Automorphic Anatomy
by Nickolas Abudo
The battle had been going on at the small canyons for quite some time now. Many foxholes had been created, and the land was quite bare, except for 2 people hiding behind a giant rock, taking cover from the oncoming bullets racing towards them. “I’m gonna try to get a shot off them, I saw someone clean in the open just in front of us!” exclaimed Leo. “Alright, best of luck Leo. You can do it.” said Caius. Leo peeks out from the rock and sees his target. As he’s about to take his shot, he gets startled and gets shot at his hand holding the under barrel of his gun. “Ah damn it, I almost had him! These goddamn snipers are so hard to find!” yelled Leo. “Leo! We need to take cover and heal your hand!” Caius said back panicking. “No, No, I saw where the sniper was, I can still shoot with my other hand, he’s practically a free kill!” exclaimed Leo back to Caius. “Leo, you must not continue to fight in this condition!” Caius yelled towards Leo. Leo didn’t listen, he peeked out from the rock again, with his sights on the sniper. He had the gun ready to shoot, but once again, he had suddenly been shot. But this time it was from the back. Leo felt the shot go through his right arm, and quickly yelled, “WE’RE BEING FLANKED!, CAIUS BEHIND US!” Caius quickly turns around and sees the enemy behind them. Caius reacts quickly and draws his gun towards the enemy, and swiftly shoots his head. “Leo, I told you that you shouldn’t have gone for another shot!” exclaimed Caius. “Ah… I guess you were right…” Leo said softly. “ Hold on! Lemme get us into a fox hole so we’ll be safe from gunshots!” Caius said. Caius quickly grabs Leo and holds him by his back and around his legs as if he were carrying a giant baby. They jump into a foxhole, and Caius lays down Leo near him on the ground. “Hey, Caius, thanks for always being there for me man.. But I'm afraid I may have been too reckless this time…” Leo spoke softly. “No! Don’t worry, I have something that could save you!” Caius gulped but smiled. “Really? I’m not sure how anyone could be saved, with the current condition I’m in.” Leo said, confused. “You know when you couldn’t find me around the camp, and always asked where I went,” Caius asked. “Yeah, I know about that. Is that when you went to the lab to work on special equipment?” Leo asked. “Exactly. We’ve been working on something to allow 2 humans to switch their bodies with each other, and I plan to use it right now to save you.” Caius said confidently. “Woah Woah Woah, hold on their Caius bud, if we switch bodies, won’t you be the one in my dying body?” Leo said nervously. “Well, technically yes, this is a risk I'm willing to make for you bud.” Caius said confidently once again. “I’m going to need some DNA from your body. Caius takes the machine, and takes some of the spilling blood from Leo’s arm, and catches it in the DNA collector. “Caius, you can’t be serious, why would you want to save me after I did this to myself?” Leo raised his voice. “Because I can’t live on this earth without you. So I would rather have myself disappear from this world, and watch you from the skies.” Caius spoke slowly. Caius continued the process. He collected DNA from himself, which was a piece of hair that had conveniently fallen into the collector. Leo had spoken out loudly many times, telling Caius that he should just let him die, to which Caius didn’t listen to and continued the process. Once both DNA's were collected, Caius knew that his fate was sure to come. Caius spoke confidently, “Alright Leo, are you ready to be alive again?” “No, please, just let me die, I don’t deserve a 2nd life. I was too reckless. I deserve this!” Leo spoke loudly. Caius didn’t even listen to what Leo had said. Caius couldn’t imagine himself living without Leo, so he decided to practically kill himself. Caius pressed the button on the machine, and the machine started to show a laser. The laser went and scanned Leo’s armless body first, then scanned Caius’ entire body. Once the machine had finished scanning, the transformation had started to occur. The machine started to make loud noises within itself. The scene itself was so loud, you’d think the other people fighting on their side would come over, but no one came. As the sound dissipated, both bodies had just stared at each other. Until one spoke, whoever was in Caius’ body spoke first.” Caius… is that really you in there?” Leo looked at his hands and couldn’t believe the machine had actually worked. Leo began to shed many tears, as his recklessness had cost the life of his dear friend. “No!, No! This can’t be happening for real, I was hoping the machine would fail! Why did it work!” Leo yelled angrily while crying. Suddenly, the voice inside Leo’s old body spoke. “Leo…” said Caius quietly. “CAIUS!, please, transfer us back, TELL me how to use this thing!” Leo yelled frantically. “It’s too late Leo… we can’t transfer back.” Caius spoke softly. “What do you mean we can’t transfer back?” Leo spoke while sobbing. “We designed it so you can’t go back…” Caius was now speaking very quietly and seemed near the verge of death. Caius had spoken one more time, with his voice being the quietest it's ever been. “Leo… you were always the greatest friend a person could ask for… if only we weren’t drafted into the war, none of this would’ve happened…” Leo sits there, quietly crying, as there’s nothing he can do to save his friend whom he had practically accidentally killed. Caius’ last word is the last breath that’s heard from the body. Leo looks up towards the sky, his eyes filled with tears, mourning the death of his once alive friend.
Free Ball
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