WARNING: Cursing. Many cursing.
BANG.
"Holy FUCK!" Alfred jumped into the air, almost falling backwards at the loud sound. A flash of light and the smell of gunsmoke accompanied the noise.
"Don't take one step closer." a familiar voice spoke forward.
Alfred saw the shape of the body was now sitting up, his face illuminated by the dulling embers along with the gun in his hand.
"What the hell was that for!?" Alfred shrieked.
"Well I can only assume that you're here to kill me." the other said bluntly.
"I'm not-!" Alfred stopped. "I'm not here to kill you." he said more quietly with a sulking expression.
"Why not? You seemed so abetment to do it last time." the soldier said bitterly "You left me to bleed out for dead and thought that was that but then once you heard my shot you knew I must not have been dead and came to investigate and then, subsequently, finish the job."
"You don't-" He doesn't remember? Alfred thought. Well. Good. No need to bring that up ever again then.
"I'm not here to kill you." Alfred said more firmly.
"Oh? And why not? Too much of a coward to kill a wounded helpless soldier? Too filled with shame to help your new 'country'? Too pathetic to finish the job? Pathetic excuse for a soldier-"
In a flash of anger Alfred cut the other soldier off by ripping the knife out of his holder and stabbing it into the ground next to him.
"Don't test me." Alfred said lowly, a darkness shading his eyes.
There was silence. Alfred didn't move other than that and just sat there with a silent sulk.
The soldier said nothing, taking in Alfred's demeanor.
"You need me." he deduced.
Alfred clenched his fist. He said nothing.
"What do you want?" the soldier asked.
He was silent for a minute more before giving in. "I don't know where we are. I don't know how to get back." he said. "I don't know what happened either - In the battle." He said as an afterthought.
"What were you doing? Sleeping?" the other said in mockery.
"For you're fucking information, yes I was." Alfred snaped. "I got clubbed in the head halfway through." he gestured to his wrapped forehead for extra measure which he just now remembered hurt like hell. All the sweat from trudging back and forth from the forest must have irritated it.
"So that's why you were left behind." The soldier said. "I was mistaken for the dead too as you must know."
"I don't understand. Why did they just leave?"
"I was a wreck most way through, but I think it was mostly a misunderstanding. This was one of the most bloody and hectic battles I've seen. It was all a bloody confusion. This place holds absolutely no strategic position and is in no way an advantage for either side. This battle was an accident. We both just… ran into each other, essentially. It was a surprise to both of us. These hills gave us one hell of a hard time. I think what happened was… both armies just… retreated. Each assumed the other had won. It's the only thing that could have explained it."
Alfred was silent, soaking it all in. "So… they're not going to come back for us."
"Most likely not." The soldier confirmed.
"Then how do I get back?"
The other narrowed his eyes. "I'll tell you when I'm well enough to leave."
He wasn't going to tell him. "Ugh!" Alfred cried in frustration and gisgust.
The soldier shrugged his shoulders. "A good soldier would have known where he was and where he was going."
"It's not my fault! Most of us are just farmers. We don't have the money or the experience to train anyone well. No thanks to you tyrants. Greedy bastards."
The other soldier scowled but then finally sighed in defeat.
"What's your name?"
Alfred was caught off guard. He debated it for a moment in his head. "Alfred F. Jones."
"I'm Arthur Kirkland. Nice to meet you."
Alfred squinted in a glare. "What is wrong with you?"
"What? I can't be civilized?"
"We're enemies!"
"We are on opposing sides of a war." Arthur corrected.
"That means we're enemies!" Alfred barked.
"Does it?"
That made Alfred stop for a moment. Of course it does, he told himself.
Arthur sighed in what Alfred could only place as disappointment. "You're so young."
"I'm barely any younger than you!" Alfred said offended.
Arthur didn't say anything to that and an awkward silence followed. "Are you going to do something or are you just going to sit there all night?"
Alfred growled, annoyed. But still, he sure as hell wasn't going back alone to his camp that night. "What the hell happened to your fire anyways?" he said gesturing to the smouldering… something, next to Arthur.
"Well, it's not like I can just get up and search for firewood," he said referring to his abdomen which he winced at. "I was trying to light…" Arthur shook his head. "Anything, I don't know. I was trying to use the gunpowder from my gun but… it went off. That was the shot you heard."
It was Alfred's turn to be unamused. "Are you stupid? Gunpowder? Really?"
"Well how else am I going to do it?!" Arthur said offendedly.
Alfred rolled his eyes. "I'll be back." he said and got up to walk back into the darkness.
This time was, oddly, not as bad as the first. He didn't seem as afraid. He marched back to his camp not far away snatched a few logs, bringing them back. By the time he got back the smoldering thing which he recognized must be a coat or another type of clothing was completely out. Alfred could still only roll his eyes. He dropped the wood at Arthur's feet making him jump.
He kneeled down and started setting the fire up. Soon they had a real fire going which brightened the area up much better. Alfred noticed the other's face seemed even paler than before and that he was huddled under another soldier's wool coat, shivering. He seemed grateful for the fire even though he didn't say anything.
"How'd you do that?" Arthur asked.
"Do what?" Alfred said confused as he settled down next to the warmth of the fire.
"You lit the fire, you didn't have anything to light it with, not even matches.
Alfred gave him a look. "Don't you know how to light a fire?"
"I… never learned. I never really had to."
Alfred looked at him in disgust. He was probably rich. Of course. He didn't say anything, just turned around to face the other direction and laid down fully intending to sleep.
He heard the other yawn but his yawn turned into a fit of coughs. growing annoyed, he turned around to glare at the other.
"Sorry," Arthur wheezed. "Must be the smoke."
Alfred turned back around and settled down again. He heard Arthur lay down too and fell asleep to the sound of Arthur's wheezes as he tried to keep his coughs under control.
Evidently, that was also the sound Alfred woke up to in the morning, except much, much worse.
Wow... people are going to hate me for these cliffhangers. ...oops.
FYI: I am going on vacation to visit family for the 4th so the next chapter will be later than the others. Sorry to leave you left with that!
Hope everyone else has a happy 4th of July! Unless your not American... then I still hope you have a good day that day.
Anyways! Thanks for reading!
See you next time!