A Country Divided : Through Blood United

Life of a Soldier: An Early End

I soon discovered that life as a Union soldier became routine, and, well, boring. The army would wake up to the sound of an annoying horn blaring throughout the camp.

I scurried out of bed and realizing that I didn't change into pajamas, I dusted off my uniform before meeting up with Milo to join the rest of the troops for what I hoped to be breakfast.

"No breakfast today, boys!" The Lieutenant General bellowed, his hands cupped to his mouth. "Most of you showed me a bad performance yesterday, so you better work better on empty stomachs, or face having no more breakfast."

I groaned. "Milo, that's so stupid. I need breakfast to power me through the day. That's the most important meal."

Milo stayed stiff and silent, causing me to glance up at him in confusion. His eyes, on the other hand, man different motions compared to his body. His golden eyes darted hysterically toward where the Lieutenant General.

I followed his gaze to ultimately find the Lieutenant General, angrily storming toward me.

When he finally reached me, his set his muscular arms on his hips in frustration.

"Mr. Evan Freebourne," he growled. "Do you think I tolerate any of this behavior?"

"N-no," I squeaked, trying my best to sound confident.

"What was that, Sergeant? If I don't hear anything, you'll lose your rank!" he snapped, his veins popping out of his forehead and neck.

"No sir!" I shouted back with full confidence.

The Lieutenant General smiled softly as if he could see my real female self behind my disguise, and that he fancied at the way I looked. "Good."

***

For many hours, the Northern troops practiced our drills with the Lieutenant General, who obviously wasn't in his usual cheery mood. Once the drills finally drew to a nearly impossible close, I was finally able to collapse onto the soft, welcoming grass after leaping off of my horse, Rosa.

Milo grabbed Rosa's reigns and glanced down at me, my hair untying from its bun and spilling on the grass in curly, tawny-colored ringlets.

"You tired?" he asked through a happy smile.

"Well, I had no breakfast, so yeah, I'm pretty tuckered out," I managed to say, my eyelids drooping from exhaustion.

Milo rolled his eyes in response to my dramatic reaction after receiving zero breakfast, and he then let out a small chuckle. "You should really wear your hair down like that. It's cute."

"It'll make me look more like a girl!" I retorted, trying to change the subject. "I need to stay looking like a man."

"Whatevs," Milo's face then was robbed of all emotion.

And just as fast as he lost his emotion, Milo then cracked a small, mischievous smirk. "Hey, wanna have a lice race with the rest of the guys?"

My eyes lit up at Milo's statement, and I instantly sprang to my feet with a sudden burst of energy. "I'd love to!"

I dashed toward our little friend group excitedly, tying my hair into the usual bun during the process. Milo, on the other hand, stayed behind to tie our horses by our tents.

***

Milo finally caught up to me and placed his hand on my shoulder as we made our final steps toward our friends.

Three of my really good friends circled a small metal plate. Asher, Arthur, and Atlas were triplets with completely opposite looks and personalities. From first glance, they didn't appear to be siblings, but when you look into their small details, you can see the resemblance they share.