3بخش

Up yours, Lieutenant.

Do you know where we are?

Ecoust is directly south-east.

And if we keep that bearing, we should make it.

Come on then.

Look at that. They destroyed their own guns.

They destroyed their own trenches too.

What do you mean?

I think they wanted us to go that way. They wanted to bury us.

Bastard rats.

Hey, did you hear that story about Wilko?

How he lost his ear?

I’m not in the mood.

Keep your eyes on the trees, top of the ridge.

Bet he told you it was shrapnel.

What was it then?

Well, you know his girl’s a hairdresser, right?

And he was moaning about the lack of bathing facilities when he wrote to her -

remember those rancid Jakes at Arras?

Anyway, she sends him over this ‘hair oil’.

Smells sweet, like Golden Syrup.

Wilko loves the smell,

but he doesn’t want to cart it around in his pack, so

he slathers it all over his barnet, goes to sleep,

and in the middle of the night he wakes up,

and a rat is sitting on his shoulder licking the oil off of his head.

Wilko panics, and he jumps up, and when he does -

the rat bites clean through his fucking ear and runs off with it!

Oh, he made a hell of a fuss, yelling, screaming.

The best of it was he could put so much bloody oil on himself

that he couldn’t wash it off! He was like a magnet.

Rats left us alone, but they couldn’t get enough of him.

Poor bastard.

Heading back home. I wonder what they saw.

Watch the ridge lines.

Well, that’s your medal sorted then.

What do you mean?

“Lance Corporal Blake showed unusual valour in rescuing a comrade from certain death” blah, blah, blah.

You reckon?

I do.

Well, that’d be nice. Since you lost yours.

I didn’t lose mine.

What happened to it, then? Why do you care?

Why do you not?

I swapped it with a French captain.

You swapped it? For what?

Bottle of wine.

What did you do that for? I was thirsty.

What a waste.

You should’ve taken it home with you, you should’ve given it to your family.

Men have died for that.

If I got a medal, I’d take it back home, why didn’t you just take it home…

Look it’s just a bit of bloody tin!

It doesn’t make you special, it doesn’t make any difference to anyone.

Yes, it does.

And it’s not just a bit of tin. It’s got a ribbon on it.

I hated going home. I hated it.

When I knew I couldn’t stay. When I knew I had to leave,

and they might never see me.

Jesus.

They chopped them all down.

Cherries.

Lamberts.

They might be Dukes, hard to tell when they aren’t in fruit.

What’s the difference?

People think there’s one type, but there’s lots of them -

Cuthberts, Queen Annes, Montmorencys. Sweet ones, sour ones…

Why on earth would you know this?

Mum’s got an orchard, back home. Only a few trees.

This time of year it looks like it’s been snowing, blossom everywhere.

And then in May, we have to pick them. Me and Joe.

Takes the whole day.

So, these ones all gonners?

Oh no, they’ll grow again when the stones rot.

You’ll end up with more trees than before.

It looks abandoned. Let’s hope so.

We have to make sure.

I’ll take front, you take back.

Anything?

Nothing.

Did you find any food?

No. I don’t like this place.

Map says we get over that ridge and it’s a straight shot to Ecoust.

Good.

Is that our friends again?

Looks like it. Dogfight.

Who’s winning?

Us, I think. Two on one.

They got him.

We should put him out of his misery.

No. Get him some water. He needs water.

It’s alright, you’re alright. Stay still. Stay still.

Stop! Stop!

No, no, no!

Bastard, bloody bastard.

Oh, God no. Oh, God no!

Jesus. Jesus, no.

We have to stop the bleeding.

Stop it. Stop it!

It’s alright, it’s going to be alright. We’re going to stand up.

Yes. Yes.

No! I can’t. I can’t.

We have to get to an Aid Post. I can’t.

I’ll carry you. It isn’t very far. Just bring a doctor here.

We can’t, we have to go together.

We’re going to get up. We’re going to get up.

Stop, please! Stop!

Put me down! Put me down, you bastard, please! Put me down!

You have to try to keep moving. Let’s just sit.

Let me sit. No, we can’t.

We have to find the 2nd, remember?

Your brother. We have to go now.

You can start on without me. I’ll catch up.

You can’t stay here. We have to move, alright?

We have to move. Come on.

Come on!

Come on. That’s it. Come on, come on.

Your brother. We have to find your brother.

You’ll recognise him.

He looks like me, he’s a bit older.

What are they?

Are we being shelled?

They’re embers. The barn is on fire.

I’ve been hit.

What was it?

You were stabbed.

Am I dying?