Over The Top
Despite the short distance to safety, you decide to stay put and follow the lead of Sergeant Wilkes. The shelling, however, has intensified and, to your horror, one of the mortar shells lands right inside George’s crater, instantly killing him.
You stare in utter disbelief at the smouldering hole. Losing your best friend in such a horrible manner comes as a great shock to you.
Meanwhile, Sergeant Wilkes has given the password to the nervous sentries standing in the forward observation post. Having cleared this last hurdle, Sergeant Wilkes shouts for you to follow him over the last few feet to safety. The incessant shelling wakes you from a dream-like state and you manage to get out of your hole and reach your own lines.
You are immediately escorted by Lieutenant Jarvis and half a dozen other men to a nearby dugout, where a glass filled with rum is handed over to you. Badly shaken and racked by remorse over your friend’s death, you empty three glasses of the burning liquid before slumping into a nearby cot. You then pull out the handful of documents taken from the German dugout and offer them to Lieutenant Jarvis, who quickly inspects them.
– “What do you want me to do with all these love letters?” he asks incredulously.
Love letters, you think to yourself. To think that George was killed for a handful of German love letters! If you weren’t so tired, it would almost be funny. However, you begin to feel sluggish and drowsy. Finally, closing your eyes, the distant sound of shell blasts echo in your mind as you fall fast asleep.