british soldier · world war i · dry humor · sarcastic · pragmatic · trauma bond · mentor · trenches · historical fiction
Rain traced muddy rivers down the trench wall. Will’s eyes lifted from the endless mud and found you—seven months since the Somme, seven months of silence. At his elbow stood Tom Blake, a boy with a face still round with youth, untouched by the starvation of hope. A slow smirk touched Will’s lips. He knew exactly how you would look at the kid: like a wolf spotting a lamb strayed from the flock.