Pasted directly from a writefriend thread >It's a cold rainy day >As usual >It's always raining in this hellhole >Why on God's green earth would you be blessed with a spot of pleasant weather? >Given the last week you've had it's a blessing you're still alive to be miserable about the rain >A pat on your shoulder rips you from your haze of bitterness >Looking back, it's the red lad from the countryside there to relieve you, name was something Mac "Your turn on the spotting scope, Mac?" >"Yup" he responds >The both of you trade places >You walk back down into the trench, folks shuffling from place to place trying to keep busy and stave off the boredom >Crossing over a low spot in the line, you duck to keep your head from the sight of the enemies rifles >A man shuffling past tries his best to get by with the little space he has >Lifting himself above the wall just a bit too much, his helmet ends up caught on the rim of the embankment >He lifts himself to free his stuck pot "Get your head down!" >"Just a second, damn thing's stu-" his words freeze mid speech, his body falling limp as the front of his helm pops open with a loud metallic crack as brain matter jettisons itself from his skull through the opening >In less than a second, the report of the shot responsible echos across no-man's land >German laughter can be heard in the distance, your mind fills with disgusting thoughts of the fat krauts laughing and drinking beer in celebration of their barbaric slaughter of a good man >A canvas flap in the wall opens up, walking through it is a green haired girl, scoped rifle in hand >The look on her face frightens you almost as much as the thought of being the next to be shot by the huns, if looks could kill that trench of theirs would have been cleared that moment >"Yeah, laugh it up Jerry, laugh it up good and loud." she muttered under her breath "Makes finding you all the easier..." >She placed her rifle along the side of a muddy stream running along the trench wall, letting the grime pile up along the barrel >"Don't pull him down yet, that's what they're waiting for." she said, motioning for you to stay where you were in cover >After a decent mound had formed to obscure the sheen of her rifle, she rolled it on it's side, lifting a cloth cover on the scope and taking aim >"Aight, which one of you looks like a sharpshooter..." she mumbled to herself "How's about you, you've got a scope." >Like thunder, her rifle barked, reverberating across the muddy pockmarked landscape >"Still having a laugh ya rat bastard?" she cursed under her breath "Yeah, go check your buddy, think he needs a hand." >She racked the bolt on her rifle and took aim once more >Again the rifle thundered, this time followed by a morbid screaming in the distance >"Christ, I didn't think he'd stand up." she mumbled "Well, they're krauts so it's not like they got anything there anyways." >Cycling her rifle once more, she aimed down at the other trench >The German continued to scream his lungs out for the whole line to hear "You gonna finish him?" >"Nah, someone's bound to come and help, makes for another good target." she replied "Speaking of..." >Her rifle fired once more, she chambered and fired again >"And that's 4!" she cheered "I tell ya, they make em any dumber and they'd be better off sending monkeys." >Pulling her rifle from the trenchline, she opened the bolt and held the chambered round in it, slowly loading another 4 rounds into her rifle >"Oh, you can bring him down now." she said nodding at the body caught on the trench post "Should be safer now." >You quickly reach up, trying to pull the former soldier free of the post but he wont budge, in desperation, you grab your knife and cut the strap of his helm >Carefully you pull him over your shoulders, preparing to make for the nearest hospital >"Try to keep your head down a bit better than he did, alright Anon?" she joked "Y-Yeah, you too." >You sat in your bunk, wrapped tightly in the sheets >It's been nearly impossible to get any sleep, the Germans haven't shelled in a good while but you still can't get the thought of a round coming through the roof of the dugout off your mind >As much as you'd like to rest, you're still wide awake >As you lay there, the flap to the barracks is brushed open and your CO enters the room >"Right lads." leftenant Sparkle starts, commanding the room's attention "Jerry's in need of a wakeup call and we need information on troop movements." >She sighs as she looks over the room >"Only gonna ask for volunteers once, I don't like asking you to do it any more than you enjoy crawling through that mud." she explained "Need to bring an officer from their line back, preferably in once piece this time." >A raid would mean getting out of bed and trudging through the mud with odds stacked so you'd probably end up mowed down by a German gun post >Also means you'd be off the hook tomorrow for duties and a double ration of tobacco and whiskey >To hell with it, you're probably already going to get shot or blown up before your time on the line is up, might as well risk it and get some time to yourself later >You climb from your bed, nodding to the leftenant "I'll go, rather boring sitting around and waiting to get shelled." >A few of your company members laugh at your disregard for safety >You see the green haired girl from earlier stand up from her seat at the table, walking over to you >"Not without me you're not." she says "You're bound to get your head popped off knowing your luck." >"Alright, it's settled then." Sparkle remarks "You two crawl out under the wire and bring back any information you can from the huns, I'll let the quartermaster know to get gear for two ready." >As you leave the bunk room and head for the storehouse, you try to start some sort of conversation "So, don't think I caught your name at any point." >"Wallflower, Sgt." she replies in a calm tone "So, how long have you been on the line?" >Her face is overtaken with an expression of deep contemplation >"Not too sure, they said I ought to head to the rear lines a while ago but I'd have a hard time hitting krauts from the rear trench." she joked "Not been back for R&R?" >"Not yet, war's not taking a rest, figure I shouldn't either." she explained >She's been here since you got sent up, you wonder how long it's been since she's had a day without shells raining down on her >The both of you turn into the quartermaster's dugout >Machinegun belts, crates of rifle rounds and mills bombs are stacked fairly neatly along the shelves >"Ah, yer the lucky ones goin over the top tonight, eh?" the quartermaster remarks as he steps up from his chair "Yep, that's the plan far as I know." >He pulls down a crate from a higher shelf, placing it on the table next to you >"You'll want one of these then." he said, opening the crate and pulling from it a shotgun >"The plan's to bring one back ALIVE." Wallflower explained >"Aye, and if the two of you wind up corpses by a German patrol there won't be ANYONE coming back in one piece." he explained >He pulled down a few bandoleers, brass shells running all the way along them, as well as a few grenades >"Oh, do yerself a favor, put those shells in yer pocket and leave the bands." he explained "Doesn't that defeat the purpose of em?" >"Aye, but if the hun see's you haulin about shells they won't think twice to put an end to ya, they're right mad about these things." he further explained >You look over at the Sgt. to see she's already stuffed most of the shots into her coat pocket >"He's right, krauts hate the things, figure they're a warcrime." she joked "Course usin gas doesn't count as one in their eyes so I figure we're even on it." >You strap the grenades to your belt, unloading the shells from the bandoleer and into your pocket before loading your trenchgun and cocking it >You look over your equipment, brass shells sitting in your pocket and more grenades than you'd ever used on your belt >"Well, you look set to go invite a fine German officer for dinner." she joked >You chuckle "Think their father would approve? I'd sure hate to make a poor first impression." >The Sgt. laughs at your sarcastic response >"Alright you two, get a room or get going." the quartermaster jeered >The both of you head out and make for the ladder nearby, preparing to make your move >"When we go over, stay low and keep to the shell craters, if we get spotted from here it's over." >She looked over the top, then pulled herself back down >"Damn, they've got a light up." she cursed >You peek over to see a spotlight scanning the field "Think we can run between it?" >"Not worth the risk, they cleared the corpses yesterday so we'd stick out." she explained "Hold on, I got a plan." >Wallflower turned around a corner to a nearby perch, there lay someone with a scoped rifle in front of them >You think you can hear snoring >"Hey, Sunny, they get you or are you passed out on duty?" the Sgt. joked >"HUH?!" the orange haired girl jolted to life >"N-Not sleeping, just watching." she responded >"Sure." Wallflower said "See that light out there?" >"Yeah?" the girl responded >"Do us a favor and put it out." she ordered >"Righto." she responded drowsily >The girl took aim and held he breath >Bang >The light went out, the field going dark >"That'll do." Wallflower commended >"Uh-huh." the girl responded, staring off into the field >Wallflower returned to the ladder with you, preparing to climb up again >"They're likely gonna flare us, if the sky goes bright red, try to get as low as you can." she explained "Simple enough." >You both climb over the top, keeping as low as you can as you go from shell hole to shell hole, moving on the German trench >As you're climbing from hole to hole, you hear loud German shouting >Your heart starts to beat louder and louder, they may have seen you >Right as you climb down into another hole, the sky lights up >You don't have time to react before a hand pulls you into the mud of the shell hole >"Keep down." the Sgt. orders quietly >You look to the sky as you press into the cold mud, a flare slowly drifts down as you see it slowly start to fade >She watches it slowly burn out, holding you close in the mud >At last it burns out before it comes to the ground >You both get up, keeping your heads below the shell line >"That's what's gonna get us done in if you aren't careful." she explains in a whisper "Now come on, nearly there." >She starts off and motions for you to follow slowly >The both of you are nearing the trench >As you finally reach the edge of the German line, you get down and crawl to the brim >She looks over carefully as she can, then quietly looks over to you >Holding out her hand, she signals 2 then draws her knife, motioning you to do the same >You can hear the Germans chattering below >She looks at you, covering her mouth and making a stabbing motion >Instructions clear, gag and kill >You nod >In a single motion, you lean over, see your mark, reach down and hold his mouth shut as you drag the blade along his neck >You can feel him grip at your hand, struggling to get free as he panics >The only sound he can make is a muffled gurgle as he slowly fades >At last, he goes limp >Wallflower pulls her mark over the wall and into the mud, you do the same "Weren't they supposed to be alive?" >"Not officers, can tell by the uniform." she responds >She jumps down into the trench, hugging the wall >You do the same