He wondered if they knew he knew about the Ruse. There was this nagging feeling inside that they had given him the medals just to mock what last sliver of pride and sanity he was clinging to. The thought made Plissken sick. The whole mess was like a big disease. It was like the gas insanity only this was a much more tangible grasp on the loss of humanity than any crazy ever felt.
Snake's eye took in the officers walking past. Plissken was waiting for Taylor. The crutches slowed him almost as much as the head injury. Still Plissken's mind was elsewhere. His parents hadn't shown up for his ceremony. They had never missed one. Even when he got his first Purple Heart bedside in Helsinki a few days later his father had shown up. This ceremony was in the states and now he was absent.
The whole situation gave Plissken a bad feeling about the near future. His eye had started glaring at the medals in his hand. They were the symbols of the disease that had in one day eaten most of the world Plissken had ever known. The medals he had once loved to receive since he was a boy in ROTC suddenly filled him with more disgust than he could ever express.
His eye came up to see Taylor making his way through the thinning crowd. He limped and Plissken's new found sound sensitivity caused the thump of the crutches on the stone floor to ring in his head like a gong. Snake's nerves, his very soul felt frayed from what had happened. His awareness came back to the medals. Plissken glanced at the garbage can and tossed them in like they were maggot covered trash. In his mind they were something even worse.
"Snake what are you doing man?" Taylor had hobbled up and peered into the dark can.
Snake didn't notice. The pressure that he felt inside felt like an over boiled kettle. He was staring at the pins covering the left side of his jacket. They had to go too. Plissken frantically tore at them. The one's that came loose joined the others in the garbage.
"Snake." Taylor grabbed his hands leaning heavily on the crutches. "Man, what's gotten into you?"
Plissken paused in his panic. His eye met Taylor's jaundiced eyes and things clicked. Without words Taylor had got his thoughts. They had been together so long words were not always required.
"Mine weren't here either." Bill admitted.
Snake took a deep breath trying to ward off the panic. "We should get home."
Taylor nodded in agreement. "This ain't right man. It just ain't."
Plissken's expression saddened and for the first time in his life he was terrified to go home. Snake took a deep breath and exchanged a glance with Taylor. It said that no matter what came they were in this together just like in the war. Plissken put the dread aside and helped Taylor down the stairs. It was going to be a long drive home.