text: As I walked through a pile of rotting bodies soaked in blood, I tightened my grip on my assault rifle with my finger on the trigger. I hated the smell of gunpowder but at least it covered the foul smell of allies and enemies alike--even just a little bit. The silence was deafening as well. I only heard sounds of my empty canteen every time I took a step and it almost drove me crazy. I wondered if this is what hell looks like and I’m seeing it with my own eyes. Being by myself also does not help at all. I was sent alone to accomplish an impossible task assigned to me by my superiors. Just 3 days ago, our camp received a message that a 10-year-old boy was trapped inside a building behind enemy lines. Apparently, this boy was the one who sent the message and was asking for help--there was even a description of what he looked like. No one knew if this was a trap but they immediately called me and told me to rescue the boy--no matter how suspicious the message was. But being the youngest in our camp, I had no choice but to obey them. Otherwise, I'd dishonor my country. Now, after three days of endless walking--with no food or water--I started losing hope. But I kept thinking to myself that I’m fulfilling my duty for my own country. If I were to give up now, I'd never be able to forgive myself if there were actually a boy crying for me to bring him back home. I bellowed to psych myself up and continued on my journey towards certain death. Just a few hours later, I finally reached the building and I fell to my knees in utter disbelief. However, there were a huge number of enemy soldiers around the building--come to think of it, there was an enemy camp nearby. I needed to find a way past them to enter the building--so I took the clothes of a nearby enemy soldier and wore them. There were a few holes on it and I just hoped that none of them would notice. I checked the pockets for anything useful for the mission only to find a bloodstained photo of him together with his wife and children. I had second thoughts and paused for a moment. However, I had to finish my mission--no matter what. I managed to sneak my way in but there were also a few soldiers inside. I tried looking for the boy without making any noise but I accidentally stepped on some shattered glass that caught the attention of the officer close to me. He asked me something and I just nodded my head--I didn’t speak their language. He was clearly confused and asked me the question once again. I panicked and answered in English without thinking. He looked even more confused and he eventually noticed the bullet holes. He realized what was up and was about to draw his pistol but I shot him without hesitation--I had my rifle in my hand after all. Blood splattered all over my face and I took his pistol just in case. I knew everyone in the building heard that--so I flipped a table and took cover behind it. I waited for them to get near and there were about four of them. While they were checking the body, I caught them off guard and unloaded all the ammunition of my rifle--it became obvious they were inexperienced like me. Their bodies fell one after another. I mercilessly fired at every single one of them--there was no denying that. My whole body was shaking uncontrollably but I had no time for that--the soldiers outside were rushing inside. But one person was still alive and my arm got hit. My rifle had no bullets left and luckily, I just grabbed a pistol from the officer earlier and I shot him in the head to finish the job. I went upstairs and used a bunch of grenades to destroy the staircase so I could buy myself some time. When I passed a room along the hallway, someone inside that room threw a flashbang and managed to blind me for a few seconds. During that time, the guy was continuously firing at me but he seemed to be completely missing--maybe he was affected by the flashbang as well. But he eventually hit both of my legs and I dropped hard to the ground. I was forced to blindly fire. After using all my remaining ammo, the bullets stopped coming at me. When my vision came back, I wanted to check if he was actually dead and not repeat what happened earlier. But there was blood all over my eyes and it was also painful for me to walk--so I crawled using my one good arm all the way to him. When I was near enough, I realized that he was just a kid. I was furious at the enemy for using a child to fight for their cause. But when I had a clear look on his face, my breath stopped and felt like my soul just left my body. He was the boy I was supposed to rescue with dead open eyes. I glanced around and it looked like he was just protecting himself from the enemy soldiers. I was wearing their uniform and looked like one--it was not his fault at the slightest. I banged my head repeatedly on the floor and screamed with rage at the top of my lungs. But just like the boy’s life, my screams were cut short when I heard missiles exploding outside. When one was about to hit the building I was in, I remembered that the enemy did not have any missiles at all.