Us Against the World... War 1

Chapter 7: Don't Want To Die

Will's POV:

My mind is blank. The sound of Blake's helpless whimper rings over and over in my head. The sound makes my ears ache. He falls to his knees as he stares up at me with huge pleading eyes. ”Scho..” his voice rasps weakly as he reaches his hand out in heart-wrenching desperation.

I kneel before him and carefully take the bandages from his hand and wad them up into a ball. With shaking hands, I press it into his side which is pulsing blood. He immediately shrieks in anguish. He's trembling.

“Stop it, stop it!”

He pleads and fights with what little energy he has left.

“Tom…”

My voice breaks as I recite his first name like a quiet prayer. In a way that I had saved only for the privacy of my dreams on restless evenings. For a short moment, I freeze up, letting myself go sick with panic.

He goes still at his name, sinking weakly into the grass. His eyes start to close, which quickly snaps me back to the present.

I swiftly move into action, wrapping my hands around his waist.

“It's alright, it's going to be alright. We're going to stand up now.”

The only thing on my agenda is getting Blake to safety. He nods weakly.

“Yes… yes.”

He mumbles as he starts to pick himself up. I heave him to his feet, using all my strength. He screams in agony, and we both fall to the ground.

I lean him against me, his body heavy and limp against my chest.

“We have to get to an aid post.”

Tom shakes his head in protest.

“I can't…”

“I'll carry you. It isn't very far.”

“No, no you won’t be able to,” his breathing becoming rapid.
“Can't you just bring a doctor here..”

His words are soft and curious; his consciousness is beginning to fade.

Oh, how I wish I had earned my medical license before being shipped off to this stupid war. Focused on my studies more instead of fucking around doing god knows what.

“I... I can't, we have to go together.”

I look around to see if there's any sign whatsoever of help.

Nothing,

I look back down at Blake's tunic, his entire side is shadowed by crimson red blood, his blood. I may not have graduated but I know that no one should ever bleed this much. In a split-second decision, I realize I can't just sit here doing nothing.

“We're going to get up. We're going to get up.”

I lift him back on his feet, his knees immediately buckle, he swats me away,” No!” He says “Just stop moving me.” He's in tears overwhelmed by the pain. He grabs at my wrist.

“Please, Stop, Please…”

He begs and at this point, I stop. I realize how selfish it is for me to put him through so much misery just for my hope. Just because I can't admit the fact that Blake probably won't make it out this alive.

“Let's just sit… let me sit…”

He still has yet to let go of my wrist. As he slumps to the ground, I get a chance to look at his face. He's pale; scarily pale his lips seem almost grey, his face is damp with tears, his dark eyebrows are drawn together, and his eyes are far off and seem almost cloudy.