The soldiers are marching again, with the heavy sound of drums quick to follow.
Everyone in the town who knows what is coming stays silent and tries to hide, praying that they won't stop here, in Woodson.
And it's every week now that they pick a new...
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My knees hit the ground hard, and dirt clouds up in the air around me when I land next to Kade's side.
He's lying there on his side unmoving, and I'm not sure whether it is because he's dead or unconscious.
"Kade," I try, and he gasps at the sound of his name as if he's having trouble breathing.
He's alive.
Good.
"A-Adeline?"
He barely opens his green eyes as I search his body for signs of injury. His camouflage uniform is ripped in several places, but there's any blood except for a gash on his head.
Leaning over his body, I fumble around with the med kit I brought with me before taking out a flashlight. I pass the bright light over his pupils, opening each of his closed eyelids only to find that one pupil looks a little larger than the other. His pulse is still beating like a heavy drum, but I only think he has a mild concussion.
"Okay, Kade. Grab on to me."
Not knowing if this is a good idea, I place his right arm around my shoulder and drag him father into the edge of the woods, away from the main battlefield so that I can help him better.
Please let it be safe.
I travel as far as my feet will take me, which is about half a mile forwards into the surrounding trees. The sounds of gun shots fades away behind me as I finally lay Kade back down across the grass. The effort from carrying half of his weight makes the bruises on my back ache, and once again I am reminded of how far away that memory seems.
Yesterday is so much less real than right now, today.
Upon reaching our destination, Kade's eyes open below me. His gaze is hazy, probably confused after taking an impact wound to his brain. I hope he doesn't lose his memory or forget his name. Does he have a family back home who depends on him to survive?
I avert my eyes from Kade's stare and wrap the back of his head quickly with the remaining gauze that I have in my bag. The angry gash on the side of his skull seems to be mainly surface level, and because I do not have enough time to disinfect it right now, I tighten the gauze around the wound to stop it from bleeding.
Wrap it, but be faster at it.
Much faster.
When I finally let go of him, Kade tries to sit straight up. I reach out to stop him, but he groans, his hands going to his head. No doubt he is feeling the sting of his head and the dizziness of his concussion. The booming noises around us aren't helping, either.
"Don't touch it," I demand, handing him a canteen of water from the kit I brought with me.
He drinks it greedily as I study him, assessing if his body has any more injuries. My heartbeat is in the process of calming down despite the clamoring of metal only a few feet away, but it spikes back up again when someone stumbles out from behind a nearby tree.
