6A/N: This is the edited version of the story. A big thanks to Sarah for taking the time to read the story and helping me out with it. Also, thanks to the reviewers and to the people who have the time to read my story but not to review. XD
I really appreciate it, guys!
Muskets fired rapidly from everywhere, and the horses snorted and wailed. Spanish soldiers attacked the French troops with cannons, firing in random directions. When the cannon balls were gone they scattered and hid.
"¡No quiero correr!" Sixteen-year old Antonio grumbled to himself.
"Why are you running then?" someone panted from behind him, and Antonio spun around and saw one of his best friends running closely behind him.
"You're supposed to run by yourself, Luisa! What if we get caught?" he snapped back defensively.
"I know I know señorita nerviosa.¡ Tranquila!" Luisa grinned at him.
"I'm not a señorita! Yo no soy nerviosa. Soy nervioso," Antonio growled.
"Uh-huh," Luisa smiled. Even though everything around her hadgone mad, she could always tease Antonio to assure herself that lifewas still good.
Antonio saw a little shed and dashed towards it with Luisa beside him. They pushed themselves inside and tried to gulp air as quietly as possible, straining to hear what washappening outside. Luisa slumped across Antonio and looked at him strangely, taking in the stuck-up dark brown hair, pursed lips and the panic-stricken brown eyes.
"What happened to you?" she asked.
"It's called sheer terror and grime," he shrugged.
A French soldier was talking to someone, probably another French soldier. The soldiers' talking sounded like he had a bad cold. His voice sounded like… it was all coming from his nose. Antonio's eyes widened.
"Get out of Spain! Tell Napoleon and Jerome to curl up someplace and die!" a Spanish soldier yelled.
BANG!
Luisa gasped, her eyes wide with fear. The French soldier barked a sentence in that nasal voice of his and left.
After a few minutes of deafening silence, Luisa peeked cautiously out of the shed.
"No…" she breathed, face pale as the moon. "Oh, Santo Domingo, no…"Antonio got up and crawled out of their hiding place. A boy about his age lay lifeless in the dirt.
"Manuel," Luisa sobbed. Antonio fell to his knees and reached out to touch Manuel's bloody forehead, tears sliding down his cheeks.
Antonio stared numbly at their little campfire, knees hugged tightly to his chest.
"Has anyone seen Manuel? He should've been here by now," Julio, one of Antonio's best friends asked.
Luisa sucked in her breath sharply and said in a small, blank voice, "He's dead." Julio stared incredulously at her, mouth hanging open.
"But… he's so good. I know he could've escaped…" he stammered.
"This is war. Not all soldiers live to see the end of it," Antonio spoke for the first time since he and Luisa had arrived at the camp.
"We're not soldiers! We are—"
"Volunteers. We're at war, Julio. We volunteered to fight those monsters and kick them out of Spain. We volunteered to be soldiers and that makes you a real soldier!"
Julio opened his mouth, and then shut it again. He knew Antonio was right. He sat back and stared at the fire as it crackled and slowly turned the pile of firewood into ashes.A single tear rolled down his cheek, leaving a clean, wet trail on his dirty face.
"Wake up! Wake up! We have to plan our next attack!" the commanding general bellowed.
Volunteer fighters groaned, stretched and yawned all around. Antonio, Julio and Luisa were huddled together, trying to keep themselves general was yelling out orders. The volunteer fighters sat in a circle, eyes and ears focused on him.
"Did you sleep well last night?" Julio whispered to Antonio and Luisa. Antonio shook his head no, but Luisa nodded. Julio smiled.
"…we will meet up with the British forces at the north of Saragossa. But before we meet up with them, I want you to give these French soldiers a little surprise before they go. Juan, take ten people with you and attack the lancers a las dos y cinco de la tarde. Maria, bring ten people with you and attack the grenadiers on Friday at dawn. Be careful because they walk around with grenades in their pockets. And lastly, Julio, take five people with you and attack the hussars in the afternoon of Friday. You people who are not attacking, stay alert because we will be waiting for the signal the Duke of Wellington will give us. Esta claro?" the general asked.
Everyone nodded and stood up to prepare for the day. Julio got up and pulled out six muskets out of the supply tent. He then talked to three boys and asked them to go with him on Friday to attack the hussars. They all nodded eagerly and walked back with Julio to where Antonio and Luisa are sitting.
"Antonio y Luisa, quiero presentarles a Federico, Tomás, y Gregorio," he said, pointing to each boy. "They're coming with us on Friday,"
Luisa forced a smile. "Hola," was all she said. She nudged Antoniowho just smiled vaguely at the new members of the group.
"This is probably going be the last attack you know? The British are helping us and the French are losing. We fire, they go boom!" Gregorio said, waving his arms about. He slapped Federico on the back.
"Why are you so happy about this? Lots of people died already and many people will die during the last attack. No offense, but you boys are so… bloodthirsty. It's just revolting," Luisa scowled. Federico looked at her, head slightly tilted sideways. She folded her arms across her chest,suddenly suspecting that he might be looking at her inappropriately.
"What are you looking at?"
"Nothing special," he smirked. Luisa glowered at him.
"Look away, then!"
"Lots of people died, I know that. But the world won't stop for you even though you feel like stopping it. You still have to go on, you know,"
"Whatever," she shot back, looking away.
Antonio shot here and there, aiming at the head of every French soldier he was right. This was the last battle. It all seemed surreal.
"Antonio, send for more bullets and soldiers!" Federico yelled. Antonio nodded and scurried away.
It was hard to move from one place to another, the sounds of chaos, shooting; the smoke dimmed his vision as Antonio struggled to see where he was going.
He crept, he ran, he leapt and he ducked and fired. He knew they needed to win this war, so everything could turn to normal. He wasn't so sure everything would ever return to the way they were before Napoleon and Jerome. It felt like the world was crumbling in on itself. The end felt near, no matter what it might bring.
The general was a tall, fair-haired man. He was intimidating, but Antonio asked for more bullets and soldiers anyway. The general yelled in English and surly, ten soldiers in red and blue with gold shoulders walked up to him and asked where they were needed. Antonio stared at them blankly, not understanding the queer language. He recovered quicklyand with some difficulty he told the soldiers where to go before reloading his musket. A black furry shako whizzed by. Antonio aimed and fired, closing his eyes to avoid the image of the dying French man, but he was too late. The image of blood seeping through the black shako burned behind his eyelids.
"Help," someone gasped. Julio squinted and looked around him, waving away the smoke in front of his face. "Help," A whine hung in the air and the person's voice was drowned out by a big explosion.
"Please… help,"
"Where are you?!" Julio yelled, his heart hammering inside him. He thought he recognized the voice.
"Right he-re…"
His vision cleared and he saw who it was.
"Luisa!" Julio ran towards her, not caring about the bullets and cannon balls flying back and forth.
"Where are you hit?" he asked frantically, kneeling beside her. She pointed to a big wound on her calf. Blood was gushing out, swift as a river. She looked pale, her hair hanging in straggles in front of her eyes.
Julio took his shirt off, ripped it into pieces, and wrapped it around Luisa's calf with trembling hands. Luisa laid her head back on the dirt and closed her eyes.
Please hold on, Julio thought as he carried his unconscious friend to safety. He put her down carefully on the ground and reached for his musket. Before he had the chance to turn around, a cold muzzle was jammed roughly at the back of his head.
Julio closed his eyes, took a deep breath and clutched his weapon.
"Tu prends tu gagnes, huh?" A gruff voice behind him said. Nasal. French.
"¿Qué?"
"Non," the French soldier said viciously. A sudden yell from behind them made Julio jump. Antonio swung his musket and hit the French soldier on the head. The man stumbled back, cursing loudly. He wiped the blood from his chin and gave the two boys a dangerous look. Antonio stepped back and took aim.
Julio gave the damp soil one last pat. He couldn't remember how many times he relived the last minutes of the war, the way things looked after the French retreated.
He can still remember when the French soldier kicked the musket out of Antonio's hands, leaving him shocked and unarmed. That was when the man shoved his friend to the ground and shot him inthe head.
If only I was faster, he thought. I could've saved him…
A shadow fell on Antonio's small grave as a hand rested on Julio's shoulder. He looked up to see Luisa leaning on a crutch, her big eyes sad and tired. He stood up, his face wet with tears. Luisa looked at the grave, then back at Julio. She touched her chest, where her heart kept a steady pace, and then she reached out and brushed her hand above his heart.
Remember me, her eyes seemed to say. She turned and left.
Julio just stood there, watching her. After a few seconds, he took a deep breath and looked at Antonio's resting place one last time. He turned on his heel and walked away, tears glistening under the sun.
A/N: shako- a stiff military hat in the shape of a tube, usually with a plume.
hussars- soldiers on horseback armed with sabres and pistols
Napoleon- I'm sure you know who this guy is.
Jerome- Napoleon's brother, assigned to rule Spain.
No quiero correr – I do not want to run
señorita – young lady, miss
Santo Domingo - Holy Sunday
a las dos y cinco de la tarde - At five minutes after two in the afternoon (or at 2:05 pm).
Antonio y Luisa, quiero presentarle a Federico, Tomás, y Gregorio - Antonio and Luisa, I want to introduce you to Federico, Tomás, and Gregorio
Hola - Hello
¿Esta claro? - Is that clear?
Tu prends tu gagnes - You take you win (I don't speak French so I had my friend do the Francais part and yeah... so pardon me if it came out mangled)
¿Qué? – What?
Non - no