CHARLIE HAD OFTEN WONDERED WHAT DYING WAS LIKE. This wasn’t what she imagined.
War was always bad, but trench warfare was the absolute WORST that humanity had to offer. DISEASE, suffering, fear, all mixed with the smell of gunpowder and DEATH --------- that was the taste of the air in the TRENCHES. Most of them weren’t even men yet;; just boys barely old enough to shave being shipped off to die in FRANCE or the Dardanelles. The GREAT WAR changed the world, and killed almost an entire generation of young men.
She couldn’t remember much. RUNNING, ringing in her ear from the explosion of shells. Another went off, and Charlie felt a burst of pain like fire. Her body was falling back, head making contact with a wood frame, and she was out.
It was like sinking into the SEA. Below the water, sound was so far away. It was quiet, peaceful, watching the sunlight grow more and more DISTANT. She’d felt it before, the cold current and the sting of salt in her eyes. It was so easy to slip away, just let herself SINK DOWN.
When she woke, it was JUST like breaching the surface of the water, scrambling and LOUDLY gasping, choking. She woke swinging, as if expecting to FIGHT. After a moment, her brain seemed to kick in, and breathing hard, she took in her surroundings.
It was a TENT, made of canvas, a plain grey colour, and the BED she was in was a folded, canvas bed. She seemed to be ALONE. Her hands scrambled around herself, and she found a cardboard tag attached to the linen shirt she seemed to be wearing. Written in neat hand on the tag was;;
UNKNOWN CIVILIAN
BULLET WOUND IN RIGHT THIGH
HEAD CONTUSION
SHRAPNEL IN LEFT ARM,
LEFT THIGH, LEFT CALF
VACCINE STATUS UNKNOWN
A field hospital. It was a field hospital. ENGLISH, most likely, but it could be Australian, or Kiwi, or Canadian --------- it was hard to say, but if Charlie had to guess, she would place her bet at the Queen Alexandras. Her head ached, and when she raised her hand to TOUCH it, she realised her head and hair was wrapped in a bandage, with padding at the back. Her arm and legs were wrapped too, and hurt like HELL.
Nonetheless, Charlie was driven to get away. She didn’t know why --------- the memories hadn’t quite resurfaced. Carefully, she pulled the rough BLANKET back and slowly tried to sit up. STANDING was a different matter, and she staggered slightly, her shot leg being like dead weight. After a moment, she seemed to get the hang of it, and dragged herself towards the mouth of the tent.
“ ------------ HELLO ?? ”
Her voice was relatively quiet. She wasn’t searching for someone as much as she was checking the COAST was clear.