Trench 19 - continuing peril...

"We were wiped out!" Fred sobbed. "We lost the hill... we came under bioweapons fire. The Curnel is dead..."

"Impossible!" came cries from across the trench. "Company J destroyed? That means... we're surrounded! We're doomed for sure!"

"Silence!" ordered the one pointing a gun at Fred. "I, Sargent Lobo, will not give up - and neither will any of you! We will fight, to the death if we have to! Even if we die here, our sacrifice will not be in vain! Think of your wives, your children! You're fighting for them! You're fighting to make a difference!"

"He's right!" Fred said, standing up and wiping the grime of the battlefield from his eyes. "A small stone may only make a small ripple at first, but eventually it becomes a wave! We must fight, so our children, and their children, don't have to go through what we did!"

"Ludicrous!" came a voice. "We'll die like dogs! Once they get their bioweapons over that hill we'll all die just like Company J! We've got to surrender!"

Sargent Lobo cracked the speaker over the head with the butt of his assualt riffle. "I forbid surrender!" he boomed. "We will fight!"

The man who suggested surrender crawled on the ground, head bleeding, eyes filled with tears. "No..." he moaned. "We're all... doomed..." Then he passed out.

Murmurs of fear went through the ranks. "Everyone relax!" Fred shouted. "I have a plan!"

He and Lobo ventured to the side of the trench. Lobo gave Fred his binoculars, and Fred surveyed the battlefield, smoking and bubbling with the horrors of warfare. To the south and southwest lay hills taken by the Federals, their ominous flag waving, a gold two-headed eagle on a field of black. To the southeast the diagonal striped red, white and blue rebel flag still fluttered defiantly over a few scattered ridges. Adjsting the focus, Fred could see the Federal bioweapons teams advancing cautiously, infantry protecting the half-tracked biocannon vehicles, barrels glinting ominously with every explosion that lit up the night like deadly fireworks.

Sargent Lobo lit up a cigarette. "Damned sons of dog-bitches! In a second I'll go over there and strangle 'em myself!"

1. "Ok, here's the plan." Fred said, lowering the binoculars.

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