HavenGuarde

Chapter 56 - Classification

Chapter 56

Classification

-And the men were divided, each into their proper place, according to their fate-

Far in front, the first wave of men rushed out from the holes in the ground. All he could hear was a rapid 'pop' sound that was almost deafening. It was all around him. Unceasing and relentless. The world around him was a blur. 

"Bloody hell! Those lads are coming thick and fast now", said a uniformed soldier standing next to him. Look here! Up from those bastard trenches again. Here they come! Ready yourself mate."

More rapid pop sounds rang out. The man next to Thonavar fell to his knees suddenly in a spray of blood. Thonavar's eyes grew wide with shock. "Im sorry lads", said the soldier who had spoken to Thonavar, and he fell to his side and lay unmoving. Thonavar lay in the mud unmoving, trying to grasp what was going on. As his thoughts began to unravel. Thonavar began to make sense of the situation. He was involved in a some kind of battle. But this seemed familiar. He looked up from his place and saw a flag with blue and red stripes and colours lying in the mud. A dead man in a grey-green mud-smeared uniform was clutching it. Thonavar remembered seeing the very same flag in one of his history lessons back at school. It was the ancient British flag. The rapid pop sounds were gunshots. These guns shot metal projectiles called bullets which were deadly. These holes in the ground were called trenches.

And this was World War I. 

Survive. That is all I have to do, thought Thonavar to himself as another spray of bullets flew over his head. Screams filled the air and the shouts of angry and desperate men could be heard every few seconds. So much death. Thonavar crawled in the mud over various bloodied and muddied bodies of men sprawled all over in awkward positions. He needed to get to a safe place. Suddenly movement! Two men dropped down from above. Thonavar lay still as the men moved about him in the mud. They spoke in a strange language which sounded very harsh and guttural. One of them kicked the dead British soldier and fired a few shots gun shots into him laughing out loud. The other soldier pointed his gun at Thonavar's motionless body and was about to shoot when Thonavar surged upward, reached forward and grabbed the shocked soldiers gun. Snatching it from him, he tossed it to one side before dealing a savage blow to the soldiers' temple. The soldier fell to the ground without a sound. The other soldier fired a few shots where Thonavar stood but Thonavar was no longer there. Thonavar had leapt to the side of the trench and landed on the shoulders of the soldier before delivering a series of fast punches to the soldiers' head. Stunned and in a daze, the soldier reached behind and tried to grab Thonavar's arms. But Thonavar leapt off the soldier's shoulders and landed with both feet on the ground. Feeling the power surge within him, Thonavar leapt forwards, grabbing the back of the taller soldier's neck before ploughing the solder's face straight into the mud with considerable force. The two soldiers lay unmoving but Thonavar did not take any chances. He collected their weapons and threw them over the trench. Then moving swiftly, he ran lightly down the trench, crouching and keeping his head low. The trench spanned a long way. Probably a few hundred metres long, he thought. He reached the end of the trench and peeked out at the landscape above. A thick fog had rolled across the land and he could not see a thing. But that did not matter for then he would also not be visible. He leapt lightly off the trench and moved cautiously into a cluster of trees.  

Suddenly, someone grabbed him. Thonavar grabbed the soldier's hands and threw him to the ground.

"Easy now! We're from the same division. You daft or somethin?" said a wide-eyed soldier.