• Swirls of black escaped from under my feet as my large boots disturbed the once clear puddle. The splash of water was just barely noticed by my mind as I ran, my various pieces of equipment clicking and shifting across my chest and back as my body shook. I heard various gunshots in the distance, though I had long ago learned to block out the sound. It had become to me like a waterfall to someone who lived beside it. The sound was so normal that my brain just didn’t take the time to catalogue it anymore.

    My eyes darted around the street as I tried to keep alert for movement, but I was tired. The past few nights had not giving me enough time to sleep, and I was living off Red Bulls now. They were the only energy supplement available here, and although they tasted awful, they seemed to work to some extent. It was starting to affect me badly though. A few hours ago I had almost shot the arm off of my squad captain because my finger twitched. Not that it would have mattered, as I am the last of my squad.

    There! I lift the rifle to my eye and let out a 3 bullet burst, sending the small pieces of metal at the movement. I heard a small gurgle and the sound of a body hitting the floor, and before any of the others could see me, I dove behind a dumpster that was sticking out a bit from between two buildings.

    Strangely, there was no voices, no sound of movement. I took a small mirror out of one of my many pouches and reached around the edge. No one around that I could see. I did a quick shoulder check around the edge of the cover, and after verifying that no other men were standing in the area, crept out towards the man I had shot.

    I came upon what looked to be the starved body of a young boy. There were no weapons around him and no explosives on his chest. And in his small hand was a small piece of white cloth. He had been trying to surrender. I fell onto my knees and felt the tears slip out, getting caught in the goggles I was wearing to protect his eyes from the dry air. I hadn’t known... I didn’t want this.

    Then an explosion rang in my ears and I felt a fist hit my back. At least I thought it was a fist until I saw the blood start to seep from my stomach. I wavered for a moment and felt the ground slip from under me as I fell forward, landing on the dead boy’s stomach. My hand fell onto the white cloth and I darkness was all I knew.