Chapter Text
Jonathan marched along, keeping an eye on the men around him. Only their marching steps and the slow rolling sounds of tires on gravel resounded around them. No one outright talked, though some men let out quiet coughs and then they would shake it off and straighten themselves up. The weather had been improving, though the nights still had a winter’s bite to them. Jonathan spotted early signs of wildflowers starting to bloom, feeling the pang of being homesick. The silence of the march was a mixture of everyone’s exhaustion of war, the lingering winter weather, and orders from leadership as they were nearing the front line. They were bringing another ammo load, and this time, they would be staying on the line. Jonathan glanced at Thomas next to him, he had noticed he was becoming more distant over the last few months. Jonathan was reminded about the pain he had felt losing Richard, his best friend. He could see a similar pain in Thomas, and felt lost in how to help.
Jonathan let out a sigh, which caused Thomas to look up at him. Jonathan tilted his head to ask his question, which Thomas gave a half-smile and tried to give him an encouraging nod and wave off his worry. Jonathan quietly tapped his shoulder and they marched on. Jonathan gave out a whistle, getting the men’s attention, giving signals for five of them to jog ahead and replace the front runners. He saw Will join the group and lead them ahead at a good pace. Soon, Jonathan could see a small group of men returning, slowing their pace for the caravan to catch up. They smoothly joined in on the back of the march, leading Jonathan and Thomas to lead the main caravan. The trucks kept a distance, a few meters back. They marched on for a good while.
Thomas tapped his shoulder to get his attention, then pointed into the distance. There was a two-lane bridge ahead, with the head runners waiting at the edge. Thomas signaled the caravan, getting the new captain’s attention. The captain gave them a nod, so Jonathan and Thomas set out with a small group to check out the bridge. Other men started loading onto the truck, hanging of the edges or out of the back, ready to drop and fight at any moment. Jonathan quickly reached the edge of the bridge, signaling to the others to stay there for a minute, and quickly progressed further onto the bridge to check it out.
About a third of the way, Jonathan looked over the edge of the railing. The river was definitely flowing, rushing underneath the bridge, though not quite at a full flood water level. Jonathan heard someone stop next to him, he knew it was Thomas. They looked at each other, Thomas finally breaking the silence, “Snow melt.” Jonathan gave a big swallow, the river looked rough. He broke from the railing and looked back down the bridge, the others had started to follow, scanning each foot of the bridge as they caught up. Jonathan signaled the caravan to approach.
The men spread out across the bridge, as Jonathan and Thomas stood in the middle, keeping lookout toward the banks. Soon, Will and a couple others gave an all-clear signal from the other side of the bridge, the others gradually joining them. Jonathan and Thomas signaled the caravan once more, as they crept closer to the bridge, and then they proceeded further down the bridge. The sound of rushing water seemed to pound in Jonathan’s ears. About two thirds the way across, Jonathan stopped short, glimpsing something in the tree line as Thomas bumped into him. Jonathan spun round and pushed Thomas back. Through a look of surprise, Thomas realized why a moment too late. Although only a couple went off, the explosion shook right beneath them. Jonathan pushed Thomas back further, away from the explosions. They barely heard the commotion starting across the bridge, as voices shouted and gunfire started. Another explosion rang out, causing a brace beneath them to crack and buckle, rocking them to stagger, and sending a crack into the closest railing. Thomas felt Jonathan give him one final push, sending him a good distance across toward the center, where the bridge was still stable.
Thomas turned around and tried to scramble to grab Jonathan, but the brace gave out, sending a half-moon section of the bridge cascading down. Jonathan in the very middle of it, “Jonathan!” Thomas leaned over the edge of the missing bridge, seeing the section disappear into the water. He just barely spotted Jonathan’s head bob up and back down, just downriver. Before he stood back up, Thomas spotted other signs of explosives, well hidden inside the braces, the elevated water had apparently damaged the other explosives and protected the rest of the bridge. Someone must have hit a button too early, rather than waiting for the caravan. He checked one more time, seeing Jonathan’s head bob up once more before going around a bend, he set out down the bridge to help the men, then he would follow the river. He had a promise to keep.
***
Jonathan tried to brace as he felt the bridge give way underneath him, no amount of prep was going to help him with the impact of the cold water. It knocked the breath out of him, the shock from the cold making him tense right up with every muscle locking under the cold bite. He managed to kick up off the river bottom, surfacing and taking as deep of breath as the cold would allow. He got sucked back under, being tossed and tumbled for a moment, causing his knapsack to get tangled up around him, as his rifle strap pulled on him in the other direction. A moment later, he was able to surface again, fighting to keep his breathing steady against the cold biting at him. Just before he went back under, he spotted something floating nearby. He fought with his knapsack, getting it to stop spinning about and pulling the straps tighter, which locked his rifle against him, and pushed off the bottom once again.
Keeping himself moving helped a little with the cold on his joints, though he felt them gradually stiffening more. He surfaced and started swimming over to the floating piece of a tree, cutting across the water sideways and managing to keep himself up. The water was calmer here, for the moment. He managed to get close to the piece of tree, it appeared it was a hefty branch, then noticed the bend in the river coming up fast. Jonathan felt the water pulling him toward the outer bank, which would be straight into the rocks, he ducked underneath the branch and braced against the other side. The impact jostled him, he kept his grip despite feeling something dig into his side. He shakily hoisted himself up onto the branch as it centered itself after the curve. Jonathan laid forward, resting his forehead against a bend in the branch, focusing on controlling his breathing. He breathed warmth into his hands, keeping it steady and trying to shake off some of the chill.
Jonathan must have spaced out for a bit, while still leaning forward, because by the time he sat himself back up every single muscle and joint were stiff. He fully sat up, twisting side to side and stretching his arms. Jonathan was trying to shake off some of the fatigue when he heard the rapids. On both sides, the bank was elevated, worn back as the river cut through the hills. He hunkered down and gripped the branch, keeping eyes up to try and spot an exit. His stomach dropped as he capped the top of the rapids, and he braced once again as he started getting knocked back and forth by the rocks. After a quick couple of minutes, he seemed to be past the worst of it. Jonathan checked once again for an escape, then found himself rocked forward as the branch impacted a boulder, hidden just under the surface. This caused the branch to turn to sit sideways along the current and hitting another rock behind him. The branch was stuck, but the current kept pounding against it, pulling Jonathan and eventually dumping him off as the branch spun against the rocks.
Jonathan curled up tight, trying to protect his head. He bumped and tumbled along, surfacing more quickly as the river shallowed out. Something caught, yanking him down and pulling against his shoulder. He managed to brace his feet against something, lessening the pressure, but he current pounded against him. His rifle strap was caught on something, but he couldn’t shake it loose, as his knapsack kept it pinned against him. He yanked his shin knife up, slicing across behind him, catching the strap and slicing it free. Jonathan tumbled a bit more, but managed to curl a leg underneath him, bouncing along the rocks as it got shallow enough to dig his feet in. The current made him slip every once in a while, sliding along until he could manage to stop again. Eventually, he managed to kneel in the water and lean against the current, finding a rocky embankment to his right, he started moving himself toward it, one step at a time to ensure his footing.
Jonathan breathed a small sigh of relief as he managed to pull himself up the embankment, getting himself fully out of the water. He fought the shakiness from his shivering, having ran completely on adrenaline alone, it wasn’t long before the cold seeped deep within. He shook himself free of his knapsack, his rifle falling off his back as well. He rolled onto his back, looking up toward the sky, a tiredness rolling across him. As he shut his eyes, he thought he heard someone, Jonathan, only reason he thought it was strange was because it was a lady’s voice, and it was…soothing. Right before he drifted off, he thought he felt the strange sensation of being dragged but didn’t manage to open his eyes to check, so he chalked it up to delirium.
