Bite the Bullet

 

Joe woke up on the ground of a strange planet. The dirt under him was green, the sky was red, and the mountains in the distance appeared to be covered with black snow. He couldn’t really think about that. He had a pain in his stomach. He would have told the doctor on his spaceship that it was a nine out ten. Burning, stabbing, and radiating to the rest of his body. He tried to prop himself up on his elbows, but his pain level went to an eleven, so he collapsed back to the ground.

The red of his blood mixing with the green of the ground made such an ugly color. He could smell his burned flesh. He heard some birds circling above him. Probably the local version of buzzards, he thought.

He thought about his life, as you were supposed to do as you lay dying. He remembered his dad talking about being shot in WW3. He had given Joe the bullet, even putting it on a chain. That he now wore around his neck. He yanked it off and looked at it. He put it in his mouth and bit down. Doing this, he was able to stand the pain and get up off the ground.

That was when the real horror began….