Warning: some violence

Bang, bang, bang, bang. The bullets fly. Bang, bang, bang, bang. The bullets bury themselves in the flesh of innocents. Bang, bang, bang, bang. The bullets scar us.

General Greenway screams, “Byariars! What are you doing?” He thrashes his hand around, beckoning me over.

I run towards him, panting as the wind begins to pick up. “Yes, sir?” I ask him when he suddenly grabs my collar.

“You, boy,” he spits, “better know what you are doing! You are going to get us all killed!” He roars in my face. General Greenway looks over to my side and says, “Get Lunder to fight with you, do you hear me? Those boys on the other side will kill so we must fight for our lives!” With that, General Greenway shoves me, causing my grip on my father’s gun to nearly slip.

I race towards Carman Lunder who is clutching his side. “Hey, Carman!” I call him, and he glances my way. Carman has a pained expression. Despite the pouring rain, I notice that he is crying. Once I am by his side, I whisper, “What is it?”

Carman’s shaking his head. “God, Joey,” he’s saying. “What is it?” He echoes. “Everything is the ‘it’, Jo. I’m hurtin’ and we’re at war and I don’t know if I’ll ever see my fiancée again.” He shakes his head, drawing in a sharp breath. “Damn,” he goes, “I tore the blasted wound again.” He pulls his hand from his side and it comes off as red.

“We have to take you to the nurse,” I insist nervously, slinging my father's gun over my back. As I step forward, Carman steps backward. “You’re bleeding and we don’t want to get infected, do we?” I say softly and Carman pauses.

“True, true,” says the soldier. He runs a hand through his messy black hair and gives me a short nod. “Fine. Just don’t get us killed on the way there,” he grunts as I help him walk towards the top of the hill. “Don’t walk too fast too, Jo,” he says stiffly. 

Bullets wail in the air as soldiers scream. Some run for cover while others stand over dead bodies. Many are crying but I will not. My father taught me years ago that crying is for weaklings, and I was not weak. My father would beat me, telling me that I had to toughen up in this brutally honest world because no one would help a weak, fallen man.

The smell of iron and rubbing alcohol fills my nose as I open the nurse’s cabin. Carman’s face has turned a nasty shade of ashy gray when I manage to get a nurse to notice us.

“Wound?” The nurse asks, his eyes narrowing when he sees my father’s gun slung over my back. He turns his glassy green gaze to Carman and hums. “Side wound. Was it caused by a bullet or something else…?” He mutters to himself. He waves a hand at me and says, “You, boy, get a cloth and dip it in some clean water, please?”

I nod and go over to a rack full of hanging cloths, grabbing one of them and rushing over to a pail of clear water. Dunking the cloth into the water, I jog over to the nurse and Carman. The nurse snatches the cloth from my grip and places it on Carman’s side. The nurse frowns before saying, “This is a deep cut, soldier. You can’t fight out there. You need to rest.” The nurse’s voice sounds wary as he leads Carman to a cot, making him lay there. “You, boy, scram. Go now.” He chases me off.

I don’t go right away. I stay, watching as the nurse helps Carman to get comfortable and the nurse asks him a question: “The wound? Can you explain to me, soldier?” His green eyes darken when Carman mutters in a wavering voice, “Uh-huh, knife. Someone sliced at me. Tore the fabric as well.”

I suck in a sharp breath. He will survive. Hopefully. It doesn’t look that bad but who knows? I notice that the male nurse gives me a wintering look. He scowls, pointing to the outdoor area, his gaze unforgiving even though there is a murderous scream outside.

Going back to the battlefield is worse than I thought it would be. Gritting my teeth, I cringe when I see a man shoot a younger man, around my age. The younger man makes no noise as the bullet tears through his brain. He falls and the man cheers, rushing back to his group.

I can’t breathe as I aim the gun at the man’s head and fire. The gun rocks in my hands and I stumble backwards. The man lets out a guttural scream before falling and his friends jump, firing their guns at me. They don’t hit me as fast as I can back to the base. I nearly trip over a dead body. I gag dryly. The bullets whistle in my ears, snarling, We’ll get you, we’ll get you, we’ll get you...and I tell them, Nice try. Not today.

The General clicks his tongue when he sees me. His arms are crossed over his broad chest and I notice that on his suit, he’s missing a silver button.

General Greenway thunders, “Where were you?! Symon’s dead because you weren't here!” He rages, looking accusingly at me. “This is your fault! You were supposed to be fighting with Lunder and then you disappeared to who knows where?! What are you doing, boy?! Where’s Lunder? Why aren’t you fighting? What is your problem?!” He spits.

“Well, Carman was bleeding! I didn’t want him to die!” I yell. “I’m sick of having you accuse me for everything! I am a person, not many! You do realize that you only call me boy, and not anyone else? It’s not fair! I am trying to keep others alive as best as I can and yet you seem to blame me for something I didn’t do and cannot help.” I drop my voice into a whisper. “Sorry for not being there for Sen, General Greenway,” I spit back.

Ignoring General Greenway’s call, I race towards the heart of the battle.