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((Sorry about the delay, college has been keeping me busy. This part has not received the amount of editing, proofreading, and revising the first two had due to my current academic work load but I was tired of letting it sit on my desktop and collect e-dust.))

My Love of War, Part 3

By Surikat

I awoke the following morning shortly after sunrise to the blessed sound of merry songs. The informal truce was still in act; Nikolaus wasn't stirred by the sound, his arm draped over me and nose buried in my chest as he continued to sleep. I licked his forehead and watched him sleep for several minutes, I cursed that we couldn't have met under drastically different circumstances, but now was not the time for such thoughts, I needed to think of a way to get him out of our trench without the others discovering him or worse perhaps, what we had done. I'd likely be labeled as abetting a spy having taken him into our trench, not that they would be entirely wrong in their assumption, the risks I took the night before were great for both me and the Allied war effort, yet after what happened that night, I really didn't care.

I propped myself up and slid off the crate; Nikolaus's arm smacking against the crate as I moved startled him awake. Before he could speak a word, I hushed him while I scrambled for my uniform and boots, it took longer then expected with some of the smaller bits strung about the place. Nikolaus rather enjoyed watching the spectacle; he sat up on the crate and chuckled to himself as I struggled to get dressed. After having dressed myself I tossed a ball of his clothes at him, knocking him back from the surprise. I kept watch out of the corner towards the outside; attempting to get an estimate of how many others there remained still in the trench, that's not to say I didn't sneak a few peaks back to watch Nikolaus dress. Once finished, he surprised me as he grabbed me from behind and planted a kiss on my neck. I couldn't help myself as I turned around and kissed him back, our tongues meeting once again while his paws grabbed at me. It pained me to break the mood but I informed him then of the situation; I was nervous, there was no way to hide it.

Nikolaus remained hidden as I went out for a look in the trench; it was another damp and bitter cold morning, the sky blanketed with a gray shell shielding us from any form of relief from the cold. The trench itself was rather bare, I could hear the chatter of soldiers over the top inside no man's land. I looked around, anyone within eyeshot were either dozing or enthralled in chatter with others. Yet, as I was about to summon Nikolaus, three mongooses from one of the Sikh regiments from India appeared around the bend, chatting to themselves in their native tongue. I cursed my luck under my breath as they stopped to chat, I had no idea why they were in my part of the trench, they were suppose to be meters away with their own platoon. Thinking quickly, I approached and called to them in a rather brisk tone.

"You three, there! At attention, now!" I shouted to them, quickly they turned to me at attention. "I need you to report for delousing at the supply line immediately!" I commanded of the three, thank god their English wasn't anything to brag about else they would have quickly realized I was full of bollocks.

They stuttered out a confused "Yes, sir." and shot off with the quickness only a mongoose is capable of. Sikh regiments were skittish around the regular British forces, they felt out of place and didn't understand why they were here, fighting for a government they didn't fully support. On top of it all, the officers were known to harass them for the pettiest of infractions, luckily for me, that made them all the easier to manipulate. Once they were out of sight, I scanned the trench once more for any more tests of patience. Spotting none I called to Nikolaus, he emerged wearing a foul weather tunic that he must have found laying about. It covered his uniform and upper body well, except for his tail. With there not being a single meerkat in the British forces that I knew of I couldn't help but sigh at the attempt. "Cute..." I sarcastically muttered to him.

He replied in a whisper, "You think? Found it inside, now they can't see my uniform. Clever, ja?" I shook my head as I pointed at his tail.

"What about that thing?" I said, exposing the obvious flaw in his clever ruse. He just looked at it questioningly.

"What about it?" He said, still oblivious to the problem. I suppose he was ignorant to the fact that there are no meerkats in the British army, or at least in this line of trenches.

I again sighed, then in a half laugh I replied "Nothing. Let's just get you over the top."

Surprisingly the tunic did help; no one seemed to pay any attention of Nikolaus as we walked away from the trench. Once we were safely inside no mans land, strange how I could call any place in that blasted land 'safe', we spent the remainder of the day chatting again. It was a tad awkward between us, the night before still weighing heavily on our minds. We both wanted to talk about what happened but it was impossible with the number of people nearby, even if our voices were being drowned out by the din of everyone else. As the hours passed, our conversation grew more solemn, we both knew this truce was fleeting. It was only a matter of time before H.Q. would decide they'd had enough of peace and when that happened we'd be called back. We would be enemies once more, a fact that stuck me like a bayonet; we didn't want to fight each other. We both were clear about that and it was then that Nikolaus came up with a most ingenious idea.

He took out his knife and grabbed my helmet I had laying beside me. When I questioned him about his actions, he reassured me that this would work. For some time he etched something into the steel, I watched him do this with curiosity yet he made sure I couldn't see what exactly he was doing, then after what must have been twenty minutes he finished. It was a crude gothic "N" he etched into the helmet, not sure what to make of it I questioned him. He simply replied, "N, for Nikolaus. I see that, I know not to shoot." I couldn't help but laugh to myself, it sounded ridiculous but it was more then I could come up with. I didn't want to think what the rest of the platoon would think of my new decorative helmet. I somehow doubted I would be allowed to continue wearing it, I wondered how long it would take till they issued me a new one, but I humored him none the less. So, taking his helmet and my own knife I did the same, etching a 'K' of the old English style into its side. It was then that I also marveled at how much better the design of the Hun helmet was, aside from the silly spike at the top, it provided so much more protection. I was rather jealous of it, with the English design we were forced to keep it unstrapped for fear that it would cache the force of a blast and send your head flying off with it.

It was about this time that I overheard a sergeant mutter to a corporal that command has gotten word of our little Christmas truce and they were on their way to fix the situation. I suppose they missed hearing their nightly lullaby of death as they slept comfortably in the safety of an estate many miles away from the front. "Well, appears this phenomenon isn't meant to last." I sighed, rather disheartened by the prospect of leaving Nikolaus. Then there came the shouts from down the line for everyone out of No Man's Land. I looked back to my trench with sadness, this hell I sat in was the only place that had happiness and now it was being stolen from me.

"Kern?" Nikolaus called back to me from that trance. "Don't worry, I don't have any plans to see an early grave and I'm sure you're the same. How long could this war actually last?" Those last words were hollow, we both knew it but it kept us going.

"It's war, it'll never end." I replied back with a heavy heart, I felt dirty saying those words. I'll just write them off as being disgruntled at leaving Nikolaus.

"Then in the next cease-fire we'll be together again." Nikolaus remarked with a slight half-hearted laugh. I smiled at this thought, then before I could milk our time any longer I reached into a pocket for my pay book and a tiny pencil, ripping out a page in the back, figuring I'd be lucky if I actually made it to that page, I scribed my address and next of kin. Tearing the piece in two I handed the blank half to Nikolaus and told him to do the same, we then exchanged the information; I snuck in a subtle little kiss on his cheek in the exchange. He looked around in embarrassment, while I just laughed under my breath. Then there came the call for our part of trench to return, as we stood up I grabbed his paw and clenched it tight. "Stay safe and keep your head down, alright?"

His reaction was rather confused. "But then you couldn't see the mark on my helmet?" We both chuckled as he told me to stay safe as well, then sadly we departed for our trenches.

I and the rest of my platoon were greeted by a rather hung-over looking officer from Command, the stench of brandy still lingering heavily on his tongue as he scolded the Lieutenant. I was rather amazed that a polecat of his stature could bolster such boisterous voice, it was quiet amazing really. His slurring of commands and insults made the whole affair even more entertaining and after five or ten minutes of this tongue lashing he returned back to what I was sure would be a nice warm fireplace with a 'borrowed' bottle if fine liquor. For the next few days, till the end of New Years we did as we were ordered, fire at the enemy, however we were not informed who our enemy was during this time so we attacked whatever we thought posed a threat, the stars, random bushes, puddles of water or even stumps of trees. Our artillery thought the same and blasted away at an empty field some distance away from the Hun line, I'm sure they were told of an enemy position moving into that region. Yet, as January 1st came and went, we resumed our normal behavior of endless blind firing at the dreaded Hun.

It was business as usual on the front, bullet this way, mortar that way until a rather profound event happened. It was late in April of 1915 when a very strange sight overcame my eyes off in the distance. A strange grey cloud enveloped a French section of the trench following an artillery barrage from the Huns, it was unearthly natural and even the most dimwitted of us could tell this was something new, something fiendish. Not one of us knew what was going on till shouts and screams erupted from the trenches as we were flooded with fleeing French troops, they were like phantoms, pale and terrified. In their flee for safety they were yelling in madness about soldiers dying without cause, dropping where they stood, least that is what we could make out through our poor understanding of their chaotic French. It wasn't till the days following did we find out what happened, a chlorine gas attack. I felt sickened at the thought, it seemed so underhanded and cruel. Here we thought the machine gun was devastating, then now subjected to this new device. I fear what would be around the bend for us next.

When I had the opportunity, I would try and get the best view of the Hun side I could as too check up on Nikolaus, yet despite my flawless eyesight I only ever thought I spied him once. That was until a day in early May when I was given a new job, much to my delight. There was a husky-mix by the name of Pvt. Rodale who was our platoons sniper, a nice fellow and excellent sniper except for a nasty tendency to tense up his tail when prone, thus giving away his position. This eventually 'bit him in the butt' to say when a Hun sniper took off most of it, never had I seen a soul scurry that fast back to the safety of the trench as Pvt. Rodale had at that moment. We gave him much grief over that as he whined his way to the medical sector, it perhaps is morbid we would mock someone over their misfortune but worse things happened in those trenches. Cpl. Garret then handed me Rodale's rifle as I was promoted to platoon sniper till Rodale could return to active duty, this was my ticket to watch Nikolaus from afar.

Over the course of the next month I enjoyed my sniping duty, but I could never actually bring myself to kill anyone, it just didn't feel right killing like this. It's one thing to shoot at faceless silhouettes, yet to look down the scope of my rifle and see my targets eyes was entirely different matter and I just couldn't squeeze the trigger, so instead I took to shooting those damned spikes off their helmets. It was rather humorous seeing them scurry about as I my bullets struck their helmets, it took them a awhile before they started to realize I wasn't actually trying to kill them. I once spotted Nikolaus as well and proceeded to give him a little 'love tap', I doubt he realized it was me, but that didn't matter, it was a relief to see him alive and well.

Then the day came we all dreaded, it was the 11th of June now, when 2nd Lt. Hurst informed us that the morning of the twelfth we would be going over the top to advance on the Hun line. The tension in the trench following that announcement ran so thick that I swore I saw bullets bounce off the air above us. In the evening the lottery was pulled, those unfortunate enough to be drawn had the luxury of sneaking into No Man's Land after night fall to clear a path for our forces to advance in the morning. You're given a pistol, trench knife, and wire cutters then sent out of a preverbal suicide mission to dig up any unexploded ordinance you could find and cut the barbwire. I felt myself go light headed when I heared my name called, I had to dismiss myself then to relieve my stomach of its contents.

Near midnight, on a near moonless light, I was prepped to slink over the wall into Hades. We tested the enemy response with a helmet on a rifle; I felt rather disappointed when no shots came our way, nothing it appeared would prevent me from doing this deadly job, so I thrust my body over the wall and crawled my way deep into the hostile land. I'm not sure how long I was on my belly, keeping my tail pinned to my leg as I sloshed through the desolate earth, I was grateful that there had been no rains for the first time in many weeks, the dry earth was heaven sent. After cutting my way through several yards of barbwire, the ground gave way beside a crater, causing me to tumble down into the center. I shook the dirt from my fur before I laid back against the crater wall, staring up at the night sky, resting a moment before I would grudgingly continued my task. After a few minutes, I was starteled into alert when I heard the rustling of someone approaching on their stomach. I clenched my trench knife close to my body, waiting for who or what was bearing down on me, I dared not use my pistol else give myself away. I dug my back into the loose soil as the shadow of an enemy shrouded me, my breath stopped as my body laid erect as a corpse, but as I was about to strike a wave of dirt flowed down on me as the shadow solider fell down on me. I took this moment to burst out of the earth onto the enemy, my blade to his neck as we rolled together in that moment. I felt the hard barrel of a pistol against my ribs as we both came to a stop with me on top. Then, as my eyes focused my heart skipped a beat, "Nikolaus?"

"I didn't know you liked it rough, Kern." He replied rather cocky, yet before Nikolaus could say another word my lips met his, muffling anything he could say in flurry of kissing.

Our tongues intertwined and our breath stopped in that moment, before I broke our connection for a question. "How did you know it was me?"

With a sly, satisfied smirk, Nikolaus replied as he tossed his helmet aside, "I didn't; I was on watch when I saw what looked like you in the distance crawling around. The markings on that tail of yours aren't hard to miss, even in the dead of night. So when no one was looking, I hoped over the wall and... well here I am."

I smiled back at him, planting my knife in the dirt beside me, placing my own helmet atop it, and then looked down to Nikolaus' armed paw. "Planning on shooting me still?"

He scoffed at the comment. "Do I have a reason too?" He holstered his pistol then. "Now where were we?" Nikolaus surprised me then as he ripped at my jacket, causing several buttons to fly off, as he wrapped his arms around me while we kissed. I went to work on his uniform as well, my paws slipping down his front till they met with the buttons on his trousers. Undoing each one carefully, unlike what Nikolaus had done, I weaseled my way towards the goal. It was just like I remembered it from the months past, that succulent bulge, his furry sheath and balls with just a hint of warm pink emerging from its hiding place. They all were mine once again and his muffled moans as I massaged them with a paw, my fingers running along the emerging length, filled me with such lust I blocked out the rest of this hellish world.

Once his length was fully erect in my nimble paws, I stroked him, using his bits of pre-sweetness to moisten my work. By now, my own member sought release from its confinement, and Nikolaus was more then willing to oblige it. I felt his paws work at the buttons on my trousers till I was enveloped by the chilly night air on my erect self. His paw ushered mine away from his pink, then he took both of ours together and slowly stroked us in unison. The feeling of my length rubbing against his was knee-weakening erotic for me, the warmth and sensations mixed wonderfully and I closed my eyes as I rode the waves of pleasure. I was straddling him now and we both were pumping together in his paw, our members sliding together in and out of his grip. I leaned forward, giving his nose a loving lick before locking our muzzles once more. I could feel my knot starting to swell now and Nikolaus began to focus his attention on that wonderfully sensitive part of my masculinity. I could feel myself coming close but I wanted something more, I wanted to taste him, I wanted to feel him inside me. I stopped his paw then and broke our interlocking lips. "Stop, stop!"

He blinked at me rather confused. "What's wrong?" He asked, rather dumbfounded by this abrupt halt.

"Not yet, I want to taste you." I told him with a caring lick. "I want my senses enveloped by your sent and taste, I need to know you're really here."

Nikolaus smiled with amazing warmth at this statement, his paws ran down my shoulders and back while his eyes inspected me. Then looking back up at my eyes, he replied. "Me too, Kern. What do you sug..." Before he could complete the thought I slid off him, I then laid down on my side beside him, my head positioned near his delightful glistening pinkness. He knew exactly what I planned; rolling to his side and scooting himself closer to my member, I could feel his warm breath against it. An arm reached between my legs and in the next moment my length was enveloped by a warm mouth and tongue, I muttered out a low moan before my mouth dove down onto him. Using my longer canine tongue, I wrapped his length the best I could and stroked him with it as I bobbed my head up and down in this crotch. His excitement oozed out onto my palette, tasting as sweet as anything I've experienced before, my nostrils drowned in his musky scent. It was just as I remembered it and it made me remember how bad I'd missed it.

Nikolaus appeared to enjoy himself just as much, the paw between my legs petting and stroking my tail, sending jolts of delight up my spine, while his other paw run up under my undershirt and along my chest till, teasing my sensitive spots. My paws too kept busy, I snuck one under his pants waistline and gave his butt a good squeeze, massaging it, enjoying the feeling of his fur along my fingertips coupled with the firm muscle beneath it. I moved further in, my fingers slipping under his tail for that warm spot beneath it. I traced his pucker, poking and teasing it with a digit. The sensations caused his body to quiver in delightful spasms, this sent him in a frenzy around my length, sucking and teasing with amazing vigor. His lips held tightly around me while his tongue explored every centimeter and inch that it could find and touch. The warmth and wetness of his muzzle was wonderful, the sensations it created I thought were impossible in the world we lived in.

My knot was at its fullest now and as best I tried to hold back the flood of pleasure building in my loins I was at the mercy of Nikolaus and the sensations of his tongue running now along my knot were almost too much. I slowed my movements around Nikolaus when he started to pump into my mouth, moving my tongue lower to meet his furry sack, playing with his delightful orbs around my tongue, I didn't want him to cum just yet. However Nikolaus felt differently about me and much to my amazement, I felt the entirety of his muzzle suddenly envelop my length, knot and all. Not that I thought about it at that moment but considering my size difference, I'm stunned he was able to perform such a feat. This was all I need to bring me over the edge, in an explosion of pleasure I jerked deep into Nikolaus' throat as I spilled my seed into him with countless waves. As my body tensed in this moment, I sank my finger into Nikolaus's tailhole. This was the ticket for Nikolaus, sending him over the edge, the first shots of his delicious spunk on my neck. Quickly, not wanting to spill another drop, I went back down over his exploding member, taking the rich musky taste into my mouth, rolling it around my tongue as spurt after spurt shot into my muzzle. He tasted wonderfully salty and rich and I swallowed it greedily. Yet, sadly, our pleasure was to be interrupted by the powers being.

As we both rode down the waves of pleasure and warmth our orgasms brought, we heard the distinct sound of an artillery barrage firing from the German side. He stayed still, waiting till they land to make a move. The blasts came close, the ground shook around us and we found ourselves showered with dirt and other debris. We rolled away from each other, breaking our bond, it was like being torn away from him and it angered and saddened me greatly. Scurrying first for our helmets, we huddled close with our backs to each other; it felt safer feeling him close again. We both hurried to get ourselves back in order, last thing we needed was to die with our bits hanging out.

In a loud and obvious gulp of my musk, Nikolaus muttered out. "Was it good for you?" He positioned himself closer to me. I could feel the fur on the back of his neck rub against mine.

I answered back with, "It always is..." Another barrage of shells fell near us; this was turning hellish once again. "Why are they shelling now?" I asked him, following the blast.

"We know you're out here, a number of you. We know about tomorrow too." His words stuck in me like a knife, I asked him how they came across such information, and his reply wasn't surprising. "A way-ward Carrier Pigeon, we shot one down the other day that flew over our lines; the note it had told us all we needed to know." This news was invaluable for my side but, at that moment, only getting back to the relative safety of my trench was paramount.

"Nikolaus!" I called to him. "Hate to say it but we got to get out of here." He nodded. "Ja, we have about twenty seconds between barrages to run." That was all I need to know, I'd send him back first then run after the following barrage. Another barrage landed now and I took one last opportunity to open up to him. "Nikolaus, I love you."

I felt him breathe deeply before he answered back. "I love you too, Kern." We turned then, facing one another then kissed again. I felt him then, rummage around and plant something in a pocket of mine. "I want one of you, next we meet." Another barrage fired, he waited till the shaking earth subsided, then bolted away. The last part of him I saw was that brown tip of his tail as he bolted over the craters' wall.

No cracks of rifles, if he was quick enough then he made it to the other side before the next volley. When it came, I waited just as Nikolaus had done, then charged froth out of my hole to my line. I hadn't made it more then a few meters when I heard the distinct cracking of the Hun Mauser followed by the nerve rattling whiz of rounds flying past me. I was spotted; this made the challenge of running all that much more difficult and slowed my retreat, forcing me to take cover every few meters. Another barrage fired, I ducked behind a blown out tree stump to avoid the blast as best I could. After the pelting of earth, I took off again, running as fast I could. I was only five or less meters away from safety now, but despite this, the bullets kept firing. As I reached my trench line, I heard one last crack of a rifle, followed by a sharp sting to the right side of my head. Out of shock and surprise, I tripped and tumbled into my trench, head over tail. I came to rest against the parados, digging my back into the earth; I grabbed my ear and cursed loudly. I was hit, I could feel the blood and I could feel my fingers through the hole in the earlobe.

My whines caught the attention of the soldiers around me, including Cpl. Garret. He always had problems sleeping before a major maneuver; I'm sure he saw my dash back to safety, I'm also sure he had a bet going if I'd make it back in one piece. He walked over to me, ordering the wolf beside me to get the medic, and then knelt down to inspect my wound. "Let me see that, Southway." He commanded, forcing my paw.

"I'm fine!" I snapped at him, biting at his wrist. Rolling his eyes, he reached into his trench-coat and brought out a flask.

Unscrewing the top, he forced the spout into my muzzle. "Whiskey, this'll make it a little better." Despite the burn running down my gullet, it did dull the pain and calm my nerves after a moment.

I let Garret inspect the wound then, he made light of it. "You know I can now see through you?"

I growled back at him, "Jolly good for you!" In reply; I was further annoyed when he put his finger through it. He reassured me that I would be fine right as he doused the wound in the whiskey. I'm fairly sure Berlin as well as Paris heard my yelp when he did that.

Our field medic arrived then, Ian, a red-fox who had an interest in stories of the American 'wild-west' and the whole cowboy persona. He was also our sections linguist; he had that uncanny knack for language and taught the majority of us in the words and phrases we would need. He knelt down beside me as Garret stood back and inspected just as Garret had done, chuckled to himself then rummaged through his pack for some sterile gauss. "You'll live." He said as he unwound the bandages and begun to wrap my ear, several times around the ear itself then laying it flat against the side of my face he wound it around my head a few more times before tying it off. I felt silly, my left ear sticking out like it should while the other sat against my cheek. I thanked him for the bandage and he told me to get back with him later, to check for infection.

When the pain from my ear subsided into a steady drone of mild pain, I noticed that another part of my body was bothering me. There's something to say about the level of discomfort to be had when excessive amounts of dirt getting trapped in your sheath, it was downright painful. When everyone had dispersed, returning back to their posts, I snuck away to find a private spot somewhere in the trench. I made my way to the latrine, but was stopped when I heard Cpl. Garret call to me. I turned around to meet him face to face, those feline eyes staring suspiciously into mine. I was unnerved by this behavior, it seemed out of character. I stood erect, afraid to breath, else I incriminate myself. "Why is your blouse open and several buttons missing? I doubt a bullet or blast caused that." He asked of me, inspecting my uniform. My heart sank at this question, what did he already know? Was I over analysing his words, what should I say in response?

Maintaining my demeanor, I thought of a response quickly. "I came upon a German soldier, there was a struggle..."

Garret interrupted me, asking if I had killed him. I nodded a definite no. "The blasting started; he fled before I could finish him."

Garret nodded. "This may be a bad omen, Kern, you have a feeling they may know about the advance tomorrow?" That statement brought back Nikolaus's words like a flood. I couldn't let Garret know what I heard from Nikolaus, I couldn't even comprehend the consequences that would befall me, yet I could possibly stop a dreadful suicide charge and save hundreds of lives. I decided to take the middle ground, heaven forgive me for my fear of punishment.

"I don't know Corporal, the barrages and soldier may be an indication but I couldn't tell you for sure."

Garret nodded at this. "Alright, I'll inform the Lieutenant of the incident, see where it goes from there. Carry on." He walked off and I rushed off to clean myself up and prepare for the morning.

That morning was unnaturally cold for this time of year, even with the hundreds of us huddled together in a trench built for a fraction of the people, even then there seemed to be no warmth. We were all silent, say for the ones at prayer and those unable to hold in their coughs. This must be what it felt like for a criminal on the morning they were to meet the gallows. Cpl. Garret, followed by Lt. Hurst arrived shortly after dawn; it appeared that the incident last night wasn't going to stop High Commands' charge. Garret patted me on the back as he walked by, inspecting the troops, making sure we were ready. As the minutes died, my thoughts turned away from my own anxiety to that of Nikolaus. I prayed to myself he would be safe, that the day would not claim his life. I remembered then what he did back in the crater; I quickly reached for that pocket and pulled out a crumpled photograph. It was of Nikolaus, dressed in his formal uniform, he looked so proud, dignified and youthful. It's shameful that this war is slowly draining any of that vigor we had in our youth; soon, this morning will become a testament to that.

Calls came down the line, the final moments of organization and preparations were finished. Now we just had to wait, wait for that dreaded command; 'For the King and country', bollocks! That's what I thought of it, it was murder, nothing more. How many times had this already been done and we were still in the same bloody trench we started with. Garret was beside me now, his pistol at the ready. He looked over to me, muttering something about being him being promoted. I congratulated him on that, before going silent once again as I stared back at the photograph in my paw. I kissed it then tucked it away again for safekeeping. In the moment before the call, the earth stood still. No sounds, no movement, we were frozen in time at that moment. When the call came "Over the top!", the world turned from that frozen wasteland of the mind to a rush of the senses. There were yells, gun shots, and blasting all around, I and those around me charged forth, over the parapet and into the depths of hell once again. Tooth, nail, and fur charged ahead to overwhelm the dreaded Hun, but the enemy wouldn't have that. Machine gun and mortar opened up, bullets fired back at us, the earth around us exploded but we pressed on. I don't recall exactly what happened next, but I felt myself grow light as my reality went white. It was as if I was floating up from a dream, peaceful, quiet, my mind and body were elsewhere, I could see the sky as I was ascending towards it. Suppose I still had a sin or two because my senses regained somewhat as I came crashing back down into hell, my world stuck in a din of swan songs reverberating in my ears as I laied on my back. My vision was blurry and I could feel a strange warmth inside me that burned. My nose also detected the vileness of charred flesh and fur. I was wet too, my stomach, chest, and legs. It felt like I was sinking into the earth. I took a look at my reality once more, I could see Cpl. Garret... no, now Sergeant Garret, he was staggering about looking for his lost right arm. My vision started to fail, growing black, like a tunnel was closing in around me. In my last fleeting moments of consciousness I tried for the photograph in my pocket, but my arm, like my eyes, failed me. I couldn't fight it anymore then, I let myself drift away.

I regained some of my senses; I do not know where or when, I felt myself on something hard and cold. I could sense that others were around me, hovering above me, over me. My eyes failed to focus, all I could see was a dark blur in my daze. My insides felt strange, stabbed with cold and swimming in wetness. I tried to raise my arm, to feel what was wrong but I could barely feel my fingers. I cried out, my voice no where to be found, only the mild taste of copper on my pallet. I was alive, I could gather that much. I doubt the ability of the dead to taste. Someone grabbed me then, held me down, as that coldness was ripped from me. I let out a silent scream as I receded back into another dreamless sleep.