Dying Soldier!

It happened too fast for me to comprehend. Seemed like hours passed before I could hear anything; my ears were literally deafened... blood spurting out from both of them, and my nostrils. I couldn’t feel my legs and my eyes burn so bad they couldn’t stay open. “This is it”, I thought to myself. I felt around me to see if any of the other soldiers was nearby. Though the darkness made it hard for me to see anything around, but I was also glad for it enveloped me from the enemies… a protection from more assaults.

The explosion was the loudest I had ever heard. It was deafening; like it was in my head. I saw bodies splintering into the dark thick smoke; the bodies of my colleagues. Limbs and flesh scattered in the air. As I was being blown off the ground by the momentum of the explosion, I lost my grip of reality. “God, my leg!”, a sharp and painful sensation ran through my lower part. No doubt it was a primitive explosive… but there was something more about it… I could perceive a strong chemical, tearing through my throat… choking me. The other soldiers were screaming and crying too. The darkness encapsuled us and made it impossible for us to see each other; but we knew every other person was in pain…and dying.

We were in the front line of the battle when the rebel soldiers sprung up this surprise attack. We didn’t see it coming and hadn’t prepared in any way for it. Emeka was the first soldier to complain about a choking sensation in his throat. He had been with the commandos who infiltrated the enemy camp few hours before the rest of the troupe arrived the fringe point. He was not comfortable with the atmosphere. He said that he was finding it difficult to breath. I heard him complain to the teams' medic and he was given some prescriptions. Ten minutes after, he went into an uncontrollable seizure. Before we could do anything, within seconds, he was dead…lifeless! Our commander began to scream,

“retreat!!!"... ”gaseous poison!!!”, he said frantically.

I didn’t understand what he meant by that, but I didn’t need to be told that Lieutenant Amos knew exactly what was about to happen if we didn’t move immediately.

“move. Move. Move!!!”... he kept on screaming. I grabbed the corpse lying in front of me and joined my mates as we started retreating towards our BASE. It was getting dark and we hadn’t the vaguest idea why the rebels had abandoned their camp. It was like chasing ghosts. We thought we had them surrounded, but to our greatest surprise we met their camp ground empty. And in fact poisoned with a this lethal gas. These rebels were devising different means of frustrating and prolonging this war unnecessarily. I was already tired of the whole mission; I just wanna go home; Back to my peaceful country and my family…my girlfriend and my little daughter, Margret! This was definitely the longest and most horrifying 6weeks of my life: I have killed more young men than I have had the privilege of playing soccer with in my entire life; some were barely 17 years old. But I had no choice -it was shoot before you get shot-. These young rebel soldiers hate Nigerian soldiers. They say we are the ones protecting the corrupt government of their country.

“without these stupid Nigerians, we would have toppled this useless government a long time ago”.

The rebel leader, Maputoo, said during one of their numerous internet broadcasts.

As I was beginning to sparingly get my vision accustomed to the night, I realized that I was the only soldier still alive. I saw mauled remains of my squad. Some headless and some with their limbs severed from the rest of their bodies. It then dawned on me that the warm, slippery and smelly moisture I had been lying on was my blood and that of my platoon members. “it is over”, I cursed myself! If I hadn’t been carrying Emeka’s lifeless body I would have been lying among the dead too. The weight of the corpse kept me some meters behind the platoon. They were several meters ahead of me and I was trying to catch up. I have to get Emeka’s corpse to the BASE for proper burial… whatever that is. He was my bosom friend from home. We grew up together in the ghetto of Ajegunle -AJ CITY-, a famous suburb in Lagos-Nigeria. I needed to give him a befitting burial…my last respect to a brave and loyal soldier. Deep in my thoughts and lying on my chest, face down because I couldn’t move, my left ear picked up a sound coming from a distance. No doubt, those must be the marching of rebel soldiers; and they were heading in my direction. I moved my hand in the dark, muddy ground to check for any ammunition close by… but none. If there was one, how would I manage it without my legs. The rebels were approaching my coordinate now. They are probably coming to see if their trap succeeded. I need to do something fast… I needed to leave my present position, if I must live; but strength fails me. I felt like a wet bag of sand, heavy and lazy to move. My thoughts were racing wild and senseless: I was thinking about my girl and how we met; how she so wanted me to be a medical doctor and not a soldier. She had always thought of me as an intelligent boy and that I was wasting away in the military. Now I wish I had listened to her and purchased that university entrance form. “God… I hate myself right now!”.

“stop there… you fool!”.

My heart stopped beating as I raised up my hands in surrender to the voice behind me. No doubt he must be pointing a gun at my back, cos a flash light was on me already. Any false move now will be a good reason to blow off my head. “I surrender!!!” was all I could mutter; A lame effort to see if I could be taken in as a P.O.W (Prisoner Of war).… at least I would live. And perhaps I would be used to broker a deal arrangement for whatever the rebels demand.

“you cockroach!”… “you think you people smart abi?’… ”now tell me, who smarter?”; “you or we?”. I didn’t know if he really expected me to answer that question. “this will teach your country to mind im own business and leave us alone to settle our domestic disputes”. This beast doesn’t seem to understand the whole concept of the African Union (AU) and the ‘one for all, all for one” mantra! When, and if he succeeds in toppling the government in his country, he would then begin also to signing such treaties with allies to prevent internal and external threats. Though I do not think that this is the right time or place to give him a short lesson on the international politics.

He walks around to face me, standing in front of me. And his “gang,” numbering about 17 youths had formed a circle around the two us... their guns all pointed in my direction. I was still lying in the pool of blood, wishing I was never born. My mates corpses were already beginning to putrefy; I could smell it. But at least they’ve been put out of their misery. I must have passed out for far longer than I remembered… maybe more than 24hrs. Why hadn’t the other platoons come to look for us? Were they also attacked too and killed?...attacked in the manner my platoon was ambushed? Then something from deep inside of me spoke some advice to my head: “I am a proud Nigerian… I must not show any sign of weakness to these elements of shame”.

“what do you want?”, I asked, half heartedly, trying to buy time; perhaps rescue could be on the way. He knelt down, looked closely into my eyes and gestured to two of his soldiers to lift me to my feet. They did so in a matter of seconds. I must have lost a lot of weight, cos I felt like feather when they grabbed me by my shoulders. Could it be that I have lost too much blood? The beast now standing in front of me, walked towards me, held me by my throat, and squeezed my neck so hard… obstructing my wind pipe… until I felt faintly. The other soldiers were still holding my arms, so that I couldn’t shake him off or break loose from his strong grip. He punched me in the stomach twice and I felt my entire foundation shake ; the pain was excruciating. It tore through my whole body… numbing my nerves. The third time he punched me, blood gushed out through my mouth, my ears and nose. “I am dying”, I assured myself. It’s so sad - dying far away in a foreign land- … alone in the dark with strangers who hate my guts and my nationality.

“this is it. good bye earth… good bye my lovely girl friend and my beautiful Margret”. I have always wished for a life unto old age; with my wife and kids…even grand kids. That is never going to happen again...ever!. The beast grabbed hold of my throat again. I was facing the sky above me now. I could see the stars and moonless sky. It never looked so beautiful to me. I guess this will be the last thing I will be seeing before it is over.

and then it happened:

“aaaaaahhhhh!!!!”.

I heard myself scream at the top of my lungs. It was a sharp pain. It burrowed through my guts; I felt it deep inside my abdomen. I knew what it was: I had just been stabbed with a large cabin knife. He pulled it out and plunged it into me again… and again… and again! Each time looking into my wide opened eyes and swearing.

“cockroach”… “this is for my brothers you killed… this is for my friends,… this is for Naomi, my pregnant girl-friend whom you murdered in cold blood”

I could feel my organs tearing away from their attachments. Blood flowing into my abdominal cavity… flowing uncontrollably. Satisfied and certain that I would die, the beast drops me on the floor like a piece of rubbish. I crouched into a ball and lay there waiting for death to come. I was ready… ready to go home. Now I know what it feels like when death approaches. The sudden quiet and saintly outlook on life. Suddenly nothing matters any more. I don’t care about the date, the day, my name or which football club is leading by points in the championship leagues; Or what’s up at the Laliga, elclassico match between Barca and Real Madrid. Only one thing comes to mind:

'...HEAVEN & HELL'.

I guess that's two things actually. For me, I knew HELL was certain. I have Just about 3 minutes left to live, die and join my ancestors wherever they may be. I am thinking what should I do to make this 3 minutes count for eternity.