The Long Trail Home

The Choice

Nikolai sat up everything was scorched and he was alone in the trench. He sat up, slowly his head hurt and his body ached, but he stood up and walked towards the trees, towards shelter. He lost balance and fell flat on his face a few times but he kept trying, he looked back along the battlefield, bodies where scattered, but none moved.

Nikolai sat down slowly when he reached the trees, he could hear his own heart beating loudly as he tried to catch his breath. But then he heard something else, something quieter, as if it wasn't meant to be heard. Nikolai stood slowly drawing the rifle closer to himself, he scanned the forest with some trouble focusing his eyes. He found nothing through out his time scanning the thick woods around him.

He suddenly saw movement, in some bushes nearby. Nikolai stood and stepped slowly towards the bush, "Who's there?" He asked in German, there was no reply, so he switched to American, "Who's there?" He repeated. Only silence. Nikolai raised the rifle but right as he was about to fire a shot to make sure that nothing would be attacking him that night, a bullet scrapped his left leg. He cried out and slipped to the ground holding the wound.

Than from the bushes a form stood up onto two legs, Nikolai took in the younger man standing a few yards away. The young man looking only around 18 had dusky colored dark red hair, and soft, and scared baby blue eyes. Nikolai was about to yell at him in German when his eyes found the American Flag on the young man's right arm. He was an American, a dirty rotten American that was probably the one taking crack shots at them. The American's dog tags hang loosely and jingled slightly, that had been the noise Nikolai had heard.

The American turned around as Nikolai spat insults at him, the American turned around halfway at being called a "Coward". His thick accent confused Nikolai, it was unlike most American accents, even if he hadn't heard that many. "You probably don't even know the meaning of the word brave." The American returned, voice snapping like a wild fire.

"Neither do you if you hide in bushes." Nikolai growled.

"You're the one to be talkin'!" The American snapped.

"I was the one out in the open, that YOU shot!" Nikolai snarled.

The American took his time, thinking of something with his heart and pride but his mind didn't seem to agree, so he just turned, and started to walk away. Nikolai spat some more insults at him in German, and the American sighed, turned around and set his rifle on the ground and kicked Nikolai's out of their reach. "Alright, ya can't walk, and I don't know where I am. So, why don't we try working together to get out of the mess we're both in?" He asked staring down at Nikolai, hope slowly growing in his eyes.

"You are a stupid American!" Nikolai snapped at him.

"Fine than, but don't cry to me when a animal comes along and thinks ya look like a tasty snack." The American shrugged and walked over to his rifle and started walking away, Nikolai watch him but got nervous thinking about what the American had said.

He felt a feeling of overwhelming pain, and not being safe, "Wait." Nikolai grumbled.

The American came back, slowly, setting his rifle out of reach and walking over to Nikolai.

"Well, ya change your mind?" The American asked smiling slightly.

"This doesn't mean we are friends." Nikolai replied, the American knelt by him and pulled the bag on his back around so he could get inside. Nikolai pulled his knife and held it had the American's throat.

"What's wrong, scared I'll bite?" The American asked as he smiled, not showing any evidence of fear.

"Yes." Nikolai stated flatly.

"I'm just gonna bandage that wound, so stick that thing back where it came from!" The American replied harshly. Nikolai grumbled but did as he had been told and watched as the American bandaged his wound as if he was a medical doctor.

"You're good at bandaging and medicine for a soldier." Nikolai said grumpily.

"I ain't a soldier, I'm a doctor who just happens to be good at takin' crack shots." The American replied.

"I'm James David, and you might be?" James asked the German soldier.

"Nikolai Fischer." the German replied and shook James's offered hand.

"Well Nikolai, since we've agreed to help each other, do ya know where we are?"
James asked.

"No." Nikolai lied flatly but James didn't catch it.

"Great, we're stuck here, together!" James complained, crossing his arms, pain crossed his eyes but he hide it skillfully behind his annoyed feeling, though Nikolai seemed to have seen it but decided to leave it at the fact that James wanted it to remain nothing.