The Captain

 

 

 

The Captain

The tank drove up the incline. It followed the road which turned to the left. Houses and small buildings were dotted here and there. The Captain was at the command position his hatch open. He held the 50 Cal and squeezed off short bursts at German civilians. They crumpled and fell and did not move. The Captain nodded and kept moving the gun and his head looking for targets. It was like they were connected. He squeezed off five round bursts. The reports echoed over the small town in the hills. This was enemy territory and the Captain pushed his crew and tank to race ahead. He was waging war in Germany! Dead civilians were proof of this. The Captain told himself war was war and he was paid to do a job and he was doing his job. America had given him a tank and the training to do this. This was what the Germans had done in Poland and Russia. It was what the Allies were doing in Germany. Who cared if they were civvies and not soldiers? He fired at a woman in a faded red dress who ran over the road. She stumbled and fell down dead. His tank drove over her body. War was war and he was paid to do a job. It was enjoyable.

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