EL Salvador
Boom! A bomb explosion went off close to where I was camped out. I woke up. I had been
passed out in my bunker for the past eight hours. I looked around and I saw Sanchez in the
corner holding his face. I screamed his name. All he responded with was, “ Enrique I’m going to
die”. I quickly rushed to his aid. Before I knew it I was surrounded by men holding RPKs to my
head screaming, “Surrender Or Die”. I had no Idea what to do. I knew that this was it. I told
Sanchez that it would be okay, so an FMLN soldier bashed his head in. I held my hands behind
my head and we slowly made our way out of the dirt bunker. We walked very slowly, I watched
as my entire life appeared before me in my head. My 5th birthday when I got my new potato
bag, the summer I got to go the city carnival and I lost my favorite toy aeroplane, the day I
joined boot camp. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! I heard multiple loud gunshots. I dropped to my
knees . To my left I saw an FMLN soldier on the ground gushing blood. They were all dead. I
went to take one of their weapons, only to find that they weren’t even loaded. We got held up
with empty weapons. I felt ashamed. I quickly turned back to help Sanchez. When I stumbled
upon him he was a mess. His nose looked out of place, he had a gnarly gash on the back of his
head, and they had sliced his jacket. I made my way back to our bunker to call for aid. I
received the worst news imaginable, they told me that they wouldn’t be at my location for three
hours. I was befuddled. I couldn’t speak so I just ended the transmission. I gathered all of our
supplies together and rushed to help Sanchez. He was complaining that his head hurt so I just
told him to be calm. I got out a needle and thread and began to stitch his head back together. I
quickly started to panic, who had shot the FMLN? Was it my allies? I finished stitching and we
searched mercilessly for ammunition. We had two kalashnikov rifles that we had salvaged. We
had three rounds. Three rounds, three men. If another squad came across our encampment
again, we would not stand a chance. I left the bunker to search for whoever shot the FMLN. I
saw a weapon glint to the east. I used my binoculars and I saw someone wearing the same
uniform that I was wearing 1200 yards away. They were walking away. I sat there with Sanchez.
We talked for some time. I looked at my pocketwatch. No, it had been nearly 5 hours since I had
called for help. I tried to radio for help again. There was silence. The next morning I head
vehicles and loud footsteps. I could only assume it was the FMLN, I soiled my trousers. I sat
there and held my head with my greasy hands. General Lopez casually walked in and told us to
get our things together. My nightmare was over.