I don’ wanna be here, he said as he hugged his gun to his chest with his back against the wall.
I’m doin it for my country, I’m doin it for my country, he said. The gunshots around him were deafening and concrete from the buildings kept blowing into his face.
For my country.
He stood up and ran through the firing range in a zigzag pattern, screaming as he dodged bullets. At the last second, he jumped into a ditch filled with his own soldiers.
Where do ya wan’ me, he asked.
He was immediately sent to the end of the ditch. Kill the sniper in the church bell tower is what the general had said.
So, he ran. The bullets were louder than they were before and flew past him faster than they did before. The screams around him were louder than before and more painful than before. But the tears are what hurt the most. The tears rolling down his cheeks didn’t define his bravery or his strength.
The tears were weakness.
They were his family whom he had left behind, they were his friends who had died next him, and they were the feelings that reminded him that the world wasn’t all awful.
Don’ do it, he said to himself as he ran.
Don’ cry.
For my country.
He slid in the dirt and found a position behind the bushes where the sniper was in his line of sight. The rock stabilized the gun so it wouldn’t move when he shot. With his belly on the floor littered with blood and mud, he looked into the eyepiece of the gun. All he needed to do now was wait for the sniper to move his head.
This oughta be wrong, he said, I don’ wanna, but I gotta. When I get home, my family are gonna be so proud of me.
He relaxed. His finger quivered as it brushed up against the trigger and his arms trembled due to the amount of his weight they were carrying.
The sniper moved. His head was in the gun’s line of sight.
For my family, he said, for my friends, he said, and for the world.
He pulled the trigger.
Straight through the forehead.
The sniper flipped over the top of the church building and landed with a thud onto the floor in front.
I did it, he said. I did it.
He ran up to see his victim, the first thing he ever killed. The sniper wore a mask that hid his face. He removed it and revealed the face of his brother.
He stood up.
For my country.
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