— They gave us the worst job, Tommy.
— Yeah... and we're fucking volunteered. Sometimes, it lasts all night. I lie here and I listen to the shovels and the picks against that wall there. And I pray the sun will come up at the curtains before they break through. "No, I don't pray — I hope. And sometimes, it happens. The sun beats them. But mostly... the shovels beat the sun."
Explanation:
Thomas constantly sees the nightmare he experienced in the war.