“EVERYBODY UP! FORM UP ON THE PARADE GROUND, GET OUT HERE YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING SLACKERS!” yelled a voice from somewhere outside Alex’s tent. “WE AINT AT HOME, THERE ARE NO SUCH THING AS SUNDAY SLEEP INS HERE, THIS IS WAR SOILDERS, WAR! NOW GET UP AND GET OUT HERE” Alex hauled herself out of bed and pulled on her boots, hastily doing them up. She rushed out to the parade ground and formed up next to the rest of the company. Every solider was given their orders and then sent off to eat. The mess hall was an old school building that had been evacuated just before the invasion. Alex ate quickly and then hurried off to the makeshift hospital. She walked up to the Major and saluted, “Captain” the Major said, “Sir” Alex replied “I have received word that there will be an influx of wounded shortly, prepare, your staff and wait for my word” the Major finished. “Sir” Shouted Alex She saluted again and turned to her team of 30 doctors. “Ok!” she yelled “Sergeants to me” A group of 4 men and one woman walked up to Alex. Alex started giving orders. “Ok soldiers, Take your respective sections and prepare them, There will be an intake of wounded shortly. Peterson, your section take the flesh wounds, limbs and such and fix them up, Do Not, I repeat DO NOT give them a bed, they will all be needed elsewhere.
Short, you take the belly wounds, operate where you can but do not take the terminally injured, Crocker, you can take them, give them a shot of morphine to make them comfortable and take them out the back, somewhere quiet. Mica, you take the chest and back wounds, same goes for you, operate where you can but leave the terminally ill. Finally, Corellas, your section can manage the ill, rather than the injured, take them to the back room.” Alex finished. The group saluted her and she saluted back. She had so much respect for every solider, war was not all it was cracked up to be, and they all did so well in just lasting another day. There were regular air raids on the camp and replacement troops had to be brought in every two weeks. The soldiers walked away to inform their sections of the orders and to prepare. Alex did what she could to set up the hospital in such a way so that the sections could each have their own areas with minimum overlapping. When she was finished, she went to wash her hands and face and prepare for the influx, if this was anything like the others, it would be an all night job. She paused for a second in front of the bathroom mirror. Her hair had darkened as she got older and was now the colour of dark chocolate. It was pulled back off her face in a tight bun. She had almond shaped, dark brown eyes that showed her Japanese origin and tanned skin. Alex looked away from the mirror; she had to finish the preparations, there was no time to stop and reminisce. She rushed out of the bathroom just as Zoë walked in. Zoë was the only child in Danni’s family who had actually ended up in the armed forces; she was an enlisted nurse in Alex’s company so they saw each other quite regularly. Alex stopped, “Morning Private Cummings” she said to Zoë. “Mam” replied Zoë, saluting. Alex laughed, “Chill Zoë,” she said, “You don’t have to do that off duty” “Sorry Al” Zoë replied, hugging her briefly. “Are you ready for the influx” asked Alex, “I think so” replied Zoë, “ With all due respect though mam, why did you put my section with terminally injured” “Because of you Zoë” Alex replied, “What?” Zoë asked, “Why do I make a difference.” she finished, looking confused. “We all make a difference Zoë,” Alex replied, “You are comforting to the soldiers and you are gentle, you make all the difference in the world.” Zoë smiled and turned to look in the mirror. She removed her hat, fixed her hair with a bobby pin and then washed her hands and face. When she raised her head, Alex was gone.
The influx had arrived, hundreds of injured soldiers were hobbling or being carried through the door on stretchers, there was blood everywhere. Alex felt no emotion; she had done all this before. “OK LISTEN UP” she yelled “Sergeants, to me” the sergeants came bustling up. “OK “Alex continued “FLESH WOUNDS OVER TO SEARGENT PETERSON, STOMACH WOUNDS TO SEARGENT SHORT, CHEST OR BACK WOUNDS TO SEARGENT MIKA AND ILNESSES TO SEARGENT CORELLAS. MOVE! THOSE WHO CAN WALK, HELP THOSE WHO CAN’T, and the havoc began.
Alex walked between the different areas, helping where she could and assigning any new arrivals to the correct quarters. The company worked for sixteen long hours and when Alex finally dropped into bed at one o’clock the next morning she was exhausted. A replacement troop was brought in only three hours later so that the workers from the day before could have a well deserved break. Alex opened her eyes and glanced at her watch. four thirty am, she could hear a low rumbling in the distance and sat bolt upright. She knew that sound, she jumped off her cot and ran outside, she could see them in the distance, the enemy aircraft. She yelled to her company, “EVERYBODY UP! ENEMY AIRCRAFT SIGHTED, FIND SHELTER NOW!”
“Where were the sentry’s” she asked her self, why was she forced to raise the alarm. She looked around; there was no movement, no soldiers hurrying to get out of tents. She ran into the nearest enlisted tent and it was empty. As a Capitan, Alex got a tent to herself, so she hadn’t noticed the lack of people. Everyone had already evacuated. She ran to the hospital. The majority of beds were empty; the only ones occupied held soldiers that would not survive being transported. The roaring was growing louder; Alex sat against the nearest wall and waited, lost in thought. She could not die yet; she hadn’t even turned forty, her life had hardly started… The noise was deafening, Alex heard the unforgiving whistle of a falling shell and saw the blinding light, closely followed by the deathly black.
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