In the end I am just a Soldier

In The End, I am just a Soldier

My dear wife Isabella

Oh, how I have missed you so much. You, Benny, and Victoria are all I have been thinking about in this war. The men and I are stationed in a very cold place. It is so cold that it reminds me of our home in Russia. All I want to do is be in your warm arms wrapped around me, enjoying my favorite soup that you make me all the time. I miss you. And I love you, my wife.

Yours loving husband

Reznov finished writing the letter.

It was a cold and dry afternoon for the soldiers in the trenches. The air reeked of human waste and rotting corpses, mixed with a scent of blood. The soldiers, covered with dirt and trauma, lay in the trenches. Reznov, a man in his mid-thirties, heads up the hill of trenches, but as he is about to submit his letter, a yellow fog creeps into their territory and settles within the trenches.

"What is going on here?" Reznov questioned as his ears were hearing the terrifying coughs and screams of soldiers.

"The German dogs have unleashed.... mustard gas on to....", the fellow Russian comrade screamed before blood formed at his mouth in bubbles and he fell to the ground.

Reznov in panic mode, breathes heavily, opening a large way for the gas to enter his pipes. He coughs and coughs before blood forms in his mouth and he collapses. But something new had risen in him, something perilous, and primal entered his soul, and the memories of his family disintegrated like a paper on flames. His body, fighting the gas inside his system, stands up slowly, blood oozing out of his blood-spot eyes and nostrils. Carrying his rifle by the bayonet blade, not caring about what happens to him anymore. It is like he was made for this sole purpose. He climbs out of the trenches and hunches his back as he finds balance. Everything around him vanished, and he could see demons dressed in grey uniforms with red faces.

The sight of all of the demons did not faze him at all, all he could think about was shoot and kill. By the power of resilience, he charged forth towards the heavily armed enemy, giving a primal scream, striking fear in the enemy as they saw a dead man run towards them with all might and speed, with blood forming at his mouth.

He shot them and stabbed them with his bayonet, leaving others in fear. He shot and stabbed, shot and stabbed, shot again and stabbed again. While the chemicals in his lungs were taking more and more time away from him, he pressed along with other comrades who were under the same condition, shooting and stabbing to the point that the fear within the Germans made them retreat as they feared the dead men.

Reznov, his body trying to borrow extra time, collapses to the ground. Memories of his wife and children flood in. "I want to go back home," he whispers to himself as tears flow down his cheeks, mixing with blood and dirt. "I have to go back home," he says one more time before the light fades to black, leaving him to return to the soil. His last words, escaping in a whisper, say, "Isabella, my love."