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I can’t believe I made it. So many of my good friends are no more. I try not to think about it too much, yet I don’t feel like celebrating with the rest of the troops. I scan for a spot of grass which isn’t painted red by the enemies blood. I find a perfect spot next to one of the few trees which hasn’t been blown apart by the battle. I open up my bullet ripped bag and pull out my victory cigar. As I start taking a few good puffs from it, my hands begin to stop shaking from the huge amount of adrenaline I just had coursing through my body not too long before. I’m sitting calmly, cigar in hand, I see a trooper franticly sprinting towards Uncle Sam. Must just be an important message by the look on his face, I thought. Sam’s massive smile changed to shock in a blink of an eye. As the message from the runner started spreading throughout the ranks, I could almost taste the energy in the air. I had to find out what was getting everyone so worked up.

Our troops were massacred in the other battles?! I couldn’t believe it. The excitement I started to feel as I thought about what the future would hold for my great country, changed into what felt like someone dropping a boulder in my stomach. The hollowness was unbelievable. As I stood there, not knowing what to do, I heard the order to retreat. Still in shock, I mindlessly picked my gear and prepared to move out. Standing in line, waiting for the order to march, I saw one of our scouts ride up to Sam at the front of the line. Sam acknowledged him with a nod of his head and the scout took off into the distance. The commanding officer, Colonel loftedraptor, starting walking briskly down the line, pointing at people and signaling them to follow. He got to me and did the same thing. He lead us away from everyone else.

After getting out of hearing distance, he turned to us and said. “The enemy is coming. According to the scout, they’re 20,000 strong.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, 20,000?! That’s almost double the population of the United States! He continued, “Men, I’ve picked all of you because you’ve shown courage beyond the call of duty today. Now, I ask the impossible of you. I ask that you stay behind to protect the rear of our retreating forces.” We were all silent. We all knew what he meant. He was asking us to sacrifice ourselves to give our forces a chance to retreat and regroup. Revshawn, was the first to speak up, “I’m prepared to do whatever is necessary.” “For God and country”, I said. One by one, everyone else began to murmur their agreement. “Good. Gather up your squads and do whatever is deemed necessary. Remember, if this army is lost, the country is lost. You ARE, the last line of defense.” The Colonel then turned and started to walk away.

The privates look around, confused, wondering why the army was marching away while they were being left behind. I had to tell them the truth. “The enemy is upon us once more. We’re under orders to slow them down to allow our countrymen a chance to regroup.” Where’s all the officers one man yelled out, why should I die for them when they aren’t risking their life for me? It was true. Only corporals remained. “We lost most of our lieutenants and commanding officers earlier today. Our military MUST have good leadership in order to fight. That’s why we’re here. To give our country a fighting chance. The world is bearing down on the US. There is no room for error. There is no one left to help us. Everyone must do their part. I’m prepared to do mine, are you?” Grim determination shone through their hardened demeanor, as I knew it would. These men are what makes America great I thought, luckily for us every American will do their part when given the chance.

Scrambling, we prepared the defenses. We dug trenches and made sandbags. Finishing up my ditch, I froze. Something wasn’t right. Looking around, unable to determine where this bad feeling was coming from. Then I noticed it, dirt was slowly vibrating back into the trench I dug. As each second passed the vibration became worse and worse. Slowly, everyone else began to stop working and looked around. “PREPARE FOR BATTLE!” Someone screamed out. It was a mad dash into the trench, and we all started straining our eyes for the shape of enemy silhouettes in the distance.

The whole earth began to rumble. So many enemy troops were bearing down upon us. I just hoped my 200 men and women would be enough to even slow them down. We had one advantage, this time we had the high ground! They were in range. “FIRE.” Our volley tore through them. “Fire at will.” Reloading as fast as humanly possible, I squeezed off a carefully aimed shot into the forehead of a Turk. An Indo was the next to fall, and there were countless others after him. Their dead bodies grew so high it turned into cover for the next wave of advancing troops. It was at this moment that that battle turned. No longer having to retreat and regroup, they just hunkered down and slowly began to take us down one by one. As they inched closer and closer, our numbers grew smaller and smaller. Now they’re so close I can smell them, even through the thick gun powdered air. This was it, our last moment.

I yelled out, “FIX BAYONETS!” Everyone quickly obeyed. “ATTACK!” The remaining 50 countrymen raced down the hill, screaming bloody murder. Ten feet away from enemy lines, five, two, my bayonet drove through the poor soul that happened to be in my way. We were quickly surrounded, yet we still didn’t surrender. Blood and guts were everywhere. We all transformed into killing machines. Revshawn couldn’t even be described as human anymore as he sliced a man completely clean through his torso. What I think was a man, screamed out as I jammed my bayonet through his eye socket. WATCH OUT! I turned and looked to see the barrel of a gun in my face. I saw fire……darkness.

This is a dedication to the men and women, who gave their lives to prevent what could have been a massive disaster for our country. May they never be forgotten.

Make sure to read the first part of the story: The Final Countdown.

God Bless eAmerica!