The Rain

V.

When Jerry arrived back at the enemy camp, what he saw was a nightmare. Bodies were laid and strewn all over the ground. Blood was spewing out of the bullet wounds and soaking the hard earth with its warmth. Even now, the scent of freshly dead flesh began to permeate in the air. Jerry was just standing there, frozen by the graphic scene before his eyes. Everyone in the squad, even the colonel, was dead, reduced to nothing but mounds of flesh with the cold look of death on their faces. The rain falling on them only augmented their tombstone gazes.

Then, from seemingly nowhere, Jerry’s ears captured a faint moan near one of the huts. He ran towards it, making sure to avoid stepping on the soldiers’ bodies. He soon spotted the source of the moan. It was Ace, sprawled out across the ground with a bullet wound straight through his chest.

“Ace!” Jerry shouted as he bent towards his dying friend, “Ace, buddy, can you hear me? It’s me, Jerry. Say something, Ace. Say something!”

“J…Je…Jerry, you came back, man” Ace weakly uttered, “I knew you would come back, Jerry. I knew you would.”

“Ace, man, I’m sorry” Jerry said with a fistful of tears, “I’m sorry I left you, Ace. You were right, Ace. It was an ambush. The enemy was out there waiting for us. I should have stayed, man. I should have stayed to help you.”

“It’s ok, Jerry. I…I forgive you” Ace softly said, “The point is, you came back, man. You came back when I needed you. Besides, I got to fight, Jerry. I finally got to fight the enemy.”

“Yeah, Ace, you finally got to fight the enemy” Jerry said sadly, “You got to fight in the war just like you always wanted to, man. Your old man would have been proud.”

“Yeah, my old man would be proud, Jerry. Make sure I get back to him in one piece, okay?” whispered Ace as the last bit of life left his body. He closed his eyes and died right there with a smile on his face. Meanwhile, the rain just continued, pouring down hard over their heads.