It's coming together nicely
===
18
So there we were, only some fifty men who had survived the slaughter. We had apparently gotten far away enough from the actual battle to be able to evade being captured by the enemy. In yesterday's weather it had been difficult to spot us. Now however, we would be in danger if we stayed in the open. The heavy wind would no longer erase our footprints. I turned towards our general.
"We are lucky to still be alive. But what are we going to do now?"
"We shall go south. We slaugthered two injured horses during the night, but our supplies still won't be enough for more than a few days."
"South?" I heard myself asking with contempt. Then I immediately regretted it. Going south was the only sensible thing to do, or we too would die like our friends. It was my guilt that had made me ask the question. But I realized I was the only one who knew how I had dishonored myself in that battle, how I had failed my friends. Then I realized that perhaps also the men around me now were as much cowards as me, the few who had fled early enough to evade capture or death. One of the men on my side gave me some horse meat which I attacked greedily with my swollen, soary mouth while we began the march south.
Bookmarks