At three in the desolate no-man's-land, among the lifeless German and French soldiers, only Paul remained. Sitting in a shell crater with bloodstained hands, the blood of a fallen French soldier, he pondered his guilt and gazed at a nearby pond. His long break had already lasted half an hour. As night approached, he wanted to reach Eguisac, where his two surviving comrades, Kat and Tjaden, were stationed.