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There we stood in front of the ladders. Staring at the bags and dirt that we had come to call home. The very bags and dirt that had saved our lived time and time again. Now was the time to leave them. Leave them and everything we have ever had behind, and walk into the afterlife. I was trembling as Hendrick grabbed my right paw from my rifle butt and held it. I squeezed his and he squeezed mine as the sound of the raging battle wore on. I glanced at the watch on my wrist, any minute now. I looked back up and the world seemed to be in slow motion as I glanced around the trench. I saw Lieutenant Dike mount the ladder off to the right and look at his watch with the whistle in his paw.

The whistle would wail like the sound of death itself. How horrible it must be to have to blow it while knowing what it meant for everyone, even yourself. No matter how much I hated Dike, I pitied him for what he had to do.

He looked up from his watch and slowly brought the whistle to his mouth as he took one quick glance up and down the trench. The thoughts going through his head must have been unimaginable as he blew the whistle and waved us over the top. The sound seemed to be distant and faint. The explosions that awaited us were quiet too. All I could hear was my own heart pound against my chest and the low growl building in all the throats of every canine in the trench.

I let go of the Collie's paw and grabbed the ladder as I let out a feral howl of gibberish. I hoisted myself up with what sounded like every dog in the country following me. When I reached the top, I almost fell back into the trench. I had only seen it a hundred times from afar, but up close it was a different story. Laying not 10 paces away was one of our poor lads laying dead on his back. His face was gone and the parts that were there were disfigured. Must have caught a round right in the muzzle. Hendrick came up behind me and nudged me to keep going. I grabbed him and pulled him up and past the horrid sight as quickly as possible.

Our line was advancing steadily into the thick cloud of dust, smoke and soon to be bullets and explosions. Craters were everywhere of all shapes and sizes. Most of them had a foot or less of water at the bottom. The ground itself was still muddy and slick. We moved to the funnels between our barbed wire lines. Most of our wire was still in good condition with a few holes where it was mangled and strewn about. Once we cleared our wire, we fanned back out and resumed the charge with new vigor.

I looked to my right to check my alignment with the Lieutenant right when a mortar shell hit him directly. He was gone, nothing left and the few unfortunate souls that were near him lie on the ground begging for death. That silenced the line. One of the officer staff ran up from the rear and took the lead, pulling out his own whistle and waving us forward. I couldn't hear what he said over the other explosions erupting around us. I took one glance around me and took a quick head count, all accounted for. I looked back ahead and plunged into the storm.

Once we advanced into the cloud, visibility was about tail length in all directions. The craters here were deeper and you wouldn't see them until you were already in them half the time. "Watch your step guys, don't need anyone breaking an ankle out here," I shouted.

That is about the time everything went wrong. The mortar shell explosions intensified and the enemy machine guns started firing on us. I had no idea where the bullets were coming from, they would just appear out of thin air and whiz by me or hit the ground at my paws. Despite the onslaught, we were undaunted. My section and I forged ahead. "On me! Move from cover to cover!" I called out.

We jumped down into craters, zig-zagging all over. We were doing well having only lost a couple as we could begin to make out muzzle flashes, and then very faint outlines of helmets behind the muzzle flashes. It was in this moment that the floodgates opened up. As soon as they could see us, they drowned us in accurate fire. Three of the new guys weren't fast enough and got their fair share of lead. Everyone else took to the dirt. I dove forward and rolled into a crater, landing in the puddle at the bottom. I stood on my knees and felt myself over. "No blood. So far, so good." Some dirt hit my helmet and reminded me that I wasn't out of danger yet. Bullets were flying everywhere, kicking up dirt, bouncing off rocks, splintering what was left of trees and inevitably ripping through good canines, my canines.

I got up and waited for the intensity to shift to some other poor section of our line. I waited for what seemed like an eternity. Waiting for the enemy to get bored of us or a mortar to just end me.

"What do we do now Sarge?" called out Lafayette from somewhere off to my right.

I scooted over to that side of the crater and called out, "Hang tight and stay alive!" I scooted back to the side that was closest to the enemy. I needed to see what was going on. The fire had dulled down a bit over us. So there were either only a few of us left, or we were all pinned down and out of sight. I decided not to think about it as I peeked over the edge. Ahead of me about 200 yards away was the enemy trench and what appeared to be a ditch about 25 yards in front of us. But was there supposed to be a ditch here? Man I wish I had actually looked at the intelligence photographs during the briefing. I ducked back into the crater and shifted over to look at the left and right flanks. On the right, everyone else appeared to be in the same position we were. On the left, only the bodies from the first wave were visible. Hopefully they were the first wave and not 2ndPlatoon.

I ducked back in as bullets started whizzing by me again and something fell into the crater behind me. I whipped around ready to stab, only to discover one of the officer staff lying in the puddle gathering himself.

"What is the hold up here Sergeant? And stop pointing that thing at me," he shouted at me.

"Sir, we all took cover from the machine guns and we are waiting for the fire to die down before advancing further. Can I..."

"I don't care what you are doing, get this section moving!" he cut me off, "We need to take out the guns before the third wave starts."

"Yes sir, very good. Would you happen to know where the ditch is? I think it is right in front of us but I am not sure," I asked him.

"It could be. Let me take a look," he said as he stood up and looked out of the crater. He peeked over and spoke to me, "Yes, I do believe that is it not thirty..." a bullet went through his helmet and head before he could finish. He collapsed in a heap at the bottom of the crater. It felt like my gut twisted and my mouth got watery.

I swallowed hard and whispered, "Sorry sir, but at least you are done." I looked away, back to the crater side where I would be making my exit. I took a shaking breath before calling out, "All right guys! Get up! Let's go! To the ditch in front!"

I hauled myself up and out of the crater and everyone who was left was following me. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. At first, we received very light fire but it quickly turned back into and overwhelming amount. Bullets were flying everywhere, one hit the brim of my helmet. I didn't look back, I didn't want to see who was left and what those who died looked like. I looked only at the ditch. Time seemed to stop as I jumped forward into the ditch. Walls of lead on all sides, explosions filling in the gaps, then I hit the ground. I had made it. The walls of death were above me now by about an inch or two. A few others fell next to me on my left, I looked to my right and there was 1stCompany, or at least what was left of it.

I looked back to my left and took a head count. I had six here with me and no officer staff. I looked to my right again, began to pant lightly and asked the soldier next to me, "Who is in command here?"

The retriever looked over, "Corporal Jennings. The Great Dane over there with half a tail." He pointed further down the ditch.

I patted him on the back as I slunk over him and made my way down the ditch. I kept low to the ground, only rising up to pass over someone. After a grueling 15 feet of almost getting shot I finally found Corporal Jennings.

"Corporal Jennings?" I asked, lying next to him.

He looked over at me with a very serious look on his face, some would say stone cold. But there was something about him that made me think he was more worried than confident. "Yes? What do you want?" he asked in a rough voice.

"Sergeant Silverback. 2nd Company, 1st Platoon, C Section. Where are your officers?" I shouted as a mortar shell impacted behind us about seven yards away.

"2ndCompany? Boy am I glad to see you guys. Our officers? Somewhere strewn about the battlefield back there. I guess this makes you in charge now Sarge, what are your orders?" he replied, wiping some of the dirt off his jacket.

Yeah it does, I thought to myself and sighed heavily, Now what do I do? I took some time to quickly think over my options. "Corporal, pass the word along, we are waiting for five more minutes to see if anyone else makes it here, then we are going over. When the order to fire is given, everyone is to put as many rounds as possible at the enemy. Got it? We need to cover those coming in," I ordered.

"Gotcha," he replied and he set to work delegating another dog to cover one side while he worked his way down the other.

I laid back and watched for anymore of 2nd Company coming over. I knew that once the fire intensified again, that would be a good indication that they were coming since I couldn't see over the rim of the ditch. I flipped back over to face the front and wait for the shooting to start. As if right on cue, a whistle blew behind us and an uproar of barking erupted. The enemy responded immediately sending bullets over us and into our advancing troops. I am glad I couldn't see them when they went down. But this time, we would fight back.

"Fire!" I called out, almost barked. The order was repeated a few times down the line as we all scooted up ever so slightly and started firing. I peeked up with my rifle and started shooting at every muzzle flash I could see. Fire, eject shell, chamber the next, repeat until empty, set stripper clip, push new bullets in and chamber. The sound was tremendous and the fight was brutal. Dirt was getting kicked up everywhere, some lucky lads had bullets ricochet off their helmets, a few others weren't so lucky. But the plan seemed to be working, I could hear the enemy machine guns breaking fire briefly every now and again. Bodies started falling into the trench behind me. Gods let them be alive I thought to myself.

Someone patted me on the shoulder and said into my ear, "Thanks Sergeant, that'll do."

"Cease fire!" I called out as the command echoed down the line. We all ducked back into the trench, the enemy continued to rain bullets and mortars down all around us. I slunk down and flipped over to see and officer behind me.

He glanced along the line and back at me, "I take it you are the one in command," he said.

"Yes sir," I replied promptly.

"Good, thanks for giving us some cover. Second Lieutenant Coker, I have taken command of 1stPlatoon for 2nd Company."

"Sergeant Silverback, C Section, 1st Platoon, 2nd Company."

"Oh C Section! A pleasure to meet you Sergeant, we'll have to finish talking later of course. What is the situation?"

"Now everyone we can get together from the first and the second wave is here. I was planning on going over for one last push to kick the enemy out of the first line in a few minutes if you guys hadn't shown up. What are your orders sir?"

"We'll stick to your plan, I like it. Any sight of 2nd Platoon on our left?"

"Couldn't say sir. Lots of bodies over there but I couldn't tell you which company they were from."

"Fair enough. Grab your second in command here and deploy him on our right flank, you take the left with your section and I'll lead from the center..." he was cut off by a mortar explosion impacting behind the us, dumping clumps of dirt into the ditch. "On the whistle in two minutes," he finished.

I nodded and started working my way back down to my section. Everyone I passed by I told them to prepare, check ammo and drink some water. Thankfully it looked as though not many were killed in firing. Those that did die though, were all muzzle down thank the Gods. I finally reached the far left flank where my section was and filled them in. We didn't lose anyone else and Lafayette assured me that the section was ready.

I checked my watch, we had six minutes until the next wave was supposed to launch its attack, 30 seconds until we started our renewed attack. I took a deep breath and a quick swig from my canteen. Then the whistle blew and we were up again. Every one of us was sprinting as fast as we could and we made it about 10 yards before the enemy realized what was going on. However, the machine guns didn't start firing immediately, we made it 50 yards before the machine guns opened up with deadly accuracy. We charged, over open ground, down craters and back up them, through and over barbed wire as we continued. I could feel my adrenaline pushing me further and further as bullets flew all around me. I could see it finally. The enemy trench was right there. I pulled a grenade off my jacket, pulled the pin and threw it as far as I could and kept running. The grenade went off in front of the trench sending up a dirt cloud and a few others exploded all along the trench. Some in the trench, some outside the trench like mine. I knew I was close. I lifted my rifle for a quick shot at the first cat I could see. A few yards from the trench I saw a head pop back up and lift a rifle around. I aimed and fired. The head disappeared back into the trench. I couldn't tell if I hit him. I chambered another round and prepared to fight for my life as I crested the lip of the trench.

I spotted the cat I shot at, he was dead. There was another reloading his rifle with his back to me. I jumped in the trench and shot him to. Before I could chamber another round, one charged me from my front with his rifle butt raise above his head. I thrust forward with as much strength as I could, stabbing him in the heart with my bayonet. I could feel all life leave his body as he collapsed. I dropped my rifle with him and I felt my legs go weak. I hated killing. Sure I had done it a hundred times but there was something different about killing in paw to paw.

I shook my head trying to clear the thoughts from my mind. I looked further down the trench. We were penetrating the first line. I could see a number of us in the trench and fighting the enemy in brutal combat. A glimmer caught my eye, like a small star in the night, in a small bunker in the middle of the trench. They are setting up an MG to hose down the trench! I sprung forward, drawing the only other weapon I had on me, my sword. I helped everyone could and avenged others as I worked my way down the trench towards the bunker. The trench was largely cleared by the time I could see into the bunker. There was nothing there. Only a couple of dead enemy soldiers and hundreds of spent shell casings lay on the floor in the back of the bunker.

I heard 2ndLieutenant Coker gave the all clear and told us to stay put and prepare for a counter attack. I sheathed my sword and grabbed a rifle from the ground slinging it over my shoulder. The guys around me started piling sandbags that had fallen or were facing towards our trenches in the direction of the rest of the enemy trenches. Bullets were still flying over our heads as the other enemy trenches opened up.

I entered the bunker to see if we could use the enemy machine gun for our own use. There was a husky hunched over it with his rifle slung over his shoulder and his helmet was missing.

"Private, where is your..." I stopped as I noticed a fur marking on his black ears.

"Sir?" he said turning around.

My heart skipped a beat and I am sure my jaw dropped. His tail began to wag with ever increasing speed.

"Snow," was all I could manage as I stumbled forward and embraced him. I took a shaky breath, trying not to cry, "I never thought I would see you again. What are you doing here?"

He hugged me back in a strong embrace. "I came here looking for you."