Afternoon pt. 1
Jack Collins x Elizabeth Lowden Fandom: Dunkirk Words: 1.911
*Trigger warning* mentions of death, war, guns
Author's note: This one is for @doctoriletyougotogalaxy ! Thanks for your request
The war had been going on for weeks already. You were worried for your fiancé Jack who had been called to fight for the Royal Air Force - how could you not be? The survival rate was at about 24% you heard others talk.
When you heard that they were looking for nurses to help with the evacuation of Dunkirk you where on of the first ones to volunteer and pack your bags. The ship would be leaving the same day at noon. It was a big risk to take, but you wanted to help the soldiers and have at least the slightest chance to see your fiancé Jack again.
Walking along the docks where soldiers where packing private boats with life jackets and other materials you saw some familiar faces loading their own boat - Mr. Dawson, his son Peter and peters friend George.
"Do you need a hand?", smiling at the younger boys you took some of the life jackets and carried them aboard the moonstone while listening into the conversation Peter and his father were having. They were talking about the germans, cornering the British, Belgian and French soldiers on the beach of Dunkirk and how the Navy wanted to take all the boats they could to evacuate them.
"Aren't you waiting on the Navy?", George asked while loosening the stern line. "They've asked for the Moonstone, they'll have her. And her Captain", Mr. Dawson answered in an stern voice . "And his son. Thanks for the help George. Thank you Lizzie", Peter jumped on the boat, and while George threw the stern line onto the boat you jumped on, followed by the dark haired boy.
"What are you doing? You do know where were going?", Peter looked at both of you with a slightly mad expression. "France", the younger boy answered while Mr. Dawson came back outside to see what was going on. "Into war, George!", the man said while steering the boat out of the harbor. "We'll be useful, Sir. I would have been on a ship by tonight anyways, heading to dunkirk.", you pointed at your bag, that had a red cross stitched onto it signaling that you were a nurse going into war.
After what felt like hours of stacking the life jackets below deck to have as much room as possible you got up on deck and stood next to Peter and George who were fastening lines on the boat as a plane came right into the direction of the boat. "One of ours George.", Mr. Dawson calmed down the dark haired boy that had stared at it until it disappeared again. As you were sitting on the front of the boat next to Peter you got a look at all the big military boats that had already gotten thousands of soldiers off the beach and were headed to safety. In the far distance you could see smoke rising into the air - you didn't know what it was. Maybe a boat, a plane that crashed or maybe it was something at shore that caught fire.
As you got deeper and deeper into the fog Mr.Dawson suddenly ran to the back of the boat to steer the boat towards what looked like the stern of a ship. A lonely man sitting on it wrapped into a soaked blanket. Peter went and grabbed a line to throw towards the man and after the blonde boy got the man to jump into the water you helped them pull the man on board of the Moonstone. George wrapped the man into a dry blanket while you went and got him a cup of tea that Mr. Dawson had prepared before leaving the harbor. The man didn't answer any of the questions the older man asked him, he just sat on the floor of the boat, shivering and pulling his knees towards his chest. George tried coaxing him to come below deck where it would be warmer and he would be out of the wind but he just threw the cup of tea towards him. "Leave him be, George. He feels safer on deck. You would too if you'd been bombed.", Mr. Dawson said while you cleaned up the spilled tea and collected the cup to get a new one. It wasn't the soldiers fault - he was in shock. You couldn't imagine how he must be feeling. Then suddenly the shivering soldier talked "U-Boat. It was a U-Boat.". Peter ushered both, George and you, back below deck while his father stayed on the Steer keeping an eye on the surrounding boats and the water.
While being below deck you sat down next to Peter, handing him a cup of tea as well. "Why did you decide to go to war, Lizzie?", he asked while carefully taking a sip. "I want to at least help other soldiers if I can't be with mine. Only God knows if he'll even come back.", you sigh and play around with the ring that Jack had put onto your finger just minutes before leaving you behind to go to war. He had come to Dorset after a war injury where you were treating him at the hospital you worked at. Quickly you both had fallen in love with each other and after just those few weeks of knowing each other he proposed before leaving you behind. "He will come back Lizzie.", George barges into the conversation and sits down across you two.
Suddenly Mr.Dawson comes down the stairs behind the soldier asking Peter if there was enough space for him to lie down. Peter took the mans tea and helped him down the few stairs and guided him into a rather small storage room where he could lie down on to the life jackets. You handed the man another blanket to use for his head so he could get comfortable. While you went back up on deck Peter gave the soldier another cup of tea and after closing the door behind himself also came after you while Mr.Dawson told George about shell-shock.
Some more time passed and you were cleaning up some of the already used cups next to the blonde boy when you could hear the closet door rattling. Peter must have locked the soldier in there and the man started yelling. "He wants to come out.", Peter looked at his father for advice. "What have you done? Locked him in?", Mr. Dawson came below deck and left George at the steer. "Let him out for God's sake!", you pushed Peter toward the door and he unlocked it but the man was gone - just his jacket and the blankets where still in the storage room. "You haven't turned around.", the soldier appeared behind George and Mr. Dawson. "No. We have a job to do.", the older man countered. "Job? This is a pleasure yacht. You're weekend sailors, not the bloody Navy.", the soldier breathed heavily. "A man your age? Men my age dictate this war. Why should we be allowed to send our children to fight it?", Mr.Dawson stayed calm but you knew how hard it was for him. "You should be at home!", the soldier spat at him. "We'll there won't be any home if we allow a slaughter across the channel.", Mr. Dawson went back outside to steer the boat - heading straight towards dunkirk. You went back downstairs - feeling saver there, cuddled into a blanket.
Suddenly a fight broke loose between the men on deck and in the blink of an eye George was laying in front of your feet, clutching his head with both arms. You jumped up and immediately Peter was by your side to lay his head on a life jacket so you could get a better look at his head. Carefully moving his hands and hair out of the way you could feel the warm blood, trickling down onto the wooden floor. "Put pressure on it, Peter! George, stay awake for me okay?", you spoke calmly while hurriedly looking for bandages in your bag. The younger boy was grunting in pain an writhing under Peters grip to keep him on his side. After patching him up as best as you could you went on deck to see if Mr. Dawson had more Bandages or something similar in case if you would rescue more wounded soldiers.
"I need you back up on deck as soon as you're able.", you heard Peter say to encourage George. But the young boys next sentence made your heart sink in your chest. "I can't see.", George stammered - you knew what that meant. "If we don't get back in time he will die Mr. Dawson. His brain might swell up and kill him and I won't be able to help him.", you looked at the old man with worried eyes and he slowly nodded his head. "You can help him Elizabeth. We've come so far, we can't turn back now.", Mr. Dawson looked around and his son came up and stood next to both of you.
A roaring sound could be heard from above and all three of you look up at the sky. "Dad is that one of ours?", Peter squinted his eyes at the plane flying directly towards the Moonstone. "That's a Heinkel. They'll go for that minesweeper there.", Mr. Dawson pointed towards the big military ship carrying hundreds of soldiers and started guiding the boat away from it. "Hang on. Shouldn't we stand by to pick up survivors?", you hold onto the edge of the boat while looking at the older man with pure panic in your eyes."To do that we have to survive ourselves." Mr. Dawsons answer doesn't really sound confident which gives you a bad gut feeling.
"Spitfires!", Peter yells and points towards the two planes approaching the Heinkel quickly. You knew that Jack's also flying in one of those death machines and gave a silent prayer that he was ok. The two airplanes take up the pursuit of the enemy and start firing. "The Heinkel's moving off!" you can see how Mr. Dawson relaxes a little bit as the plane is going down in the far distance. "Smoke from the Spitfire!" you yell as on of the RAF airplanes flies by and a trail of smoke is seen behind it. "Watch for a parachute!" the older man yells and starts maneuvering his boat towards where the plane will probably hit the water.
"No chute. He's down. He's probably dead.", Peter sighs and tries to get his father to get back on course to Dunkirk. "Damn it, I hear you, Peter! I hear you! He may be alive. Maybe. We may be able to help him." Mr. Dawson snaps at him - he want's to save this pilot and you know exactly why.
Mr. Dawson gets the Moonstone as close to the sinking airplane wreck as possible and immediately Peter jumps into action. He grabs a wooden pole that has a metal hook on the end and starts smashing the top of the cockpit. You can see the man inside struggling to get out and breath a sigh of relief since he's still alive and moving. As the mans head breaks to the surface and he grabs the wooden pole Peter holds out to him your breath gets stuck in your throat and your eyes start tearing up. "Afternoon", his voice rings in your ears as he's pulled aboard the Moonstone by Peter and his father.