trenches part 3

We ate in quiet, more faint explosions reaching our ears, the sky lighting occasionally, as if the sun was having a battle and trying to come back up. As I finished eating and put my plate on the ground before me, I listened; the popping sounds of the pellet machines audible.

There was little to do once the food was eaten; gratefully leaving Nathan to clean up the utensils, me and Joe transported the rest to the wash up area. It was split into two parts, a thick section of earth wall protruding into the roughly square area. The closest to the entrance was used by the teleporters – I’d been there several times already. Five people stood in a circle with buckets of water, the teleport would run to the middle, the buckets would be throw from all the different directions, water hurling into the person. It served to wash off the metal gas the Bots were more and more frequently, somehow, letting into the air, stopping us teleporting.

The second half of the place was used by everyone in the trenches; a trough of water at one end which hands or feet could be washed in. Several lines with attached lengths of material had been strung from the top of the earth trenches to form crude curtains and people crouched over head, buckets at the ready. All people had to do was strip to their underwear, and rubbed the mud and grime off as the water was thrown over them.

In winter the act was abandoned; the freezing weather making it impossible unless you wanted to suffer a cold or pneumonia afterwards. People just had to go dirty for their time on the front lines – disgusting, but better than dying of cold.

Once back in our area, we returned to the not necessarily wanted warmth, but comfort of the fire and settled down; sometimes there was time when you were so shattered, all you would do was crawl under a blanket and fall asleep, but then again it was nice to split the cycle up of fighting, eating, sleeping, fighting, eating, sleeping.

Dawn lay on her front, a light coloured paperback book a few inches from her nose, her eyes shifting across the page as she took in the small print, her ankles crossed in the air and swaying backwards and forwards slightly.

Cassie too was reading, though she sat cross legged, facing the fire, a much thicker book than Dawn’s in her lap, her loose hair falling around her face and hiding her features, her head resting on one curled hand.

Joe sat against the earth wall, flute to his lips playing a soft tune, not like his usual jaunty one, his eyes trained on the flames of the fire, lost in though, Rosa leaning against his side, mirroring Joe’s posture by having her legs splayed on flat, singing along quietly to the melody of the flute, staring up into the night stars.

Nathan was busy tracing the outline of something on a light block of wood, his sharp knife reflecting the fire light. He sat leaning against the wall like Joe, but with his legs crossed, his hands held close to his eyes, his jaw firm and watching his activity intently. I had never understood how he could look at a block of wood, begin to chip away little bits, taking a scrape off there, a nick on the other side, and a form would begin to be visible, wither a animal, or small wooden pendant to put on a necklace.

Rarely I would attempt to read a book, but I had yet to actually finish one. I personally blamed my ears – they just seemed to pick up all other noises around, never letting me really get into the story. Tonight, I preferred to wrap a blanket around me, lay close to Nathan, and close my eyes, listening to the small noises of my friends around me and the flute and the song. I thought back to memories; some happy, some sad, confused and lost - most of times I had forgotten – the little snippets which help make up a day but are easily lost.

As the night grew on, the others put down their occupations and joined me on the ground, all merging together in a mass. It wasn’t cold, well not at least to justify doing the action for warmth, but like the fire, it was more out of comfort than heat.

I lay my head on Nathan’s stomach and curled to face him in the glow of the firelight, taking a strong arm and wrapping mine around it. Pulling my legs up to my chest, I placed one slightly in front of the other, and Cassie rested her head on the furthest one back, Dawn behind her, Joe and Rosa laying together on Nathan’s other side.

I felt a hand pull lightly at a width of hair and Nathan’s fingers twirled it around. I smiled, sure that he would see it. He would fiddle with my hair back at the school in the dorm, his or mine, when we wanted company and went to the other, not always when he was nervous, but when he was not quiet ready to sleep.

Yawning, I closed my eyes against the night and tried to block out the sounds of fighting and wildlife. The nights on the front lines always seemed daunting If it was your first time, but gradually it became easier and easier. It helped to focus on the things around you as such as the wind, the crackling of a fire, or the breathing of friends.

“Did you lose anyone today?”

I groaned, “Nathan,” I mumbled, “I was so close to falling asleep then!”

“Well everyone else has drifted off, and well…we won’t get a chance to talk on our own for ages.” I felt him lightly twirling a strand of my hair.

I forced myself to wake up a bit; blinking hard. I knew he was right. If fact if I hadn’t pleaded so hard with Andrew anyway, Nathan wouldn’t be on the front lines at all, rather out in a raiding party. It may have seemed the wrong thing to ask for, but what with Front lines, then me going on a raid the day after we would get back to the school, then a trading mission, there wasn’t going to be a lot of time to be with him.

“Sorry.” I apologized, taking his free hand in mine, feeling the rough fingertips curtsy of all the whittling he did.

“Don’t worry my wildcat.” He said and I knew he was smiling, “So, what happened out there?” His voice was soft but never the less I found it slightly demeaning, knowing he was really asking why my legs had been shaking.

“Everyone’s shake – not just mine!” I said defensibly, glancing up at him with a frown.

“But I’m asking why yours were.” He meet and held my gaze, his fingers stopping their playing through my hair.

Turning my head I went back to staring over his stomach, clenching my teeth for a moment before saying, “We had to re-treat,” I found it hard to talk.

“Ohh…” He sighed, understanding. He paused for a moment, his fingers starting up again, “You know Heather, there’s nothing bad about having to retreat from them – it shows a good decision; that you weren’t going to risk fighting against a too larger number of them.”

“That’s not the point!” I snapped, glaring into the earth mount as if it had personally done me a wrong, “Running away from them means there still around and able to hurt people!”

He sighed again, “But it’s not just that is it?”

I didn’t answer, gritting my teeth shut.

“You don’t have to hide fear with anger,” He whispered. He drew his arms around me and pulled me further up his torso, so that I was on his chest instead of his stomach, “Its scary having to turn your back on them, that was what was wrong wasn’t it?”

I curled a hand into his jumper material and buried my face closer to his body, feeling the fear wash through me again, “They chased us for ages – I could hear them crashing around behind us and they were getting closer and closer! I yelled at the others to run faster but we couldn’t! And I was covered in that metal gas stuff from when the released it just after midday, so I couldn’t just swirl us all out of there!”

“So what did you do? You were out in the woodland area in the east weren’t you?”

I nodded, “We were just before one of the small streams there, and I knew we couldn’t outrun them, so I called for a halt then motioned them to get in the trees. We managed to hide in the foliage just before they reached us. They kept running on, and I thought they’d gone, but then we heard them coming back. I don’t know how they knew – maybe because they couldn’t see or hear us anymore, but they came back and started walking around near us.”
“From the sun I guess we stayed there about an hour, with them walking around underneath us. Then one of the branches creaked a person was standing on – and the Bots looked up. I swear, I have never…” My breath seemed to catch in my chest and I couldn’t go on.

Nathan gripped my hand tightly, “I know how you felt – about a year ago the group I was in had to do exactly that. They stare at you don’t they, just standing underneath you and looking up.”

I nodded shakily, “It’s the stare that does it. They know they can’t reach you, but they just stand there and stare – and wait. I yelled for Andrew and he sent someone. They brought buckets of water and chucked them over me and the others to get the gas stuff off, then we teleported back to just in front of the trenches.”

“Oh that odd sense thing he’s got?” Nathan asked.

“That’s it – can’t remember what its called though. But yer – he must have kinder sensed me through that and knew what was happening”

We laid in silence for a minute, both going through our past experiences. It went against everything we had been taught from the ages of ten to turn and run from Bots – to turn your back on them and present your neck, the most easiest way for them to kill you.

trenches part 2

The bacon was frying nicely – despite Rosa’s lunged attempt to grab the pan and cook it herself, and the bunch of us waited patiently, not talking, but thinking calmly, reflecting.

I gazed up at the stars overhead, shinning brightly in the clear dark sky. They strewed for as far as I could see, seeing so close, but yet so far at the same time, crushing the feeling of smallness of my mind. Blinking in wonder I realized that humans had actually managed to visits some of those, the bright lights hiding the fact they were lone planets hanging in space, that we had stretched our fingers that far seemed impossible.

Someone smoothly folded themselves beside me and I turned to look; Nathan looked starkly clean compared to me, his skin almost glowing in freshness, his hair dripping at the ends showing he had come here straight from the washing area. He smiled warmly, wrapping his arms around my back and pulling me close, kissing the top of my head.

“Ok?”

I smiled, feeling a surge of affection for him rush through me, glad he was safe, “Yes, you?”

“Fine – and squeaky clean to boot!”

I smiled wryly, “I’ll go there in a minute – we’re just waiting for the bacon.”

“Well you don’t think I came here to see you do you?” He jested and I nabbed an elbow into his ribs, grinning.

The meat sizzled and Joe eyed it, licking his lips,

“Joe – we don’t eat raw meat.” Rosa sighed

“It’s practically done!” He whined like a first year.

“Look,” Rosa took his hand and pulled him to his feet, “You can help me go get some water to drink and plates – Cassie, Dawn and Lara can watch the bacon.”

“Oh wait!” Lara piped up loudly, “I’ll join you on the way actually, I want to find Jack – he should be down here by now.”

Hauling Lara up, the trio trudged away, their voices soon lost in the general noise from around; the rumble of convocation from other sleeping areas, the thudding of walking people, zoon of crickets and grass hoppers, and ever so faintly, booms of explosions.

Dawn sighed, pulling her legs up to her chest like myself and stared into the flames, the light casting shadows on her face, her blue eyes unblinking. The tendons on her knuckles stood out whitely as she clenched her trousers material in her fists.

Cassie picked up a wooden fork and shifted the bacon around in the pan, ignoring its spits of fat and oil.

“You’re shaking.” Nathan said it more quietly than I’d ever heard him say anything before, into my head as he lowered his head to the side of mine.

“Ruff day.” I stated back, leaning my head against his in an almost nuzzling jester.

“Wana talk about it?”

“…Maybe later…”

The silence – if it could be called that – rushed back around us, accompanied by a pronunciation that dinner was ready, the delicious smell making my mouth water; we were forced to wait for the rest of our party to return, Nathan mumbling that he would eat it with his bare hands if they didn’t hurry up.

With a crackle of flames, Joe and Rosa flared into existence on the opposite side of the fire to me, the flames of the teleportation brightening the place for a few seconds before vanishing, Dawn turning away from the heat at their side.


“Lara’s staying with Jack tonight.” Rosa informed us, just speaking before Joe blurted in,

“Phew – I thought you would have scoffed the lot!” He said surprised with his eyebrows raised, throwing a wooden plate and fork to each of us.

“We’re not you Joe,” Nathan replied and I could tell by his tone he was smirking.

Joe barred his teeth and did a pathetic mock growl back; it would have made us all laugh normally, but a dull pound sounded through the air behind us, the sky lighting up a fiery red for a still moment, stealing the humour.

Trenches part 1

Jumping down into the trench, one hand sliding down the damp earthy wall, I felt my legs shaking when they hit the ground. It was an odd feeling, like someone had grabbed hold of my ankles and was shaking my legs for all they were worth.

Around me others were falling into the trenches; their eyes wide and weary, looking nervously around for friends, all covered in grim and dirt.

I was glad I wasn’t the only who was shaking.

Much cleaner, much more nervous looking people were lined around me, their first foot resting on the bottom most wooden slats of the ladders, about to scrabbled out of safety and into the fighting zone, or more commonly called ‘No man’s land’ and into a shift of hell.

They were worse this time. No one said it, but everyone was thinking it. There was more of the shining monsters, more bombs were crashing around up there and the pellet machines were throwing out their deadly spits. The air seemed full of energy, as if a thunderstorm was about to downpour on us all, the booms and echoing sounds of explosions, yells and thuds reaching us.

With the last few members jumping down into safety, the ones lining up flung themselves at the ladders, hosting their bodies up and over the earth mound, vanishing in a moments, others close on their heels.

“Good work guys.” I smiled weakly at the group of people around me, the ladder bounced one last time as the final fighter took their weight off it. I got few replies, mostly grunts and inclines of heads.

They trudged off to the right and left, rubbing sore spots, grumbling and wanting a wash and were the hell their friends were.

I took a moment to just simply stand on my own, not moving along just yet. My legs were trembling slightly still, my heart thumping madly as if I was still fighting. Taking a few deep reliving breathes I rubbed at my face with two hands, itching my tired eyes. My ears still rang softly from my last encounter with a bomb but I really didn’t want to go to the infirmary yet – it would be full of pain filled screams, bleeding limbs, dazed and confused eyes rolling around and…the still forms, sheets covering them. Then again, it would always be like that, no matter what time of the day or night.

Dropping my hands, I pushed off from the damp wall behind me and turned left, my feet padding along the wooden slates, keeping to the left hand side so avoid bashing into anyone from the other direction.

Most people were heading away from the front of the trenches, to the back of them were they stretched for almost quarter of a mile, turns shafting off in both ways; some lead to eating sections, other to the teachers area, causally named the blocks, where all planning was made by the commanders and teachers, then at the very back, trying to gain some silence, the sleeping areas; the sides of the trenches still towering above the walkways, small to large areas filled with blankets and small fires.
For now, I was contended to walk, to keep wondering to anywhere my legs chose, lost in my thoughts of my resent shift fighting. I always did it, not out of orders or anything like that, but I always found myself replaying the fighting over in my heads, questioning if I had made the right moves, if I should have order someone different. It never did much damage – only when someone died in the unit I was commanding. But then, after Andrew having some very forceful talks with me, I just had to accept it was the way things went – how that person fought or factors out of my control which lead to their dead. The good thing about it helped show light on any faults in my fighting, how I could have done a move differently or different sequences that would have worked.

Lost in my thoughts, I drifted along the trenches, passing all fellow fighters, some equally thinking, others talking, planning, some disusing events, a few grumbled. None laughed.

A glow of light coming into my side vision, I glanced up, to find I had walked to the sleeping areas, or more precisely the small section me and my friends had clamed for our stay on the front lines.

It was just like the rest; high earth walls in front and to the left and right of me, forming a circle, in the middle, a stack of glowing logs, grey smoking drifting lazily upwards. Sleeping mats – a stretch of bound together reeds lay upon the cold ground, blankets strewn across in an untidy mess – well, all except one, which was folded neatly.

Striding to the fire, I slumped down at its side feeling the warmth trying to soak into me. Sighing, and cursing the person who had let the fire almost burn out, I stumbled up, grabbed a few logs from the side and threw them onto the glowing wood, poking it around with a short metal rod to make the sparks fly.

“Hey ho.” A voice called behind me.

Looking over my shoulder I saw a huddle of people who all smiled warmly and joined me, sinking down onto the ground and sighing happily at finally being able to relax. Rosa sat with her legs crossed; holding her hands to the fire to warm them, Cassie with one leg stretched flat out, the other upright and her arms encased around it, leading forwards, and her chin on her knee. Dawn with her legs splayed at her side, hands loosely in her lap, and Lara both legs spread straight out, like one of Cassies, looking like a young child.

“Joe and Nathan will be here in a sec – they said something about finding beacon…” Rosa titled her head to me, smiling.

“Sounds nice.” I mumbled, drawing my legs up to me and wrapping my arms around them. I could still feel them shaking slightly.

“How’d the fighting go?” I asked my friends.

“Excellent!” Lara grinned cheerily, “Worked in a team this time – worked really well!”
“Yer – until you Tilly joined the group – I thought you were going to get your head chopped off coz you were doing more laughing than fighting!” Rosa said, but grinned at Lara to let her know she was joking.

“Oh Heather!” Dawn said excitedly, “I had a go at stick fighting – Matt threw one to me and I used it to fight off a few Bots!”

I gave her a wry smile, but couldn’t help feeling like reprimanding her – out on the front lines was not a place to try new fighting tactics.

“All went A Ok.” Cassie drew my attention to her, shrugging happily, “How about you?”

I opened my mouth to reply ‘fine’ but was interrupted by a yell

“I BRING BACON!”

Joe ran into the circle, skidding to a halt beside Rosa and literally throwing himself on the floor. He pecked Rosa on the cheek quickly then thudded a frying pan onto the fire, complete with strips of meat.

“We shall eat like Kings tonight!” He declared in a loud voice, grinning widely at us all.

“Not if Rosa cooks.” Dawn muttered.

Rosa stuck out her tongue at Dawn, who just smiled charmingly back.