Its time to announce the winners of the Wii60 BiA DS competition! After much hard deliberation over some great entries, the staff have decided on the winners, so without further ado - here they are.
Runner up: Doc Steel with “American Soldier” video, congratulations on creating a truly heartfelt video, we hope you enjoy the 1Gb SD card that will soon be sent your way.

First Place MademanG47 for his short story which captured all of the staff’s hearts and imagination. BiA for the DS will be sent your way shortly
The winning entry is below.

Brotherly Savior

I was in Hell.

I didn’t think it, I knew it. And if I was wrong I couldn’t imagine Hell being much worse.

We’d just been launched from the ship and for the first time in my tour of duty I was looking at the face of this war. We we’re landing in France. I think. I wasn’t sure; it was hard to pay attention during the briefing, especially after they told us about the machine gun nests in the hills above our landing. It reminded me of those stories my father would tell me about his days in Gallipoli during the Great War, the way that the maxims would cut down soldiers hundreds at a time.

And now I was going to be charging directly towards them.

We’d already lost two men shortly after launching. They were caught by stray bullets, one got shot in the head, he was lucky. The other guy took one in the gut and went into shock, the captain said that medics might be able to save him when we got to land, but I think he just wanted to avoid a mercy kill in front of the others.

I looked to my side and could see that Paul thought so too. He was clutching his rifle hard, his knuckles were almost white from the strain and from the burning cold. Unlike most of the men on the boat his face was much harder, frozen into a state of determination, blocking out the thought of the man dying on the floor.

Not far now, I could see some boats already made it there, already bodies lining the ground, being touched by the cold water. The sand at the edges of the beach was stained with blood. Paul loosened his grip on his gun and tried to warm his hands. He pointed over the hills. I saw flames erupt from the ground, burning the sky and leaving putrid black smoke in their wake. The ship was bombarding the strongholds. I prayed that they would stop before we reached the beach.

Paul was always the man in the unit to beat, Id never seen someone so dedicated and determined in a task before I saw him in training. He wanted nothing more than to go to war, to win this war. He didn’t change when he saw the horror of the battlefield. The man was like clockwork, a machine created to fight.

Paul and I became friends during our boot camp, even though he never showed much emotion the whole time I knew him. He never got too close to people. He didn’t have a family, grew up in an orphanage and never married. I always told him that he would be welcome to come and spend the holidays with my family. I think that he was genuinely thankful, but always turned me down, maybe he never expected to make it back from the war. Maybe he was being morbid, and maybe he was just being realistic, but he hardly ever even smiled. The only time I’d seen him laugh was when we were with Jack.

Jack was just about the least likely person you would expect to be befriended by Paul. Paul and I were from the lower class suburbs of Sydney in Australia, even though we hadn’t known each other before our 2 years compulsory military training, we had become friends almost by default since a lot of the group was not willing to mingle with those outside their own area. Jack on the other hand was from wealthy family in Melbourne. He was easily the smartest man in the unit, and the funniest bastard I’ve ever met in my life.

It was just a matter of time until the brass snapped him up and sent him to greener pastures. Looking at the horror in front of me I was thanking God that he didn’t have to be here alongside me and Paul.

God help us, the boat has reached the shore.

Everyone piled out following the captain, making their way to tank traps, debris, dunes, anything and everything that could provide cover. At least five men didn’t make it more than ten meters. Paul was next, charging into the fire as if his entire life had only been in preparation for this moment. Almost frozen with fear and inhibited by the biting cold, I followed him.

And then I felt the pain. It was like fire, burning amongst the cold air, as I fell forward as the pain shot through my leg. I wasn’t even three meters from the boat. My vision blurred to the extent that I couldn’t even see where I landed, face down in water.

As the water receded, I got a mouthful of sand and quickly flipped to my back. I could make out my leg bleeding profusely. It was a high wound, maybe an artery. Last thing I heard was a cry for a medic, then I blacked out.

—————————————————————————————————————————-

I remember flashes of consciousness afterwards, waking up briefly in a stretcher on a dirt floor, seeing tubes hanging in my arm.

And then I saw a man I thought I would never speak to again.

“A little higher and your wife would have been very disappointed pal. Or maybe relieved, looking at you she’d probably find it a chore right?� the doctor tending my leg laughed. Jack hadn’t changed, but that was the last joke he would make that evening.

“So looks like you made it out in one piece.� He explained that we had managed to push the enemy back, take land and hold it, how we were making progress. I was lying in the very place we’d just captured.

“I’ve got bad news about Paul�

Turns out that Paul was the one who dragged me to behind the tank trap that the medic found me under.

Paul bled out on the operating table, multiple wounds to the back. Although Paul was prepared to die, guilt swept over me that I couldn’t shake for days. I would talk to Jack occasionally, but never spoke of what happened.

The day I was discharged, Jack came to see me one more time.

“You’re getting out of here today mate, probably be back home not long from now too. See your family again, all that. Paul never had that chance, I think he lost himself in this to compensate. What else was there for him? I think he always wanted to have your life, but what can you do, wasn’t meant for him huh? When all this bull**** is over ill have to make my way to Sydney, see if you guys can at least brew some decent beer in that state.�

I told Jack he should come during the holidays, since Paul wouldn’t be making it anymore.

He had already traveled through his Hell, I pray that he found some peace.

Thanks to all those who entered!

Discuss the winning entries here! 

-Andy & Wii60 Staff

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 28th, 2007 at 2:47 pm and is filed under Wii60.com. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.