Smile More (Hamilton Fanfiction)

Chapter 10

An eerie stillness fell over the camp as you killed the last redcoat. His blood sprayed, mingling with the muck on your face. All you could hear was a soft thud as his body collapsed atop the culmination of corpses at your feet. 

Everything was quiet. You knew that everybody was watching you but you didn't deign to acknowledge them. What a sight you must have been; hair tangled with leaves and twigs, not a scratch but covered in blood, and a mud-caked face.

It began to rain... as though the universe has sensed the silence and felt the need to fill it. The rainwater caused the blood and filth to slowly wash away.

The quelch of wet boots accompanied the sudden downpours pattering upon the ground. Someone tackled you and you hit the mud with a splat as arms found their way around your middle.

"Oh, thank God," Alexander whispered against your neck.

"Honestly, Alexander," You muttered, rolling around a bit to look at him. You couldn't let whether there were tears or just droplets of rain running down his face. "I don't know why you were worried."

"Someone has to be," John said, standing over the two of you. "A complete disregard for your own life, you have."

You pull a face at him as Mulligan, Lafayette, and Burr joined John. You all begin to laugh.

"What is going on here?!" Came a booming voice.

It was Washington.

He stood, arms crossed, glaring down at you and Alexander. His gaze briefly moved from you to the congregation of dead bodies nearby. "How in the world did all of you get in such a state? Your uniforms are soiled!"

"Sir!" You saluted as you struggled to your feet. Alexander did the same. "We were just following orders."

"When exactly did I tell you to take a mudbath?" Washington demanded.

"You ordered us to prepare for battle and leave no redcoat left alive," You reminded him.

Again, his eyes flickered to the corpses.

"The lot of-"

"Wait..." You interrupted. Washington was momentarily dumbfounded. "Look, we saved live tonight."

"What?"

"How many are dead?" You asked, trying to make a point.

Washington didn't seem to have the answer so he looked around at his men. 

"Four, sir!" Someone called. 

"Four," You repeated. "It would have been a much larger number if we hadn't done what we did."

"And what, pray tell, did you do?"

"We - the six of us - hid beyond the treeline and waited, camouflaged, up trees. After the British had passed, we climbed down, picking them off one by one, moving in a clockwise direction."

"How did you know that they would fire from the treeline," Washington asked sceptically. 

"Because it is what I would have done, sir," You told him.

"You did not inform me of your plan," He stated.

You nodded. "We were on borrowed time, we had to beat the British there or the ambush wouldn't work, we were careful not to be slowed down."

Washington's eyes wandered to the soldiers standing around him. He sighed. "Well done," He conceded. "Though be sure to enlighten me beforehand the next time you come up with a last-minute strategy."