text: Thompson stared at the dead rat as if his life depended on it while trying to go back to sleep. The truth is his life didn’t depend on it but he just felt like taking his mind off of certain things. The letter he got from Laura that evening didn’t go very well and he just didn’t want to think about it so instead he just stared blankly at a rat that had the misfortune of dying not even a few paces from his bunk. It was just then that his concentration was broken when Goodwin stumbled into the bombproof and spoke with a tired expression “Thompson you’re up on Pickett duty man wake the fuck up” Thompson then glanced up and grabbed his things and shoved the letter into his pocket. He had forgotten he had picket duty tonight after he got done reading his mail and as a result he was unprepared as he grabbed his rifle and put on his boots and coat. “Sorry I got distracted, anyways who am I on duty with tonight?”. However his words had fallen on deaf ears as Goodwin was already laying in his bunk with his boots still on his feet leaving him to figure it out for himself. To those who don’t know Pickett duty is both the most stressful and boring tasking that command could ever devise. It would involve two men to sit in a rifle pit on the firing line at night and watch for stragglers trying to cross no man’s land from the Ticonderogan lines and every night men would rotate said duty. Thompson thought about this as he slogged his way through the trench past a few more sentries either getting off shift or getting on until he found it. Howard paid him no mind as Thompson crawled into the rifle pit because he was nearly coughing his heart out as he was. Thompson set his rifle down beside him and spoke in a hushed voice. “Hey you good over there?” Howard proceeded to cough for several more minutes until he stopped “Yeah I’m fine man.” Thompson then sighed. “Good. I don’t need anyone else dying on me today”. Thompson said as he rubbed his hands. To this Howard felt compelled to ask. “Did something happen?” Thompson sniffled in the cold spring air. “Yeah I’m fine.. I just got some bad news today from home that’s all”. “Mail call always has that effect on people”. Howard said. “I hope you find some good news soon.” The notion made Thompson smile and felt compelled to ask in turn “So did you get any good news today?” Howard then replied in turn “yeah I did. My son was born today actually.” Thompson’s sadness returned again “congratulations” he said in a bitter tone “Any ideas for names?” Howard asked “Stephanie was thinking of Bill or George”. Thompson added “how about Robert?” Howard seemed to agree “yeah I like that one. Robert, it has a charm to it”. Thompson only nodded “yeah it did”. Thompson didn’t like to suggest his dead sons name but it would suit someone else better than him. A quietness engulfed the two men before Howard spoke again. “Hey Thompson do you believe in the afterlife? I mean Heaven and Hell and whatnot”. Thompson paused for a moment to reflect as he rubbed his eyes. “Yeah I do why?” “Nothing it’s just something I think about every now and then”. They then spent the next several hours talking about anything and everything they could think about and when they couldn’t think of anything more to talk about they talked some more. They spent all night memorizing the scenery before them which wasn’t much. The only notable feature before them was the ruins of an old log cabin that must have burned down before the siege. Every so often he thought he saw something moving at the base of it but reassured himself it was nothing. The shuffling of Goodwin’s boots in the mud broke the silence and he spoke “morning gentlemen. See anything interesting?” Thompson spoke as Howard became unusually quiet “nothing but rocks that look like sappers”. Goodwin then kicked Howard to wake him “hey get up I’m relieving you early so you can get someone to look at that cough old man”. There was then a breif pause when Goodwin kicked him again “hey I said get u-“ however Thompson spoke in his defense “hey give him a minute he’s had a long night”. It was at this point that Goodwin knelt down and said some words that made Thompson’s blood run cold “he’s dead”. To this Thompson glanced over and saw him roll Howard’s frozen corpse over and he saw his frozen eyes stare into Thompson’s. “That’s.. that’s not true I was talking to him all night last night” Thompson said. Goodwin then nodded “you were talking to a dead man Thompson.. maybe you should get some sleep instead”.