Man at War – Excerpt No. 70

Everyone brought their weapons to the ready, and sure enough in the distance they spotted an orange glow. As soon as the source came into focus a rifleman fired off a shot and extinguished the light.

Two other shots came from behind the church. The fact it was a trench gun gave him reason to worry. They shouldn’t be within our perimeter.

Murphy clenched his jaw as he heard screams from the other side followed by more gunfire. This time from a pistol, and since two of his sergeants were already looking at him he motioned for them to circle to the rear. Just in case he kept a team in place.

a cinematic photograph of a British Warrant Officer, dressed in worn Great War-era uniform, armed with a rifle, motioning to his men to move ahead, set against the dramatic backdrop of a ruined church at nighttime, with the faint moonlight casting long shadows across the rubble-strewn ground, the officer's face illuminated by a faint beam of light, revealing a determined expression, his skin weathered from months of combat, his eyes fixed intently on some point in the distance, the surrounding air thick with the smell of smoke and damp earth, the sound of distant gunfire and screams echoing through the night air, the Warrant Officer's men, a mix of seasoned veterans and young recruits, huddle together, their faces set with a mix of fear and determination, as they prepare to advance into the unknown.

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.