Chapter 1: The Nexus I

I think I might have evolved my writing style compared to my usual style. I was so excited to write this that I couldn't sleep last night and felt sleepy the entire time I was working.

I was initially going to write 2,000 words, but it turned out to be twice that, and I was thrilled about it!

I always get this excited when starting a new project, only to be later stomped by reality. However, I'm confident that this won't just be a one-off!

I genuinely believe my writing has significantly improved with this one. I'm really excited about it, and I hope you are too. Please let me know what you think, and be kind—otherwise, I might end up in crippling depression and anxiety.

Just kidding! Enjoy the intro chapter!

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December 10, 1942 - Battle of Tebourba, Tunisia

A wise man once said that, in the moment right before death, time begins to slow down, as everything seems delayed due to the heightening of one's senses just before passing.

"Who would've thought it's actually true..."

Tommy mumbled as his nose picked up the scent of blood, overwhelming the dry, earthy smell of the grassland that had bothered him earlier. His eyes were hollow as he felt blood splatter over his head when another one of his comrades fell.

The sky was bright with clouds hanging overhead, yet the scene on the ground was quite the opposite. Corpses lay on the dirt field, with shrubs standing tall over their bodies. Tommy looked at the one who had just died, blood slowly gushing out, seeping from the breathless corpse. He turned over and saw the culprit—a German soldier standing beside a low scrub, half-hidden, his face filled with terror as he pointed his gun at him, his next target.

'Why is he terrified?'

That was Tommy's thought as he swiftly pulled the trigger, sending a bullet straight into the terrified soldier's face, dispatching him to Jesus, or whatever god these Nazis served. He almost chuckled despite the grim situation, silently adding, 'Though, maybe he was an atheist...'

"Tommy!"

Someone called his name loudly, prompting him to turn his head. He saw a swarm of German soldiers advancing. His comrades' eyes were filled with absolute fear, something he couldn't comprehend as the adrenaline dulled his emotions.

However, he understood why they felt that way. They were just a tiny squad, led by a sergeant he barely knew, while the Germans had an entire platoon with them. Both sides were surprised by each other's presence. They didn't know the Germans were there, and the Germans had no idea why such a small squad was lurking ahead of them.

'How did we even end up in this situation...'

Tommy quietly wondered as he watched the last of his comrades fall to the dirt, likely to rot here forever. And he would be right there with them, either rotting together or being eaten by worms.

His eyes locked with one of the Germans as they turned toward him, the last man standing, and started blasting their guns at him. He couldn't help but curse, 'One good shot would kill me, you fucking Nazi motherfuc—'

Blip!

Like a television abruptly shutting off, his vision went dark. Tommy realized his body was either lying flat on the ground or falling onto one of his comrades.

'Let's just hope my lips don't end up kissing whoever's lying below me,' was his final thought as he calmly accepted his death.

Just as he thought he'd be seeing Jesus.

"Tommy? Hey, Tommy!"

A loud shout echoed in his ears, jolting him awake. His eyes flew open, and he gasped in shock. The bright sky made him flinch as he quickly tried to shield his eyes.

"What the hell is wrong with you, British boy? Wake the fuck up, or you might miss your 'bo'o of wo'o'..."

Another voice filled his ears, mocking his origin before followed by laughter. Tommy turn to look at the one who woke him up, finally remembering this scene.

"You alright?"

He met those piercing blue eyes, filled with amusement, before his attention shifted to the crooked headgear the man wore. He opened his mouth, "How do you mess up your headgear every time, Bucky?"

"Huh?"

Bucky, suddenly called out, quickly placed his hand on his headgear and fixed it, furrowing his brows. "Shut up, Tommy! You said you wanted a drink, here..."

"Thanks..."

Taking the bottle from Bucky's hand, Tommy thanked him halfheartedly, watching him in silence.

James Buchanan Barnes, or Bucky, was a friend from Brooklyn. It was the place where he grew up. This guy talked about women all the time, and Tommy often wondered if he'd ever actually dated one. Bucky was a new member of the squad, just like him.

Tommy then turned to the one who mocked him earlier, remembering him as the first guy to die in his dream.

Jack Donovan.

He didn't know much about the guy, other than the fact that he was their current sergeant leading the squad. But the rest of the members were familiar faces he knew from back home.

"Can we smoke a cigarette? They probably won't be coming anytime soon anyway..."

A voice asked playfully, its owner's face patched with bandages from a fresh wound, and his headgear missing. Though, Tommy could see the nervousness in his blue eyes and silently thought, 'Arthur's nervous too...'

Arthur Eden was another familiar face in the squad.

Like Tommy, Arthur was of British descent and had always been around since childhood. Tommy was told that when his family moved to the U.S. in search of a better life, it was Arthur's father who extended a helping hand.

"Yeah, why not?"

A guy with an odd mustache agreed with Tommy as he gave a black man next to him a strong pat on the back. The man looked uncomfortable but stayed quiet.

Dum Dum Dugan and Gabe Jones—two more familiar faces—were complete opposites.

One was loud, the other was quiet.

"No," Jack said firmly, looking off in a direction that Tommy recognized as the opposite of where they'd all end up dying together.

"We're not exactly in a comfortable situation to smoke..."

Everyone was nervous. He could tell. They were waiting for a scout Jack had sent ahead to check their surroundings.

Tommy glanced down at the bottle in his hand, lost in thought. What he had experienced earlier didn't seem like a dream; it felt too real for that. And seeing the others acting exactly as they had in that "dream," he couldn't help but mutter, "We're fucked..."

"What do you mean?"

Bucky heard him and turned with a confused look. Then he noticed that Tommy hadn't taken a drink yet, raising an eyebrow. "Aren't you gonna drink that? I thought you were thirsty..."

"Yeah, right," Tommy said as he opened the bottle.

The liquid, tasting thick with iron, flooded his throat, reminding him of their perilous situation.

They were part of a military operation he knew nothing about, stuck here after spotting an enemy outpost in the rocky outcrops on the west side of the olive groves they were using for cover.

Their only options were to retreat or find another route, which was why Jack had sent a scout to search for a new path.

And what happened next—Tommy remembered it clearly.

"Anyway, what do you mean by what you said earlier?"

Bucky asked again as Tommy turned to look him in the eye. The hollowness in Tommy's gaze made Bucky flinch.

Tommy started to speak, "Like I said, in eithe—"

"Sergeant! We're fucked!"

The loud, hurried footsteps drew everyone's attention to the scout, who had just arrived. His tone clearly conveyed bad news, causing everyone's expressions to fall as Jack frowned and asked, "What happened?"

"These Nazis are fucking everywhere on that side!"

Tommy muttered the exact words spoken by the scout, which made Bucky blink skeptically at him and whisper, "How did you do that?"

Tommy turned to Bucky, who seemed more intrigued by how he knew what the scout was going to say than by their current situation.

"Shit, what do we do then?"

"I don't know. Shouldn't we retreat if that's the case?"

"But we'll be punished!"

Murmurs of panic quickly spread through the squad. Tommy turned to Jack, who appeared deep in thought, his fist tightly clenched. Slowly, Jack began to speak, "We have to retre—"

"We can't retreat, Jack!"

Tommy interrupted loudly, causing everyone to turn toward him. Jack's expression reddened at the sudden interruption, clearly angry that Tommy hadn't waited for him to finish.

Arthur and Bucky exchanged glances. Tommy knew it was unlike him to interrupt so loudly, but it was necessary for survival. He realized it hurt Jack's ego, but in their current situation, ego was useless.

Tommy continued, "If we retreat now, they'll catch us on that exact route..."

"That's impossible..." Jack approached him before standing face to face, his eyes blazing with anger. He tapped his finger against his chest and said, "Our enemies are at the front. How are they already behind us? You think that fucking makes sense, Thomas Shelby?"

"Jack, calm down..."

The others tried to separate them, but Jack just shoved their hands away and stared sharply into Tommy's eyes.

Tommy knew it didn't make sense, but it was exactly what had happened. He shook his head and said, "I know it sounds crazy, but if we go there, all of us will just fucking die..."

"All of us are going to die if we continue forward!"

Jack screamed right in Tommy's face, but Tommy didn't flinch, despite the bad smell and some saliva splattering on him.

He wiped his face and maintained his stance.

Tommy wasn't sure how long they had been arguing, but suddenly he felt a punch to his face as Jack lost control. His mind was so preoccupied that he hardly felt it and continued to focus on convincing Jack to go for a different path.

"Shit, stop fucking fighting! They're here!"

A voice echoed as Gabe, who was usually quiet, let out a terrified scream while pointing in the direction where the scout had come back from.

All color drained from the squad members' faces as they gripped their guns tightly. Tommy could clearly feel their nervousness.

"Fuck!"

Jack threw another punch, landing it squarely on Tommy's face.

He tasted blood in his mouth as he stumbled to the ground. He looked up to see familiar soldier uniforms moving across the olive groves, slowly advancing toward them.

"Goddammit, let's fucking retreat!"

Jack's shouts alerted the Nazis, and Tommy slowly got to his feet, immediately joining the others as they began to retreat.

Looking back, Tommy saw the soldiers closing in. As they got closer, he recognized familiar features. Their expressions didn't seem to belong on the battlefield. They wore the same worn uniforms with red ribbons on their arms.

'What is that?'

Tommy's eyes wandered to their pants, which were covered in dirt up to their thighs, and he could smell the strong odor of gunpowder filling the air.

Yet, he didn't register the sounds as everything seemed to slow down while he kept shooting. His comrades fell one by one until they suddenly came to a halt.

"Shit, Tommy's actually fucking right..."

Everyone's eyes widened in horror as they saw another group of soldiers blocking their path.

"We're fucked!"

Bucky shouted just as a bullet found its way to his forehead, causing his body to fall to the dirt with a thud. Tommy didn't stop; he kept firing until a bullet lodged into his thigh, making him stumble.

A barrage of bullets then sharply penetrated his body.

Blip!

The familiar darkness enveloped his sight once again, and he felt a jolt throughout his body before his eyes snapped open back to where it all began.

'I'm back... once again?'

Tommy thought as he grabbed the bottle of water Bucky was handing him, looking at the eerily similar scene before him. Considering the situation and his sudden ability to turn back time every time he died, his empty eyes slowly regained their color.

He muttered, "This time, maybe..."

"Maybe what?"

"Maybe you'll die in pain this time," Tommy said as he looked at Bucky, who had been shot in the head two times in a row.

He shook his head, thinking, 'This guy was quite lucky...'

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Bucky asked. "Are you actually cursing me, Tommy? That's not very nice. I just gave you my bottle..."

"Tommy's just praying for the best for you, Bucky," Arthur added with a laugh, as Bucky's expression crumpled. "Who's gonna believe that?"

"Hahaha!"

Laughter filled the atmosphere which he could tell was just a desperate attempt to lighten the mood. Tommy turned to see Jack anxiously scanning the horizon, waiting for their scout.

Ignoring the others, Tommy approached Jack. "Jack, I need to tell you something..."