Man at War – Excerpt No. 206

At the nine-minute mark there came the muffled pops of small arms fire. Marc always hated the waiting. As a captain in the French army, being forced to send his men into the line of fire was forever a torment. It was worse when he knew they might not make it back.

As expected, the initial interaction was short. But that was followed by another and another. Interactions were far more frequent than with previous clearance operations, this led Marc to form a picture of a massive complex full of ghouls.

“Aerial photography of the area showed no structures within a kilometre,” Marc whispered.

a surreal and vibrant cinematic photograph of a vintage biplane flying over the desolate and barren landscape of no man's land at dusk, with the pilot and any visible personnel dressed in attire and uniforms consistent with 1915, set against a dramatic and ominous night sky with remnants of war-torn trenches and destroyed buildings, captured in a photorealistic style with pronounced film grain, emphasizing the eerie and haunting atmosphere of the scene, with an emphasis on muted earthy tones and faint moonlight illuminating the devastation below, the biplane's propellers and engine casting a warm glow amidst the dark and foreboding environment.

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.