The Briefest of Brief Introductions to the Absurd

It was now seven, and the gunfire seemed to have come nearer, fresh batteries were firing on the other side of Sedan, nearer and nearer.
'Oh well,' Sergeant Sapin said in his matter-off-fact way to Jean and Maurice, 'I shall be killed today... Still, it's annoying because I was going to get married when I got home.'

So it was that Sergeant Sapin met the death he was expecting. He had turned round and he saw the shell coming when it could no longer be avoided.
'Ah, here it is!' was all he said.
His little face, with its big eyes, was merely deeply sad, with no terror. His belly was split open...

Extract from 'The Debacle' by Emile Zola