History Has Its Eyes On You ~ A Hamilton Fanfiction (Book 1, Act 1)

Delusions

!!WARNING!!

°~7:04p.m.~°

(Y/N POV)

"RUSH ON, BOYS! THE FORT'S OURS!"

The voice was distinct, coming directly from the inside of the redoubt. Screams and shouts rang aloud, gunfire sounding over the night sky, grenades rattling the ground beneath our feet, and a limping Cornelius hovering over the tip of his toes. Limping with his musket and bayonet held firmly in front of him for the preparation of an attack.

I'd offer his help but not only would he refuse, but he appeared far past delusional by now. He'd chortle to himself, standing at the edge of his toes, then occasionally dragging his foot along the floor. Blood poured down his pants which only left traces of our path. I'd beg for him to rest, but there was no rest for the walking dead.

I twisted myself around at the echoes of footsteps, instinctively wielding my musket out. Cornelius seemed to follow as he shielded himself before me and aimed. Three men, all wearing uniform of the allies, threw their hands into the air in surrender.

"Mis- Captain!" the one nearest to the front began. He peered around the sides of Cornelius to meet my eyesight. "We have overwhelmed the British but were told that we must assist you."
"The more, the better." I sighed.

They all glanced at Cornelius, who still aimed his musket directly toward them. The first, still at surrender, bowed his head down and inspected his wound. "Sir, are you alright?"
His face grew contorted; he shook his head with a careless smirk. "He's alright." -I took his arm- "He's just exhausted from the day's work. Had to kill a man right before his eyes; the blood stained his breeches so much that it takes the form of a wound."

"Poor man." he murmured in response. I forced Cornelius to lower his musket. "War is a brutal thing."
"Where are the stars, where are they?!" Cornelius shrieked, frantically shaking his head towards the sky.
"They'll be there soon, don't w-"
"Oh this can't be it yet, not yet!" He clutched onto my arm. He didn't show sadness, just an uncontrollable will to live.
"Nothing is going to happen, Cornelius, okay?" I reassured him.
"I just need... to wait..."

"There they are!" one of the three men hissed. They charged past us with their bayonets, and as I was about to tend to Cornelius, advise him to find help, he had already prepared his and was running after the men. He grunted in the pain as they weight of his body piled on top of it.

There, out in the darkness, a dozen or so Redcoats fled from the redoubt. Our small team confronted them; the majority had their hands over their heads, held in a crouched position, alas an extra three aimed to shoot at us. Cornelius stabbed one in the chest and kicked another directly between his legs. He fell down to the ground, met with the bayonet of another stabbing straight through his neck. The final Redcoat surrendered his musket and fell upon his knees.

"Should anyone else..." Cornelius breathed out slowly, "try to go against us... You will... end up dead, like them..."
They all nodded in synchronisation. Despite the darkness, you could identify the sweat drooling from their foreheads.

"Good... Now-" He whinced at the pain striking again, wrapping his hand around the wound. "'Ckin stay here until this nonsense is over with."
"We can watch over them." -The man who spoke to us earlier turned- "You two go ahead and keep guard."

Fantastic, an escape route. "Come on, Cornelius." I would have escorted him with an arm around his shoulder but he was abnormally tall. Gripping his musket, he stumbled towards the redoubt. The rapid rate of gunfire continued, although it was seeming to decrease.

"Cornelius-" He collapsed his body onto the fence, still sturdy around the back end of the redoubt. "You're not alr--"
"Listen to me, kid." Cornelius took my hand, rubbing circles with his thumb. He stared into my eyes. "Nothing is going to happen to me. I can promise you that. But you need to go."
"And leave you?!" I questioned. "Cornelius, you're insane-!"
"You just-" -He clenched his teeth- "Need to trust me."

"No, I won't leave you!"
"You will listen to me, Sophie Hamilton, and you will leave. I will be as good as new when I return, now go before I send this bayonet into your heart, too."
I looked around us with uncertainty. He was consumed by delusions, there was no possible way that he could survive this without medical attention. "Corn--"
"LEAVE!!"

My heart skipped a beat, causing me to scamper away from him. His voice had turned fierce, no longer a persuasion for me to leave: an order. An infection was undoubtedly going to spread across his body, or the amount of blood that he lost would surely kill him. But I couldn't do anything. He was much stronger than me, much more assertive and authoritative. I had to follow his command, and if his command was to die in peace (or to 'return'), I could not stop him.

And whilst the emotion overflowed within me, the last gunfire sounded.

I cried out a mixture of tears of sorrow and happiness, stumbling along the fields and to the front of the redoubt.

Directly to the other side was where Cornelius sat.

What halted me was a large ditch, one to which the men all had to cross. I felt no strength to cross it for myself and fell upon the ground. How had a man, who I hadn't even known much about, affected me in such a way as this? Cornelius was the one who offered me that tent in the first place. If not for him, I would be sleeping in the cold. And now, Cornelius was the one who sacrificed himself for me. As much as I hoped that he would come back... I knew that he couldn't.

"Captain!!" A soldier at the other end waved at me. "We won!!"
"Soph-!" Alexander appeared behind him. His eyes widened, noticing me upon my knees with tears streaming from my eyes. He dropped his bayonet, sliding down the ditch, clambering back up again.

"Are you hurt?!" He took the sides of my shoulders and knelt down.
I shook my head, struggling to breathe with the bombardment of sobs escaping from my mouth.
Alexander must have realised, for he pulled me into an embrace. "It's alright, Y/N, we won... The fort's ours now."
"Don't you ever do a- anything stupid, okay?" I croaked. "I can't lose another o-"
"I'm not going anywhere, Y/N..." he supported with a hand rubbing my back.

"I'm not going anywhere."

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Just to let y'all know, questions will be answered in the next chapter. Thank you to everyone who contributed!