A. Earley

“ Sometimes the stranger left them for a few days, but he always made sure that they had enough water and fish before he left. He came back dusty and dirty and tired out, but he did not seem to need much sleep. Once, when the Tommy woke in the middle of the night and wanted a drink, he saw the stranger kneeling under a nearby tree. Flipping shell-shock, probably. Poor bastard.
The Russian soldier stumbled into their laager one evening just as they were getting ready for sleep. He dropped his rifle in his surprise and then held his hands up high because the Frenchman was groping for his bayonet. ”

“ The stranger settled down to stay with them and brought fish and water as often as they felt hungry or thirsty. When he was not otherwise engaged, he used one of their bayonets to whittle away at pieces of wood. Their wounds were clearing up fast and did not hurt any more. The Frenchman insisted on giving the stranger his gascape to sleep in because he had nothing else, and the Tommy pulled out his only spare pair of socks because the stranger's were walked to shreds. ”

“ When they turned the stranger over, the ants were already swarming in his blood. At first they tried to brush them off with twigs, but more and more ants came. The Russian pointed to the river and gestured that it would be kindest to throw the body in. The Frenchman shook his head, and the Englishman started to drag the body to the hole in the rocks. They laid the stranger inside and rolled a rock against the entrance and sealed the gaps with clay.
They missed him a great deal. Not only because of the fish and water. ”