Prisoner in Time (Time travel)

by Petersen, Christopher David

  “The Yanks are charging us. Get to shooting,” Pvt. Holley shouted, breaking Geoff’s stare of the gruesome sight.

  Geoff nervously clutched his rifle as he turned back toward the action. He raised his weapon and heard a loud ‘thud’ from up the line. Instantly, a shrilled cry of pain sounded out and another private fell forward over the wall of logs and landed in a heap on the other side.

  Geoff immediately dropped to his knees and hid behind the wall. Paralyzed in fear, he looked up at Pvt. Holley and watched him fire and reload.

  “What the hell you doing down there?” he shouted to Geoff as he filled his barrel with black powder. “Come on, boy. Get up and get to work. Remember: fight like you’re going to live.”

  Geoff nodded reluctantly. Seeing Pvt. Holley’s brave eyes staring back at him, he felt somewhat ashamed of his cowardice. A second later, Pvt. Holley’s head exploded in a cloud of blood and bone. He collapsed on top of Geoff, the blood pouring over him. Geoff screamed and instantly shoved the lifeless corpse onto the ground next to him. Tears streamed from his eyes as he tried to process the incomprehensible sight. His mind raced fear.

  Looking down at his hands coated in sticky blood, anger welled inside him. He felt sick and enraged at the private’s tragic death. He felt the private’s efforts were all in vain. He stared at Pvt. Holley and remembered his final words: ‘fight like you’re going to live.’

  Geoff’s mind surged and his heart pounded. He wanted retribution, he needed revenge.

  “It’s not all for nothing,” he spat bitterly.

  Looking over at his and the private’s rifles, he took a deep breath and exhaled. Instantly, he jumped to his feet.

  “You picked the wrong guy to mess with today, bitch!” he shouted loudly.

  Grabbing Pvt. Holley’s loaded weapon, he aimed and fired at the charging soldiers. Instantly, a man fell. Quickly, he reached for his own rifle.

  “Oh yeah, the grim reaper has a son and his name is GEOFF ROBBINS!” he screamed down the hill.

  Instantly he aimed and fired, killing another of the storming soldiers.

  He laid both spent rifles against the wall. Quickly, he reloaded them. In less than twenty seconds, he jumped to his feet and raise one to aim. A second later, he pulled the trigger, then reached for the other rifle. In a blink of an eye, two more men were dead.

  With both rifles lying against the wall, he crouched down to reload. In a moment of inspiration, he crawled behind the last two sharp shooters. As they reloaded and fired, they glanced at Geoff in strange curiosity. Moving between the two men, he placed his hands on the wall and counted.

  “One, two, three.”

  Instantly, Geoff sprang up and over the wall, picked the dead sharp shooter’s rifle off the ground and dove back over the wall again. As he landed, he rolled to his knees and crawled back to his waiting rifles.

  Twenty-two seconds later…

  Geoff and the other two sharp shooters, aimed on the approaching soldiers. The roar of three rifles was deafening. A hundred yards away, three more men lay dead. As the other two reloaded, Geoff fired twice more with deadly results.

  Quickly, he dropped behind the wall and reloaded the three rifles simultaneously. Swift and determined, he cut his time to nineteen seconds. He stood and fired three more times, cutting down three more men. Looking out at the approaching soldiers, he counted six, now only fifty yards away. With only a short distance left, he would barely have time to reload before they reached him. His mind raced through the calculation: “Three sharp shooters shooting five rifles… one union soldier will get through and kill one of us.”

  Geoff pushed the feeling of dread out of his mind and concentrated on his task. Quickly he began to reload. As he filled the three barrels with the pouches of black powder, he saw the far private stand. As he was ramming the minie-balls down the barrels, he heard a familiar sound… a low ‘thud’ sound. Looking up, the far private collapsed on the wall, dead. Shock paralyzed Geoff momentarily. He forced himself beyond his fear and continued with his work.

  Glancing out over the wall, Geoff sighted the six charging men. His heart pounded.

  “Six to two… fire man, fire!” he shouted.

  The remaining private stood and fired. Instantly, the odds became five to two.

  With only twenty yards remaining between the five men and him, Geoff frantically began to fire. Kneeling behind the wall, he barely took aim before pulling the trigger. Without waiting, he reached for his other weapon. Bringing it up to fire, he saw only four men. With fifteen yards left, he felt panicky. He pulled the trigger and dropped the rifle.

  “Fire the other rifle,” Geoff shouted, pointing to the dead sharp shooter’s still-load weapon.

  The remaining private realized the opportunity and lunged for the rifle. As both he and Geoff raised their weapons to the ready, so too did the three charging Union soldiers.

  Five yards away, five rifles roared to life… and three men lay dead.

  -----*-----*-----*-----

  Moments before:

  David rolled to his knees and held his head low. Pulling his hands from his face, he slowly opened his eyes. Blurred by tiny splinters of wood inside his eyelids, he had trouble detecting his wound. He wiped his fingers inside his coat, then lightly wiped away debris from inside his eyes. As his vision began to clear, he felt a measure of relief.

  “Phew, it wasn’t blood after all, just tears,” he said aloud.

  He looked around and still had trouble seeing. With blurred vision, he reached inside his coat and tugged on his shirt. Pulling hard, he stretched it out enough to reach his eyes. Once again, he wiped them, carefully removing any remaining debris. He blinked several times, coating his eyes with moisture. Looking around once more, he vision had almost returned.

  As he reached for his rifle, he looked up toward the bluff. Instantly, horror registered on his face.

  “Oh no!” he shouted.

  Staring up at the shallow hill, he watched the five men unload their weapons:

  As the four Union soldiers charged, one man fired on Geoff, the other three fired on the remaining sharp shooter. Simultaneously, Geoff and his comrade fired on the enemy. Even before the white smoke cleared, three bullets entered the Rebel sharper shooter just as he unloaded his weapon into the belly of an opposing blue coat.

  Hyper-alert and quicker in reflex, Geoff beat his opponent to the trigger. As his muzzle flashed its deadly intention, the bullet burrowed deep into the private’s chest.

  In a flash, deep guttural moans sounded from the three wounded men as they collapsed. The three that stood remaining, one Confederate and two Union soldiers, were now locked in mortal combat.

  The smoke hung heavy in the air. Catching movement in his peripheral vision, Geoff spun his body around quickly, building momentum, then flung his rifle at the two Union soldiers. With a loud ‘thud’, the butt of the rifle hammered hard into the corporal’s stomach like a punch, knocking the wind out of him. As the rifle pivoted around the corporal, the bayonet struck the private across the face. Both men fell backward.

  Instinctively, Geoff grabbed a rifle off the ground. As he brought it to the ready, he lunged forward as the private began to stand. A shriek of pain sounded as the bayonet plunged into his stomach. Geoff yanked the rifle away and turned to face the corporal.

  Both men stood toe to toe just feet apart. The seasoned corporal smiled a sadistic grin. Confident of his abilities, his eyes already carried the look of the victor. Suddenly, his grin vanish and his eyes turned cold. Before Geoff could move, the corporal began his lunge.

  Geoff flinched and closed his eyes. He felt blood spatter across his face. He cried out in shock and confusion, then fell to the ground. Upon opening his eyes, they burned as blood dripped into them. Lying on his back, as shock began to fade, he waited for the pain to begin. Seconds later, there was still no pain.

  He looked around. Lying face down in the grass beside him, he recognized the double strips on the man�
�s sleeve… the corporal’s stripes.

  Quickly, Geoff patted himself down. No pain, no wounds. He rubbed his face, only blood. He rolled the corporal over on his back and stared in horror.

  “Jeez!” he shouted in shock. “Half his face is gone.”

  Geoff jumped to his feet, then squatted in a couch behind the wall. He looked over it to see if any other Yankees were attempting to rush his position.

  “Nothing… no one,” he said aloud.

  He looked down from the bluff toward David. There, kneeling behind his own section of wall, David stared back. Still holding his aim up the hill, he continued to ensure the teen’s safety.

  Geoff looked back at the deceased corporal and realized where the shot originated from. He flashed a nervous smile and a ‘thumbs up’ sign. Instantly, David lowered his weapon and grinned. He nodded his head and flashed him back an ‘ok’ sign.

  “Nice shootin’ there, New Mexican,” David heard from behind him.

  He spun around and saw the proud stare of the sergeant.

  “Now get back to shootin’,” he ordered.

  With a nod of approval, the sergeant hurried back up the line. David glanced up toward the bluff. Geoff was already reloading and firing. He lifted his rifle over the wall and pulled the trigger.

  Within an hour, darkness began to fall and the Union siege had failed once more. With the commanders sounding their retreat, the Union line headed south off the field. As they rushed away, the whole of the Rebel forces let out their signature rebel yell in jubilation.

  Shortly thereafter, Sgt. Cooper made his way up the line. Stopping at David’s station, he addressed his men.

  “Y’all get comfy. This ‘ill be y’alls home for the eve. I ‘suspect them Yanks ‘ill be paying us a visit again tomorrow.”

  “Yes Sergeant,” the men answered in unison.

  -----*-----*-----*-----

  Two hours later…

  Up on the bluff, David and Geoff sat around their campfire and sipped their coffee. Staring into the crackling fire, their minds wandered through the day’s horrors. Both sat in solemn quiet, each looking for solace in their thoughts.

  “God that was awful,” Geoff blurted out, breaking the silence between them.

  David looked up, stunned for a moment, then replied, “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

  Geoff thought about David’s words and his own thoughts about him earlier in the battle. He felt surprised by his response.

  “Sorry? Why would you feel sorry for me? I’m the one who got us here in the first place.”

  Again, David stared at Geoff, stunned by his response.

  “Wow Geoff. I’m shocked to hear you say that. It sounds like you feel responsible for me being here. Nothing could be farther from the truth.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, to be honest, I’m the one who should feel responsible.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense at all,” Geoff replied, confused.

  David thought for a moment, then answered.

  “Remember when you said I was a lousy doctor… that I suck?”

  “Yeah, I was just badmouthing you because I was angry.”

  “Well… I don’t know how to tell you this… but you weren’t completely wrong,” David replied with apprehension.

  “I’m listening,” Geoff responded.

  David thought about his next response. Reluctantly, he continued.

  “A few weeks before your brother’s surgery, a couple of doctors left the hospital for positions elsewhere, leaving us short staffed. Right after they left, the nurses and other personnel complained about being overworked and patient care lacking because of the limited staffing. A couple of the other doctors and I decided to pull double shifts to help out. Everyone was so grateful, they started referring to us as ‘Supermen’. The praise and attention we all got from it was kind of intoxicating. One minute you were a faceless doctor, the next, you were a superstar. There was even a write-up about me in the newspaper,” David paused to collect his thoughts, then continued.

  “Anyway, after a couple of weeks, the workload became too much and the other doctors started pulling back… but I didn’t. Instead of listening to my body telling me to rest, I ignored it and worked even more hours, sometimes twenty hours straight. It was ridiculous. I really should have rested. You just can’t push your body and mind like that without making mistakes.”

  “The day of your brother’s accident, just before my shift was up, I heard over the radio about a bad car wreck and thought to myself that I’d better stick around. To be honest, I should have gone home early to rest, even before my shift was up, but instead I stayed and pushed the limits of my endurance. When I saw your brother, I knew he needed a lot of surgery to save him. Right there I should have passed the case off to one of my other colleagues who were well rested, but instead, my pride got in the way. I guess I thought I was superman and could handle it. As I started in on the craniotomy, I started feeling the effects of my exhaustion. At times, I felt somewhat confused during the surgery.”

  “So what are you saying? You made mistakes that caused my brother’s death?” he asked, shaken by David’s confession.

  “I don’t know. I know I did my best, but I can’t help but wonder if a more rested doctor would have done something differently… something that could have saved his life.” David looked directly at Geoff and continued, “I know how much you loved your brother and how awful this must all sound. I’m really sorry Geoff. Truly I am.”

  He thought about David’s words. His mind flashed to memories of a man who gave it his all during battle and of David’s selfless act while trying to save the wounded private. In his own mind, he had seen enough to know David was a good man and if he said he did his best, he would accept it and move on.

  “Everyone makes mistakes,” he responded simply.

  “Yeah, but this one cost one teen his life and dragged another into battle,” he replied, his voice filled with guilt.

  “Is that what you think? That’s ridiculous. I chose to come here,” Geoff retorted.

  “Only because of your brother’s death. If someone else had saved him, we both wouldn’t be here right now,” David countered.

  “If another doctor had worked on him, he might have died even sooner.”

  “I wouldn’t say that,” David replied.

  “I would. From the articles I’ve read about you, you’re like the best surgeon in the world… Even the paramedics said you were.”

  “Best in the world? Hardly,” David mocked at his own talent. “The best in the world never would have entered that OR in the first place. No, right now, I feel like I’m one of the worst in the world.”

  “Dude, stop feeling sorry for yourself. You explained what happened and you apologized. Let it go. You’re starting to sound like a wuss,” Geoff shot back, mildly annoyed.

  David stared at Geoff for a moment and digested the truth of his statement. Slowly, he cracked a smile.

  “You know, you always know just the right things to say to cheer me up.”

  “It’s a knack,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

  A large spark burst from the fire, instantly catching their attention. They stared into the flames and waited for another. As minutes slipped by, their minds once again drifted back to scenes from the day’s battle.

  The more that time passed, the more David held a nagging question. Festering amongst his thoughts, it beckoned him for resolution. Unable to contain himself, he found a topic that would ultimately lead to answers.

  “Man, that was some scary stuff today, huh?” he asked.

  Geoff looked up from the fire. His face looked blank. Slowly, his eyes narrowed and his lips pursed as he formulated his response.

  “Probably the worst thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” he said. He paused to think, then added, “Except for when I saw Bobby crushed inside that car. That was easily the worst thing I’ve ever seen.”

  David nodded sy
mpathetically, then said, “Yeah, you’ve really been through a lot over the past couple of weeks.”

  Geoff stared at David with suspicion momentarily, then said, “I thought we went over this already. Where’re you going with this?”