Man at War – Excerpt No. 118

Murphy knew to hold the high ground, which is why his snipers provided covering fire from that point. One of their innovations was the addition of a mortar team. If Murphy and his men had to withdraw, they could do so under the cover of high explosive rounds. The infantry’s way of giving someone the finger.

He caught something moving from the corner of his eye. Below him someone was moving along the ground towards the sniper’s nest. The outline clearly showed the distinctive spiked helmet. Regardless, their lack of heartbeat confirmed it was another vampire.

That’s also why the enemy missed Marc. They were expecting humans, not a vampiric opponent. If I was them…

a cinematic photograph of a bird's eye view of British soldiers wearing khaki uniforms and helmets, preparing to launch a mortar under the faint moonlight, with smoke and fog rolling in, set amidst the trenches and ruined landscape of a World War I battlefield at night, the scene illuminated by flashes of mortar fire and faint lantern light, the soldiers' faces tense with concentration, their skin weathered from months of combat, with detailed textures of muddy terrain, worn equipment, and wooden crates, in a dramatic and ominous tone, with deep shadows and rich textures, in a sepia-toned color palette reminiscent of early 20th-century photography.

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.