The Shadow of War by Jack Murray (latest ebook reader txt) 📗

was the only ship to sustain serious damage. The noiselevel below was, if anything, rising. Another officer appeared and shouted tothe sergeant in charge of Manfred and his friends to get a group to help putout the fire near the magazine.

Thesergeant turned around and pointed to Manfred, Lothar, Sepp and Gerhardt tofollow him. The four men, along with the officer, ran around to the starboardside which was listing now at a slight angle. Below they could see around adozen men manning hoses trying to put out a fire in the hold below.

Theofficer shouted over the din, ‘The pump below is blocked by a car that hasrolled over a line connecting several of the hoses. Get down there and move thecar. Be as quick as you can. The ship could blow if the fire gets to themagazine.’

Thesergeant took instruction from the officer and then waved at the boys to followhim down below to the hold. They descended two sets of stairs rapidly. A minutelater they were now below deck. All around them were tanks, a few armoured carsand jeeps. The heat was intense but because the magazine was being hosed upabove, the water spray cooled them as they followed the sergeant.

‘Grabthe rope over there,’ shouted the sergeant.

Gerhardtdid as he was told and returned with a thick rope. They were now beside thejeep. Simply rolling it forward off the water line was not an option. It waswedged against another jeep, bumper to bumper. They would have to use the ropeand pull it a foot to their left to release the line.

Manfredrisked a glance at the fire. It had reached the magazine. The fire fighterswere losing the battle. Gerhardt helped the sergeant tie the rope around thewheel axle. Then all four men took the strain and tried to pull the car off theline. The effort seemed to tear Manfred’s muscles as he pulled with every ounceof his being. At first it seemed a hopeless task. He glanced at Lothar andSepp. The sergeant had chosen well. Manfred doubted there were two stronger menon board. Slowly it felt like something was giving.

Afterthirty seconds, they felt the wheel slip off the line. Moments later they hearda roar of approval as more water was released to fight the blaze. However,there was no time to stop and survey their work. The sergeant yelled at them toget back to the ladder. This required no second instruction.

Theship’s siren was telling them that it was time to abandon ship.

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‘Backto the lifeboat station,’ ordered the sergeant. They weaved through thearmoured vehicles to the metal ladder connecting the hold to the upper deck.The sergeant stood back and waited as each of the young men clambered up theladder. Up above a captain was shouting at them to move quickly. The lifeboatswere in the water.

Seppwas at the top first followed by Lothar and then Manfred. Gerhardt virtuallyhad his arms ripped from sockets as Lothar pulled him up to the deck. The shiplurched a little more followed by awful silence, probably lasting no more thana heartbeat. Seconds later, there was a tremendous explosion in the magazine.

Theship juddered. Manfred glanced down in horror as the sergeant lost his grip andfell backwards into the hold. He hit the deck with a thump. It knocked himunconscious.

‘Quick,’shouted Manfred, ‘we have to get him.’

Gerhardtjumped down the steps with Manfred. Lothar joined his two friends split secondslater. Manfred was the first to reach the sergeant. He was out cold but still breathing.There was no time to worry about back injuries. The intensity of the heat wouldkill him in a minute. The fire was almost upon the three men.

Anothersmaller explosion rocked the vehicles behind them.

Manfredput his hands underneath the arms of the prone man and hoisted him. Lothargrabbed him and threw him over his back like he was a rag doll. Manfred almostlaughed at the ease with his friend handled the sergeant, who was built like alight-heavyweight.

Lothartook him as far as the steps. The heat was felt like it was searing the skin ofManfred’s face. Worse the metal ladder was getting hotter by the second. Athird explosion rocked the boat. Manfred reached up to stop Lothar falling ontop of him. With a final push-pull, the sergeant was hauled up onto the deck byother soldiers waiting for them. The back of his head had a gash and he wasstill unconscious. Sepp was there and picked up the sergeant as easily asLothar had. They rushed to the other side of the boat where the lifeboats hadbeen lowered.

They,and a few other soldiers, were the last on board. The decks were empty. Thestragglers, including the captain, prepared to jump into the sea to be pickedup.

‘Where’sour boat?’ asked Sepp. His face managed the improbable feat of being white withfear and bathed in sweat from his exertion.

Gerhardtpointed down to the sea.

‘Whatabout the sergeant? What do we do?’

Gerhardtand Manfred took the sergeant each side. Manfred looked at Sepp, ‘Time tojump.’

‘Ican’t swim,’ said Sepp, but they were already gone.

Manfredand Gerhardt hit the water with an almighty splash. Both immediately lost holdof the sergeant. Manfred surfaced first. He looked around. There was no sign ofGerhardt. A moment later his friend appeared. The looked at one another and inan instant ducked under water again. The water was as dark as it was cold. Thelifebelt prevented Manfred from kicking lower. He quickly released it and diveddeeper, looking for the sergeant. Despite the poor visibility, Manfred couldsee Gerhardt a few metres deeper. He had grabbed the sergeant by the scruff ofhis uniform.

Lungsbeginning to burn, Manfred surged towards the two men and came underneath thesergeant and began to kick upwards. Moments later two other men entered thewater a few feet away from them. They kicked over to the Manfred and Gerhardt.Moments later the sergeant was on the surface and being dragged towards theboat.

Manfredswam alongside the boat also. The men on the boat had hauled the sergeant onboard. All around there was bedlam. Shouting, more explosions on from the ship.

‘Where’sLothar and Sepp?’ asked Gerhardt.

Thenhe and Manfred realised why there was so much shouting. Clinging to the