The Medic

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In the winter of 1944, with overtaxed supply lines in the Ardennes, a medic in the German army had completely run out of plasma, bandages and antiseptic. During one particularly bad round of mortar fire, his encampment was a bloodbath. Those who survived claimed to have heard, above the screams and barked commands of their lieutenant, someone cackling with almost girlish glee.

The medic had made his rounds during the fire, in almost complete darkness as he had so many times before, but never had he been this short on supplies. No matter. He would do his duty. He had always prided himself on his resourcefulness.

The bombardment moved to other ends of the line, and most men dropped off to sleep in the dark, still hours of the morning – New Year’s Day, 1945. The men awoke at first light with screams. They discovered that their bandages were not typical bandages at all, but hunks and strips of human flesh. Several men had been given fresh blood transfusions, yet there had been no blood supplies available. Each treated man was almost completely covered, head-to-toe, with the maroon stain of blood.

The medic was found, sitting on an ammunition tin, staring off into space. When one man approached him, and tapped him on the shoulder, his tunic fell off to reveal that large patches of his skin, muscle, and sinew had been stripped from his torso and his body was almost completely dried of blood. In one hand was a scalpel, and in the other, a blood transfusion vial. None of the men treated for wounds that night, in that camp, saw the end of January 1945.

Original Author: Unknown

14 Comments on 'The Medic'

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  • pj
    Commented on May 9, 2013 at 12:44 pm

    short and good!

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  • Commented on July 11, 2013 at 4:12 am

    Awww at least he tried! Very good story!

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  • Commented on October 8, 2013 at 5:16 pm

    It would have been even better if the soldiers survived. Like the ones he treated?

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  • Commented on November 12, 2013 at 4:12 am

    Yeah, the soldiers should have survived. Physically at least. Mentally scarred, but alive.

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  • Commented on November 12, 2013 at 4:13 am

    Otherwise, i really liked it!

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  • LogicalAnalyst47
    Commented on February 17, 2015 at 3:37 am

    The people dying thing kind of ruined it for me. Cursed with longer life would have made this more disturbing, in my opinion.

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  • nah
    Commented on March 22, 2015 at 10:39 pm

    I don’t think they actually died; perhaps they are cursed to relive such a moment. PTSD does that.

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  • Commented on June 24, 2015 at 9:51 am

    A most spectacular literary achievement, well done!

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  • Commented on July 15, 2015 at 1:36 am

    So everyone dies at the end? That kinda sux it was ok though I’ve read better

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  • Commented on September 5, 2015 at 5:04 pm

    Few words – I bloody loved this. Utterly brilliant (:

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  • Commented on May 4, 2016 at 10:27 pm

    If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. No, but in all seriousness, this is a great pasta. 4.5/5.

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  • zoha
    Commented on May 23, 2016 at 12:20 pm

    excellent it was very nice 10/10

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  • Commented on September 28, 2016 at 3:44 pm

    Wow! Great twist.

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  • Commented on October 27, 2017 at 2:28 pm

    OH MY GOSH…
    this is the shortest best story i’ve ever read..
    how is it so short – i dont even have a desire for it to be longer.. everything that needed to be said, was said..
    what a disgustingly heroic tale .. i really loved it so much

    37/10

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