Man at War – Excerpt No. 7

17 September 2025

“Is he alright?” Roy asked.

The Sergeant shot him an icy glare. While the question might have been valid, that tone of voice confirmed it was not uttered out of gallantry. If the Private was dead, it would mean two able bodied men making their way back to the line. Otherwise they had to carry the casualty through a hundred yards of the most hostile land imaginable.

Nevertheless, Murphy checked on the soldier. Even in this light he could tell the man was pale as a ghost. Still, putting his watch against the man’s nose showed his breath on the glass.

a cinematic black and white photo of two British soldiers wearing traditional Scottish kilts, carrying rifles and bearing solemn expressions, as they carefully carry a third injured soldier across the desolate and treacherous No Man's Land, under the cover of a thick fog covered night, with only the faint moonlight casting an eerie glow on the soldiers' determined faces, their skin weathered from the harsh conditions, and the fog swirling around their legs as they trudge through the muddy terrain, the rifles slung over their shoulders, and the injured soldier's face contorted in pain, set against a dramatic and ominous backdrop of the war-torn landscape, captured in a poignant and powerful moment of camaraderie and sacrifice, in a hauntingly beautiful photography style.

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.