***
I felt my head pounding. My eyes, seemingly paralysed, refused to open, so I groped forward like a baby, always hoping that whatever I was to touch wouldn’t hurt me more than I already was. The distinctive smell of death hung strongly in the air, my stomach seemed to object to this and I threw up. It was the colour of bile and blood. My left leg ached, I looked down and it had a deep wound. I was so tired, so very tired I had to have sleep. Yes sleep. I descended back into nothingness.
***
It was three twenty nine am. The sunlight was starting to peep above the hills. I was anxious. My heart started to pump faster, and faster, I had been told to wait until half past the hour to strike. My troops were getting restless. Men who had been trained from birth, to kill a man, woman or child with no remorse were thirsty for the taste of their own blood mingled with others.
I glanced down and saw my watch read three thirty. I raised my right hand and all that could be heard was the terrifying sound of fifty men roar with hate and anger. I strode ahead, confident that this outing was going to be a routine slaughtering of a few scum from the outskirts of the city. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
***
I awoke once again. I struggled to open my eyes and managed to, but as soon as I did, I wished I hadn’t. Devastation surrounded me; everywhere I turned all I saw were grotesquely mutilated bodies, heads were decapitated, arms and legs had shrapnel wounds in them that protruded from the other side. I wasn’t shocked, I was relieved, I felt different somehow. All I could see were the eyes. Those deep, forgiving eyes. I felt more pain, but this time a pain unlike any I had felt before. It hurt so much I couldn’t feel it. Then, I saw a light. It was so welcoming. I took a step toward it and I felt light upon my feet. I let the light envelop me totally. Life didn’t matter now, nothing did. Only the light mattered to me, the warm inviting light…
