David stiffened, then cleared his throat.
“Well, I was just wondering how this affects your decision to stay here,” he responded nervously.
“You mean do I still have plans to off that idiot Arles Moore’s great great grandfather?” Geoff shot back bluntly.
David nodded.
“As scary as it all was today, it doesn’t change a thing. Bobby was always there for me. If the roles were reversed, I’m sure he’d be doing the same thing for me. So no, I won’t leave my brother. I’m staying and saving him. It’s that simple,” he responded harshly.
Geoff thought about his tone, and realized how he sounded. He softened a bit and continued. “I know you think you’re somehow responsible for all of this, but you’re not. I am. I basically dragged you here, and for that, I’m sorry… really, I feel really bad that you had to go through all of this, but I just can’t go back… not when I have a chance to save him. If you want to go back by yourself, I’ll completely understand, but please don’t ask me to follow because I can’t.”
David nodded in understanding. His blank expression softened and he smiled.
“I’ve seen people speak of loyalty but disappear when they’re needed. I’ve seen people strut around claiming they’re brave, but run at the first sign of trouble. My God Geoff, you have more courage and loyalty as a teen then most people have in a lifetime.”
David reached across the fire, extended his hand and continued, “I’d be proud to follow you.”
Geoff beamed with pride. He reached out, grabbed David’s hand and pumped it aggressively in appreciation.
Sitting back against a log, David stared into the fire once more. Looking up, he added in serious but humorous tone, “But don’t ask me to ‘off’ anyone for you.”
Geoff’s eyes turned serious. With a simple nod, he replied, “Understood.”
-----*-----*-----*-----
“Prepare to fire!” Sgt. Cooper shouted loudly as he ran up and down the line.
Even before the morning’s rays touched the battleground, the Union line headed across the field to engage their foe. As the infantry headed north in double-time march, artillerymen lit their fuses, sending cannon shells high above the soldier’s heads. Seconds later, the high-pitched shriek of incoming shells signaled to the Rebel forces that the battle had begun once more.
“Y’all take cover,” Sgt. Cooper ordered.
Instantly, a shell landed mere feet from the thinly constructed breastworks, exploding on impact and tearing a gaping hole in the wall that led toward the bluff. Seconds later, another shell landed on the bluff itself, entirely missing the wall.
Sgt. Cooper watched in horror as another shell landed just to the left of the hilltop, completely obliterating a section of the breastworks.
“They all are targeting them sharp shooters,” he bellowed to David.
Standing just to the left of the sergeant, he shot a panicked glance up toward the bluff, then back at his commander.
“We need to warn them,” David shouted over the roar of an incoming shell.
Suddenly, at the edge of the treeline, a violent explosion severed a tree trunk midway up, falling across a section of the breastworks.
“Hurry. Get up there and warn them fellers to fall back until the shelling stops,” Sgt. Cooper shouted.
David hurried away, crouching as he ran. Following the low wall up the incline he heard another shell roaring in. Instantly, he dove to the ground and covered his head. In a blink of an eye, the section of wall at the top of the bluff disintegrated in a ball of fire and smoke. One minute the sharp shooters were there, the next they were all gone.
David raised his head to investigate. A wave of panic spread over him as he stared at the tragic sight in disbelief.
“Nooo!” he shouted in angst.
He leapt to his feet and sprinted toward the top. As he crested the shallow hill, he viewed the devastating sight with revulsion. Everywhere he looked, there were severed body parts lying about in twisted, mangled heaps. David felt sick. His knees buckled and he collapsed to the ground.
“Nooo!” he shouted again.
Kneeling on the ground, he felt the bile in his throat and he swallowed hard to control the urge to wretch. Tears welled in his eyes as he thought of the carnage. The only consoling factor was that all the men, including Geoff, had died a quick death.
“No suffering,” he said to himself under his breath.
Suddenly, another shell sounded out, telegraphing its arrival nearly halfway across the field. Instantly, David jumped to his feet and raced toward the forest several yards away. As the sound of the shell grew louder, he dove behind a tree and waited. In less than a second, another explosion blasted the top of the bluff. Fragments of the shell ripped at anything with elevation. Lying on his stomach, he heard shrapnel imbed in the trees high above him. Fearing for his life, he stood quickly and ran several yards deeper into the woods. Standing and listening, he waited for the tell-tale sounds of more incoming shells. Two minutes passed and he hadn’t moved.
“They’ve stopped. The shelling’s stopped,” he said to himself.
As he waited, the forest took on an eerie quiet. Suddenly, he heard a twig snap behind him.
“What are you doing up here?”
David spun around. Shock was instantly replaced with joy. Standing just yards away, Geoff nonchalantly fastened his pants.
David lunged at him, hugged him, then pulled away.
“What the hell are you doing out here?” David asked, nearly shouting.
“Dude, relax man. I need to take a leak. What’s the big deal?” Geoff responded, now confused.
“You took a leak? Geoff, you have no idea just how lucky you are right now. That ‘leak’ just saved your life,” he responded enthusiastically.
Geoff stared back blankly.
“What do you mean, saved my life?”
“You heard all those explosions, right?”
“Yeah, of course I heard them. Why do you think I stayed in the woods?” Geoff answered, now growing more alarmed.
“Smart thinking, Geoff. Had you hurried back to your post, you’d be dead right now.”
“Oh no,” Geoff responded, peering beyond David’s shoulder.
David nodded and replied, “Oh yes. Union artillery focused on this hilltop. It appears they were targeting the sharp shooters.”
“They’re all dead?” Geoff asked in horror.
“All except you,” David said, solemnly.
Geoff’s sadness gave way to relief when he realized he had escaped death by chance.
“Wow, I guess it just wasn’t my time yet,” he said prophetically.
David nodded, then tilted his head to one side, intently listening. He looked back toward Geoff and said, “Do you hear that?”
“What?” Geoff responded in puzzled tone.
“The shelling, it’s stopped.”
Geoff looked through the forest toward the battlefield. He took a few steps and noticed the sergeant charging up the hill.
“Here comes the Sarge. We better get going before he gets up here and accuses us of deserting,” he said.
As the two exited the woods, Sgt. Cooper rushed to meet them.
“Y’all ain’t planning on desertin’, are ya,” he said in suspicious tone. Looking around at the tragedy by the decimated wall, he turned back to Geoff and added, “Real shame about them boys. How’d you manage to not get yourself kilt, anyway?”
“I went to go to relieve myself. I guess a shell must have done all of this while I was away,” he replied, pointing.
“Hmm, that was one lucky crap,” the sergeant responded sarcastically.
“Yes Sir, Sergeant,” Geoff replied.
Sgt. Cooper scanned the field. His face suddenly turned cold and calculating.
“Them blue rats ‘ill all be here shortly. Rebuild that there breastworks and fire on them when they’re in range,” he ordered. Looking over to David, he added, “You too, New Mexican.”
“Yes Sir, Sergeant,” he replied in surprise.
The sergeant’s eyes narrowed and his posture stiffened.
“Y’all don’t get no ideas on desertin’ neither. I’ll be a’watchin’ y’all,” he warned.
Without waiting for an answer, he turned on his heels, and rushed back down toward the lower skirmish line, shouting orders as he ran.
-----*-----*-----*-----
David laid a final log on the hastily constructed six foot long section of wall, as Geoff loaded his rifle. Looking around, he noticed several more rifles lying about. Some were unusable as a result of the shelling. Others were intact. He collected three more and lined them up on the wall. As he was loading them, David loaded his own.
“That’s quite an arsenal you have there,” he noticed.
“I learned this from the last fight. I can fire off a bunch more rounds per minute if I load all these rifles at the same time.”
“That’s really efficient thinking. Pretty smart,” David complemented.
“Yeah, it worked really well the last time… saved my life.”
David looked around and found another rifle. As Geoff was taking aim far out on the field, David loaded the weapon.
“They’re coming. I see ‘em,” Geoff shouted anxiously.
Seconds later, David stood next to him and took aim.
“Man, they’re a long ways out. Any tips for a non-sharp shooter?” he asked.
“Yeah, breathe out and shoot,” Geoff replied quickly. Seeing a puzzled look on David’s face, he continued, “Take a breath, then exhale. At the bottom of that breath, you’ll have a couple of seconds to shoot. Aim fast and steadily squeeze the trigger. When you do this, it forces you to shoot instead of aiming over and over, growing more inaccurate by the second.”
David practiced the instructions. He breathed out, sighted his rifle, then pretended to squeeze the trigger. He repeated the process several more times, as Geoff watched the soldiers nearing.
Staring across the field, Geoff’s nerves were frayed. With moisture building up in his hands, he shook them out, wiped them on his pants, then returned them to his rifle. David watched the teen as he tried to cope with the stress of the battle.
“Good luck, Geoff. I know you’ll do fine. I’ve watched you. You have more courage and skill than most of those veterans down there,” he said, pointing down the bluff to the skirmish line.
“Yeah, right,” he responded, sarcastically.
“No, I’m serious. You have a strength that others don’t. If you can just keep a cool head, I’m sure you’ll be ok.”
“And what about you? Aren’t you scared? Or do you have nerves of steel,” he replied, accentuating his words for humor.
David stared at Geoff. His face lost all expression.
“To be perfectly honest… I’m scared shitless. It never gets any easier,” he replied.
Geoff nodded in understanding and smiled, happy he wasn’t alone in his fears.
Glancing back to the Union line, he immediately stiffened and took aim.
“This is it,” he said, grimly. “They’re about three hundred yards away.”
“Ready when you are. I’ll fire after you,” David said, his heart now pounding wildly.
Seconds later, Geoff breathed out, and squeezed the trigger. The rifle roared to life. In the distance, a man in blue fell to his knees.
David took a deep breath and exhaled. Instantly, he jerked the trigger back, bringing the rifle to life. As Geoff reached for his next weapon, David watched the Union line for results. Realizing he missed, he began to reload his weapon.
Geoff squeezed his trigger and quickly picked up his next rifle. Out in the field, another man fell. He aimed the weapon, squeezed the trigger once more and dropped his third enemy soldier. As he began to reload, David shot off another round.
Geoff turned to him in surprise.
“How’re you loading so fast?” he asked, while pouring the charge down the barrel.
“Skilled hands of a surgeon?” David joked, then added, “I don’t know. I didn’t even realize I was loading that fast.”
“Faster than me, that’s for sure,” he responded.
Before Geoff finished loading his weapon, David had reloaded his and was ready to shoot once more. He lifted the barrel, aimed and fired. Watching the Union line, he realized once again, he missed.
“Dammit, I’m not getting it. I’m just wasting rounds,” he said in frustration.
As Geoff quickly reloaded his guns, he watched David trying to shoot.
“You have to slow down. You’re too jerky,” Geoff said, then added, “You’re breathing right. Just slow it down.”
As Geoff fired his weapon, David tried to do the same. Out in the distance only one man fell.
Suddenly, the Union line charged. At nearly a full run, Geoff now aimed ahead of the enemy. As he pulled his trigger, his bullet once again hit its mark.
David unloaded his weapon and watched momentarily.
“Missed again!” he shouted angrily. “I better wait until they get closer. I’ll end up using all my ammo before they’re in my range.”
“The wind is blowing from the left. Aim about an inch to the right of your target. They’re also too far away to aim straight at them. From here you have to aim about two inches above their heads,” Geoff instructed as he squeezed off another shot.
“An inch to the right and two inches above their heads,” David reiterated.
He lined up on the enemy and breathed out and fired. Geoff fired his own rifle a moment later.
“How’d you do?” he asked.
David frowned and reloaded.
As Geoff turned back toward the battlefield, the whole of the Union line fired their own weapons, then broke out into a fast run. Seconds later, splinters erupted from the logs in front of Geoff’s face. Instantly, he fell backward, clutching his eyes in pain.
“Son of a bitch! I’ve been hit,” he shrieked as he lay on the ground.
“Oh my God, No!” David shouted in panicked tone.
Quickly, he knelt down and examined his wounds. Moving Geoff’s hands away, tiny scrapes and abrasions streaked across his cheeks. David took out his canteen and poured water over Geoff’s face, carefully washing away bits of wood and blood. As he examined the cleaned wound further, he breathed a sigh of relief.
“You’ll be ok… just scratches,” he reported.
“Man, feels like my face is on fire,” Geoff responded, then added, “And my eyes sting so bad, I can barely see.”
“Let me have a look,” David said, now pushed back Geoff’s eyelids.
He examined both eyes, then released him.
“I don’t see anything. Probably just superficial trauma,” he reported. He thought for a moment, then asked, “Are you able to shoot?”
Geoff squinted, then winced.
“Dammit, my eyes keep watering. There’s no way I can aim right now,” Geoff responded in pain.
“Can you load a gun,” David asked, desperation now beginning to sound in his voice.
“I don’t know. I can try.”
As David sat up, he grabbed the rifles and leaned them against the logs. While he reloaded his weapon, Geoff struggled to load the others.
David looked out over the field. Apprehension consumed him.
“Man, this isn’t good. Those guys look unstoppable this time,” he said.
“Shoot man, just shoot,” Geoff blurted out in fear. “Never mind talking, just keep shooting.”
Fumbling with the ramrod, he finished with one rifle, handed it to David, and continued on with the others. David quickly took the gun and fired.
“Missed,” he said in disgust.
He grabbed another rifle, aimed and fired.
As Geoff’s eyes watered, he closed them and reloaded by feel. Nervously, he listened to reports by David of the enemy’s location.
“They’re almost in range,” he shouted anxiously, then added, “my range, that is.�
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He fired again.
“Got ‘im!” he shouted in relief. “They’re close.”
Geoff listened intently. He heard a cacophony of unending rifle blasts. Further away, he heard the cries of agony as the wounded lay dying. Frightened and disoriented, he tried to block out the horrific sounds, but it was no use. With shaking hands, he continued to reload.
Prisoner in Time (Time travel) Page 23