IX Free
February 3rd, 1913
Drachma
Ed blinked, the counted the marks on the wall again. He hadn't dared to move from his bunk in his cell, otherwise the pain would get worse. He was glad Fletcher had added the marks for the days he wasn't there, but he wasn't sure if they were correct. After counting them all for the fifth time he did all the math and sighed. If everything was correct then it was February 3rd, and he was now fourteen.
He hadn't expected he would spend his birthday in imprisoned by enemy soldiers and writhing in pain from all the torture wounds he had got over the past few days. He had hoped the war would be over by now and that he's be back in Resembool spending some time with Winry...
Winry...Just thinking about her made him blush. It also took his mind off the pain he was in and made him feel better. He wondered if she knew what had happened to him, heck did anyone know what happened to him? Surely he had been declared MIA by now, but were they looking for him at all? Did they declare him dead? He hoped not. That's the last thing he wanted people to think happened to him.
His thoughts were quickly interrupted when he heard many footsteps outside and soldiers shouting in Drachman. He stiffened and thought they were coming back to get him for more torture, but then an alarm sounded and he heard an explosion outside.
He flinched when he heard it, and tried to stand up so he could look out the tiny dirty window above the bed. However pain shot up him as he did so he gave up and slumped back down. Fletcher saw what he was trying to do so he climbed up on the bed and stood on his tip toes so he could see. Ed watched his expression change from fear to shock, then happiness.
"It's the military! Our military!"
Ed's eyes widened with surprise, and even though he trusted that it was true he wanted to see it with his own two eyes. He quickly stood up with excitement and walked over to the window ignoring all the pain and his bodies protests. Sure enough he could see the blue military uniforms that he was familiar with, and while they were far away he was sure he could make out Mustang's figure, and it also explained the explosions.
With a smile and the thought that he was finally getting out of here he hopped off the bed and onto the ground bearing all the pain he was going through and walked over to the bars of the cell. There weren't any Drachman soldiers near by as far as he could tell, so he clapped his hands together and made a hole in them so they could get through. He looked back at Fletcher who looked pretty surprised at his alchemy, and motioned for him to follow. He checked the cost again as they climbed out, but of course out of his own rotten luck they were caught.
"Hey!"
Ed flinched and froze when he heard that voice, and came face to face with the soldier that had brought him here in the first place, and it was also the same one that had tortured him. He saw the silver chain of his watch clipped to his belt as he drew his gun, and he felt a sense of de ja' vu as he pulled Fletcher behind him. This time he was ready though. He was scared, but he was also pissed. As the man drew his gun he clapped his hands, and as he fired a wall came up from the ground and protected them.
Ed quickly clapped his hands again and brought out his automail blade. Then he turned to the frightened Fletcher behind him and mouthed "Stay here" before he ran out from behind the wall and charged at the man. He continued to fire at him, but his aim was bad and Ed was also pretty fast. Once he reached him he quickly knocked the gun out of his hand and stabbed him in the shoulder with his blade before kicking him in the crotch (with his left) for revenge. The man fell to the ground quickly, and even though he knew he wouldn't be getting up for a while he knocked him out just to be safe.
Bastard. He thought as he took his watch back from him.
"Did you...Did you kill him?" Fletcher asked nervously as he came out from hiding.
Ed shook his head, then leaned against the wall for support. He was tired, and he suddenly felt dizzy too. Of course the pain didn't help at all.
"Ed!" said Fletcher as he ran over to him.
"Oh God Ed, you're bleeding again!"
That explained it. His wounds had re-opened, and it probably wasn't pretty either. He was just about to sit down when he heard many footsteps. He quickly snapped out of it and stood up in case he needed to fight some more, but he relaxed once he saw it was his fellow Amestrian soldiers. Even though he felt and probably looked like crap, he managed to smile. He was finally free.
February 17th, 1912
Fort Briggs, Amestris
"They're putting you back on the field"
After two weeks of staying put in the infirmary and letting his wounds heal those were the words he heard from Mustang. He knew it was coming, after all he couldn't stay in the hospital forever when a war was still going on. The doctors told Mustang that his wounds were still healing, but they wouldn't re-open. Once that got out the higher ups ordered him back out on the battlefield.
Frankly Ed was just glad that Winry knew he was alive and well, and that Fletcher had been safely reunited with his brother Russell. But there was still one thing that bothered him.
"How many people did I kill?"
Mustang didn't answer.
"TELL ME!"
Mustang sighed as he gave in.
"If you're talking about those spikes...A hundred thirty two"
Ed's eyes widened. That many? How many of those had families? How many were Amestrian?
"This is war FullMetal, you have to kill at some point"
February 25th, 1913
Drachma
Ed was starting to get used to all the noise of the battlefield. Gunfire, alchemy, and a lot of yelling. At this point he learned to drown it all out so he could focus on staying alive and keep the killing to a minimum. He still used his automail blade, but only stabbed people in places were there wounds wouldn't kill them. He still used alchemy, but only for defense. He didn't want a repeat of what happened at the surprise attack. These new tactics seemed to work for him, and he was glad.
"HOLD YOUR FIIRE!" He heard one of higher ups shout.
Was there a cease fire? Ed began looking around for a white flag on Drachma's side. He heard a single gun shot, but couldn't tell where it had come from. At least not until the pain had hit him. Slowly he looked down at the growing spot of red that had started to form over his stomach. It was then he realized he was the one who had been shot.
"ED!"
Everything began to get blurry, and he felt dizzy too, but he still heard many voices around him.
"MAN DOWN!"
"SOMEONE GET A DOCTOR!"
That was the last thing he heard before it all went black.
Author's Notes
CLIFFHANGER! *Laughs evilly* Now before you get all "YOU MURDER!" on me, I didn't say he was dead yet, but he did get shot. Review anyone?
