The Firing Squad
By Bo Green
February, 2012
Jeroica was a small, third world nation ruled by a dictator. One of the first decrees of the original dictator of Jeroica was to put on record a law stating that any citizen of his country who openly professed to be a Christian should be executed by a firing squad. This dictator’s heirs continued to rule the nation and still enforced the anti-Christian law.
Two boys lived in the city of Heron in Jeroica. They were born in the same neighborhood and went to the same schools. Cruce was two years older than Ferno, and although they played together only occasionally, Ferno idolized Cruce and wanted to be like him. Cruce was a good student and a good athlete, so Ferno studied as hard as he could to try to match Cruce’s grades and practiced to be an athlete like Cruce.
When young men graduated from school in Jeroica, they were conscripted to serve in the national army for four years. But when Cruce graduated from school, because of his high academic achievement, he was given the opportunity to travel to Buenos Aires to attend a respected university at his government’s expense instead of serving in the army. Cruce was targeted to be a future leader for his country, so he studied government and business, graduating with honors.
But during Cruce’s stay in Argentina, he changed; he became a Christian. Cruce considered not returning to Jeroica, but believed that he had a duty to return because the government had invested much money in him. So Cruce returned, hoping that the law against being a Christian had been repealed during his absence. It had not and he was forced to decide whether to hide his Christianity or to speak out about his new life. He had found an inexplicable joy in his conversion to Christianity and that joy bubbled up within him. People who knew him saw a difference in him, and asked him what had happened to him. So Cruce began to cautiously try to explain his new life. After only seven months back in his homeland, soldiers came to his home and arrested him. There was a perfunctory trial and Cruce was sentenced to be executed by a firing squad.
A firing squad consisted of five members of the army who were chosen from among the soldiers who had exhibited exemplary service in the army. It was an honor to be chosen for a firing squad. For Cruce’s execution, Ferno was one of the chosen. However, there was a bit of turmoil when the members of the firing squad were announced. A young soldier named Galin was fervent in his hatred of Christians. He even bragged to his buddies that if he were chosen to help execute a Christian, he would be sure to shoot right before the others so that he could have the honor of being the one who really killed the Christian. Galin was not chosen for the firing squad, however, and so he tried to bribe the ones chosen to let him take their place. No one did.
When the day of the execution arrived, the firing squad took their positions and Cruce was led out of his cell to stand in front of a white stone wall. The one being executed by firing squad had the option of wearing a hood or not, and Cruce chose not to wear a hood. At the moment Cruce was led out, Ferno realized that the one he was to help execute was his boyhood idol. At first he wished that he had let Galin take his place on the squad, but it made his stomach churn to think of Galin actually enjoying killing his friend. He would rather do it himself than let Galin do it.
In Jeroica, it was the custom that all guns in the firing squad had bullets, so Ferno could not have assumed, to ease his conscience, that his gun did not put a bullet in Cruce. Ferno felt as if he was about to faint, and he watched Cruce intently. Cruce’s hands and feet were not tied; but since there were scores of armed soldiers around the arena where the execution was to occur, to attempt an escape would have been futile. Cruce stood calm and erect, slowly looking along the firing squad from right to left. When the countdown to fire began, Cruce’s face had a slight smile and he held out his arms so that his body formed the shape of a cross.
When Cruce raised his arms, Galin exploded. He ran from his position at the side of the arena shouting that no one being executed should be allowed to flaunt Christianity that way. After a few moments of confusion and furor, Galin obtained permission to stand beside Cruce and hold his arms down during the execution. So Galin squeezed Cruce’s arms to his side.
Ferno was incensed. He considered shooting at Galin instead of Cruce during the firing, but he was afraid to do it for fear of getting caught. But he knew everyone would be looking at the one being killed rather than the firing squad. So there was a chance he could deny shooting Galin and no one would know. His soul was conflicted. But as the countdown to fire started and Cruce struggled to raise his arms, Galin spit on Cruce, and yelled, “Make his blood spill on me! I want this Christian’s blood on me.” Ferno lost control, and when the order came to fire, he moved just enough to shoot at Galin.
When the guns fired, Galin fell dead and Cruce raised his arms back to where his body formed the shape of a cross. Realization of what had happened quickly enveloped the five members of the firing squad and they looked at each other with open mouths. Then they looked around the arena to see a host of rifles pointed at them. They meekly laid their rifles at their feet.
Later that day, six men were executed by firing squad. The first five had their heads covered with hoods. The last one did not wear a hood, but stood calm and erect, looking from one member of the firing squad to another with a slight smile on his face, and held out his arms out so that his body was in the shape of a cross.
