His helmet rested against the wall, his heart pounding against his chest; fingers clinging to the gun, and his thoughts filled with prayers as his officer repeated the words.

“You’re going up top!”

He prayed with shaky breath as the sound of boots approached.

“Did you hear me Riggins? I said you’re going up top!”

“I … I can’t please.”

The officer’s hand grabbed his collar as he pushed his face up to his.

“You listen to me Riggins” his spit covered the man’s sodden face. “You either die up there with your friends or you die right here in this spot.”

Riggins shakes his head, tears flowing down his dirt covered cheeks.

“I’m scared” he confessed as his officer tightened his grip, pushing his face even closer till the tip of his nose touched his own.

“You know what I smell as I press my face against yours? It’s not sweat I smell, it’s not dirt, it’s not fear I smell, it’s future.” The officer let go and stepped back standing as stiff as a board. “I smell a future filled with children playing in their yards, and their fathers playing with them as their wives watch on with smiles on their faces. That can be your future Riggins, all you have to do is fight for it.”

Riggins looked down at his boots, he thought about his rotten feet inside of them, he thought about every cut and scrape on his body, and he thought about his brother's mangled corpses laying in the dirt of no man’s land whilst he stood there. He knew there was no future for them, he knew there was no future for himself. Perhaps if he had the time, the bigger picture would have become clearer to him. But in this moment, only one thing was certain, on this day he would die. And that left him with two choices, he could either die up there, or here where he stood.

The officer waited for an answer. But none was returned, so with a sigh of disappointment he pointed the barrel of his gun at Riggins’ chest and pulled the trigger. He shook his head as he headed back to his bunker to get one last swig of courage before he made the journey up top. Knowing exactly what awaited him in his future.