Crimson Red

To the ends of the earth

Till the last man is dead

Till our heroes are buried

And our skies crimson red

We will raise our last flag

We will fight one more day

We’ll endure every fire

Till we’re lost in the grey

Alone you have wandered

Lost in the gale

Fought through each battle

Though you knew you were frail

You’ve now come to save us

But the cost is high

Taken the last boat

Where the river is dry

I’ll sing you to sleep now

Lay down your gun

sleep now my hero

Your struggle is done

The Last Lullaby

There’s a crackle in my ear and radio silence is broken.

I hear them, the voices of the last remaining children.

And they’re singing a lullaby.

For me.

Haunting. Desperate. They’re praying for salvation.  Singing me to sleep.

They think I’m saving them,

that when the ash settles they’ll be safe.

Lies.

I feel the trigger beneath my thumb.

Even if there’s no promised land, I’ll blow this place tonight.

Sunsets, green fields,

moths in the evening breeze,

the smile on my brother’s face,

they’re nothing but memories.

And it’s finally time to forget.

It’s better this way.

It’s over.

Promised Land

Here in the darkness under an enemy roof

I close my eyes and shudder

I’ve seen the truth exposed.

Didn’t they promise a haven? Refuge beyond the perimeter?

Isn’t that why I came here, with this ticking weight strapped to my chest?

But where is the sun?

the green grass?

this land of milk and honey?

I see through slatted windows a wasteland stretching on and on forever.

Clear skies and birdsong vanish in the dust.

It’s the death of the sun.

Their last deception.

No more false assumptions

I do this, I die, and it ends.

Just like that.

I Don't Understand

Here in the darkness under an enemy roof

With death strapped to my chest beneath this uniform

Surrounded by a hundred perfect copies of me

Same green eyes, same radiation suit

Same kind of man with a past just like mine.

What turned you into murderers?

Was it when you were stolen from the fire?

or back when the sky first burned and the law burned with it?

or when they melted you and turned you into captives?

Is that why you hunt us?

Or is it for the very same reason that I’ve come here to kill you tonight.

Fool's Errand

I’m dressed in my enemy’s uniform. Trying not to think about how long it took to peel the dead man’s flesh from this radiation suit. Or about how green will be the last I ever see.

Am I a fool?

Absolutely.

But this whole life has been a fool’s game without ever an end in sight.

Until now.

And damn if I don’t do my all to keep it.

But there’s one thing I can’t get out of my head, something digging deeper.

Just one bomb. One sacrificed life. Then everyone’s  free.

It all just seems a little too…

simple.

One of Us

Fifty grey soldiers.  Our general in front.  Hundreds of others listening over radio.

“It’s true. We’ve found it.  A place without the faceless. ”

Applause.

 “But eighty men died getting there.  Twice as many will die if we try again. The enemy units must be annihilated… there’s only one way to this effectively.”

Murmurings.

“One of us won’t be coming back.”

Silence.

But someone has to go.

My brother’s dead. I killed him.

My friends have burned.   I watched them.

What’s left for me?

I step forward.

Lift my hand.

Am I certain?

Am I sure?

“I’ll go,” I whisper.

Somewhere in the Grey

I’m breathing hard, eyes closed, waiting for the bullet.

My gun still hovers beside my comrade’s head.

And a busload of soldiers, with curses and disbelieving shouts are drowning each other out.

I don’t listen.

But suddenly, a crackle and a voice that’s different:

“Command, this is Delta106, we have affirmative on objective. We’ve breached the perimeter.”

We’re frozen. Staring at the radio.

Because there’s some forgotten sound behind his voice.  Like music.

It’s birdsong.

Is this real?

I drop my gun.

Maybe there is sunlight on our horizon.

Somewhere beyond this ash is the place where life still lives.

Luckless

This scorching heat never ends.

Blisters on our skin.

Rashes on our faces.

We’re riding in some roofless bus.

Bouncing over a world of char.

It’s dead. Never to live again.

My platoon burned. Turned to ash before my eyes.

My brother. I couldn’t save him.

I failed.

So why am I still here?

No reason really.

Some luckless fate.

I grab a pistol. Point it at the medic’s head.

And in an instant, all the guns are trained on me

That’s right.

Let’s end this.

Shoot me friends.

Why tarry? Why carry on?

For me this world is

cold.

Don't Touch Me

Bullets cascade around me, explosions echo, dirt flies into my face

But I’ve got him, my brother

My arms are clinging tight

I see beyond his bloody face, soldiers in grey camo

running toward me, shooting faceless as they come

But then their hands are on my back, pulling me away. “He’s already dead, soldier, let’s go!”

But I’m screaming, thrashing, “Don’t touch me!”

“It’s okay, I’ve got you, buddy,” one shouts into my ear.

They pry me away.

I’m weeping. Like a baby.

“Let me go!”
They hold tight.

But my brother, don’t fear.

I swear we’ll meet again

Good bye

“I’m sorry,” I whisper as I kneel beside his body.

My hands are sticky wet as I tear the radiation suit. Searching for his wound.

But his back arches. Mouth screams.

He’s been melted. Flesh joined to shimmery fabric.

He’s been butchered. Face swollen, mutated, blistered.

I can hardly bear to look.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s better this way. It’s over.”

But I’m choking as I watch him.

Eyes flutter closed.

Chest ceases moving.

Please, it can’t end like this.

I’ve got you brother

I’ve found you now

and I’ll hold you forever till they come to take me too.

I Found You

I’m running. Running hard.

Every moment I expect a bullet in my back

I need a weapon

I need water

Every breath is a cloud of ash inside my mouth.

There’s a body on the ground

large green eyes flickering out

He has a weapon. I take it

Keep running.

Now another, a faceless runs toward me.

I lift the gun, I’ll kill him here and now.

The bullet flies, it strikes, he falls.

But as I pass I see his mask is off

His face is scared, and some of it’s gone.

But I’d know it anywhere.

My brother.

The Last Bullet

Bullets spew like locusts.

I duck to reload.

Dead slump down behind me.

I shoot everything I’ve got, save one last bullet meant for me.

“God save us.”

Silence falls.

It’s time.

I put the gun against my head.

But screams of desperation come shrieking through the dark.

Who’s their victim this time?

My friend, my comrade, the last of my platoon.

They’ve doused him, he’s soaking, and the torch is coming closer.

He struggles, but he’s tied.

I cannot watch him burn.

So I do the best thing I can think of

I put my bullet through his head

Lost

Hold up the compass and watch it spin

East to West and back again

Tell them once more that we can’t win

We’re lost, oh foolish children of men

Tonight we huddle underground

Hiding ourselves in this self dug grave

Hoping and praying we won’t be found

But we will, it takes my all to keep us brave

Only a dozen of them have survived

Two soldiers cannot save them all

And now the faceless have arrived

To burn the ground and make us fall

And in my stomach is this burning dread  

For tomorrow shall likely find me dead

An Oftentimes Fool

If there was grass anymore it would be soft here.

If there was a sun anymore it would be golden silk on the horizon.

If there was life anymore there would be fireflies dancing like tiny fallen stars.

So many days wasted banking on the empty promise of tomorrow.

Oftentimes I would let the day die and the moon rise unnoticed as I toiled at something unimportant.

“Not today, brother”, I’d say. Maybe tomorrow, next weekend, another day. 

Well, tomorrow’s come, and where are you?

Dead.

And the follies of the good old days are a knife inside my chest.

For You

We found you, of course.

We always do.

Your pasty grey hands reach out, desperate.

Begging for life.

Don’t you know you’re already cursed?

But, no.  You’re fortunate.  

How I loathe those who saved me. 

Who stole me, branded me worthy. 

Sewed my skin to this green, green world.

Who seared my flesh so I could never be free.

They’ve beat me, they’ve won. 

Don’t let them beat you too.

So as they hand me this torch, trust me.

As they douse you, don’t scream.

You’ll be free now, I promise.

I’ll do this, yes.

I’ll do this for you

Searching

I look the computer message over once as I pull on my gear

Survivors: unknown

Enemy Forces: 2

We file out of the bunker. It’s the middle of the night.

No stars. No moon. No dark.

Just a world of empty green.

We spread out over the hillside.

And just in case my eyes can’t see, my little box is searching. It’s only bluish right now, but soon, I’ll see red. Little red blurs caught in a constricting trap.

     We’ll find them.  We always do.

Then my box will show blazing red and my eyes will see nothing but white.

Mask

they tell us that the mask is to help us breathe

to block out the ash

to protect our faces from the radiation

but I wonder

if maybe it’s so we can’t see the fear on each other’s faces

if maybe it’s so we don’t know which of our comrades torched the screaming family

if maybe it’s so we’ll forget that once we had our own faces

I wonder

do they know that I remember?

that behind this mask I’m dreaming of the day they will incinerate

in these same flames that stole me and left my brother to die

We, the Faceless

Forty five black radiation suits filling up a table.

Eating the same brothy slush that hardly fills our stomachs.

But soldier, don’t question.

Don’t look up. Or left or right.

Just down. At the slush.

Shovel it into your mouth. Force it down your throat.

Don’t think about the people, about the children, you’ll execute tomorrow.

Don’t think about their screams.

Just eat.

Because you’re one. One in forty five, in a hundred, in a thousand.

You’re lucky to be alive.

The alarms go off.

We all stand.

Pull on our masks.

And just like that the world goes green.

Survivors

They’re haggard, dirty, ragged.  But they’re alive.

This place is made of scraps, whatever they could salvage.

But they’re alive.

They lay us on the floor.

Wash ash and crusted blood from my skin. Drip water into my mouth till my tongue is loosened and my throat is clear.

The little girl comes, touches my face again.

“You’re here to save us from the aliens, right?” she whispers.

“They’re humans.” I whisper back.

“They have green eyes.”

“It’s night vision.”

“But you’re going to stop them?”

And what do I say? How can I tell her?

We’re never gonna win.

Ready to Die

Out of water

Out of food

No survivors

And no rescue

The two of us, we’re the last of our team.  I don’t know who fell first, but we’re both on the ground. Panting.  Looking up at a broken sky with ash swimming around like dying fishes.  It must be August, the heat is scorching.

I can feel my throat closing.

So thirsty.

My breathing slows.  My eyes close.

Ready to die.

I don’t ever want to wake up.

But something presses into my cheek.

And doesn’t stop.

I open my eyes. Blink twice.

There’s a child poking my face.