if anyone had heard or listened to me, but I didn’t really care right then. They had fair warning. Only a fool goes sightseeing in an air raid.
There was a whistling noise, then a sharp sound like lightning breaking, followed by a blast of air I felt sweep over the ground above our heads. Dirt blew in on us, then more blasts came. The earth shook, rattling every bone in my body and sending shock waves of air and debris flying overhead. Even below ground level, I was hurled against the side of the trench with each bomb blast. The bombs struck closer and closer, more of them now, until the blasts became a single noise of explosions and airplane engines, forcing everything else into silent submission. I looked over at the laughing nurse. Her hands were clapped to her ears, her mouth wide open in an inaudible scream, her eyes squeezed shut, and her head shaking back and forth.
I twisted around to look up and saw dark forms in the sky as they sped by, one after another, their wide curved wings sporting black crosses. Heinkel 111 , a small voice somewhere in the back of my head said, as I recalled a silhouette from Aircraft Recognition Class in OCS. This was a surprise. I never used to be able to remember anything from my classes when I was at school in Boston. But no one was trying to blow me up then. As I thought about that, I realized it had become quiet. The laughing nurse wasn’t screaming anymore, she was crying and I could hear her. Someone else was yelling in the distance, but the bombs had stopped and the aircraft sounds were receding.
Gloria was looking around too, a dazed expression dulling her face. I took her hand. It was shaking. So was the rest of her. I could feel her muscles tense as she fought for control.
“Are you okay?” I said, a little too loudly in the sudden silence. Her eyes were wide and I thought she might start to cry or panic. She took a breath and I could see her pull herself together. Eyes closed, she shook her head up and down, then opened them. Her hand was still.
“I’m fine. I think I have work to do.” She winked at me as she got up to look around, dusting the dirt off her clothes as she stood up. “Come on, girls,” she said to the two nurses, “they’re going to need our help.We’ll do our crying later, honey.”
She touched the shoulder of the tearful nurse and bounded out of the trench. The nurses rose, held onto each other, and followed her out. They wiped dust, dirt, and tears away, and went to work, streaks of grime showing on their cheeks where their hands had brushed their faces. I had to admire them. Me, I just wanted to stay in this trench until the end of the war. I began to wonder why Major Harding hadn’t hung onto Gloria. She was right up his alley. Or, maybe she hadn’t hung onto him. I could think of a lot of reasons for that.
I stuck my head up and took in the view. Smoke was billowing up in front of the building where the vehicles and supplies were stored, and flames licked at a pile of wooden crates. Everyone was running in that direction. I ran towards Kaz’s room. I knew I should probably help out but I had to know if Kaz was still in one piece. It was bad enough that I’d gotten him into this fix, without getting him killed in an air raid. Off in the distance I started to hear the sounds of more bombs exploding, far away. Crump . . . crump . . . crump. It sounded like the harbor in Algiers was being plastered.We had been hit by a handful of bombers while the rest went on to the harbor. The stacks of supplies outside the hospital must have been a secondary target. Maybe they hadn’t marked the building with a red cross yet. In one corridor the wall was blown out and smoke from the fires outside was pouring in. The acrid smell of burning rubber filled the hall and I held my hand over my mouth and nose as I checked the rooms. They were all empty so I kept on toward Kaz, hoping this was the only hit the hospital had taken.
When I got to his corridor, I
There was a whistling noise, then a sharp sound like lightning breaking, followed by a blast of air I felt sweep over the ground above our heads. Dirt blew in on us, then more blasts came. The earth shook, rattling every bone in my body and sending shock waves of air and debris flying overhead. Even below ground level, I was hurled against the side of the trench with each bomb blast. The bombs struck closer and closer, more of them now, until the blasts became a single noise of explosions and airplane engines, forcing everything else into silent submission. I looked over at the laughing nurse. Her hands were clapped to her ears, her mouth wide open in an inaudible scream, her eyes squeezed shut, and her head shaking back and forth.
I twisted around to look up and saw dark forms in the sky as they sped by, one after another, their wide curved wings sporting black crosses. Heinkel 111 , a small voice somewhere in the back of my head said, as I recalled a silhouette from Aircraft Recognition Class in OCS. This was a surprise. I never used to be able to remember anything from my classes when I was at school in Boston. But no one was trying to blow me up then. As I thought about that, I realized it had become quiet. The laughing nurse wasn’t screaming anymore, she was crying and I could hear her. Someone else was yelling in the distance, but the bombs had stopped and the aircraft sounds were receding.
Gloria was looking around too, a dazed expression dulling her face. I took her hand. It was shaking. So was the rest of her. I could feel her muscles tense as she fought for control.
“Are you okay?” I said, a little too loudly in the sudden silence. Her eyes were wide and I thought she might start to cry or panic. She took a breath and I could see her pull herself together. Eyes closed, she shook her head up and down, then opened them. Her hand was still.
“I’m fine. I think I have work to do.” She winked at me as she got up to look around, dusting the dirt off her clothes as she stood up. “Come on, girls,” she said to the two nurses, “they’re going to need our help.We’ll do our crying later, honey.”
She touched the shoulder of the tearful nurse and bounded out of the trench. The nurses rose, held onto each other, and followed her out. They wiped dust, dirt, and tears away, and went to work, streaks of grime showing on their cheeks where their hands had brushed their faces. I had to admire them. Me, I just wanted to stay in this trench until the end of the war. I began to wonder why Major Harding hadn’t hung onto Gloria. She was right up his alley. Or, maybe she hadn’t hung onto him. I could think of a lot of reasons for that.
I stuck my head up and took in the view. Smoke was billowing up in front of the building where the vehicles and supplies were stored, and flames licked at a pile of wooden crates. Everyone was running in that direction. I ran towards Kaz’s room. I knew I should probably help out but I had to know if Kaz was still in one piece. It was bad enough that I’d gotten him into this fix, without getting him killed in an air raid. Off in the distance I started to hear the sounds of more bombs exploding, far away. Crump . . . crump . . . crump. It sounded like the harbor in Algiers was being plastered.We had been hit by a handful of bombers while the rest went on to the harbor. The stacks of supplies outside the hospital must have been a secondary target. Maybe they hadn’t marked the building with a red cross yet. In one corridor the wall was blown out and smoke from the fires outside was pouring in. The acrid smell of burning rubber filled the hall and I held my hand over my mouth and nose as I checked the rooms. They were all empty so I kept on toward Kaz, hoping this was the only hit the hospital had taken.
When I got to his corridor, I
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