Robin's head whipped to the right as he heard gunfire, thinking on his feet he dropped to the ground before rolling underneath a thicket, the thorns pricked at his skin, scraping and nipping him, almost in protest at his intrusion. He didn't mind so much about those, what was a couple more scratches to add to the ones he already had?
He had a lot, a bullet wound in his shoulder being the most prominent, he'd tried to remember what Regina had taught him before he left. It had been agony when he'd had to cauterise the wound himself, but her words had come to him in the moment, don't let infection set in, sterilise the wound however you can, she also told him a good way of stanching the bleeding. Knowing the bullet had gone straight through, he'd heated the meatal of his knife before pressing the burning edge against his wound, biting down on a twig to hold back the scream as the scorching metal brunt into his flesh.
That had hurt more than the wound itself and was still sore, any time he tried to move his arm it stung, pain radiating through him. He'd tried to keep it still and use it as little as possible, that same arm was badly sprained, he'd tried to make sure it was supported but all he had were the clothes on his back, any other possessions were most likely with the senior officers.
He was just glad for his outdoors experience and ability to find food, despite that, he was still feeling that hunger, his stomach felt empty. His priority was getting back home, returning to his wife, even though he knew he should have probably tried to find his men, but the only thing he could think about after what he'd been through was seeing his beautiful Regina.
He'd made a promise and he was going to keep it, not even this war could keep him from her, he wouldn't let it, that might be selfish, so many others had fallen, but he just knew that he wasn't ready to give his life for his country, not when it wasn't his to give, his life belonged to her. It had tortured him having to sign up in the first place, but he knew there was nothing else he could do, he had no other choice, there wasn't an option as to whether you signed up or not, that was what conscription was about, wasn't it? Rope in every bloody bugger and wipe them out in one go.
She was the one thing keeping him alive, keeping him sane, thinking about her, about returning to her and their life. That was what he was focusing on now.
He heard twigs breaking underfoot, signalling that he wasn't alone in the woods which meant that whoever it was clearly didn't know how to track properly or at least make sure they weren't located by the enemy, if he thought about it was most likely him. He knew they were there, was well aware of their presence, he didn't think they knew about him though, his military training meant he knew what to do in such a situation.
Unfortunately, he'd run out of ammunition days ago and the large gun he carried had only slowed him down so he'd buried it, the last thing he wanted was someone who did have ammunition finding it. An armed man was a dangerous man, as was a desperate one, he'd seen too many who let that kill them, they rushed out without strategy and got slaughtered in the meantime. The Normandy landings were the worst he'd played witness to, the nightmares plagued him, seeing men with their limbs blown off had shaken him to the core. It had been a massacre and they were the targets.
That had been where he lost his military tags, one minute he'd had them and the next he hadn't. The chain must have snapped or something, but it was now lost on that sandy beach. He knew what that could mean, he might be reported as dead, but he hadn't had the chance to let his superiors know that he wasn't, because his enemies had made chase and he'd had to retreat so far, he had no idea of how to return to his military crew.
He was separated from them, trying to stay alive alone with no clue about what was going on back in sunny old England, no clue about his wife and how she was. He had a horrible feeling that she might think he was dead, that maybe they had sent her notice that he'd died on that beach. He needed some way of contacting her, but sending a letter could be dangerous and was virtually impossible at the moment.
He just hoped it wasn't too late when he got back home, he hoped she wouldn't have given up faith that he'd return to her, he'd promised her that he would and he never broke his promises to her. He could see her smile when he closed his eyes, if he tried hard enough, he could imagine that she was there with him, her deep voice soothing his worries, calming him as her touch brought him peace.
Robin found a place with enough shelter and lowered himself to the ground slowly, he needed a little rest as he waited until all was quiet in the woods before venturing out. He needed to move on and make some ground way before night fell, the forest was a dangerous place at night, you couldn't see anything so you had no clue what was underfoot.
Once he was back out in the open he looked at the tracks that had been left by the soldiers and shook his head, they must be really stupid not to cover them, anyone could easily follow them, trace their footsteps. They must be either really brave or really stupid.
Robin found a stick with branches and leaves that hung off before heading in the opposite direction to the men, his main aim was to find the rest of his platoon, if he could get back to his regiment then he could get word back to his wife that he was still alive.
Finding some berries that weren't poisonous he continued on, he would prefer to get out of the wood before nightfall, the thing was he didn't know how far it would be and the only thing he had that was helpful in the slightest was the compass that Regina had given to him the day he left, saying that if he ever got lost he would always be able to find his way back to her, boy was he glad for her thinking on the matter, otherwise, he would be completely at a loss as to where he was going.
Once he knew where he was walking he opened the back of it, looking at the little picture that was slotted inside, stroking a finger over her face, "I'll be home soon my love, I promise," he breathed, closing the compass again and picking up the pace. He didn't know what state the war was in, he could only hope that the allies had managed to gain some kind of leeway, was it too much to wish that maybe whilst he had been away from civilisation that the war was over and he'd just missed the news? He doubted it.