ShockTroopers — Crippled.
Seargeant Jeb Brodie finds himself away from his German captors who had been torutring him in an old farmhouse and is miraculously back to his old school days at the University of Toronto.
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He walked around the corner of the Education Building and there they were. His friends.
Edward and Teddy were jollying about among themselves. Strangely, Edward turned and called to Jeb, and he could not resist at least looking back at his long-lost friend.
It was Edward. Jeb could not help himself to meet his friends eyes. He fell back and gazed at his friend.
“What’s all this?” came another voice.
It was Teddy.
Now the three of them were together. Edward and Teddy stared at Jeb, Teddy shaking Jeb’s shoulder because Jeb wouldn’t stop staring at his gingerly friend.
“Are you mad?” Teddy smiled shaking Jeb further and laughing.
“Its alright Jeb, you VOLUNTEERED for the war. That means you can’t get drafted.” Edward chuckled.
He couldn’t believe it. Tears rolled down Jeb’s eyes as he embraced his friends.
“By God, Jeb….you’re not getting cold-feet are you?” Edward said as he tried to peel his moping friend off of him.
“He’s done and had a nervous breakdown,” Teddy observed.
“I don’t blame you Jeb. We’re going to war adn the Dean still insistst that we study fore exams. What a lout!”
“I —” Jeb stammered.
“Coem Jeb, let’s go tot he dining hall. We’ll sort all this out with a nice roast chicken and mac and cheese! Who knows what sort of gruel they’ll feed us when we go overseas.” Teddy said.
“I heard the food is quite decent.” Edward said.
“You would, wouldn’t you, OFFICER.” Teddy chided.
The pulled Jeb ito the dining hall, a beautiful building with delicious, hot food served and hungry students scarfing down their meals between classes and studying.
The three sat down to eat and Jeb stared at his plate of glazed chicken and mouth-watering macaroni and cheese. It had been so long since he had tasted REAL food. He wrapped his arms around him. He was dry too.
“We’re not at war?” Jeb said barely audible to Edward and Teddy.
“Not at WAR?” Teddy nearly spit out his food.
“Its just started.” Edward said.
“You alright, Jeb?”
Jeb looked back towards his plate and around the dining hall. “I’m fine.”
“Look, Yorkshire pudding. That’ll liven the mood. We can go catch a game of football afterwards.” Edward suggested.
The pudding was placed before Jeb and it was delicious looking. After seeing so many people die, having slept in corpse-rotten trenches and craters, in the rain, and sleet, and cold, a Yorkshire pudding sumptuously gazed ufp at him.
“Come on Jeb! I’ll eat it if you take any longer….Its delicious!” Edward said.
He plunged his spoon into the pudding and shoveled it into his mouth. He smiled as if a great burden had been lifted off and in that moment, Jeb felt belonging again after so long.
As they continued to enjoy their meal Jeb felt a cold hand on his shoulder. he looked back to find his teaching supervisor, Dr. Holmes.
“Don’t you have a commitment to honor Mr. Brodie?” he spoke icily.
Jeb tried to bare it but Dr. Holmes’ hand kept firm. The laughter around them ebbed into the background. Dr. Holmes stared at Jeb, waiting for an answer.
Yet the words couldn’t form themselves in Jeb’s mouth. Instead, he reached for Holmes' now-unbearable grip. He tried desperately to pry himself free. “Mr. Brodie, are you shirking on your oath?” and Holmes’ grip tightened, pushing Jeb back against the table.
“I….,” Jeb continued to pull off his teacher’s hand. Suddenly Edward turned to Jeb, “Yes Jeb, why ARE you here?”
“Why aren’t you out there fighting for us!” Teddy added as he turned to face Jeb. Both Edward and Teddy placed firm grip on Jeb’s shoulder, which was even more colder.
Jeb shuddered.
Then more of the dining hall looked to him, shouting accusations, “What kind of soldier are you?”
“A shame to Victoria college!”
Jeb couldn’t take it. He jumped up punching and swinging at the hands that tried to reach out for him. It was like swinging his trench club, except he was back home. This was too much to bear and he ran out of the dining hall.
Pushing the oak doors aside he stopped.
The campus grounds looked ravaged.
The skies were blackened and Jeb could see the holes of artillery shells that had punched into the neighboring campus buildings. Smoke plumed from Hart House nearby. Bodies lay on the corner and rubble made up the grand entrance ways of several of the buildings.
It began to rain.
It was cold on Jeb’s skin but he didn’t care anymore about cold rain or freezing hands. He looked back to his friends. Edward and Teddy were in silent tears, looking straight back at Jeb. He looked to the floor as shame clenched his heart.
“Jeb….’ he heard a faint voice and turned.
But all he saw was the spade-end of a shovel, come crashing into the bridge of his nose.
“AGGGHHHH!”
Back to reality.
He opened his yes with an ache at the back of his head. They splashed a bucket full of icy water over his apparent nakedness and he shivered. A slap quickly accompanied the icy shower, as Jeb was dragged outside the barn.
Torches illuminated the disheveled structure of the farm. Coughing, Jeb looked ahead of him and could see a stump with an axe wedged in. An officer came in front of Jeb, holding his uniform, kit, and rifle.
The angry looking officer dropped all of Jeb’s belongings, kicking them in the dirt but still held the rifle in his hand. He examined it. The Ross Rifle, had a beautiful scope on it and Jeb shuddered at the realization that the officer had made so easily.
There would be no mercy for him. There never was for snipers and sharpshooters. Those who mercilessly cut down soldiers as they crossed the trenches. They were the bane of the war.
And this German had fallen upon one.
Jeb looked undeterred in the eyes of the officer. And steel eyes looked back at him. No mercy.
The officer picked up Jeb’s kit, finding papers that he had made as surveying material (maps, drawings, etc) for his sniper missions. The officer grabbed a bunch and pushed them in Jeb’s face, yelling in German. He grabbed Jeb by his hair and forced him to look at the maps that Jeb had marked showing the positions of the Germans in this very area. Even the farmhouse that they stood in front of had been marked as a vital position.
He grabbed Jeb by the collar and dragged him to the stump. Another soldier pulled out the axe and Jeb writhed while trying to free himself.
“Aggh!” he struggled but they pinned him down. The man with the axe raised it up and Jeb turned away as it came down like a scythe.
‘AHHH!’ Jeb held back tears as a jolt went from his hand to his chest, like a hammer. He held his head down for a moment, sweating profusely. His vision blurred for a moment as he gazed back to his hand.
They hadn’t cut it.
Just broke all his knuckles.
They would never fire another shot.
