The Shadow of War by Jack Murray (read this if TXT) 📕

amatter of seconds, he was thirty metres away from Sepp. He continued swimmingthen he paused to take stock. He turned around.

Seppseemed hardly to have moved.

‘Move,’screamed Lothar. His voice was shrill with the dread that was now engulfinghim. Sepp’s arms began to flail in the water. What progress he was makingseemed paralyzingly slow. Lothar looked on with desperation. The sound of metalripping and rending drowned out his shouts. He had a decision to make. It waslife and death, possibly both Sepp’s as well as his.

Seventeenyears old.

Hebegan to swim towards Sepp.

Afew strong strokes and he was within fifteen metresof his friend. And then the he saw in horror the ship collapse over Sepp andsink beneath the sea. It created a vortex that began to force the water downwards.

Panic gripped him as he felt himself being dragged under the waves.

Deeperand deeper he went. His lungs were bursting;  breathing impossible. With astrength borne of the terror consuming him he kicked and raked his arms at thesame time. Somehow this managed to counteract the force of the downwardpressure and he began to move up. He reached the surface moments before passingout.

Acough awoke him. He didn’t know how long he had been out for. His body began toexpel the water he had swallowed on the way up. He vomited the fear and the seawater from his body. Around him lay signs of wreckage. But Sepp was gone. Hetook off his life vest and dived beneath the water.

Visibilitywas non-existent. He surfaced again and swam towards the fizzing white foamwhere the ship had last been before the sea had claimed it. Diving once more hecould see little beyond a few metres. Once again, he resurfaced. As he did so,something broke the surface further ahead. It was a man.

‘Sepp,’screamed Lothar.

Heswam over to the floating body. It was Sepp. His lifeless body was slumped headdown in the water. Lothar pulled his head back. He slapped Sepp’s face lightly.Then harder, no response. Tears stung his eyes. He shouted in his ear.

Nothing.

Lotharnow understood three things with utter clarity. Sepp was dead. He could not berevived. The chill of the sea and the weight of hisclothes were beginning to tell. He was at the end of his physical resources.Finally, with an increasing feeling of desperation, he realised he was alone.The ships were far in the distance. He began to yell to attract theirattention.

Justat that moment the sound of his cries for help were drowned out by the sound ofthe ships’ horns.

Forone minute or more they blew. Lothar looked on in incredulity. Why were theydoing this? Why weren’t they looking for him? Tears of rage streamed down hisface and he began to yell at the ships when the blaring noise had ceased. Buteven as he yelled, he could almost see the sound of his voice disappearing intothe vast emptiness around him.

Heneeded his life vest. It was still bobbing up by a piece of the wreckage. He thoughtabout swimming over to it. Then he looked at Sepp. He unbuckled the life vestfrom Sepp and put it on. Its buoyancy gave him both the physical and spirituallift he needed. Without the vest, Sepp’s head slowly sank beneath the water.His funeral lasted seconds.

Therewas no prayer for the dead.

Aftera few moments staring at the sea where his friend had been, Lothar lookedtowards the convoy. He began to shout. After a minute of yelling himself hoarsehe stopped.

Thesilence screamed in derision. All was a void. Just him and the clicking soundof the water lapping around his body waiting for its opportunity to claim himlike it had done Sepp. His situation was impossible. There was nothing he coulddo. Swimming to the ships was out of the question. Attracting their attention impossible.

All was lost. It was hopeless.

He began to cry. The sobs wracked his body in a way they had notdone since he was a small child. He slapped the water angrily as the sobs gaveway to anger.

And then all was silent again. Lothar bobbed on the water, watchingthe ships receding slowly into the horizon. Angrily he threw away a piece ofdebris that had floated alongside him. For the first time he became aware ofthe wreckage that was floatingaround him. Twenty metres away, on one of the large pieces of metal, was aleather bag.

Curiosityovercame Lothar. He swam towards the debris. When he arrived, he reached overto the bag and opened it. The interior of the bag was dry. He felt a hardmetallic object. As he put his weight on the floating debris, it tipped over,submerging Lothar for a moment. He kept his hand above the surface, though. Heresurfaced and coughed angrily.

Hestared dumbly at the ships sailing away from him into the distance. Then helooked at the object in his hand.

Itwas a gun.

Helooked inside the magazine.

Empty.

Lotharjerked his head up towards the heavens and screamed an oath to the divinepractical joker. He kicked towards the metal debrisagain, where the bag remained. Placing the gun carefully on the metal debris, hereached inside the bag and felt around the interior once more. His hand fellonto a slim metallic object. He lifted it out. A bullet. Another search of thebag proved fruitless. With an oath, he hurled the bag angrily across thewater.

Takinggreat care, he loaded the bullet into the magazine. In the distance he couldsee the convoy silhouetted against the sky. He felt sick with fear. Once again,the cold water began to numb his senses, slow his thinking and strip away hiswillpower. He looked again at the convoy, then he looked at the gun.

Inthe silent expanse of the sea, he knew he had a decision to make.

 4

Manfredand Gerhardt were the last two to be pulled onto the ship. On the deck, nearthem, they could see the sergeant being given first aid. He was alive but itwas difficult to gauge the extent of his injuries. Manfred felt a pair of arms helphim as he was in danger of collapse. He was shivering from the cold, or shock,he wasn’t sure.

‘Comealong,’ said a voice, helping him to his feet. ‘We need to get you changed.’

Atfirst Manfred went along