The Man with Two Lives by Ambrose Bierce

A Soldier's Dangerous Journey

During the 19th century, a soldier named David William Duck undertakes a perilous mission to deliver dispatches from one old West Fort to another. Traversing the Great Plains on foot, Duck faces numerous challenges, including the constant threat of hostile Indians. He describes his close encounter with a band of Indians who almost surrounded him, and his narrow escape from their bullets. After enduring two days and nights of thirst, hopelessness, and relentless attacks, Duck deliriously fights back until he loses consciousness. When he regains consciousness, he finds himself in a river, stripped of his clothes, and with no memory of what transpired after the battle. Eventually, he reaches his destination, only to discover that he had been presumed dead and buried two months prior.