Purgatory

I awaken in what appears to be a crater, the lower half of my body rests in a pool of blood. I clutch my chest and examine my self for a wound, I find none. It is dark outside from what I can see, the sky has a dark red overcast to it. I rise and peer my head above the craters edge. I see a barren landscape full of craters, mud and endless rows of large crosses evenly spaced as far as the eye can see in every direction.

I climb out of the crater my lower half soaked with blood that is not my own. Far off in distance I can see the flashes and hear the rolling of thunder. I clamor through the mud to the first cross I see. It is much larger than it seems. Must be at least 10 feet tall, but to my utter surprise I find a man crucified to it. I look at the other crosses and they all bear a crucified soul. Its as if I were in a field of crucifixes. As I approach I see a man in a british uniform ragged and torn. His face caked in mud, his hands and feet bound in barbed wire to the wooden pillers. Below the feet hangs a sign inscribed "Thou shall not kill". He appears dead but as I squelch by in the mud, his eyes flash open and he cries out. He screams to me, " Where is my God?!"Why has he forsaken me?!" Soon others wake and cry almost in loud unison " Where is our God?!" The pained figure hanging there glances toward me menacingly and yells "Why didn't you stop them?!Why would they not end this war?!" Then the figure coughs and gags and out flows from his mouth, Rats! I am repulsed and horrified as they pour down the sides of his mouth. They scurry down to his hands and torso where they gnaw and feast upon the flesh. I am utterly terrified and try to run, trudging past the screaming character crying out in an agony I cant adequately describe.

I pass another crucifix this time the figure bearing the marks of a german uniform. He is bound the same way with a sign below the feet inscribed as before, "Thou shall not kill." I hear his wheezes as he struggles and gasps for breath. Dark yellow gas is expulsed as he exhales. His eyes, blood shot, they almost plead for any aid. Full of gut wrenching shame I look away and try to trudge as fast as I can though the mud and hurry away from this field of crucifixion.

The screams and crying sobs of tormented men fills my ears to where one cannot hear himself think. I pass another figure in a uniform I can not recognize. At his feet a sign, bears once again the inscription, "Thou shall not kill." Almost as I past this figure, he bursts into flames screaming in horrible agony. His uniform burns up and one can see the charing of the flesh.

I pass another cross this one bearing a man with another uniform i do not recognize. His body is horribly mutilated for his exposed ribs are peeled away to revel his: heart, lungs, liver and intestines. I watch his heart ever beating and lungs wheeze with air. He looks at me with a face wreathed in pain. I can not bear it any longer. My heart races for my only thought is how do I leave this wretched hellscape.

Then I see him, in the distance, his figure is an unknown thousands of feet tall. The Grim Reaper himself so large a monstrosity that he dwarfs the landscape. Cloaked in a tattered black robe, you can see his skelectal hands holding a scythe that could be miles long. With it he tends to the fields of crucifixes as a farmer would till his wheat. He stands menacingly in the distance, slowly sweeping as he performs his unholy harvest. He appears so occupied with the task at hand, he does not look this way.

I am completely awe struck and horrified for what is this horrible place? Just then as I hurriedly trudge through the mud I kick something hard. I look upon the ground and find a head, mud soaked, with eyes glaring up upon me. I scream as the mud caked figure rises before me, mud dripping from his frame. Soon between the crosses other mud soaked figures rise and slowly start towards me. My eyes wide with fear for I sense their malicious intent. I reach for my service weapon and find the holster empty. I am completely terrified now as I am utterly defenseless.

The many muddied creatures lumber towards me. I turn to flee and soon find myself falling face first in to a crater filled with blood. Suddenly my vision is blackened as I submerge. I claw my way back to the surface and break though the sticky barrier. I draw a deep breath my lungs fill with air and the vile liquid. I wipe blood from my eyes and the muddied figures stared down upon me standing in a circle among the craters edge. I tread water and suddenly strands of barbed wire snake out from under me, it wraps itself around my legs and up to my torso. So quick is the wire that I barely have time to be startled before it pulls me under again in to the blood. I am now restrained and hold my breath for I know my end will be to drown here.

Then just as suddenly, I rise up and out of the blood pool. I find that now I am tied to a pillar of wood. My arms forcefully stretched outward, the barbs lacerate and pierce my skin producing the most awful burning sensation. The wire bounds my hands and feet for now I am amongst one of the crucified!

I cry out in agony, the barbs tearing my flesh. I try to struggle and break free but the wire tightens its grip. Then I fall silent for I see him again and he sees me. There the Reaper towers high above me, I look up and see into his skull, though he has no eyes, I know he looks at me, amused at my misfortune.

Then he cackles inaudibly and begins his horrible harvest, swinging his scythe, it slowly churns up the rows in front of me. The sound of petrified men ring into the air. Closer it comes now, the crosses far in front disappear behind the blade into a cloud of upturned red muck. The loud roar of upturned ground grows ever louder. The blade now soon to the front of me. I am terrified of its size for it is indeed miles long. I close my eyes consigning my self to my fate for any fate must be better then this hell. The roar of earth is so loud it is deafening and the ground violently shakes. This is the end. I am launched upward, my body airborne, I feel myself in flight. Then all sensation leaves me. Everything is black