Man at War – Excerpt No. 244

Marc propped up the soldier and brought the glass to Mackenzie’s lips. The first bit of water wet his lips, cooling the feverish man. As though by instinct, Mackenzie reacted as though he were a man who walked out of the desert after forty days.

He drank it greedily, and Marc helped him back down. With any luck his own blood would be able to fend off the infection. With sufficient distance and time my control will wane entirely, but the blood will not allow other influences.

“You’ve,” the Lieutenant began. “You’ve done this before?”

“…an earlier conflict. I was part of a garrison that took casualties. There was no one else, so we took turns looking after the men.”

Highly detailed cinematic scene inside a dimly lit canvas ward tent at a British Casualty Clearing Station during the Great War in 1915. A distinguished British Colonel named Marc gently props up a severely wounded soldier named Mackenzie in his cot and brings a glass of water to the man's feverish lips. The soldier drinks greedily, as though dying of thirst after forty days in the desert, his eyes half-open in desperate relief. The Colonel carefully supports the soldier's head and shoulders with one arm while holding the glass steady with the other. Standing close by is a young Canadian Bluebird nurse, a brunette with lively steel-grey eyes and a mischievous grin, holding the now-empty stainless-steel pitcher and watching the scene with quiet surprise and interest. Soft moody lamplight illuminates the intimate moment, casting dramatic shadows. In the background, rows of cots with other wounded soldiers, medical equipment, faint blood stains on bandages, and the muddy war-torn atmosphere visible through the tent flaps. Historical accuracy with subtle supernatural tension from the Colonel's vampiric aid, realistic yet slightly stylized, focus on the Colonel helping the soldier drink while the nurse observes attentively. Clothing and settings appropriate for 1915.

Disclaimer: This novel is an work in progress and readers may encounter grammatical errors and inconsistencies. Please view this a draft and not a published work.