We couldn't see anything in the moonless night, stars blocked by thick smoke, or atleast we thought.After weeks of suffering in this hell we feared to light our smokes, let alone a fire to keep us warm.Winter was setting in. The air grew colder. Denser. Deadlier.
My lungs burned with each breath, lips sticking to the canteen after every sip.I can't speak for the rest, but I've seen them in better spirits to say the least. After just a few days the temperature plummeted, our coats didn't suffice anymore. We risked freezing to death every night. The pitiful trickle of the nearby stream finally ceased, frozen over. It forced us to ration further, but that decision killed one of us. I thought they'd drank enough to survive.
The water he turned down was their sacrifice, or maybe it was their escape. Regardless, they aren't suffering anymore. We couldn't even bury him. We just tossed him out of our trench, beside the others. The cold air carried the buzzing of a drone. It lingered for what seemed an eternity. Chipping away at the little sanity we had left. We lost another that night. It was too much for them, I tried to catch him before it was too late. But I was dragged back before I made it out the dugout. The blast echoed over the battlefield, shredding our sanity into nothing.
The next few days and nights were quiet. Almost unbearably quiet. We finish our food rations yesterday. We had enough water for maybe a week, so that was something atleast. We couldn't bear the cold anymore. We lit the fire. We didn't care if it meant death, without it we would freeze to death. It all became too much, I couldn't bear to another die while waiting for my turn. I had two option left. Stay and die. Or die trying to leave.
The hissing wood slowly turned into crackling as the fire burned on. I waited for the others to sleep before making my departure. Each step I took, I feared they'd wake. I almost made it out before one did. We froze. Heartbeats pounding. Then they grabbed their rifle. My heart skipped beats as I climbed out of the trench, but not unscathed. The gunshot echoed over the fields. The bullet passed through my leg.
I limped into the darkness as freezing winds snapped at my face. I could only hope I was going the right way.