Bright moonlight glistened off newly fallen snow. Eli Harvey, a Confederate soldier at the crisp age of 19, was running stealthily through the cold Virginia countryside. Eli himself was not a Virginian, however. He was an Alabama boy, born and raised right outside of Athens. His duties in the army had called him north from his home town. He was one of the first in line when the recruiters came to his quiet town two years prior. He hadn't joined because he felt the need to protect the south's "peculiar institution" of slavery. He had joined just to get away from his home and his father's disappointment.
Eli slowed to a jog. Up ahead he could hear the small babbling of a creek and headed towards it. Eventually he found the body of water, but it turned out not be a a creek, but a river with a large blue bridge. Eli crossed it quickly and found himself in a large open field. The gray of his confederate coat stood out against the canvas of untouched snow. He stepped off the bridge and the snow came almost to his knees. He pushed through the snow at a steady pace. He pulled his gun off his shoulder and held it close. His thin coat did nothing to keep the cold off. Eli was usually only a sentinel stationed a bit out of camp because he could run fast, and if Federal Army soldiers were coming, he could get the information back to camp quickly. Unfortunately for him, the army was short up in Virginia and he was sent to assist. Their group had been overrun by a large group of Federal Army soldiers and some crazy abolitionists. He had been split from the rest of the group and taken off for help.
Eli was snapped back to the present by a bullet whizzing right past his left cheek. He turned and saw about ten of the Federal Army soldiers and abolitionists charging across the bridge. Eli pushed as hard as he could against the snow towards the tree line that was about one hundred feet ahead. He ducked his head as another bullet flew by. He turned and carefully and aimed his gun at one of his pursuers, hitting his mark. He turned and bolted again, but one of the bullets caught his leg. He stumbled a bit and pressed his hand down against the wound. He was almost to the trees now, but with his leg wound leaving a bright red trail, escape was not likely.
He dashed into the trees and ducked behind a tree. He dropped his gun and used both of his hands to quickly tear off some of his white cotton shirt and tied the makeshift tourniquet right above the abrasion. He quickly reloaded his musket before limping off through the forest, all but dragging his injured leg behind him. He was breathing heavily, his breath coming in white puffs. He could hear the group getting closer and closer. He tried to speed up, but his leg, plus the tangle of hidden tree roots, made it hard for Eli to navigate. His foot got tangled by something buried under the snow and he slipped and fell into the snow. He grunted in pain as he lifted himself and flipped over into a sitting position, pushing himself with his good leg. He could still hear the Federal Army searching for him. A smaller group of them, three men, all in official Federal Army dress, came from around a tree.
"There he is!" One of the men yelled. They all sprinted towards Eli as he tried futiley to escape. The men approached him. "Should we kill him?" One of the men asked.
"I-I'm not sure, could we really kill him in cold blood? He is injured." Another man said.
"Look at the things his people have done, some of the things they have done to our people are just appalling!." Another man said.
"I know, but, Jesus, Harrison, he's just a kid." The second man said. The first man looked at him curiously.
"Just, let me go. Please!" Eli begged, holding up his hands.
"What is that?" The second man asked, pointing to a woven cloth bracelet dangling from Eli's wrist.
"A gift from my younger sister, sir." Eli said.
The man shook his feverishly. "We can't kill this boy." He told the other men. "Look, kid, we're going to let you go, but if anyone asks, we never saw you." He commanded. The men all turned and ran back in the direction they had came from.
Eli picked himself off and worked his way through the dense forest and after walking until sunrise, he finally found a small city. He limped into town and found the most of the people from his camp were there. He was heading towards where they were set up when he collapsed.
Upon waking, Eli found himself in a soft white bed, his friend, Hartfield, was sitting next to him. "Eli!" He exclaimed when he saw his friend. "How? How did you make it out?" He questioned.
Eli looked down at the bracelet on his wrist. "Just luck I guess." He replied, smiling mischievously.