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When I got close enough I sprung towards him, the live grenade rolled out of his hand, BOOM. In 1979, the corn farmers of the midwest went on strike for fair wages, however, after a while of the big corn companies not paying fairly, the strike became a full-blown rebellion for a higher minimum wage, but instead of giving the people what they want the government marched 10,000 troops to intercept the rebellion in Ohio and “quell” the people. 64,000 people were killed, most of which were the corn farmers that formed the rebellion. The economy was so reliant on corn that when the corn stock dropped it caused the entire stock market to crash and started what was essentially a second great depression, after this, the midwestern united states were outraged so they broke away from the rest of the United States and became The United Corn Republic. The UCR waged war on the US. Other countries, such as China, and many European countries, felt sympathetic to The Corn Republic's cause and joined them in their war, however, the US already had a lot of allies that ended up siding with them.
In 1990, the peak of the greater war, my little brother, Christopher Cornwall, was drafted for the war when he was only 18. My family was heartbroken, however, a week before he had to go, I volunteered to take his place in the war, I had more experience fighting and better survival skills, I didn't know it at the time, but my decision to join the war would change the course of the war. On May 20th, 1990 I was shipped off to West Virginia to fight in the battle of Charleston, where I would make my big entrance. I and a bunch of other draftees landed in a military camp in Ohio. When we got there it was already lights out, every surface at the camp was covered in a half-inch layer of dust and grime and the beds may as well have been sheets of stone. That night I could hardly sleep, the midwestern nights were cold and eerie, and the sheets and blankets that they gave me did nothing against the frigid air that enveloped me. In the morning I was greeted by my sergeant screaming for roll call, everyone lined-up and he said our names one by one
We get through roll call and we start training. It was excruciating, it was the hardest I’ve ever worked in my life, afterward, everything was sore. I’m talking to some other soldiers when I tell a joke about the sergeant at the wrong time, the sergeant heard my joke and gave me half-rations for the day.
“Wh-” I started, but stopped myself right in time.
I knew that whatever I had to say wouldn't help. The rest of the day crept by, it was torture. After dinner I was starving, half rations were nothing and I couldn't sleep. I shut my eyes, trying to get some rest when a voice said to me,
“That was funny”
I look around and I’m greeted by a face staring at me, I recognize him from roll call as private Maize
“What was?” I asked
“Your joke” he responded, “you were hilarious”
“Thanks” I responded sarcastically
I rolled over away from him.
“C’mon,” he said, “don't be like that, I brought you some corn and crackers”
I rolled over and sat up
“Thank you” I responded “sorry”
“Be quiet about it” he tells me “I shouldn't be doing this, if the sergeant catches me, I’m in huge trouble”
I eat my crackers and we talk, he tells me his name is Mathew and about his life at home, he has a wife and two kids, a boy and a girl, we talk until Mathew goes back to his bunk and I drift off to sleep.
The next morning we start on our way to Charleston. We all pack into three dark green trucks that carried us off to West Virginia, we were told it was going to be a three-hour ride so a lot of people were playing cards or talking to fellow soldiers to pass the time, but I just sat on one of the benches that were nailed to the inside wall of the truck trying not to sit in any gum or mysterious wet spots, but then a voice shouts,
“Hey, Cornelius” I look over and it's Mathew, he waves me over and we start telling jokes to pass the time.
Eventually, we stop at a military camp in western West Virginia, just a few miles from Charleston, the scene of one of the biggest battles of the war. We rested at the camp, this one was much cleaner and better kept than the last, there were more people at this one as well. That night I dreamt about the days to come, the battlefield, the gunshots, I hadn't thought about what was actually happening until now, I was going to war. The next day we ate breakfast, though I barely ate, and left for Charleston. It was a short ride and when we got there it was quiet, I listened for gunshots, explosions, anything but there was nothing but the eerie silence that surrounded us, the calm before the storm. We got to the trenches and it was more lively than I would have ever expected, there were people playing cards and chatting, others were listening to music on small, handheld radios and some soldiers were even singing together, however, in just a few moments, this cheeriness would end.
Sooner than anyone expected gunshots were heard from the other side of the battlefield sending everyone into a panic, people rushed for their rifles, but before I could get to mine, a mortar shell landed a few feet to my left, the resulting blast was enough to knock me out cold. I woke up to the sound of gunshots over the ringing in my ears, my vision was blurry but I saw a black metallic shine that I could barely make out to be my rifle, I started crawling towards it, by the time I picked it up my vision was back to normal, though my ears were still ringing and I couldn't hear anything but the excessive gunshots. I peaked up and aimed the gun towards an enemy that was preparing to fire when my sights caught him I pulled the trigger and BANG, the noise of the bullet leaving the barrel combined with the recoil of the gun almost makes me fall, “Did I get him?” I thought
I looked and he was gone, A spatter of crimson where he was standing, it was a hit.
I slump down as the gunshots slow, “I killed a man” I whispered to myself, in shock.
“You good?” asked a voice from behind me.
I turn and Matthew is standing above me,
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” he laughs.
I stare at him blankly for what feels like an eternity until I finally whisper
“I just shot someone.”
The image of the man falling dead echoes in my head until Mathew interrupts it by saying
“Are you ok? His question has a sincere, kind sound that helps calm my nerves.
I sit for a while until I finally tell him “Yeah, I think I'll be fine.”
“Ok, just tell me if you need anything, we are friends after all,” he tells me.
That night every time I try to fall asleep, the image of the man flashes in my mind, the crimson-stained dirt, his lifeless body falling before my very eyes, once I fell asleep these images still haunted my dreams, or rather my nightmares. The next morning I couldn’t eat, my ears still rang slightly from the earlier night. After breakfast there were no drills, we went straight to charleston, the setting of my nightmares. The day was quiet, I was waiting for something to happen, it was torture, but still, nothing. The next day started the same, but then I overheard the general making plans for a flank, at first I thought nothing of this until I noticed a small group of enemy soldiers flanking from both sides, so if we ended up flanking we would run right into them. The US troops were more well trained so we would lose a lot of men if we tried flanking, however, whenever I tried to warn the general he dismissed me before I could tell him anything saying that there were more important matters at hand than whatever I had to say. I took matters into my own hand and redirected the troopers who were being used for the plan to either side of the trench where they prepared to fire. The two groups of enemy soldiers got in sight of ours, gunshots fired, and the enemy soldiers fell one by one until only one was left, all the soldiers tried to hit him but we were all out of ammo, as the soldier came closer I noticed that he had a belt of grenades, if he got close enough to throw those grenades we would lose the majority of our men. I looked around frantically for anything that could take him out, a grenade, a bullet but found nothing, I looked up and the enemy soldier was almost in range, finally, I made the decision to rush him, he didn't have a gun, only the grenades so I knew that if I could get close enough I could take him out. I tried to climb out of the trench but a few soldiers tried to stop me, I wiggled my way out of their grasp and sprinted towards the man, he tried to throw a grenade at me but I was too close, I tackled him making the grenade in his hand roll out then the lever sprung up boom.
My life flashed before my eyes before the whole world faded into black. I was in an endless dark void, I couldn't see I couldn't hear, it was like darkness was all I ever knew. After what feels like years, I see light shining through from an incandescent bulb, the light hurts my eyes and the buzz of the lightbulb makes me flinch, I guess all that time without using them has made my senses more sensitive. I look around and I’m in a hospital ward, but when I try to get up and unbearable pain shoots through my entire body. There Is a bouquet of flowers on my right, the aroma fills the air and makes me sneeze. A bit of time goes by and a nurse walks into the room,
“Oh you’re finally awake”
“What happened, why am I here, and who are you?”
“My name is Amy, you were hit by a few grenade fragments, we got them all out and stopped the bleeding, but it’s still going to hurt for a while until the wounds heal”
Amy left the room and not two seconds later Mathew bursts through the door and runs up to my bed.
“CORNELIUS!” he almost screams
His yelling makes me flinch
“Quiet down, you’re giving me a headache,” I tell him
“Sorry, I’m just glad that you’re awake!” he says
“Jeez, how long was I out?”
“A week and a half,” he tells me “but at least you're okay”
A week after I woke up I was cleared to leave the hospital,
I got to the military camp and the general that was at Charleston with me was waiting there. I braced because even with everything I experienced, I still didn't want to leave. The general walked up to me and I closed my eyes for the pain ahead, but then I heard the general’s footsteps getting farther away. My eyes open to a squint, I see the general standing next to my sergeant, I was confused until I looked down and saw a gold corn shaped medallion hanging from my uniform on a purple ribbon
“I’m sorry”
“Wh-what?” I stutter
“If I had listened to you, we could have avoided everything that happened” he spoke quietly
“Thank you,” I tell him “for the ribbon”
“Yeah, of course”
“Well I should get going” I start walking then he says
“Wait!” he stops me “one more thing, I General David E. Smith promote you to Colonial, congratulations, Colonial Cornelius Cornwall”
To Be Continued...