For the cats still holding out at Petersburg, their world was going to be rocked upside down. The dynamite was being placed in and they were going to get ready to light the fuse. Their world was about to explode.

Unknown POV

July 30th, 1864, Petersburg, Virginia

It was still pretty dark out as the cats in the confederate trenches were wondering about when the sun will come up. To the east they saw some light rising from the east but the stars still lingered in the night sky. The cats were busy trying to keep themselves occupied as they were wondering about the sun.

"Yeah you should have seen the look on Mapleshade's face. We feel defeated now that she isn't around." One of the cats asked as he sat down. A large dark ginger tom was sharpening some bowie knives as he soon spoke.

"We've been in this for too long, this civil war is hell." He responded as he continued sharpening his knives. Another cat looked at him wondering about this.

"Don't you believe in the Dark forest?" He asked the large tom as he continued sharpening his knives.

"Not that I know of, tell me about it." The tom responded, he was looking around as he sensed that this sunrise could be perfect.

Unknown to him, the union cats had already laid out the dynamite right underneath their trenches as the tunnel took around two weeks to construct. They had just finished laying out the rope as they were now ready. Ambrose soon lit a match as he picked up the dry end of the rope. He handed the match to the miner cat as he lit the rope as the fire began nibbling away at the rope but it gradually sped up. Ambrose and the miner cat hopped out as they knew it would only be a matter of time before their trenches would blow sky high.

"Okay cover that up." Ambrose mewed as one of the cats began covering the entrance with sand bags. Outside, laying prone on their bellies were many union cats as they were waiting for the explosion to go off and they can charge, many of these cats were black but they were determined and eager for a fight. The fire continued to eat away at the rope. Soon a cottontail beige rabbit appeared in the trenches as the cats looking inside were excited to see a critter like this.

"Hey where did you come from?" A gray tom asked as he was excited. A rabbit like this meant breakfast. "Hey that guy is breakfast!" He shouted as he got up to chase the rabbit. The rabbit feeling terrified began to bounce along as it wanted to get out of there, provoking a chase.

"He's mine!" Another tom shouted as the cats continued to chase after the rabbit but what they didn't know was that their trench was a trap and the rabbit was the distraction to all of this. The cats grunted and scrambled as they began to chase after the rabbit seeing how they wanted to be able to have something to eat when the sun rose. The rabbit bounded along as the cats desperately tried grabbing the rabbit with their paws as they slammed them on the wooden boards. Some of them were chasing after the morsel so they could easily kill it, cook it and eat it. Something else was eating too and it was the rope that was burning away by the fire as it was getting close to the dynamite. It soon splits up individually to set the kegs of powder and explosives ablaze. The cats continued chasing the rabbit.

"He's mine!" One cat shouted as they continued to chase the rabbit in the darkness. The Ginger tom puts his knives away as another tom came racing after the rabbit.

"I want that rabbit!" He shouted but soon for the cats in the trench, their world was going to change forever. The ground exploded as dirt and wooden planks shot straight upward at the cats. The kegs and dynamite had indeed exploded as the cats inside the trench were in complete shock. The main tom was knocked back as dirt rained down, burying him alive. The others were sent flying as their explosion killed a few and injured many others in the process. It was clear that this would be the biggest explosion that would ever go off for the time. The cats on the other side were watching as the dust began to settle down as it was still dark out and they had just caused an explosion. Now was the chance to move forward.

The enemy trench was in ruin, fire was burning away at some of the books. Dirt, wood and bodies lay scattered all over the place and moving from the dirt pile was the tom as he emerged from the pile as he was unharmed, but he soon thought he might be the only lucky one. He began to look around for the rest of the group wondering where they were. Another survivor of the bunch, a skinny looking cream colored tom has just realized the sky had turned to a hellish orange as a big cloud of smoke was around him. He turned his head seeing a horse neighing, rearing on its hind legs before trotting off. Soon he looked around wondering where his fellow troops were as this world was a hellish void but his mind soon changed when he heard a noise in the distance. It was the union army and they were charging forth. The cats on the wrong side began to scramble back over the trench as they were heading around the crater. Soon the union cats in the confusing darkness didn't see where they were going as they ran down the hill into the crater they had created. Soon they reached the bottom as they continued to charge. They soon slammed onto the hill of the crater as it was very steep and they weren't able to get it over that easily. Some dared to climb over but it was clear that they weren't going to get out so easily but seeing how they were nothing more than fish in a barrel, the confederates decided now was the perfect opportunity to fight back against an enemy that was struggling.

"Fall back!" The union leader shouted but in the confusion of the charge, this created a massive traffic jam as the troops were simply trapped. The confederates decided to fire their muskets down at the enemy as the cluster of enemies would make easy picking.

"They're trapped in their own damn crater!" One of the southerner cats shouted before firing his musket off. He soon tossed it to the side as he grabbed another musket as he fired it down into the crowd.

"Damn! Busted!" Another cat shouted as he happily fired his musket. The Gray tom looked at him wondering what in the Dark forest was going on.

"The fools have dug their own grave!" Another cat shouted excitedly. One of the cats turned their heads as he spoke.

"It's a turkey shoot!" One of the cats shouted the dark ginger tom took a musket with a bayonet and chucked it down like a spear. The gray tom looked out wondering what he was saying.

"What?" He asked as he wanted to have the words repeated to him. The cat turned to him as he responded.

"It's a turkey shoot! They ran themselves into a hole!" He repeated as he fired the musket again. The Dark Ginger tom continued to chuck muskets down into the hole like they were spears. The bayonet landed into the chest of a fellow union tom as he cried out in agony. Some of the cats came along as they wanted to send the Yankees straight to the Dark Forest. Everyone crowded around the edge of the crater as they continued firing their shots off at the trapped union forces. They even rolled some of their cannons up as they began firing their cannonballs down at them. The cries of union cats were heard as some were beginning to climb up and out of the crater that they made. The Gray tom looked out as he grabbed his rifle seeing a union cat emerge from the crater as he swung around, picking up the cat with his paws as he threw him over and jabbed him with the bayonet. The cream colored tom saw a union cat emerge from the crater as he swung around with the rifle bashing him over the head with it but the union cat wrapped his paws around the cream tom and dragged him down. The gray tom looked out seeing the younger tom get dragged under like a swimming animal sinking into the abyss.

"Oakley!" The gray tom shouted as he looked around in the chaos. He couldn't see him. He looked down more as he began to slide his way into the crater as he took out his knife. He finally reached the bottom as he stabbed a fellow union troop attacking him. He continued to push his way through the tangled mess of union cats as he was looking for his friend. "Oakley!" He shouted again as he soon spotted Oakley. He was trying his hardest to wrestle off a fellow union cat from him as he struggled more and more. The gray tom looked on as he saw the rifle get turned against his fellow trooper as it gets thrusted into Oakley's gut. Oakley wailed in pain as he collapsed. The Gray tom pushed forward as he wanted to retrieve his friend as he was being drowned and crushed into the mud. "OAKLEY!" He shouted as he pushed his way through the crowd as he grabbed his friend. The dark ginger tom took own his bowie knives as he jumped into the fray as he attacked the first black cat he could find. The Gray tom continued to drag his friend to a hillside of the crater as muskets continued raining down on their enemies. He soon leaned onto the side of the crater as he realized that the union cats were still charging at him as Oakley was holding his wound. He soon realized there was a revolver on the side of the hill. He grabbed it as he began to fire it into the crowd. He screamed as he fired all the shots that were in it as he struck down a couple more union troops. Oakley was struggling holding his bleeding stomach with his paw as the Gray tom continued to drag him to safety. The chaos wasn't going to last for much longer as Oakley collapsed when he got to the top.

Ulysses POV

Ulysses rode over later that day to see many dead bodies in the crater with many more wounded. Full of guilt and weeping once more, Ulysses grabbed a cigar as he looked down at the piles as he lit up the cigar. His face was full of sorrow.

"This has to be the worst day of my life." Ulysses began. He turned away as he began to walk away. Ambrose looked out as he sensed this entire plan of his was his fault. He turned as he began to follow Ulysses.

"Yeah I know I felt like this entire operation was my wrong doing and seeing this, I don't know what to say about it. I would like to resign and return to D.C." Ambrose spoke as he knew this was all his wrong doing as he wasn't expecting to get trapped in his own crater. Ulysses looked at Ambrose as he was wondering about this.

"You're dismissed. You did what you could and now it will have to take a bit longer to break the trenches." Ulysses responded as he continued to take puffs with his cigar. Ambrose turned as he began to walk away. Ulysses needed to begin to decide on what he could do next.

Unknown POV

The Gray tom looked into the makeshift hospital where Oakley had been taken into. He saw Oakley as the cream colored tom was looking very sickly and completely limp. One of the she-cats tending to the poor cats wounds turned to him as she spoke.

"He's not going to make it. It's best you come to say your goodbye." She mewed. The Gray tom nodded as he walked over to the bed where Oakley rested. His face was green as the wound was brown and oozing with an infection. It was clear this was a wound he wouldn't recover from.

"Oakley I just wanted to say…" The Gray tom began but he couldn't finish his sentences as Oakley interrupted him. He soon smiled as he began to speak.

"We've done everything we could but I appreciated that you came back to save me but in the end of the day, I was a good kit wasn't I but seeing this, I don't know what I could say after this. But to Starclan I prayed: Oh Starclan tell this to father, I was a good kit. I hope we get to see each other again as I did all I can for you. May the fields grow golden with wheat and white with cotton. My heart will go out to give new life to those." Oakley responded as he mewed out his last words. The gray tom began to tear up as he knew that he was losing his friend. He began to cry as Oakley's eyes closed as he went limp smiling knowing he was grateful for the life he had. Now with his life gone, it was going to be harder to find those that would replace him.

Despite this being a confederate victory, this would be their last victory of the war. It was all downhill from there. Their losses were severe and they gained nothing in return.

[A/N]: We're still sadly getting no traffic for this story let alone the stories in general as I feel saddened because of it. I thought we were going to make gains but even I myself am losing interest in the story seeing how no one is reading. Why is that seeing how I worked so hard on getting us many more chapters in? We still have a long way to go before we finish and I think we still have another month left to make before the deadline so let's shoot for that deadline. I'll see you next chapter.