Death is around the corner for all of us; some people just reaching their corner sooner than others. And having gone through the war, having seen the atrocities, what people were capable of doing to one another, Tommy, Arthur and John knew just how precarious a grip on life could be. That any moment could be their last. All of them had watched comrades die around them. Their sparks extinguished by bullet, bomb, bayonet or gas. And even now, so many years after the end of the conflict, men were still dying. The gas causing cancers, and all manner of other maladies. The sights, sounds and smells of war, playing out every night in the minds of those that had taken the king's shilling. So much so, that many would take their own lives; would take the lives of others, believing that they were still in Europe. That their friend's, loved ones were the enemy. The streets of their hometowns not where they had grown up; but the freezing trenches in France; the rats, the cold, still nipping at their toes. The cobblestones beneath their feet, seen as mud that was stained red with the blood of friend and foe alike. Their screams in the darkest hours of the night, speaking of the horrors that no one should have to see. So, because of this, even the hardened, world-weary Shelby's thought that some didn't deserve to die; especially when they were innocent victims.

                                                                >>----------------------------------<<

'In the Bleak Midwinter', it might be a strange thing to say when you have just faced death; but it meant a lot, to particularly Tommy. It reminded the boys that ever minute they lived, was extra; that they lived on borrowed time. It provided comfort, and it prepared them to face death, unafraid. Tommy finding himself saying it again, as he lowered the gun to his side.

"Tommy...........!" A voice called out. Arthur racing over to him, as Tommy pushed his revolver back into the holster under his jacket and pulled out a cigarette.

"They all dead.............?" Tommy enquired calmly, as he lit his cigarette and took a deep draw.

"I think so.............." Charlie said, as he came over to join his nephews. This latest, faceless enemy, having ambushed Arthur, Tommy and Charlie, as they made their way back to Strong's yard. It just lucky that Tommy had been more than a little suspicious about the meeting they were supposed to be going to, being held in an old warehouse out of the way, and at night.

"Well, maybe we should make sure, yeah, Charlie..........?" Tommy replied. The owner of the scrap and boat yard nodding before making his way into the dark, to make sure that no one was left alive.

                                                             >>---------------------------------<<

(Y/n) looked up at the sky. The clouds finally moving from over the moon and allowing the celestial orb to light the spot where she lay. Her mind was racing, as she found that it was difficult to breath. The awful taste of iron filling her mouth, as she tried to call out; tears coming to her eyes, as instead of a shout, a scream, there was nothing but a whimper. The pain in her side was worse than anything that she had felt in her life. It felt as though it was burning her from the inside out; and no matter how much she wanted to move, she couldn't.

She had only come out onto into the night because of her dog; the daft little thing bolting through the door and out of the yard, as she had gone to retrieve her clothes from the washing line. (Y/n) not really thinking anything of it, as she grabbed her coat, and went to look for the fuzzy little beast, that had probably found a rat to chase.

It had been quiet until she had heard the first shout. Her mind too caught up in the new job that she would start tomorrow, to take too much notice of the noise; but then..........then all hell had broken loose. The air around her filled with shouts and loud bangs, before she had found herself knocked to the floor. The breath leaving her lungs, as she felt as though she had been punched by an unseen force, with such power, that she wondered whether she had been hit by the specter of a truck. Yet now, the world around her was quiet once again, a strange smell filling the air, as she continued to look up at the sky.

"Fuckin hell...........ARTHUR, TOMMY!" A voice suddenly came. (Y/n) feeling someone drop to her side. A rough hand, brushing the hair away from her face.

                                                       >>---------------------------------<<

"ARTHUR, TOMMY!" Charlie's voice came, ringing out in the once again silent space. The two older Shelby boys looking at one another, before quickly making their way to find their uncle.

"CHARLIE..........?!"

"OVER HERE.........." Came the reply. Tommy and Arthur stopping, as they found the older man knelt next to a prone figure. Blood pooling around his knees.

"One of them.............?"

"No, it a woman..........."

"So.............?"

"A woman in her night gown and slippers........." Charlie added. Arthur's eyes growing wide, as he joined his uncle at the woman's side.

"Fuckin hell..........she's gonna be tha new barmaid at the Garrison. I met her this morning..........Her name's (Y/n)." The oldest Shelby explained, as Tommy came to look at her. The head of the family firm finding his heart begin to thump frantically, as he looked down her. Her eyes wide and pupils blown, as she looked up at the heavens. Tommy dropping to his knees next to Charlie; carefully placing his hand underneath her head and raising it slightly. Her almost black orbs moving to look at him.

She looked ethereal. Like someone that was already a ghost; but he couldn't let her die. She was an innocent, caught up in something that was nothing to do with her. Collateral damage in a war not of her making. The breath catching in his throat, as she managed to reach up and place a hand on his pale cheek. Her blood soaked palm, warm and sticky, as it slowly slid down his face.

"Tommy..........?" Arthur asked, as his brother got to his feet and pick the woman up.

"We could have done this......I am not going ta let her die." Tommy replied, as he began to walk down the street; hoping that they had got to her in time. The ex-sapper looking down at her, as her eyes slowly began to close. The last thing she heard before the world disappeared..........

"In the Bleak Midwinter.............."