The Fog of War by Michelle Jabes Corpora

Author:Michelle Jabes Corpora
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Steerforth Press
Published: 2021-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

‘Last stop,’ the water ambulance driver shouted, cutting the engine.

From underneath her helmet, Martha squinted into the wind blowing across the water, and glanced out over the shoulders of the men. They were still a good distance from the shore. She gripped the side of the boat tightly as it pitched and rolled on the rough sea. What did he mean, ‘last stop’?

‘Tide’s low and visibility is about as clear as mud,’ the driver went on. ‘Last thing I want to do is get stranded on that beach. Better make it the rest of the way in on your own, boys. I’ll need to look for safe anchorage further down the coast.’

‘But what about the wounded?’ one of the men asked.

The driver shrugged. ‘Do what you can to gather them up. Once the tide comes in, another ambulance will come back for you.’

Martha noticed that they’d pulled up next to an empty cement barge, which she knew the Allies used to help transport troops and equipment closer to shore. One by one, the stretcher-bearers and other crewmembers jumped from the water ambulance to the barge. Martha followed, walking along its length behind the others in a single, quiet line. But the end of the barge was still about sixty yards from shore.

‘Hope you’re ready for a swim,’ one of the stretcher-bearers mumbled to her, and then did a double take when he got a good look at her face. ‘Hey! You’re one of them nurses – you ain’t supposed to be here!’

Uh-oh, Martha thought. The jig is up.

It took only seconds for the rest of the men to catch up. ‘Lady,’ another one said, ‘what were you thinking? Don’t you know that beach is no place for a woman? You could get killed out there!’

By then, every one of them was looking at her. Martha could see their eyes in the light of the full moon hanging heavy in the night sky. Beyond them, the sounds of faraway gunfire crackled like distant thunder. ‘It’s true, I could get killed,’ she finally said. ‘As could all of you. And frankly, I’d like to think I have just as much of a right to get killed defending my country as you gentlemen do. But we don’t have time to quarrel over such things, we’ve got a job to do.’

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