No Man’s Land--Amy

 My dearest Emily,

Just the other day we were given the order to move forward into No Man’s Land. The mission was dangerous, we all knew that, but who are we to disobey orders. The last thing I wanted was to go, you have to understand that. And the only thing I thought about as we prepared was you. I did not expect to be writing you this letter. In fact, I did not expect to be alive at all by the day’s end. However, I readied myself, said my goodbyes to my fellow soldiers, my friends, my brothers, and then it was time to fight.

Immediately, we were hit with a torrent of bullets and bombs. Men fell all around me, but I just kept running. I had to keep running. I felt the wind of the bullets as they passed my face at hundreds of miles per hour. And yet, I still kept running. I saw men, my men being blown into the air left and right, but I still kept running. In fact, I didn't stop running until I found cover. You could hardly call it cover, but in this barren wasteland it was my best friend. This “friend” was simply a measly piece of rock protruding from the ground. Had I been given the chance I would have tried to find something better, if there happened to be anything at all, but I couldn’t take that chance. It was too risky. So, against my better judgement, I set up my gun and began shooting.

There was so much smoke and debris I could not even see what I was firing at. I was shooting blindly. I may have not hit anything at all, but I knew there were men inside that smoke. Most of them just like me, put out into a war they didn't sign up for. They're all innocent men, some of them barely even men at all, but in this war, they are the enemy, as much as I dislike it. I wasn’t there for more than 10 second before I was blown back, the air knocked out of me, and my cover, gone. For a moment I thought maybe that was the end, I might even say I had accepted my inevitable end, but when my eyes opened and the screams of men replaced the ringing in my ears I knew I had lived. Even with my sputtering breaths, I was able to stand and run. I ran toward the trenches with all the strength in my body, although it ached profusely, but I didn’t stop long enough to be certain those aches weren’t something worse. Men continued to fall all around me, but most followed my lead and began running back. Wounded soldiers called out as I passed, their words incoherent and drowned out by blasts that rocked the earth around me and made my ears ring louder and louder with every passing second. Some of their faces I recognized, but most were covered in blood, burns, or dirt. Maybe they were my friends, but friends don’t last long in places like this.

As the trenches came into view I saw them begin to fill with the remaining men. I got to the ledge of the trench, and much to my horror, I noticed how small the group of men was. There were ten of us, maybe twelve but I couldn’t find the time to count. As I looked out upon the horrifying scene I had just been a part of, all I could see was hundreds of bodies littered amongst the craters and wire. Some may have still been alive, but there was no helping any of them, for that would mean certain death for myself. This may have sounded like a loss to you, but to us and more importantly to the government we were fighting for, we had gained some ground. Even if it was just a few feet, that was a win in our book. I suppose it wasn't a win for all of us, maybe it wasn't even a win at all. But that is just war. And war is never fair.

Sincerely, 

George