Chapter 3, Priceless Freedom

Soon after that battle, our company gets wonderful news. The Soviets are now being pushed back into Mexico, and finally out of our country. The soldiers cheer with joy, knowing that they will make it back alive. However, the recent loss of Chicago still lays heavily on my heart. My wife died in that city, but her death was quick. I have only hatred for the Soviet Union, the country that destroyed everything close to me. My wife, incinerated in an atomic fireball, never knowing what was to destroy her. I feel so helpless. God have mercy on her, please...

My service was finally terminated, a year later. After 16 years of faithful duty for America, I can not return home, since I have none. Everything I owned was with my wife when the nuclear devastation obliterated it. I... I have to move on. I must, for there is nothing else I can do.

I attended the funeral for my wife a few days later, crying at the though of never seeing her beautiful face again. She was what I lived for. I have nothing now. The pastor talks quietly in the background, speaking of her life. I whisper my final words to her, laying down flowers on her freshly dug grave. Walking away, I join my children in a loving hug, as we walk off towards a new day... I love you, Angela, and my love for you will never die. I'll be with you once again...

I return to my son's house in Panama City. I unpack my luggage, and walk out to the beach, thinking of Angela the whole while. Looking at the Sun set over the emerald green water, I only see her. The Sun recedes slowly, and I look up, seeing the stars and planets shine through the night, oblivious to what happened to us. I think for a long time, noticing that the Universe will always ignore our petty wars, and continue to expand to infinity. The stars seem to be brighter than when I left to fight, but I tell myself it's just an illusion. Thinking of Angela again, I fall asleep listening to the gentle waves flowing on the shore...