Breathing ... softly now

with every inhale comes another exhale, softer and fainter than the last.

Who knows when the last one will come

Sitting here, listening quietly to the forest... I've had a moment for pause ... a moment to consider.

What happened? What really happened?

I try to put the pieces together in my mind.

I awoke with a startle ... there was noises ... loud noises ... coming from all around the campsite

I heard a scream ... scattered gun fire ... and then an eerie silence.

Time stood still for a moment ... there was nothing ...

nothing inside me ...
nothing surrounding me. ...
and then ...

I heard the moans

It was Jennings ...
I could tell from the depth of his voice.

No words now ... just sounds.
You could hear the blood pooling in his lungs.

Hhh ..

hhh ...

help ...
help meee

The words came dripping out of his mouth.

It took all the courage I had left to grab my flashlight and unzip my tent.

For whatever reason I had been spared ...

The camp site around me was a war zone.

Tent's were ripped to pieces ...

The remains of our dig site seemed like it had been hit by an anti-tank mine ...

something knew we were here ...

and it did not like that we had been digging ...

I made my way towards Jennings

his raspy breath guiding me ...
I knew he was dead ...
part of me knew I ....

I couldn't let him die alone.

I walked ... no crawled... my legs wouldn't carry the weight ...
the chill that ran down my spine was too much.

I saw him lying there ... surrounded by a pile of his own blood ...

and then I heard it ...