All I've Ever Wanted (Laurette)

Chapter 5

Laurens

It was a rainy day today. The perfect time for Washington to decide that we plan a surprise attack on the Brits since we had received word that they were moving camp as well. Shockingly, Washington agreed to let me go today but told me to be careful like I was a child. But he was making Lafayette stay at camp. I was allowed to go with a group of soldiers but I could take Hercules with us, and I wasn't going to pass that up. We headed out, taking no horses for fear of being heard. We were only a couple miles away from base camp when we split up into twos to take them from every angles. I of course chose Hercules to be by my side and we decided to take them from the left, hidden by trees and thick foliage. We sat there for a solid forty minutes and I was growing bored so to entertain myself, I sang softly, polishing my prized pistol. Hercules sat there, watching me and smiling oddly. But once I realized he could hear me and was listening, I turned red and shut up.

"Why'd you stop, John? You sing rather well." He said, frowning when I stopped.

"I-I don't really like people listening to me when I sing, I get embarrassed... I'm not that good and I'd prefer that no one heard my horrible voice..." I said with a small chuckle. Right as he was about to say something, we heard a whopping and saw that our fellow soldiers had just attacked the British. I quickly got up and cocked the pistol, firing at the targets before stepping out of the coverage. I charged straight towards the row of them that hadn't realized what happening yet. Hercules followed and was shooting those who were aiming for me. He missed though, so I turned and shot them, in a mere minute. Two of our men fell, wounded but not dead. I wasted no time and quickly went to their aid; I stood guard for them, firing at those who were so cowardly that they had to kill the wounded. I growled in rage, taking them down in one or two shots.

'Red coats. I hate them. I hate them with all my existence.' I thought. And that was rare, I basically never say I hate anyone... I always tried to stay positive but something caused me to just be furious at the moment, more than normal towards the redcoats.

"We're highly outnumbered! I suggest we retreat quickly!" I heard Hercules shout over the gun fire.

"No! We hold them off!" I growled. I didn't want to retreat, I wasn't a coward, but I also couldn't carry these wounded on my own and Hercules couldn't get over here. I glanced around and saw our men getting weaker. With a wounded pride, I had another soldier help me get the two men that where down out and we made a hasty retreat. I was the last one to find coverage and the British were furious, still firing at us. One of them had pretty good aim and hit the wounded soldier that I was helping right in the chest. I looked at the solider in horror. I figured that they were aiming for me but found a new target.

"Hurry! Before he dies!" I ordered and we hustled, getting back to camp as soon as possible, making sure we weren't followed in the process. I hurried the man to the paramedic tent, demanding for people to get out of my way. We got him on the cot and the doctor forced me out. I sighed because the doctor also told me to get away from the tent. So I went and sat near the fire in the center of camp. Someone was cooking but fear for the man's life filled my stomach more than food ever would. I waited for a few hours, waiting for the doctor to announce something, anything. Hercules tried to tell me that things would be okay and Laf kept asking Hercules what happened. After another hour of waiting, the doctor came out of the tent and went into the General's tent. 1.... 2... 3... 4... 5 minutes passed... Then, the doctor came out and told me the General wanted to see me. My hands were sweating, I walked towards the tent and everyone's eyes were on me. I was terrified, sweat ran down the back of my neck and my heart was racing.

Lafayette

I watched Laurens walk into the general's tent, and everyone was staring at him. I felt bad for him... Once he disappeared into the tent, everyone started to murmur and talk about suspicions, asking each other if Laurens was stupid for not thinking they would shoot one last time.

"Tais-toi! Shut up! You all know Laurens was trying his best! At least he had the balls to get the wounded back here rather than leave them for dead!" I snapped at them all, not letting them talk about my friend like this. "Show is over, everyone get back to your duties!" And with that, everyone left, going to their work and not saying another thing about John. Though I stood there waiting for Laurens to come back out. He came out of the tent but his head was down so we couldn't see his expression. I went over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at me, tears rolling down his face.

"I got him killed..."