Dear Soldier, Put Your Gun Down

Chapter 9 Goodbye

Matt and Winona saw a man whose head was bleeding dragging a female army doctor who had a

medicine box with her.

“Son of bitch! I’ll take you there even if I have to tie you up!”

The woman struggled, “Draiso has their picked soldiers ahead of us. If we go there, we will be asking

for death!”

Matt snapped, “Kevin, what’s this about?”

“Matt, Samuel got two shots near his heart, yet he lost too much blood to move around, so we have to

take a doctor to him to operate the surgery.”

The woman trembled in fear, “I’m not going there! I’m not! I want to go home.”

Kevin put his gun against the woman’s head, “Say it again, and I’ll put the bullet in your head!”

The woman couldn’t help wetting her pants, quivering.

“Take me instead. It’s a delicate job to take out the bullet from the chest. I don’t think she is in a proper

condition to perform the surgery.”

“Thank you, Winona, for doing this for Samuel.”

Matt pulled Winona to the operation room and started to rip off her clothes.

She scolded him with her teeth gritted, “Matt Snider, you bastard! How could you do this when your

man is dying?”

He took off his tailor-made bulletproof vest and wrapped it around her body, looking grim, “The artillery

is everywhere. Be careful.”

As the commander of the whole legion, he couldn’t leave here.

His warmth on the vest seemed to have cracked her heart. Somehow, she was flustered to have such a

feeling.

Matt sent her into Kevin’s car and said, “Take Samuel's place in the mission. Remember to take him

back alive!”

Kevin patted his chest and said, “No problem, sir!”

Matt then glanced at Winona and added, “Winona, too! Or I’ll make you pay for your failure!”

Kevin chuckled, thinking to himself that Matt either didn’t have women around him or spoiled his girl as

much as he could.

Something seemed to occur to Matt. He untied the medal around his neck and put it on Winona's neck,

“My mother got this to keep me safe.”

It was just a square silver medal engraved with blessings, but Winona had a feeling that it was too

valuable to take.

“You believe that, too?”

“Not really before, but I have faith in it from now on.”

Her heart seemed to be struck by something. She froze for a moment and then kissed his cheek.

“Goodbye, Matt. Consider this kiss a return for your caring for me in the last few days,” she thought.

When the car started, he stood still, raising his hand to touch the spot she kissed. But he gave up in the

end for fear that he might ruin it.

Love was such a magical thing to let people drown willingly.

Winona kept staring into the rearview mirror until the figure became a dot and finally faded.

She had to admit that she seemed to have feelings for Matt right now. After all, she never really fancied

anyone before.

Although she and Benjamin were in a relationship before, he was more like a big brother to her. He

brought her warmth, but it had nothing to do with love.

However, she still believed that she should get back to Benjamin. She could see her future with him,

which was good for both her and Aileen. But with Matt, she could neither see him through nor control

anything.

“Winona, I admire your love for Matt.”

Winona smiled, “Well, he’s my man.”

Kevin looked at her stealthily and patted his head. “That’s weird. You look familiar to me. Have we met

before? I can’t remember where.”

Winona didn’t take it seriously. As the lady of the Winston family, she was sometimes on TV with her

father even if she was mostly a blurred figure.

The car traversed the dense forest and gunfire. Soon, they came to their destination.

There were several bodies lying on the ground with blood all over. They could hear the gunfire and the

roar of airplanes.

Several soldiers set up a makeshift tent out of branches, and a man lay dying on the ground, his face

bloodstained.

Kevin strode over to hold the man’s hand, “Samuel, stay with me!”

He couldn’t help shedding tears.

Winona took the scalpels, hemostats, plasma bags, bandages, and some other things out of the

medical kit.

She then put on a mask and began to remove the bullet.

The man suddenly took hold of her wrist, his voice weak but firm, “I don’t need the anesthetic.”

She knew that soldiers should always keep a clear head.

“It’s going to hurt.”

“It doesn’t matter. I can bear it.”

The man remained silent the whole time during the surgery. Just like Matt, his soldiers were as tough

as he was.

At this moment a soldier came to report, “Kevin, the Apatreon Division of Draiso has crossed the

protective line.”

Kevin gritted his teeth, “Fuck, just kill these bastards!”

A few steps further, he turned back and ordered the remaining soldiers, “Stay here and take care of

Samuel and Miss Winston. If you fail, don't expect to come back alive.”

“Yes, sir!”

The operation lasted three hours. Winona carefully stitched Samuel’s wound up as if the fire outside did

not affect her.

She wrapped the bandage around Samuel’s shoulder and then heaved a sigh of relief.

Samuel lifted his parched lips and said, “Winona, thank you.”

“You're welcom. I’m just doing my job.”

Winona raised her eyes to look at the fading sky and thought of something.

They were only a dozen miles away from Esnurg, which remained neutral in the battle between

Coscana and Draiso and was also a refuge for refugees from both countries. If she made it to sneak

into the refugee camp, the Esnurg managers would send her back home.

She quietly hid Samuel’s pistol in the medicine kit and then got up. Surprisingly, a dozen soldiers stood

around her tensely.

She pretended to look sheepish. “Is there any restroom here?”

The soldiers were embarrassed. Mostly, they would find a casual spot as their restroom.

A soldier pointed to the dense forest not far away. “You should go there, Miss Winston.”

“Thank you.”

She walked into the woods, sneering silently.

By the time the soldiers found out she was missing, she had run away.

“Damn, Miss Winston is gone.”

“Go find her! Or we’re all doomed!”

At this point, Winona had taken off a dead woman’s clothes and put them on, planning to run toward

Esnurg.

She looked at the bracelet on her wrist, which she almost forgot, and then pulled out her pistol and shot

at it.

Bam! The bullet grazed her skin and broke the bracelet. She simply dealt with the wound and hurried

on.

Realizing someone was following her, she slowed her pace and then hid into the dense woods all of a

sudden. As the steps approached her, she counted silently, “One, two, three...”

She jumped out, aimed at the man, and loaded the pistol, “Who are you? Why are you following me?”

Out of her expectation, it was a little girl of thirteen or fourteen.

The little girl timidly pointed to the clothes on her body and said in broken Coscanian language, “That’s

my mother’s clothes.”

Winona frowned. She couldn’t take it off and give it back to her right now.

“Here, this is for you!”

She gave the little girl half her rations.

The little girl gazed at the silver medal on her neck, envy flashing in her eyes for a moment.

“Thank you, Miss. May I give you a kiss?”

“Sorry, I’m not into intimating with people.”

There was a voice in her mind, reminding her of how weird it was that a little girl appeared on the

battlefield and she should be vigilant.

Suddenly, the little girl jumped on her.

Winona kicked her away, but her hand felt numb. Lowering her head, she was desperate to see a

syringe in her hand.

“Damn it!”