He eventually has to hand the periscope off to the other private, and is back to listening with the NCO. Everything is quiet. A little tense, because of the darkness and the nature of this particular job, but quiet. Davies guesses he should be thankful they're not being shelled to death, or overrun by Germans. Still, he wouldn't mind a bit more excitement. He'd have thought that being on the front lines would be more... active.
The NCO has gotten the periscope back and the other private seems to be nodding off when a German rocket flare bursts over No Man's Land with the oddly sharp sound of the flare rocket firing. It's like a small, sudden sun hanging over the pockmarked ground. The NCO yanks his face away from the periscope, either startled or temporarily blinded, or both. The light from the flare doesn't hit them directly, hidden as they are by the sap, but if you happen to be looking out at ground level, it might be something of a shock.
( We have any patrols out, sir? the other private asks, his voice a hush. )
words: 1812
total words: 9880
note: i have now made fiske (davies' platoon commander) a lieutenant, because i think they were more likely to be platoon commanders than sergeants, because a lt is a higher rank.
The NCO has gotten the periscope back and the other private seems to be nodding off when a German rocket flare bursts over No Man's Land with the oddly sharp sound of the flare rocket firing. It's like a small, sudden sun hanging over the pockmarked ground. The NCO yanks his face away from the periscope, either startled or temporarily blinded, or both. The light from the flare doesn't hit them directly, hidden as they are by the sap, but if you happen to be looking out at ground level, it might be something of a shock.
( We have any patrols out, sir? the other private asks, his voice a hush. )
words: 1812
total words: 9880
note: i have now made fiske (davies' platoon commander) a lieutenant, because i think they were more likely to be platoon commanders than sergeants, because a lt is a higher rank.