*~*Mikey's POV*~*

After dinner, the three of us, meaning Frank, Alex, and I, all went to the officer's tent. Jacky had started going on about never seeing us again, and that we were being executed for all the trouble we caused even though nothing has happened (on purpose) involving us since the incident I had with Frank.
Jacky wasn't an optimistic person, though, so I knew that he wouldn't be right. It was just his sense of humor.
It as strange, the three of us walking down to the tent, with me in the middle and leading. I wasn't a leader, far from it, but around these two I seemed to be the leader. It might have just been because I was the oldest.
Outside of the tent, I pushed Frank forward, motioning that he had to stick his head in. We couldn't exactly knock, there was no door.
Leave it to Frank to knock on a tent.
"Knock knock," he said, then poking his head in when a voice called 'come in'.
Frank grinned at me, and I rolled my eyes at him. He seemed proud of his little thing of saying the word 'knock' in replace of not being able to knock.
I get why people called him strange.
Inside the tent was Bryar sitting hunched over a small table with Armstrong at his side. They had a map in front of them, with markings over it. "You're probably wondering why I called the three of you here today, on this wonderfully snowy evening?" Bryar asked, leaning back in his chair.
"Yes sir," I said, my voice a little shaky. I wasn't good with talking to authority.
Bryar grinned, most likely enjoying my discomfort. "I have a mission for the three of you."
"What?" Frank asked, being the first to react. Did I hear him right?
"I have," Bryar started, speaking each word slower than the last, "a mission for you."
"Why us?" Alex asked. "We're not the typical guys that would be good at these things."
I watched Armtrong shift in his seat, moving some figurines around on the map, contemplating each move as if they held the answer to life.
"It's a simple task, one that the three of you could easily handle, couldn't they, Billie?"
Billie? That's what Armstrong's first name was? He nodded without looking up, scribbling some notes down. Hmm, it was an interesting first name for him. I pictured his first name being something more...serious, I guess.
"What is it?" I asked, turning my gaze back to Bryar, meeting his stone cold blue eyes. His grin grew wider, revealing his front teeth.
"You're going to lead us into war."
The thought almost made me faint.

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As we came to the top of the valley, that moment replayed in my mind. I was holding my gun between my two hands, trying to stop myself from shaking too much. There were people relying on me, and that was a scary thought.
After Bryar said that, he explained that some scouts had reported there being a Union camp near by, just under a two days march. He had wanted to split the camp into two parts, taking all the stronger ones with him (and us) to attack and take the camp. The other half would stay here and defend the camp as best they could, and even if it got overtaken, it wouldn't matter because he was so sure that we would get the enemy where we wanted them.
I saw the enemy below us at the bottom of the valley, and I looked over at Alex and Frank, who both looked as scared as I felt. I swallowed and nodded to the two of them in turn.
We all started running down the hillside, screaming at the top of our lungs.
Back to the little flashback, Bryar explained that he wanted us to go ahead and report back of our findings. He wanted us to watch the camp as the army would slowly advance, keeping tabs on them as we waited to attack.
Then he said he wanted us to make the call.
I started to think he wanted to get rid of the three of us and would do anything he could to do just that.
I was probably right.
After we reached the bottom of the hill, we continued to run, not wanting to stop in fear of being trampled by the many soldiers behind us. We were at the front line when everyone stopped, and I couldn't be more terrified. It was my first time going into battle, and I was at the front line, and on top of that, my General was more than likely wanting me dead.
Frank pulled my arm after the first gunshots started ringing, and I grabbed Alex's in turn as we started running back, ducking down in fear of getting shot.
"I can't do this," I cried, my words lost in the sound. I couldn't fire a gun and aim, I couldn't, I was too nice for that. I knew my two companions were thinking the same thing as we headed farther back, starting to hide behind others. At one point we stopped, and I turned back around to look and I saw people starting to go down. I cringed as I watched a body land with a thud on the ground, a pool of blood forming beneath him, no doubt.
Bert and his posse went by us on horseback after we found a spot to sit and watch, the three of us holding our guns close to our chests, waiting for someone to attack. Bert was leading on a dark brown horse, with his three comrades following. After Branden was taken hostage, he had taken Dan, the first man's name I took that day, under his wing and taught him all he knew in the short amount of time before this battle.
It was actually sad how easy it was for Bert to corrupt a man, I think that I was lucky to get Frank back when I did.
The group of four were at the front line, and it was harder to see them now, even with them on horses. I wondered how they felt about us three misfits charging down the hill. The only good thing that came out of that was the jealousy Bert would have when this was all done. That is, if we both survived.
There was a sound behind us, and Bryar was next to us on his white horse, a big jacket wrapped around him. I was jealous of his ranking for a moment - the officers got better jackets than us during this time of year, although it was warmer out now than it had been two weeks ago.
"Get moving, soldiers!" he yelled, his eyes full of danger. I jumped up and moved forward quickly, hoping Alex and Frank were behind me. I didn't like being around Bryar, especially not when he held a gun in his hands.
We weren't exactly at the front line, but we were pretty damn close and I didn't like it. I raised my gun, and missed whatever my target had been (I didn't even aim properly). Frank raised his gun and I saw a man go down, clutching his gut. Alex aimed for the guy Frank had hit and finished him off without a spoken word.
"You need to stop your hands from shaking," Alex said over the noise, and I nodded, not really thinking over his words, though. I raised my gun and tried again, but I missed.
That happened a couple more times.
"For God's sake," Frank yelled, clearly frustrated. "How can I be friends with someone who doesn't know how to shoot a gun? Do you want to get killed?"
I shook my head and tried again, this time knocking someone down who was coming towards us. I didn't know if I killed him, but he was down for the count.
"A second shot for good measure," Frank said when he raised his gun and fired at the man. He couldn't be alive after that, and if he was, his pain must be unbearable.
Frank stalked off to the side, creeping forward more, and I held out my hand to Alex to stop him from doing the same. Frank was small enough to get by without notice, but Alex and I on the other hand weren't. I didn't even approve of Frank going up, and didn't want to risk another life for one person being so stupid.
Alex raised his gun again, and started firing, I saw out of the corner of my eye. I was keeping an eye on Frank, watching as he would duck behind someone bigger than him as he was reloading, then jump up to fire. He was using people as human shields.
I noticed people running back, and some running forward to take their places. I wondered if anyone was retreating, or if they were just out of ammo. It could be both. Alex and I stayed where we were, but I couldn't see Frank again. Panic started to set in, thinking of the worst possible scenario as to what could have happened to him.
My eyes scanned across the crowd, switching from looking across the ground for bodies, and looking for his height that could identify him anywhere. The second wasn't so easy with people being taller than him.
I stood on my tiptoes, to get a better look, and I thought I saw his similar figure running around, dodging bullets and people almost shooting him. He was still ducking behind people without them knowing, seeming to be enjoying himself.
Then of course, what happened next was almost to be expected with how distracted I was.
There was a sudden pain in my shoulder which caused me to stumble back, gripping my shoulder tight. I cried out in pain, tears welling up in my eyes as I tried to put pressure on it, to stop the bleeding like I had learned long ago when my arm had gotten badly scratched after I had fallen off of my horse at full speed, falling on a broken tree and almost killing myself in the process.
"Mikey!" I heard a voice yell, and I went down, falling on my back. I cried out again, my grip loosening on my shoulder from how much pain it caused. Everything seemed to start moving in slow motion, how Alex was on top of me, looking at me with a worried expression, and how everyone around us seemed to me moving like they were stuck in molasses. I blinked slowly a few time, waiting for everything to regain its normal speed, but nothing was changing. My shoulder had started throbbing and from where my hand rested lower down on the arm, I could feel blood seeping down and through my uniform.
I saw Alex's face go away, felt him leave my side, and knew in that moment I was going to die from the immense amount of pain. My eyes closed, but tears were still pushing through. My shoulder really hurt, and any words to explain it were useless.
There were hands on my body in the next second, and when I finally was able to pry my eyes open I saw Frank and Alex's faces both above mine, looking as worried as I had ever seen them.
"Mikey, come on," I barely heard Frank say, "it didn't hit anywhere lethal. Stay with us until we get you to safety." I felt hands over my body, trying to prop me up. When someone touched my shoulder, I cried out as loud as I think I've ever raised my voice, and the hands left my body within a second.
My eyes were closed again, and I was trying to breathe normally, to take my mind off of the pain, but it was taking over my whole body. My head titled back and I screamed, praying that someone would just finish me off so I wouldn't have to cope with the pain; it was too much for me. I don't know how many times I had to say that until someone finally listened to me.
"Just leave me," I croaked out, my eyes closed still. I felt tears drying on my cheeks, and new ones soon rolling down.
"You heard him," I hear what I think was Alex's voice, "we have to leave him to live, Frank."
"I can't leave him," Frank's voice said about the noise, but what was only heard by us two.
I let out a shaky breath, opening my eyes again which took too much effort. "Just go, Frank. Get out of here," I said, using my good hand to try to push him away. He grabbed it and looked down at me.
"Frank!" Alex's voice said, and I hazily saw him lift up his gun and fire it. I noticed around us that the people were thinning. "They're advancing. We got to go."
"Before you go, put me out of my misery," I said, looking up at Alex. They were both kneeling at my sides, Frank's gun forgotten behind him somewhere.
"Don't you dare raise that gun," Frank yelled at Alex, pointing a finger at him. His voice seemed to drip with venom. "We're not leaving him here for those bastards, and that is that."
"We can't lift him, Frank, use your senses! I don't want to leave him, but I don't also want to die. I'm sorry Mikey, I value my life more than dying here. I need to get back to Jack."
I didn't take offence to it, or tried not to. I closed my eyes again and listened to them argue a bit more, trying to kill myself by using my brain.
"I can't just leave him," Frank yelled. Was he crying? I opened my eyes a little and saw his face was red and blotchy.
"Why not? Do you really not care about living? Should I just leave you here, too?"
"Because I love him!" Frank yelled, "that's why I can't leave him here. Get your ass out of here, you don't like me anyways, and let us die in peace-Aah!"
Frank's words replayed in my head, and I couldn't believe what he said. He loved me? What did he mean by that? Romantically or just best friends/brotherly way? Why would you say that at a time like this? I wanted to ask what he meant, but I felt his presence moved away from mine at the last audible sound he made, which sounded like a yelp of surprise. Was Bert here to get the revenge he wanted desperately for doing the job he normally does?
"Who is this man?" a new voice yelled, it definitely wasn't Bert, I didn't even recognize the voice as someone from camp, kicking my leg. I cried out, pain flaring up in my leg now.
"Please don't kill us," I heard Alex yell after a long moment in silence, "we have information you need." Oh Alex...don't lie like that.
There was another long silence, and I writhed around in pain, trying to grip my shoulder again, but it just worsened the pain. I felt blood drying to my hand when I pulled it away and felt more tears rolling down my cheeks through my closed eyes.
"Get him to his feet. You're now prisoners of war, all three of you."