Being a soldier wasn't as Abel expected, not like the fliers in the town square or the stories of brave men he heard growing up.

There were no great battles, no glory to be won against a great evil, no honor, as they say.

It was mostly mud, And fatigue, and bland food when it was available.

Many thought World War III would be a different kind of war from its predecessors, especially with the advent of technologies like drones. They thought in 2026 that maybe war would be unmanned, maybe fought with robots from a remote area in the distance, keeping the death toll down.

On the battlefield, though, Abel never saw these war machines.

All Abel ever saw were other tired men like him, and there was no satisfaction in killing them for he felt that they were the same as him. Sorry bastards who were stuck fighting in a war they didn't understand.

He remembered the boy he had to kill the day before. He couldn't be more than 17 or 18 years old. He wondered how the enemy could send such young men out to die.

He didn't want to kill the boy; he took no pleasure in it, but he wanted to live more than he pitied him.

He still remembered the light blue eyes staring up at him as he pulled his bayonet from the boy's gut.

Abel himself wasn't even that old; a few months ago, he was just another disillusioned 26-year-old man, looking for a way to matter in the grand scheme of things. Thus, he found himself sitting inside this dark, humid place with a rifle in his hand and sick and dying men surrounding him.

Of the six months of the war, he'd been there for two months now and seen three battles, which he considered the worst experiences of his life.

Abel was never a violent man; he was usually very passive. Even in the war, he would usually hang back while his other squad mates did the killing; he was the squad medic after all. Of course, he wondered if his fellow soldiers saw him as a coward as a result, and he thought maybe he was.

After that unknown boy rushed him in the last engagement, he knew he had to take more action, and that's what he did.

Unfortunately, it's not normal to take a life; killing the boy changed something in him.

He thought maybe it was some loss of innocence or a piece of his soul broke off; he felt like half a man. He had no choice, though, as he told himself, as he had sleepless nights haunted by the blue eyes.

He knew he had to prepare to take more lives. His squad, or what was left of it, received intelligence that they were surrounded by the enemy.

Somehow, during the last assault, they rushed past the enemy frontlines, and they dug new trenches behind enemy lines.

Abel himself didn't understand the logistics of the whole situation.

"Poor leadership." He heard his commanding officer mutter under his breath while reading the intel.

All he knew was that he might not see the end of the week.

He was filled with regret and hatred. Not at his country nor the enemy, for he was sure both sides were fighting for some good reason or another, and to him it made no difference. but the hatred he felt was at fate for dealing him this terrible hand.

He also hated himself for blindly walking into this position, throwing his life away while not making an actual difference.

He was stuck in these trenches with the three men he considered his new family.

All who had aspirations and goals beyond this war. But they will cease to exist, at least in a few more days.

Yusuf, Ingram, Mukesh, and Abel

Four men to be wiped from existence.

Abel felt a sense of acceptance and went to sleep, for he was not on sentry duty at the time.

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It was around 4 a.m. when Abel was jolted awake by Mukesh, the commanding officer, shouting something or another at him.

There were a few gunshots going off in the distance, and that caused Abel to come to his senses.

"The enemy is upon us! We've got to move." Said Mukesh as he fixed his helmet with the camera attached to it.

"Where are they coming from, sir?" Asked Abel.

Mukesh paused and turned to Abel. "Everywhere."

This alarmed Abel; he gripped his rifle tightly and listened to the sounds of battle.

Ingram was peeking out and firing blindly in the general direction of an enemy position.

Yusuf was nowhere to be seen.

"The east appears to have a gap; Yusuf already went to scout!" Shouted Ingram over his rifle fire.

"Then we go east and try to break through and head towards friends." Mukesh concluded.

All three men slowly went towards the east while trying to avoid the firefights between the enemy and the other squads who were in similar situations.

A grenade went off in the sleeping area around 5 minutes after they left, indicating they were being followed by trench clearers.

A man jumped into the trench from above and landed right on top of Ingram, jamming his bayonet into his shoulder from above, causing him to scream in pain.

The man turned around and glared at Mukesh and Abel, and in a split second, his features registered into Abel's brain.

Though he had a helmet on, Abel could see the red hair peeking out, and under the light from his helmet, he could see the caked-up mud all over the strands.

The man's face was weathered and pockmarked, and the grimace he wore showed great hatred towards them.

Abel didn't know why the man was so angry, but he instinctively raised his rifle and fired at the man in three consecutive bursts. He also heard Mukesh fire at the enemy.

Without thinking, he rushed to the aid of Ingram, but it was too late; he was losing blood rapidly.

Ingram was an older man, maybe in his 50s or 60s, and looked very frail as he bled out. Abel could see the age on him as he wasted away.

While Abel did what he could to make the dying process more peaceful, Mukesh stood vigil over both of them, watching for any enemies.

They couldn't save Ingram, but they could be with him while he died.

"We have to move Abel; let's head towards Yusuf's position." Said Mukesh after a while

Abel's face darkened as he stood up and looked over towards the dead enemy and stared at his dying face, something about him looked familiar.

Abel wondered where he would have seen someone from a country far away before to be able to recognize them.

"we have to move now Abel!" exclaimed Mukesh.

"I know that." Abel bit back "i have to see something."

Abel leaned closer to the enemy and saw him using his last strength to glare at him, he wasn't dead yet which baffled him.

Mukesh had enough and took steps towards Abel to get him to move before the trench raiders got too close.

"I'm know, I'm coming!" said Abel

Mukesh had an annoyed look on his face but said nothing.

Both men continued heading east for about ten meters when they came upon Yusuf peering through a hole made through the sand barrier of the trench.

"hey Yusuf!" Abel cried out in joy.

there was no answer.

"Yusuf!" called Mukesh

silence ...

Both men eyed each other in concern

"Yusuf you bastard this is no time for your games!" Abel shouted in an annoyed voice though he was more worried in truth.

they both hesitated before walking towards Yusuf.

"this damn guy," Mukesh said exasperatedly.

Abel reached Yusuf first and stretched his hand out to grab his shoulder but hesitated halfway. He looked towards Mukesh and then back to Yusuf.

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after gathering himself he grabbed Yusuf's shoulder and shook him. to both men's alarm Yusuf fell back.

Yusuf's face was blank, his eyes were wide open and it appeared he was staring into nothing. Abel and Mukesh were extremely alarmed when they saw Yusuf's corpse.

After exploring his body, Mukesh swore loudly kicking an empty tin that happened to be lying on the ground.

Yusuf was dead only Abel and Mukesh remained out of the whole squad.

In that moment Abel thought that he was in hell.

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After what felt like an hour of walking, the men came to the end of the trenches. somehow they survived all the way and the sun was late to rise but dawn was breaking.

during the walk they noticed they had lost the trench raiders which was a relief to them. though they had been caught in a booby trap which left Abel with an injured leg but Mukesh gave him a shoulder to lean on.

when they saw the end of the trenches they stopped to take a rest where it appeared soldiers were about to dig new lines.

"hey Mukesh, how did you end up fighting for the alliance?" Abel suddenly asked as both men sat down back to a wall.

Mukesh stared out to nowhere as if in very deep thought.

after a while he spoke. "i did it for family."

Abel looked puzzled. "family?"

"yea." Mukesh replied

Mukesh reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Abel.

When Abel held it he realized it wasnt just a piece of paper, it was a photograph.

In the photo was a younger looking Mukesh and a woman who looked to be his wife, there was also a little girl.

"Been two years since I last saw them." Mukesh said

Abel looked at him questioningly which Mukesh noticed and smile

"I wasn't always the decent and handsome young man you know me as today." Mukesh said in humor

"Decent and handsome? Not words I'd usually use to describe you Mukesh." Abel said good naturedly

"Man give me a break, I'm here telling you my life story." Mukesh replied with a laugh

"Anyways." He continued in a serious tone "before the war, I was locked up for doing a very terrible thing, something I'm not proud of and I don't ever remember being proud of it at the time either. But I committed the act and was set to be executed."

If Abel was surprised his face didn't show it, though it was hard to see his facial expressions under the dim light in the half dug out trench due to his dark skin.

Mukesh continued after hearing no response from Abel "I didn't really care about dying as I felt I deserved it, you know? But my wife and kid, they didn't deserve what came after my conviction.

Not only were they to lose me, the one who provided for them, they were also shunned by our community since I was a criminal. I heard they had to move to a whole new area where they knew no one.

Both our parents were dead and I'm an only child so other than my wife's sister, no one was willing to help them out you know? The cousins and other relatives of both sides called her the wife of a devil and my daughter the child of the devil."

Mukesh took a sip from his canteen, he was so hungry that his body began to shiver.

He continued "they were living in terrible conditions for the first three months after my arrest, I got letters.

My wife, she always wrote to me saying she will always love me. Freya was such a good woman I don't deserve her."

Abel nodded in agreement "men like us don't deserve good wives like that." He said

"Ain't that the truth." Mukesh replied

"How I ended up here though was an opportunity on death row." Mukesh continued.

"I heard rumours about that!" Abel interjected wide eyed.

"Aye." Mukesh replied "some old guy came to the prison one day, about 8 months after I was locked up and gave us death row inmates an option, fight and be commuted or stay and die."

"Wait a minute." Abel interjected "don't that mean the alliance knew about the war before it began? That's a whole 10 month difference between your recruitment and the start of the war!" Abel concluded in disbelief

"That thought came to me too, but in that moment all I wanted to do was to get back to my family." Said Mukesh calmly.

Abel sight and sunk into his spot.

"That's how I got here." Mukesh concluded

Both men sat in silence for a bit before Abel spoke "I guess we have to hurry and get you home then." Abel struggled to get up because of his leg but be stood up and held his had out to Mukesh "wouldn't want to keep the old lady waiting." He said with a laugh

Both men chuckled as Mukesh stood up.

"Maybe when we're safe I can tell you how I got here, though it's not as heartfelt as yours."

Both men laughed at that and made to move until they heard something that made their blood run cold.

It was the signature buzzing sound of a drone above their heads.

"Find cover! drone!." Abel shouted in alarm

There was a dugout about ten feet from them and they had to attempt to find cover from the drone in it.

The drone dropped a grenade but Mukesh grabbed it from midair and threw it over the trench where it exploded out of sight.

Abel knew the modern drone carried up to 10 grenades and hoped they could get rid of them all before they killed him and Mukesh

He knew he was a hindrance though because of his leg which now bled black blood. He wondered how he was still alive for the amount of blood he'd seen from his wound,

Mukesh fired at the area where he thought the drone was but it appears that in the dim light he couldn't manage to hit it so he gave up on that and tried to reach the dugout in the shortest amount of time while supporting Abel.

After hobbling for what felt like an eternity and disposing of around 9 grenades, they were about 2 feet from the dugout and felt relief.

That relief was short lived for as soon as they were about to dive for cover a frag grenade come out of the dugout towards their direction.

Mukesh swore loudly and shoved Abel in the opposite direction while the grenade exploded filling him with shrapnel.

Abel fell to the ground and saw that Mukesh was slumped down on his knees at the entrance of the dugout.

Mukesh was no more.

Abel knew he was cornered, he could barely move and the drone was still above him and he knew it had at least one more grenade. And that's not mentioning the frag grenade that rolled out of the dugout. There was no telling how many there were there or who threw them.

The drone never dropped a grenade though it just kept hovering overhead but a few gunshots came toward Abel which he returned with the side arm he had on his person. He had long lost his rifle.

Another grenade came out of the dugout and exploded near his side before he could dispose of it, immobilizing his good leg and his left hand. Somehow he hadn't died yet.

Abel with his injured right leg and his good hand tried to crawl away towards the mud wall at the end of the unfinished trench.

It suddenly started raining as the sun finally peaked over the mountains in the east.

Abel felt his back jerk and he wasn't able to feel anything again. A bullet must have struck him in the spine. He was immobile now with his face in the mud.

He saw a group of boots in his peripherals and then his head made a jerking movement.

All went black and Abel was no more.