THE UNLEASHING OF HELL
Silence drifting down windswept wadi,
puntuctuated with the clink of loosened stone.
Menace lurking behind every rock,
as we step forward into the unknown.
Cold spinal chill as Hell's gates unfurl,
rolling down like some necromancing fog upon us.
Hell's hateful spittle whistling past our ears,
as deep explosive thuds rock our very hearts.
Adrenalin mixed with fear surges through our veins.
Some freeze, others run, most dive, roll and crawl,
as we face the unleashing of Hell.
Death's jaws snap around our heads,
Hell's loosened chains whip the barren landscape,
ripping flesh and limbs,
no place to hide as Hell's tail cracks and spits out death.
Shouted orders meet withering fire of hellish lead,
groans of agony and gasping last breaths replacing valiant shouts of war.
The barren landscape flecked with red as Hell extracts its crimson price.
Skirmishing forward, hoping for the miracle that will see us reach the next rock,
before we hear death's bell toll.
If by chance we make it, then maybe,
just maybe, we can reach out and close the gates of Hell.
Spinning and falling to the ground,
hot lead burning through buckled leg.
Dazed, winded, vision blurred,
focussing slowly on comrades dying as they
sacrifice their lives for one so worthless.
Hell's fury unleashed upon them as they struggled to reach me.
All I had to do was roll out into the line of fire and
have an end put to this senseless slaughter of brave souls.
Too scared, too selfish, I do not know;
but what I know is that those who died to save me,
were better men than I.