Sole Survivor

Sole Survivor

It was supposedly just a routine drill.
We were caught unaware, our eyes barely open
Under the early morning sun,
Which had yet to show its full face
Over the eastern plains,
When the first line of fire
Made my brothers a mere memory
In an unfamiliar wilderness far from their loved ones.

I was somehow one of the lucky few
Whose body managed to hit the ground
Before a blazing bullet prompted it to do so.
My weapon was one against countless,
Insignificant against such an opposing number
But nonetheless propelled with
All the courage of a hero challenged
And all the lust for survival.

The sun rose high overhead,
The daylight bringing with it
Realization of my growing predicament.
The death pellets raining down on my allies
Had long outnumbered those we delivered,
And with the last bit of sense in me
I crawled for the nearest soldier and with
The remainder of my strength began to dig.

The completed hole was the length of my body,
Just deep enough so that I could barely lay
With the corpse I had crawled to as the camouflage
Necessary to cover myself from enemy eyes.
The smell of already rotting flesh
Nearly suffocated me, but fear
Served as sufficient incentive to remain
In the dark safety of what might be an unofficial grave.

Minutes passed like hours,
Turning into excruciating days of torture.
My life flashed before my eyes repeatedly,
But never did the final moment of clarification arrive,
And my mind continuously cried out in anger
Against the God who so mocked me
And forced upon me the higher mission
Meant for the sole survivor of such a massacre.

And, then, my waiting ceased as quickly as it began.
I heard the loud footsteps of the enemy,
Drunk in confidence of so great a victory.
I heard the taunts and the insults
Aimed at my fallen brethren, defenseless
As all possessions of any real value
Were torn from their lifeless bodies
Deemed to rot like those of wild animals.

The enemy set up camp as evening approached,
Pitching tents and building fires in preparation
Of the long, cold night that awaited
Before the journey farther towards their destination
Where fresh troops were stationed,
Clean, crisp soldiers in straight lines
Who were spared the horrors and degradation
I and the dead surrounding me were not.

Laughter rang throughout the plains,
Infuriating, infuriating laughter.
Words became more and more slurred
As the enemy became drunk on cheap liquor.
The smell that hung on the air grew.
Death had become my only friend;
Death had become a part of me.
Death was all I had. I was death.

Gradually, the laughter abated.
The slurred words abated.
The footsteps abated.
These infuriating noises of the enemy
Were replaced with self-satisfied snores
Brought on by drunkenness and exhaustion.
It was time to act now.
It was time to bring death to death.

I crawled quietly and carefully
From the heavy weight of safety,
A heavier weight now on my shoulders.
I pulled my dagger from the boot
Where it had been sheltered
And with all the callousness of indifference
And all the courage as was expected
Slit every throat of the enemy as he slept.

I had become the rain of fire.
I had become the enemy.
I had become the grave of safety.
I had become the footsteps.
I had become the voice.
I had become the laughter.
I had become the sole survivor.
I had become death.