Read Online Shades of War: A Collection of Four Short Stories by Josh Ashton - Free Book Online
Authors: Josh Ashton
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captain had gone south. He knew that those that had gone north were only going there to die.
The waves had moved south quicker than he imagined. He was smart enough to know to avoid a town, but he needed food. He had been without a meal for almost two days. That wasn't much time to go without food, but he needed his strength if he was going to make it south. South had become a religion to him. He had to believe that somewhere to the south there would be friendly forces fighting and holding the line. He had to believe. If he didn't, it was all for not.
He had been stupid. He had been searching through empty houses in some unnamed city when he heard the North Koreans enter town. He had found an empty crawl space and holed up there to hide. Twice the slanties had searched the house in which he was hidden, but he had remained undiscovered. Lack of food and water finally forced him out of his hiding place. Knowing he would need his strength, he had ventured out in search for food.
His current hiding place had been what had distracted him from his search. He had thought the town was empty again. He had thought the quiet night would be enough protection. He was moving down one of the main streets of the town looking for a grocery store or something when the smell got his attention. The stench was horrific. Just a few yards away he came upon the dead. Stacked haphazardly on the side of the street was literally a pile of bodies.The enemy had not discriminated much. Bloody lifeless bodies of both American soldiers and Korean civilians lay like so many stacks of wood. The North Koreans were not wasting any time with prisoners of any kind.
He still couldn't believe that he hadn't heard or seen anything of the North Korean patrol. He hadn't heard a thing, but suddenly a group of North Koreans were walking down the street right towards him. The darkness gave him just a few seconds to make a decision. The Captain was left with only one option. He had flopped down next to wretched bodies and pulled a corpse right on top of himself.
For the entire night he had sat there waiting with the smell of stench and decay filling his nostrils. He mentally tried to crush all his senses. Don't look, don't smell, don't taste. Try not to breathe, just listen, listen and wait. This invasion was not an occupation in normal terms. This was the equivalent of holocaust. He had seen the North Koreans killing everyone; men, women and children. This was extermination.
The Captain figured the North Koreans were coming south to stay. And they didn't want any resistance. After the army killed everyone, 100 million half-starving North Koreans civilians would flow south to strip the land like a plague of locust. This war was not about power or energy... the usual reasons for the more modern conflicts. It was so much more basic. It was about food. And a starving man has nothing to lose.
He didn't know how many Koreans were in this part of the town now, but it seemed like a lot. As he was trapped under the bodies the Captain's mind had begun to wander. How had the Koreans gotten so far south so fast? It had to be those damn tunnels. For decades the North Koreans had dug and built a massive tunnel network under the DMZ. No one knew how extensive that network really was. But after seeing hundreds of troops this far south in just a matter of a few days, it was the only logical answer.
Whatever they were doing in this place, they sure made it seem like they were going to stay a while. Before he had ventured out onto the street from his first hiding place, he had seen hundreds of soldiers moving in and out of the main government building that was in the center of town.
An entire day he sat under those corpses. Every time he heard the odd tone of the Koreans, he prayed that they
The waves had moved south quicker than he imagined. He was smart enough to know to avoid a town, but he needed food. He had been without a meal for almost two days. That wasn't much time to go without food, but he needed his strength if he was going to make it south. South had become a religion to him. He had to believe that somewhere to the south there would be friendly forces fighting and holding the line. He had to believe. If he didn't, it was all for not.
He had been stupid. He had been searching through empty houses in some unnamed city when he heard the North Koreans enter town. He had found an empty crawl space and holed up there to hide. Twice the slanties had searched the house in which he was hidden, but he had remained undiscovered. Lack of food and water finally forced him out of his hiding place. Knowing he would need his strength, he had ventured out in search for food.
His current hiding place had been what had distracted him from his search. He had thought the town was empty again. He had thought the quiet night would be enough protection. He was moving down one of the main streets of the town looking for a grocery store or something when the smell got his attention. The stench was horrific. Just a few yards away he came upon the dead. Stacked haphazardly on the side of the street was literally a pile of bodies.The enemy had not discriminated much. Bloody lifeless bodies of both American soldiers and Korean civilians lay like so many stacks of wood. The North Koreans were not wasting any time with prisoners of any kind.
He still couldn't believe that he hadn't heard or seen anything of the North Korean patrol. He hadn't heard a thing, but suddenly a group of North Koreans were walking down the street right towards him. The darkness gave him just a few seconds to make a decision. The Captain was left with only one option. He had flopped down next to wretched bodies and pulled a corpse right on top of himself.
For the entire night he had sat there waiting with the smell of stench and decay filling his nostrils. He mentally tried to crush all his senses. Don't look, don't smell, don't taste. Try not to breathe, just listen, listen and wait. This invasion was not an occupation in normal terms. This was the equivalent of holocaust. He had seen the North Koreans killing everyone; men, women and children. This was extermination.
The Captain figured the North Koreans were coming south to stay. And they didn't want any resistance. After the army killed everyone, 100 million half-starving North Koreans civilians would flow south to strip the land like a plague of locust. This war was not about power or energy... the usual reasons for the more modern conflicts. It was so much more basic. It was about food. And a starving man has nothing to lose.
He didn't know how many Koreans were in this part of the town now, but it seemed like a lot. As he was trapped under the bodies the Captain's mind had begun to wander. How had the Koreans gotten so far south so fast? It had to be those damn tunnels. For decades the North Koreans had dug and built a massive tunnel network under the DMZ. No one knew how extensive that network really was. But after seeing hundreds of troops this far south in just a matter of a few days, it was the only logical answer.
Whatever they were doing in this place, they sure made it seem like they were going to stay a while. Before he had ventured out onto the street from his first hiding place, he had seen hundreds of soldiers moving in and out of the main government building that was in the center of town.
An entire day he sat under those corpses. Every time he heard the odd tone of the Koreans, he prayed that they
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