Where we bury our dead
Hilbert arrives with Tristan where the others were gathered. Tristan and his squad immediately joined up with the rest of the 116th. Hilbert approached Jacques and the other officers who were now discussing something.
"Major, our forces have secured the beach head and the other divisions are securing the nearby villages as we speak." Hilbert states as he swung the gun behind him.
"Our unit will hold here until tomorrow and we'll wait for additional orders from high command." Jacques replied.
"In the meantime I guess we'll have to bag up our dead and send them back home to their wives and parents." Edward added
"I hate this part, writing letters to the ones they left behind." Richard commented.
Eugene left the others to finish their discussion and decided to walk back to the bunker where Bright's body was. He frisked Bright's pockets and found a letter he wrote for his sister back home. He placed it in his satchel before dragging Bright out of the trench and onto the field where they placed all the dead.
"Are they going to be taken back home?" Eugene asks Tristan.
"The military doesn't have the time and resources to be transporting ships back and forth to carry corpses." Tristan replies while he sets the dog tags down in a pile.
"Shouldn't we give them closure? Won't their families look for them?" Eugene asks again.
"This is war, it's cruel and you should get used to it." Tristan added before walking away.
Eugene looked at the bodies of his dead comrades and he gave a heavy sigh before walking towards the group of soldiers who were digging the graves. Meanwhile, Jacques and the other officers were talking with high command over the radio about their next mission. They're tasked to take a heavily defended bridge which is essential for the transport of troops and tanks. Jacques requested for additional troops to replenish their division but high command denied the request because of a shortage in soldiers. Jacques had no choice but to accept the mission regardless of the conditions.
"Why did you accept it? This is suicide, Jacques!" Richard exclaimed.
"Do you doubt my skills at commanding our unit? Did you forget about mockingbird?" Jacques asked Richard.
"The major is right. We pulled through mockingbird with even worse conditions, this will be a walk in the park in comparison to mockingbird." Edward commented.
"I won't argue anymore, but the blood will be on your hands not mine." Richard walks away, annoyed and anxious.
Jacques sighed and took a seat, trying to clear his head. Edward comforted him and said that he would try and calm Richard down before walking away as well. Jacques tried to come up with a plan as he looked at a map of the bridge and the nearby town. He figured that the town would most likely have enemy forces encamped within so the best course of action would be to split into two teams. The first would subdue the town and the second would go for the bridge. This would significantly weaken their attack since their strength is divided but if the enemy is taken by surprise, they'll have no time to respond to the sudden assault.
"Richard, you good? You don't have to worry so much, you know?" Edward tells Richard.
"We've been on hold for a while now, what if we're rusty? What if this is the last mission we partake in?" Richard worriedly asked Edward.
"What do you mean? Why are you so worried?" Edward steps forward and held Richard's shoulder.
"I don't want to bury that person in case things go south. I don't want to dig someone's grave." Richard replied.
"Wait...I see. You don't have to worry, I promise that everything will be alright and we're all getting out of this alive." Edward comforted Richard.
Eugene was in the distance helping the others dig graves for the dead 116th members as Richard and Edward watches them. Edward knew exactly what Richard meant but he didn't want to bring it up, he thinks it's better to keep things the way they are for now.
"How many more to go?" Eugene asks as he tries to catch his breath.
"A lot more, we've only dug a few graves." Jeremy replies before chuckling.
"I see, sorry for asking a stupid question." Eugene giggled and continued digging the soil.
Jacques made his way towards the other, with a plan in mind and a speech to motivate the men for tomorrow's mission. He stopped only a few feet away from Richard and Edward, he saw the pile of bodies.
"Didn't I say that not a single one of you can die? Do you really want to meet me in hell so badly?" Jacques asks the soldiers.
"Here comes another speech from major." Edward mumbles.
"This defeats the purpose of our battle cry! Are you all going to just lay there and sleep?! How pathetic, this isn't the unit I trained!" Jacques exclaimed.
"He's scary when he does that..." Eugene whispers to himself.
"The unit I trained are highly skilled and would never disobey orders no matter what! We haven't reached that place yet and so many already gave up?! We don't give up in this division! We go through hell and back and rise from the hellfire!" Jacques shouted.
"Hoorah!" The men cheered.
"And just like that, he boosted the men's morale." Richard commented before snickering.
"That's the major for you." Edward added with a smirk.
The men, now motivated and driven to keep fighting, began exerting their all. They might've just been digging but they dug like they've never before and in a blink of an eye, it was already done. They've laid the souls of the fallen in peace and have honored them as soldiers. To those who have rested and those who still fight on, the highest of honor is bestowed upon no matter how big or small. That is the wolf pack's code they sworn to.