CHAPTER THREE. WILL THEY PUT ME IN THE FIRING LINE?

HE PULLED THE BARBED WIRE BACK A BIT. Both the solider and the nurse made their way through the wire. The moment Mags made her way past the entrance, the wire snapped back. A barb punctured into Schofield's hand, eliciting a grunt of pain from him. Curses slipped out of her mouth as she delicately grabbed the wire and pulled it back for him to pull his hand out. "When we stop, I'll wrap it, okay?" She reassured him. "I don't have enough room to get into my pack." He nodded in response, holding his bleeding hand against his chest.

Craters littered the muddy ground ahead of them. Reminders of the realities they lived in. Who had these shots killed? How many had they killed? How many were soldiers she had seen? These questions would linger in her mind without an answer. Ahead in the distance, the German line of wires could be seen. Dead trees dotted the horizon in the distance. "Sap trench." Schofield pointed out towards the small crater. He led them to the sap trench, being the first to go in.

Shortly after, Mags jumps in after. She cringes as her butt lands against the squishy mud. With swift movements, she begins rooting through her bag for gauze. As she pulls the roll of gauze out of her bag, Blake jumps back, knocking her over into Schofield. To catch himself, Schofield's injured hand lands inside the open and rotting stomach of the dead German soldier. "You fucking idiot!" Mags shouts at Blake with pure rage in her tone.

Blake stares at his friend in shock. He's panicking. His terrified eyes meet the angry ones of the nurse. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Sco-"

"Shut up." Schofield mumbles, pulling his wounded and dirty hand out of the corpse.

With a huff of annoyance, Mags grabs his wounded hand and places it in front of her. "We can't move yet. You'll have to be patient, Blake."

"We have to keep moving."

"He may lose his hand because of you, so I don't think you're in any position to be giving me orders." Her glare and tone were sharp. It cut him. Her gaze softened at the pure remorse that overtook Blake's features. "He's not going to lose his hand. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. Just... I need you to be more careful next time, Blake."

"I'm not a child."

Mags rolled her eyes before returning to Schofield's hand. Pulling out the flask Leslie gave her, she mumbled an apology before pouring the whiskey onto his wound. He grunted in pain as his free hand grabbed her wrist tightly. "I have to do this. It's the best thing we've got." She reassured him before pouring a small bit of whiskey onto the wound. Placing the flask back in her pack before beginning to wrap his hand with gauze. "That's as good as we can do right now. As soon as we get to the Second Devons, we'll take you to a doctor."

The solider nodded, taking deep and steady breaths to ease the pulsing pain in his hand. With one last deep breath, Schofield leads the two along the sap trench towards the German line. Everything is silent. It wasn't a soft and enjoyable silence, but an eerie and unsettling silence. It sounded like the calm before the storm. Mags glanced around the area, on high alert for any enemy soldiers.

A loud roar caught the trio off guard. They all fell flat to the ground. Two planes flew above them in the air. "Stay still." Schofield warns the others. The planes quickly fly overhead, the loud engines fading in the distance. Glancing towards the planes, he turned to them. "They're ours." Blake nodded. "Let's keep going. We're halfway there."

The three pushed themselves off of the ground and continued to the German line. As they make their way through, they stop at the edge of a large crater. Schofield glances up at the nurse. "Only way is down and through." She mumbles, looking towards the wire just beyond the gaping crater. Leslie's words echoed in her mind. 'You fall in, there's no getting out.' The group begins to slowly sink down into the steep bank of the crater. Mags winces at the sight of the mucus-colored water. A dead and bloated German soldier floats in the water.

The group follows Schofield's steps around the crater. As they approach the gap of broken wire, the group begins to climb up the wall of mud. Both Blake and Mags struggled as they climbed. Schofield reaches out to Blake, pulling him further up before holding his hand out to Mags. "I can do this." She shook her head as her hands continued to dig into the mud to get a firm grip. When she couldn't, she let out a deep sigh before placing her right hand in Schofield's. The soldier pulled her up where she could easily climb the rest of the way.

"Looks like we're even now." He mumbles as he pushes himself out of the crater.

Before she could respond, Blake pointed towards the trenches. "There! That's the front line."

Both men take lead in front of Mags, aiming their rifles towards the German trench. Blake is the first one to move, with Schofield and Mags following closely behind. Their eyes and rifles trailed up the length of the trench. Nothing but empty caverns. "Fuck me, they really have gone." Blake huffs. No one responds as the three slowly begin their descent into the trenches.

Mags takes in the environment. The trench is much better fortified and crafted than their own. Even that wasn't enough to save them, though. One wall is smashed into the earth from shells. In front of her, Schofield grunts in pain. He's looking at his hand. The white gauze is stained a dark brown from the blood and pus that began to seep out.

"Your hand alright?" Blake asked, wincing at the sight of the bandage.

"I put it through a fucking German." Schofield spoke pointedly.

Mags rolls her eyes as she rounds in front of him, taking his wounded hand in hers to begin looking over it. She set her pack down to pull out another roll of gauze. Only two more, she mentally took inventory of her pack. Grabbing the flask, she tucked it under her arm and unwrapped the gauze surrounding Schofield's hand. The moment the wrap came free, she winced at the sight of the swollen and still bleeding flesh. It was a raging red and hot to the touch. She mentally cursed before pouring out a little more whiskey onto his hand. This time, he shouted in pain. The two shared a glance of unease as Mags began to re-wrap the wound.

"She's patched you on up." Blake smiled at his friend. "You'll be wanking in no time."

"Wrong hand." Schofield responds. Upon hearing Mags' giggle, his cheeks began burning. "Sorry, I'm not used-"

"It was funny, Schofield. That's all I care about." She slung the pack over her shoulder and turned to follow Blake through the trenches. Both soldiers keep their rifles drawn, keeping an alert eye open. As they follow through the grooves of the trench, they come upon an entrance to an underground bunkhouse. The path in front of them was completely caved in. Everything past the doorframe is pitch black.

"Maybe this is a way through." Blake suggests to the group. Both Mags and Schofield share a glance before nodding. As Blake makes his way into the bunker, Mags takes one last look at the clear blue sky. She mentally sends it a goodbye before making her way into the bunker, Schofield quickly behind her.

kim speaks!

hi guys!!! so i'm posting this chapter in preparation of not having wifi for the next week. i'm going to the mountains of gatlinburg for spring break so i'm not quite sure i'll have wifi for the week. i'm still gonna bring my laptop and stuff just in case i'm able to write but yeah!! so if you don't hear from me for a week, that's why hahah! i've actually already written up to chapter nine for this fic so i think i can take a week long break but who knows!

thank you guys for reading and giving me so much love on this story! i'm so happy with how it's going and what i've written so far!! 🥺👉🏻👈🏻🥰🥰