Coward's tale

I loaded my last magazine and corked a bullet into my chamber giving Fred a scared look. He right away saw through my eyes, he understood my plight, he saw that I've lost hope. But not Fred, not him. Fred surprised me with a smile, he revived my hope and gave me strength like a brother was supposed to. He tapped me on the shoulder and said "we don't leave life alive brother, nah we don't, so today we die. We die but we won't give them the pleasure they want, no we won't". Fred was talking about me not giving these rebels the pleasure of seeing me helplessly at their mercy. Today is the day that happens. There was no sunshine there was no rain, just a dark cloud across the plain. I haven't eaten in three days and haven't slept in weeks, haven't smiled in months not since Boko Haram infiltrated the east. Not since all males in my ethnic group had no choice but becoming soldiers again, just like our fathers suffered. Nah! They won't see us beg, they won't see us scared, they won't see a peace treaty. Today we fight!!  We tried avoiding this for a long time, we were loving and accommodating, we were our brothers keepers and patriotic one Nigeria citizens. But not today, today we die! Today the last few remaining males of the east that didn't run off as refuges die. We die from explosives and bullet wounds, we die in the hands of our life time enemies. We dropped our hopes and dreams to protect our loved ones, our women and children. Tell me what a computer engineer is doing with Uzis and Sub Machine Guns... We have to protect them from these cowards with habits of forced child marriage and kidnap of women and girls. Today we will lie dead instead of watching our women raped by these uncircumcised gentiles. So even though it's the last bullet in my chamber it's not the last guts in my loins, it's not the last hope for my dreams, it's not the last strength in my muscle and certainly not the last life of my soul. Fred and I stuck, looking back are corpses of our dead brothers, and looking forward are more soldiers approaching from the enemy line. Hot bullets and dark clouds, screams and cries from brothers getting shot, just about enough motivation to push Fred over the shield of the sand filled bags used to barricade us from the hot bullets coming through. Fred squeezed the trigger of his half empty Uzi and made a good last kill. As his weapon got cold, he turned and gave me that smile again, he already made peace with death and took his killer metals. Now it's my turn, my turn to go out like a hero, my turn to die like a man, my turn to show these infidels we are not cowards and can never be afraid of them. Even tho we are going into extinction, when they remember the Igbo tribe, they will remember us as men and not boys, brave warriors like the Ekumeku warriors that fought the infiltration of white men in the 1600s. Hell!! We are great fearless warriors but not today, uh uh... Today I drop my gun and run like a motherfucker!!! Lmao  

Happy Sunday pals