The Escape

[Hells Sniper]

Henry awoke to a giant flash of light in the night. It was three weeks after he was captured. He was still being held a PoW, still being a prisoner of his own fate. Henry looked around the hut, twelve other marines lay next to him, each one waking up; one by one. He heard something outside, the familair sound of M16 fire. Henry sprang from his bed, yelling at the soldiers to get up. Henry looked around, he could see Vietnamese soldiers running around, shooting randomly at bright flashes of light. Henry could see that the Vietnamese were losing, as many were being shot down and killed. Henry grabbed a sharp wooden stick from under his pillow, something he had made the last few weeks as a captive. Suddenly, two Vietnamese soldiers entered the hut, one wielding a pistol, the other a rifle. They began to open fire on the marines. Henry, having no other choice, charged the two. He jumped at the first, jabbing the wooden stick deep into the man's chest, a shot was fired, hitting Henry in the stomach. Without hesitation or thought of the shot, Henry grabbed the pistol and fired one clean shot at the other man, killing him instantly. Eight marines were left, as four wer executed. Henry threw the rifle to a marine, grabbed extra ammo for his pistol and told the others to stay down. Henry went to a window in the hut, he could see dozens of marines charging the camp, and he could see many Vietnamese falling. He turned and looked at the soldiers, he told them to stay put. He looked at the marine holding the rifle and pointed to one door, the others hid behind their makeshit matresses. Henry covered the other door, watching it intently, in case any enemies popped in. He gripped his stomach with one hand, while holding the pistol with his other. A few minutes passed, and the fighting continued to rage on, it seemed as if it was never going to end. Eventually, the last shot was heard, nothing happened for the next several seconds. Three marines burst through the doors, Henry was about to open fire, but stopped. He noticed the marines were part of his old squad, friends he hasn't seen in over three weeks. He stood, looking at each one with a smile. He mumbled two faint words, pointing to a set of matresses, revealing his wound. Over there.... Henry fell to his knees, as the shot that hit him minutes ago was finally taking place in his system. Two marines rushed over, yelling medic as loud as they could, they grabbed Henry just before he hit the ground. Henry looked around, watching as the eight marines were picked up by fellow soldiers and were leaving the hut. He did what he wanted to do, he helped save lives. Henry thought about himself, about his life. If he were to die right now, what would he think, would he be happy with what he had done with his life? Or would he regret every second of it? He looked at one of his friends who was with him throughout the war, he let out a small smirk and spoke. I lived...that's all I needed. You see, it wasn't the fact that Henry killed during the war, it wasn't the fact that Henry saved lives. It was the fact that Henry lived. It was the fact that even through all that hardship, all the hatred, all the beatings, Henry chose to survive. He didn't give up, he didn't quit, he kept moving. Henry Dusk lived. The thing was...his life wasn't over.