them. "Reloading" I said dropping to the ground, behind a few sandbags for cover. "I gotta reload too" James said, ripping the metal back that held his empty clip in his M1 Garand. I jumped up again sprayed at the Nazis. More and more friendlies were joining us in our effort to rid the area of the Nazi soldiers.
"Rückzug!" the Nazis yelled, running back, further inland. "WE DID IT!" I screamed, tears of joy rolling down my face. "Not yet," Collin said grimly "We still have to neutralize the AA guns, and find that sniper". I nodded slowly. "You there" I called over to a young man. "Yes sir?" he asked nervously. "I'm putting you in charge; I want you to find me a German sniper. Do not kill him, bring him to us, bind his hands and feet" I instructed. He saluted me and I saluted back and he was off. "Why the fuck did you do that?" Collin asked, a little frustrated at me. "We need to get a medic for Carl and see to Al" I said. Collin nodded. "Find us a medic and meet us back at the bunker" Collin told James. James nodded and was off, leaving me and Collin to return to the bunker. "You know, when I first heard you were British I didn't know what to think, but know..." he trailed off. "I know how you feel, I haven't seen a British soldier since I first got off the boat, it looks like I'm the only one who made it" I sighed. "You don't know that, stay optimistic, you may be surprised" Collin said. "I may be surprised," I agreed "But it's highly unlikely". We reached the bunker and stepped inside, Al was asleep and Carl was watching out of the window, staring at the American soldiers pouring out of boats onto the beach, walking calmly where we had been running frantically not long ago, where we had lost so many friends. "We've got you a medic" Collin said, setting himself down in the corner. "Where are Jake and Tom?" I asked, looking around. "They went to help the soldiers on the beaches unpack some tents, food, supplies... whatever" Carl replied shaking his head. "You tired?" I asked, "Are you?" he said, rubbing his eyes. I scoffed at his remark, he was right. I sat down next to the sleeping Al. He was snoring lightly, the colour had still not returned to his face. I sighed deeply. My clothes had finally dried, but my face was still covered in mud, streaked by dried tears.
"I've got the medic" James said, stepping inside. I looked up and saw a young man step in beside him. "On the chair" Collin said simply. The medic nodded and walked over. "It's almost over" I said, amazed. "It's been a hell of a fucking morning". "This is what they call hell on earth" Collin agreed. Carl grimaced. The medic had set to work removing the bullets. "We'll leave you to it" I said, ushering James and Collin to follow me. James came immediately but Collin was reluctant. I gave him a stern look and he sighed and followed.
Once outside, we saw troops carrying crates and camping equipment, radios and weapons. Some men were even setting up tents. I looked up at the sky. It was still midday. Trucks were rolling in carrying troops, not even scarred from battle. "They're here to carry on the push through France" James explained. "What do we do?" Collin asked. "Rest, wait for orders probably" I answered. "Yes, we have to gather our squad, get a tent, register and wait for orders from the higher-ups" James confirmed. I sat, cross-legged on the muddy, hard ground and sighed. By now my body was beginning to feel heavy. "We better go and help capture the AA guns then" Collin muttered. "What, they haven't taken the yet?" I cried. "Not even close by what the medic told me" said Carl, limping out of the bunker. "You are not coming with us" snapped Collin. Carl opened his mouth to protest, "He's right, you have been seriously injured, you need to rest" I said, agreeing with Collin. Carl nodded slowly and retreated into the bunker to rest. "Best get going then lads" I sighed and stood up.
James and Collin followed as I jogged back up the hill, past the sand bag walls and down the road. I could see the huge Flak 88's from here. Ahead I saw an almighty battle raging for the AA guns. "Holy hell" I murmured, staring on in wonder as I witnessed so few Nazis succeed in holding off so many men. "Let's go!" Collin snapped, bringing back to reality. We sprinted as fast as we could over to the battlefield. I fired at a Nazi on a machine gun. A lot must have changed since the medic left the battlefield because men were already clambering over the sand bag walls; some were even planting charges st the foot of the flak 88 AA guns. "It looks like we're already done here" James said, turning his back on the world behind him. "No we've still got to secure and destroy them" Collin told him. We advanced on the Germans, guns blazing, ready for anything. The charges were set but the Germans weren't ready to quit. They still held a defensive town nearby. It was only a small town but it was the only way to get troops from the beaches to inland France.
We used the German's sand bag walls against them as they tried to retreat to town. They fired at us, as they ran away; using anything they could as cover. We had the upper hand as we had the strong, solid cover. Eventually, there were none left in sight. The men all rallied around me, James and Collin. "They want you to lead them" James said to me. I glanced at Collin but he only nodded and ushered me to go on. I stood up on the sand bags and cleared my throat. "It's been a long, hard morning, hell, there's more to come, but I guarantee it will be worth it. When we've finally vanquished the Nazis and liberated France, then we can call ourselves heroes. Then, we will be VICTORIOUS!". They all cheered and rushed forward, heading for the town, chasing down what Nazis were left. I jumped down off the sandbags. "Shall we go then?" Collin asked with a smirk on his face. "I'm ready when you are" I replied, and we followed our allies to finally end this dark day.