Arthur blinked, adjusting his eyes to the lighter morning conditions, though it was perpetually dark. He had been what he would have liked to have called “asleep”, though such a thing was impossible with the never-ending noises filling the dirty air above him. There were gunshots at every hour; some bullets finding their mark, though hitting anything living would suffice. Artillery shells skidded through the mud, and being vigilant was necessary at all times. There were now-muffled cries coming from the screamer tent, a good few hundred metres behind where Arthur was attempting to get away from this place that even surpassed his nightmares in horror. However, these noises were not in any way out of the ordinary, not even the piercing cries of the traumatised. The noise that was keeping Arthur awake (or, rather, slipping into a semi-conscious state – “do not let sleeping lions lie, for sleeping lions die” was a common phrase between the soldiers) was the great clamour of engines and general shouting.
Artillery shells had been arriving for many days, and now the wall of ammunition was taller and wider than the trucks that came to add to the mountain of canned destruction. Arthur got up and lazily picked up his gun, noting the impression that they had both left in the mud, though it seemed to be composed more of worms and rats than of earth. Arthur wandered over to his friend, who was sitting a few feet away from the mound, and sat down next to him. This had been the situation for as long as the pile of shells had been building, and Arthur supposed that Dan would probably change his usual greeting – you know; keep things fresh in a place so dull and detestable.
“Cigar?”
Then again, maybe he wouldn’t. Dan had run out of cigars a long time ago, yet he still found it necessary to offer Arthur one. The experiences of war affected people in different ways, and Dan seemed to have his own special mental mutation. Arthur continued with the charade – deviation from such a routine could land Dan in the screamer tent, and being sent there launched its “patients” (though there was no cure) into a downward spiral of trauma.
“No thanks. Lovely weather, isn’t it?”
“No.”
This was different. Arthur sat up, pulled out of his general daily trance consisting of a mix of apathy and terror. The expected answer was “Yes, quite.” Then Arthur would comment on how large the ammunition pile was, and Dan would start talking about his life back home. This short, unusual answer threw the entire conversation off on a different path – it was a path that worried Arthur.
“What do you mean?”
“Look at the sky, Arthur, and tell me what you see.”
“Well, it is quite cloudy actually. It could rain later, but that isn’t anything particularly unusual!”
Generally, unfunny jokes involving the weather are found to be extremely humorous for some odd reason. However, the now-philosophical Dan met the quip with a stony silence.
“You are not looking hard enough, Arthur. Look again.”
“Are you insane, Dan? There is nothing else there. I am not a weather expert; I cannot tell you the types of clouds that are strewn across the sky, or the exact temperature and whatnot.”
“Ask me what I see.”
“Why don’t you just…”
“Ask me.”
“Dan, would you please tell me what you see in the sky?”
“I see darkness Arthur. We are cut off from the rest of the world, yet its fate lies in our hands. We have no sport or any such thing to talk about, and even the sun has turned away. Now in its place lies darkness. It is cold, and the warmth of life has disappeared. There is only darkness now Arthur…”
He turned, his eyes glazed over with fear. Arthur knew that Dan had now become a screamer. This was not unusual for soldiers who had endured many hardships, though it was still sad that it had happened to Dan. Apparently screamers would never hurt you, but nevertheless Arthur inched back slightly, and waved to the doctors in the screamer tent.
“…only darkness. Soon the darkness will come down, Arthur, and then there is no hope. Even if we win this war, others will be sitting in the spot in which I am now sitting in a few years time. The darkness is coming, Arthur, and this is not the worst of it.”
Dan regarded the doctors with indifference as they grabbed him by the arms and led him away. He did not resist, he was simply silent. That was the strangest aspect of the screamers – they usually said nothing at all.
