Teammates

Looking at my teammates, my partners in this war, I get a sense of uneasiness. It’s a rainy day, raining so badly and getting worse. The smell is nasty, possibly worse then the rain. The dead fish smell, the way some person screamed it was the village toilet was unforgettable. The way the field exploded and the scream we heard, that was Kiowa, I knew. Watching Kiowa submerge into the scum. I will never forget it, the way bubbles were popping up where his head should have been, I grabbed his boot, I tried but as I could taste and smell the filth, I let go. I shouldn’t have let go. He was my teammate, I gave up on him. I shouldn’t have let him go. Flares were going off around me, leaving me alone, watching Kiowa’s boot slowly sink into the muck where the rest of his body lay. I shouldn’t have let go. I know this will forever haunt me, knowing that I let my teammates down, I let Kiowa die. He just disappeared into the waste and water. I just let him go.