A7X One Shots

I’d been in the Army since I was eighteen, joined right out of high school. For the last ten years, I’d done my civic duty. Tours were a breeze for me, at least they once were.

My eyes track the carnage in front of me. Bodies line the roads, and I’m not sure if they’re my Army buddies or not. We’re not done here yet, so I pray the sun doesn’t rise and shine light on all this blood and war. Not to mention, those of us who are left need to stay in disguise. The sun could easily give us away. Fear starts to eat at me as I continue to stare at the death in front of me.

I shake my head. These feelings can’t be right. God, I think, lend me your courage to stand up and fight tonight.

The rest of my platoon moves forward. We’re quiet on our feet, our weapons raised to fight. The war has only gotten worse over the years. The fighting rages on and on. For years, I’ve walked this land without belonging, but two million soldiers can’t be wrong. Can they?

We pause in our march. The landscape is blank, nothing is in front of us. This part was no fun, but we’d all be here before. Looking at a blank landscape meant one of two things. One, everything was fine or two, people were hiding from us.

As we marched on once again, all I could think was how far from home I was and that I was fighting someone else’s war. When I joined the Army, this wasn’t what I pictured. I wanted better things. The platoon made it back to base, and I immediately went to shower.

Something had to be wrong with me. Turning the water as hot as it would go, I let it cascade over my body. It wasn’t hot, but it helped ease some of the tension in my body.

This was had gone on for far too long. In ten years, I’d watched my brothers change who they were, and I saw myself change too. Some of us are scared and others are killing for fun.

Hell, tonight, I’d shot a mother right in front of her son.

Sighing, I rested my head against the wall. Take this from my consciousness, and erase my
dreams, Lord.

How could I live with myself knowing I may have killed an innocent person?

I turned the water off and wrapped an old towel around my waist. We’re told to fight for our honor, but we’re really fighting for our lives. Everywhere I look, my brothers and sisters pray to God that our side is right.

Once I was back in my room, I changed into lighter gear. We never put pajamas on here. Like I’d said, we were fighting for our lives. I pulled out paper to write to my mother. She hadn’t heard from me since I started this tour.

Dear Mother,
We won today, but I still may lose until I make it home to all of you. So many times, I’ve watched you cry for me and wonder how I grew up so fast. Don’t worry, I’m also wondering where did those years go? I feel old, Mom! But don’t let the memories make you cry… not until I’m dead. But you won’t have to live through my death.

Sorry, that was callous of me, but I’m over this war. I’ve been fighting in it for ten years.
There’s so many soldiers on the other side, and I take their lives without any thought, just so they won’t take mine. I don’t know how I’m going to make it out a live at this point. I’ve taken so many lives… murder’s all I know now.

You know what’s worse than that? Nobody tells me the reasons we’re here. Why the hell are we fighting? Why the hell are we killing? They’ve turned us into killers. Every day goes by, and every day I take another life. What’s there to show, Mom?
I’ve got to go.

Love you, Mom.
Another night begins. Staring at the carnage once again, I pray the sun will never rise. No one should see the havoc we just wreaked on these poor people. I feel sick. The bodies are in every direction I look.

It’s just me out here now. I’ve been watching the death toll rise, wondering how I’m alive. It’s been an all-out war tonight. There’s bodies in every direction, and I’m alone. None of my platoon is around me.

I stop walking and look down. Bright red drips from my hands, a stranger’s blood. My mind had gone blank during tonight’s battle. As my mind came out of the fog, I realized I’d shot all that I can.

I shake my head as silence surrounds me, but there are no silent nights, not when I watched all my brothers die. They’re all gone with no thought of me. They abandoned me, left me for death, left me here in the carnage. Darkness surrounds me. Small lights flicker as I pass by, walking the city all alone. Memories haunt me. All the memories from my past run through my head. Image after image of the pain, suffering, and agony I brought to others.

I sigh as I pass by apartment buildings. Children laugh and a young woman smiles at me. I slowly shake my head. She shouldn’t smile at me. A murderer walks her streets tonight.

Forgive me for my crimes, Lord. Don’t forget I was so young, fought so scared in the name of you and my country. “What’s wrong with my son?” Mother asked the doctor.

“Post-traumatic stress disorder. He keeps reliving parts of the war,” the doctor said and looked at me. “Last night, he kept saying he was a killer.”

“So, what do we do?” Worry etched her voice.

“There’s not much we can do.”

Of course there isn’t. How can God forgive me for my deeds if I can’t forgive myself?”

Notes

This one was weird and jumbled. So does anyone else like the short stories based on songs????