The cannons stopped. The shouting had quieted down and Ridley still laid there in the dirt. The feeling slowly came back to him. It started with his fingertips and his toes. Then he shuffled his legs a bit and rolled on his stomach. His arms were still weak and felt an enormous amount of pain in one of his shoulders. He looked around. He was alone or at least he thought he was alone. He sat up and heard a moan of pain. He turned his head and saw movement coming from Larry. He quickly crawled over to him and turned him over.

Larry didn’t say anything as he saw Ridley. He only showed him his blood stained hand and let out a cry of pain. Ridley carefully rolled Larry on his back and discovered that he was shot in the stomach. A stream of blood poured from the side of his belly, staining the ground with scarlet.

“Larry…” Ridley started as he took hold of his friend’s hand. “Larry stay with me.” Larry looked up at Ridley and gave a small nod. Ridley quickly wrapped his arms under Larry and attempted to haul him up. Larry’s cries of agony grew louder as he was picked up. Ridley gingerly carried him and set him against the side of a nearby tree. Larry held his hands tightly against his stomach with tears flowing down the side of his face and onto the ground. He coughed and blood sprinkled from his lips.

“It’s going to be alright.” Ridley said as he helped wipe the tears and the blood from Larry’s face.

“It hurts,” Larry said. “So much.” His voice was shaky.

“I know.” Ridley said as he frantically looked around. No one was in sight. They did march quite a ways away from camp. Ridley felt powerless. His friend was slowly dying and in terrible pain but there was nothing he could do.

“Help! Doctor!” Ridley shouted. He didn’t care who would hear him whether it be the Confederate or the Union. He just wanted to see his friend get to a doctor. Larry sobbed. His cries echoed inside Ridley’s head. Ridley himself started to cry as there was nothing he could do. He tore off his jacket and attempted to apply pressure to Larry’s wound. Larry’s cry only grew louder. He was stammering incoherently to himself. The once happy face of the man that became his friend was now twisted with agony and distress. In a fit of frustration Ridley turned away and grabbed a stone and hurled it into the open field. He let out a roar of anger. He dropped to his knees as the cries of his friend echoed in his head.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Ridley…” Larry said. Ridley turned back and saw his friend with his bloodstained hand outstretched towards him. “Please...Make the pain stop.”

Ridley shook his head. “I’m not a doctor. I don’t know how. I’m sorry” Ridley said frantically as his voice cracked and tears rolled down his face. He went up to his friend and held his hand.

“But you’re going to be just fine. You gotta have hope. It’s going to be rough.” Ridley said. Larry looked at him and shook his head.

“No one is coming.” He said as he coughed. A bit of blood sprinkled from his lips.

“No, they’re coming. They always come right after battles.” Ridley said as he turned around. The scene before him that he once found serene and calming turned into a nightmare. He saw the dead lay on the ground, undisturbed. Rivers of blood staining the grass and soil. The smell of open wounds and rotting flesh wafted into his nose. The smoke had cleared to show grey clouds. He could hear the sound of thunder rolling off in the distance. He turned back to his friend. Larry looked at him with a desperation in his eyes.

“I just want it to end. Please.” Larry said.

“No!” Ridley shouted at his friend. Ridley looked away from his friend.

“It’ll be alright, Ridley.” Larry said. Ridley looked up at him and wiped away his tears. There was a moment of silence between the two. Ridley frantically looked around.

“Please!” He shouted. “Someone help!” But he only received an eerie feeling of dread and despair. Only the dead were listening to his calls for aid and only the dead could respond with silence.

There was no help coming and his friend was in pain. Ridley looked towards the ground and saw a rifle. His thoughts were racing. He wanted to hold out for someone to come but deep down inside he knew and timidly wrapped his fingers around the rifle and picked it up. His hands were shaking and there was a lump in his throat.

“I don’t want to.” He mumbled to himself as he loaded the rifle. A task that used to be a routine for him now felt new and terrifying. With tears blinding his eyes and picked up the rifle and aimed it at his friend.

“Please...forgive me.” Ridley mumbled quietly to himself in prayer. “God forgive me.”

The sun shining through the trees gave off a yellow glow. He pulled the trigger. The loud bang from the gun echoed over the battlefield. Then there was a sudden rush of silence and an overwhelming sadness flooded the air. Ridley dropped the rifle and let out a cry. He dropped to his knees and his tears dropped to the ground. Larry was gone. And then a little voice whispered into his ear. “Run.”

Ridley picked himself up, turned around from the tree and started to run. He didn’t dare look back. It was too much for him. He just kept on running.