The Last Stand

The Raven caws in the distance. Gunfire fills the area. Bodies built up into miniature mountains. Smoke rises from the bodies, a failed attempt to hide the massacre that lead thousands of soldiers to their deaths.

Craters litter the area, pieces of artillery shells lie unexploded, waiting, watching. Feeling for any sudden movement then...BOOM!

Artillery opens up as the sky turns a blood red. The sun sets, and still gunfire fills the area. An unseen enemy moves through the forests. The valiant defenders are unable to see these phantoms move about them, until too late.

Soldiers panicked and began to fire on one another. The commander yells "Cease Fire!" No one obeys.

Thet're scared. Inside their mighty trenches, only to be blown sky high when the artillery actually hits. The smell of death fills the noses of the soldiers and causes some to vomit.

The phantoms move. Unseen, in the shadows of the forests. Aircraft pounds the forest with missiles, napalms, and chain gun fire. No phantoms are killed.

How can you kill a ghost? The ghost does not bleed, does not feel pain. Its a phantom. A figment of the imagination. Who sees them? Only the dead. The dead swells their ranks, increasing their numbers. What happens to the bodies?

They are built into corpse mountains and set on fire. What about the souls? Forever trapped in eternal damnation, roaming the Earth seeking the living.

I lie in wait. Jack is to my left, Amanda to my right. We hold our machine guns out of the nest. We built a small fortress out of sandbags and lie in wait.

I have two clips left in my belt, Amanda has three, and jack has two. I look over to Amanda, tears are pouring down her face.

Now is not the time to comfort each other. Its time to be alert, to be brave. I am scared. We are scared. The phantoms are lurking near by.

A stick breaks behind me, I whizzed around...nothing. Is it my mind playing tricks on me? Or is there an actual phantom staring me straight in the eyes.

"Tyler." Amanda whispers.
"What is it?" I whispered back.
"I'm scared. I'm going to lose control. I don't want to die."
"We have to wait twelve more hours Amanda. You can hold on. Try to get some sleep."
"How can I sleep?" She started to sound piss.
"Just stare, and think of home. Think of your family and you will sleep."
"I'll try."
"Ok. I will watch over you. I will not let you die in your sleep. So help me god."
"Hold me please?"

I sighed heavily. We all are tired. I'm only seventeen, I lied to get into the army. I wanted to fight for my freedom. I didn't want to comfort her. I was on the verge of losing control.

I wrapped my arms around her and she started to cry. I held her tighter, not wanting to let her go. Jack was alert, he woke up about half an hour ago, so that Amanda can get some sleep.

Amanda fell asleep in my arms and I held her. She loves me, I know that. Why? Because I listen to her. I make her feel wanted. She clung to me whenever possible. I was sixteen when I joined, and I am a Sergeant. I rose fast in the ranks. Amanda is a Private. I can see why she is scared. Fighting an enemy we can't see till they are on top of us.

Wait a few more hours. Reinforcements are on their way, then we can hold this last piece of land before total defeat is imminent. Its important, the only land route between here and the capital. Surrounded by waters, deep enough to lose a submarine in.

We had a navy, until the war began. The navy completely disappeared, and the worst is feared. I can feel the heat from the Napalm.

I see the shadows closing in, yet its only the shadows of the trees as the sun drifts behind the mountains. Night will come soon.

I continued to hold her. Night fell, the crickets are loud and in full force. An airplane flies above us. A tear fell from my eyes. I want out of this fox hole. I hate this war.

It began unexpectedly. We were caught unprepared. The latest massacre took our entire battalion and now the three of us wait for reinforcements so we can go home. I'll go AWOL once we get back to base. One soldier won't make a difference. A yellow haze comes from the forest. They're here. I had to pee. I began to tremble. Jack hit my arm and pointed towards the forest. I woke Amanda up and we got ready to hold this stupid fox hole.

I placed my hand on my last grenade and got ready to pull the pin. I breathed calmly, steadied my aim. I heard Amanda's breathing. I knew she pissed her pants, mainly because my knee is wet.

I never thought this moment was coming. I'm a hardened soldier, served for a year now, and seen much death and destruction. I have to pee badly.

What to do to get my mind off of peeing? Nothing. I looked at Amanda, She calmed down and I smiled at her. She looked over at me. I knew what she thinking. She wanted to kiss me, get it over with, show our love for each other. I looked forward again and pulled the pin.

"Ready Jack?"
"Do it."

I stood up and threw the grenade. It exploded and the phantoms screamed in rage. I was scared now, I pissed in my combats. Oh God, please let us live to see tomorrow. Please God, just let us live. I want to live. I want to love Amanda and for her to love me. Please God.

I pushed the safety off and got ready. Orange. They were pissed. The grenade pissed them off. They don't know where we are. I hope. I'm ready to die for my country.

Freedom comes at a high cost. There are a few squads from other battalions scattered around. We can't see them or get in touch with them. They are coming. Hundreds against three. I continued to piss in my pants.

Jack opened fire, a few pop shots. Nothing. The colors disappeared. Blackness. Silence. The adrenaline pumped into my body.

Jack poked me and I woke up started. I pulled back on the trigger, but the safety was on. Amanda was still asleep on me.

"Tyler, its almost dawn. I let both of you sleep. Nothing new to report."
"When will the reinforcements be here?"
"In about two hours."
"Let Amanda sleep till then."
"Alright."

I moved Amanda into a sitting position and let her sleep. I took a clip and her last two grenades from her belt. As soon as one of them went off, she would be up.

The sun rose in the east. I felt the warm rays hit my face. I closed my eyes and embraced it. Screams. More gunfire. More death.

Tears fell down my face. I saw yellow. I woke Amanda up.

"Get ready." I said to her.
She held me tightly "I am scared. I don't want to die." She began to cry. She pissed in her combats. My knee became wet.
"You will survive. Just believe that you will survive."

She nodded and took her position. We waited. The sun rose high. Its high noon now, and no reinforcements. The airforce was out in full force. Dropping more Napalms, firing more missiles and more bullets into the forests. Screams from the unseen enemies.

Red aura's. They are angry and they are coming. They poured out of the forest and I pulled the pin on a grenade. Amanda grabbed a grenade from my belt and pulled the pin. We tossed them out and they exploded. We popped our heads out and began to fire. We kept firing till our ammo was exhausted. We managed to kill some.

The Helicopters approach. Yes! We are going back to base. They landed behind us and fresh soldiers poured out. We got more ammo and more Phantoms came out. We kept firing and firing.

We loaded clip after clip and they kept coming. I lost track of time. By the time the fighting ended, it was night time. We were alive. I'm happy. Another helicopter came in, dropped off more supplies and took Jack, Amanda, and I back to base. Amanda and I held hands on the helicopter and she was close to me.

"Thank you Tyler for getting me through that."
"Your welcome Amanda."

She kissed me. It felt good. We held. But, will we win the war? We got back to base. The base was in ruins. Fires burning, nothing remains. What we fought off was a decoy attack. I looked towards the capital city in the distance. Fires burning, smoke rises. I cried.

Amanda held onto me. I didn't want to be comforted. My family is dead, our families are dead.

The war was lost. We failed to hold the pass, now everyone is dead.

Help me God. I want to live. To love, and to be loved. Help me God...

I looked at Amanda, she wiped tears from my eyes. I gripped my pistol on my belt. She hugged me tightly. She didn't know I had my hand on the pistol. I pulled it and held it close to her head. I shot her in the head and she fell dead. I held it to my head and killed myself.