THE FRONT: PART 2
Scott awoke in the dim confines of a dugout, the failing light of late evening spilled through the opening hole and Scott blinked several times to adjust his vision. Wynter was talking to a medic outside, a young rabbit who looked like he'd rather be someplace else.
"The corporal suffered some mild oxygen deprivation, but he should be alright...oh look, there he is now." Wynter turned and helped Scott out of the dugout. Scott sat down on the steps of a parapet, not trusting his legs.
"Are you alright, corporal?" Asked the medic, Scott nodded and the medic picked up his medical bag and departed, splashing through the ankle deep mud with obvious discomfort. Wynter looked Scott over and smiled.
"Glad to see that you're alright, you are taking next watch."
Scott had heard about night watches before and they had practiced them back at Basic School, but it was different when you could actually be killed and Scott felt more than a little fear thrumming around in his stomach as he climbed the parapet steps. The evening light was fading rapidly and as Scott peered through the parapet slit he felt the first drops of an autumn downpour rattle against his helmet.
"Oh goddamnit!" Swore someone behind Scott, but Scott ignored him, focussing on the tangle of barbed wire and shattered trees in front of him. It was dark and every shadow looked suspiciously like a lurking enemy soldier, ready to fire a round into Scott's skull.
"Wynter?" Scott asked, Wynter poked his head out of a dugout, rain dripping off of his ears, he was helmetless and had his uniform top off as well, revealing a muddy undershirt covered in the accumulation of weeks worth of dirt.
"Can I toss a Mill's Bomb out into no man's land just to scare any Germans that might be hiding out there?" Wynter shook his head vigorously.
"No, if you do that both sides will start firing, then artillery might get called in, and if that happens, anthros will die." Scott felt his ears droop under his helmet, but he remained silent and after a few seconds Wynter withdrew back into his dugout. Scott sighed, it was going to be a very long night.
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART THREE...