• My eyes roamed across the field where I stood with hundreds of other people. We were all nervous as we started to tread across the green landscape. We knew the enemy troops would be here soon. It was just a matter of time. It was like walking into your own suicide! The tension was so thick that not even noise could penetrate the shield it made. Sadly that shield would not defend us from bullets. Our fur whipped with the wind though it felt still with silence. My forehead crippled with thought.
    The captain was looking ahead of us all. The soldiers that happened to walk in his way he seemed to look through like they were translucent glasses. I knew what he was thinking. ‘What would it be like to see your companions die until the bullet lay in your head?’ Like me he knew that we were far outnumbered. There was no hope. We walked into this and we were going to fight till we couldn’t anymore. We wouldn’t go down without a fight. At least perhaps we would bring the number down before more troops came to take the torch of suicide. This was a war the president knew we couldn’t win but he launched us into it anyways. He was pointing thousands of people to their deaths. The only thing that made me upset was that I could do absolutely nothing about it.
    Then we heard it. The sound of marching feet. Coming through the trees not too far ahead of us. The shadows lingered in perfect camouflage with the surroundings. We could see the points of the guns they possessed poking up in a battle position.
    We grabbed our own weapons and stood in a ready stance just waiting for the captains’ command. He narrowed his eyes and tapped his cap. “Hold fire!” He yelled when his keen ears picked up the click of a ready gun from the soldier next to me. The captains’ tail flicked with anticipation as he waited for the enemies to aim for fire. He loved a fair play.
    I caught the clicks of the enemies’ guns and growled under my breath, my whiskers twitching in anticipation. I was ready for death. Just waiting. Like a falsely accused person that was framed of a murder, a head in the guillotine just waiting.
    Then the signal was sent from the captain. ‘Fire’ I thought firing the first bullet and hitting an enemy soldier. Then the confusion began. The cluttered firing all seeming to go in one direction. All seeming to aim at us as our trigger happy fingers pulled down on our own guns. People around me started to fall. I could see the blood splatter in all directions. Puddles of it surrounded my feet and soaked my exposed fur. I was no longer the speckled wolf I used to be. I was now a blood red furred murderer.
    I noticed a flash of brown and black rush past me and saw the captain charging at the enemies his claws fully extended and a crazed look in his eyes as he roared and toppled on top of a soldier. He fiercely tore away the soldiers’ goggles and smashed his paws into the eye sockets of the enemy. He dug deeper and deeper into his skull until his paws hit cold earth and he laughed madly. The enemies had stopped shooting in horror but began again to save themselves from the crazed captain. He seemed to know exactly where all the bullets would hit dodging every single one with ease. He jumped into a tree disappearing from my sight.
    I spotted one soldier still seemingly dazed by our captains’ grace and skill. I shot at him and he fell to the ground grasping his leg and gurgling blood from the second shot which landed into his chest. I couldn’t help but feel a strong feeling of guilt. I murdered innocent men and maybe women. People that may have even had families. My eyes leaked the salty water drops with the name of a tear. Then I felt a shooting pain in my arm and saw the blood drip from the new gunshot wound in it. I had been shot… I lifted my arm despite the pain and shot random bullets in random places maybe taking down a half a dozen in 12 shots.
    I heard a howl and looked up to see the captain appear again with a new gun apparently from a soldier that he killed in the back. He had a bloodied set of goggles and another layer of military armor. The captain jumped onto another soldier also swiping three around the one he jumped off their feet with his tail. He took the head of the one he was on and bashed it against the tree he was nearest too and jabbed a gun into the eye of another soldier that had come to the rescue shooting a bullet which came out the other side of the soldiers skull hitting another enemy and killing both instantly.
    I watched in amazement at the gore fest that had just befallen before me. I took a quick look around and noticed that there were maybe 7 or 8 of us left and at least 30 of them. It was hopeless…or was it? The captain seemed to be doing a better job with his hands then any of us could with any type of gun. “CHARGE!!!!” I finally screamed running at the enemies. I heard the others follow me as we all jumped into the crowd of jaguars.
    Snarls yowls and howls were heard as enemies went down in 2s then 3s and then even 5s. We were all covered in blood and guts but that didn’t bother us as we were engulfed in the feeling of war. My vision seemed to have a red haze to it. It wasn’t hard to see but it was hypnotizing.
    Then it all stopped in mere minutes it had come to an end.
    We felt so victorious as we saw the rest of them retreats. Now there were only 4 of us left counting the captain. We all cried and hugged feeling that we were going back to our families with victory on our hands.
    Our feelings of triumph sunk down into our stomachs when an oval shaped green object landed in front of us. I screamed and ran as fast as I could away from the hand grenade. The captain was in step with me although he wasn’t panicked in the least. The two behind us didn’t make it before the grenade exploded, killing them and burning the end hairs of our tails.
    I howled in sorrow for all of our lost friends. The captain joined me as we stopped at a clearing.

    Later that day after we had cried for our lost companions and felt the fear that we had of ourselves a helicopter from the US government came and picked me and the captain up. It seemed that we would return to our families after all. But for what price?