The Price of Love

Chapter 6

Alex's PoV

I cock my musket and tighten my grip on it, keeping my composure as I watch the British ships approach down the East River. "Steady men. We've been expecting this for a week. You're ready." I reassure my men. Seven thousand feet away, six thousand feet away, five thousand feet away. "Fire the cannons!" I order. "Duck and cover!" I scream as a cannonball whizzes past us. We scatter, wait a few seconds, then fire another few rounds from the cannons, the dock shaking slightly from the force of it. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Two of the cannonballs hit the lead ship.

"Incoming!" Someone yells, pointing to the sky. Half a dozen cannonballs are headed our way.

"SCATTER!" I roar. "Leave the cannons! GET TO COVER!" I sprint along the dock and dive behind a stack of lumber, almost falling into the bay. BOOM! A cannonball lands a few yards behind me. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Two more fall into the water, the other three hit the dock. Knowing we only have an opening of a few minutes, I pop up behind the logs and start firing. A dozen rounds, two soldiers go down from me. Other gunshots join mine, from the British and from Dodgson's men. Our cannons go off, most hitting the ships with only a few whizzing past and splashing into the water. I sprint out from behind the wood stack to the storehouse, grab as many rounds as I can, and dart back before the British can see what I'm doing. "WE'LL NEVER YIELD!" I scream at them, feeling my face reddening in anger as their ships draw slowly ever nearer. "COME ON YOU COWARDS! COME FIGHT ME!" Spittle flies from my mouth as I jump onto the wood stack and scream at the British soldiers in pure and unchecked rage. I brandish my musket, cackling when they fire and miss me. I load it and fire at them, providing a nice little distraction for a minute or two for my men to reload and fire their cannons. "COME GET ME BRITISH BASTARDS!" I scream, diving to safety as a cannonball heads my way. "THAT THE BEST YOU GOT? HA!" I taunt them. They draw even nearer.

"General! Be careful!" Someone yells at me. I ignore him.

"General! We're out of cannonballs!" Lewis yells half an hour later.

"Fuck those cannons!" I yell back, watching as the British muster the courage to dock on the torn-up wood. "We don't need them! We'll board the ship!" So I, the hot-headed and impulsive being that I am, fire a few rounds at the British before charging out at them. The second ship we had just set into retreat a few minutes ago, so we just have one ship to deal with. I catch a Redcoat by surprise with a heavy blow to the head with the butt of my musket with a satisfying crack! He falls and doesn't get up, blood pooling around him. In close quarters, the British's guns are all but useless. That, coupled with the fact they didn't expect me to attack in such a manner, means I easily overpower and kill the ones that were coming off the ship. I'm soon surrounded by bloody bodies. "Come on men, search the ship!" I yell, running along the gangplank onto the enemy ship. Running through it, my men close behind me, we slaughter the remaining Redcoats, strip their bodies of valuables, and take as much food and ammo from the ship as we can at the moment. "How many did we lose?" I ask a limping Sergeant Dodgson when all the smoke dissipates and everything settles.

"We lost Sergeant Lewis and his whole squad, General." He says solemnly, wiping his sweaty brow. I nod.

"Go find your men, and clean yourselves up. You did good, Sergeant." I say, reaching up to pat him on the shoulder.

"You should clean up too, General." He says before limping off. I shake my head at his retreating form and take a deep breath. I look around and survey the carnage. Dozens of Redcoats are dead, and nearly a dozen of my men. Blood stains the weathered wood, but the water is already starting to wash it away. I turn and hiss in sudden pain. It feels as if someone's digging a hot knife into my left side and my right lower leg. Musta gotten shot during the battle and didn't notice it. Oh well, I've had worse. I reach into my pocket, smiling in satisfaction at the few bills I stole from the Redcoats' bodies. What now? Well first, I need to organize a clean up of this place, and send a team to loot the ship fully and evenly distribute the resources. It's not much, but it'll help. We can also take wood from the ship to patch up the dock. I think, rubbing my chin thoughtfully. Fucking British. At least they're helping my people. I inwardly cringe. They're not my people, they're their own people.

"Hello?" A voice calls out timidly. "Is anyone alive?" I look around to see a blond head peeking out from behind a stack of untouched boxes. Anger and worry flashes in me and I stalk up to him.

"I thought I told you to go!" I yell at him. "You could have gotten hurt! You could have been killed!" I grab his arm and search him for any signs of blood, thankfully finding none. "Next time someone tells you to leave an active battle zone, you listen to them." I hiss, pulling his face down to mine. He swallows, sweating slightly.

"Y-yes sir." He squeaks. I shove him away from me, only a little roughly.

"Don't pull a stunt like that again." My anger is fading, getting replaced with annoyed worry. "I fucking care about you guys, okay? I'd hate to have an innocent killed, losing soldiers is hard enough on me." I mumble, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Are you okay? You're bleeding." He asks, touching my shoulder hesitantly.

"I'm fine." I state stubbornly. "I can have the bullets removed after everyone else has been seen too. It's only two. They don't even hurt too much." My body decides to betray me when I move and a burst of pain blooms on my side, causing me to contort my face into a grimace of pain.

"You need tending to just as much as everyone else." He says stubbornly. Suddenly exhausted from the battle, I just snort.

"I never got your name." I say.

"Oh! Uh, John um, John Hawkins." He says. I smile.

"Nice. Now do you wanna accompany me to get these bullets removed or something?" I ask him.

"Sure." He follows me as I limp through town to the doctor's. Dodgson and his surviving men are already there, getting bullets removed and their wounds cleaned. I wait patiently by the door until everyone gets fixed up and leaves, giving them all a pat on the shoulder and telling them they did good.

"Susan! Two bullets, one on my left side and one on my lower left leg. The one in my side hurts more but the one in my leg is handicapping me and I hate it. They only sting a little, more when I move. Now do your thing." I say, climbing carefully onto the operating table and talking to the nurse who always patches me up.

"Glad you're alive. Not sure how, after all the times you've been here." She says, setting to work. "Blah blah this'll hurt a bit but you're a big boy so suck it up."

"What is pain? I'm quite unfamiliar with it." I say innocently as she uses a pair of forceps to spread the bullet hole wider and extract the bullet in my leg. "I hope nobody's too freaked out, they shouldn't be. I warned them a week ago."

"There's one bullet." She replies, holding up the small metal cylinder. "Shirt." I pull it off my head, wincing slightly. In a few minutes, the other one is out as well. "Now bandages." I groan slightly.

"General!" Someone says, bursting in. "You have a message, from the King of France!" I fizz with excitement and quickly take the letter.

"Thank you." I nod to him and tear the letter open. My eyes scan the parchment rapidly. "Yes! Yes! It's happening!" I cry happily.

"Yessir, and the ships will be arriving in a few hours." The messenger says.

"Yes! Thank you, you can go now. Can you send Dodgson here please? Thanks." I ask, grinning.

"What's going on?" John asks.

"Months and months ago, I sent a letter to France's King, requesting troops be sent to help us. The King hates Britain as much as we do, and he says he's sending three ships, full of food, munitions, and men!" I cry excitedly, waving the letter around.

"Oh, good for you!" Susan cries. "And you can go now, just be careful." I pull my shirt on, thank her, and speed-walk out.

"Dodgson!" I yell, spotting him walking towards me. "We're getting reinforcements! And you're getting a promotion!"