Chapter 3
Alone
The air base is now long gone from my sight and mind. Never thought I could feel so liberated being stuck on the ground. Turning around to face the front of the truck, I can see past the windshield the outline of New Glubina, or that's what the Yukes have called it since they annexed this territory during the First Blood War. They won't even recognize that this conflict is a continuation of the Blood War of '87: to most of the civilized world it's the "War for Romnian Liberation." We're here to free the people of Romny from the "oppressive" regime they had put into power: here to save them from themselves. Well the locals know what's really going on. This is the Second Blood War we're fighting, and this city's name is Rhaz Ma'en.
As we come up to the city limits, I see little improvised shacks along the side of the road. As our truck rolled by, children sprung out of these little hovels and started chasing after the vehicle. I wave back at them from the rear seat of the truck. They ran as fast as they could, trying to get our attention. The sergeant in the passenger seat hands me a brown paper bag. I look inside: candy.
"They get a kick out of it," the sergeant told me. "Go on, throw some out the rear."
I threw candy to the children and saw them scramble to the ground to pick up the sweets. I saw one corpulent child bash one of the smaller children over the head and take the candy from his hands. These kids are growing up in a brutal world and I wasn't helping any: using candy and bombs to save a struggling society.
The road we were on now continued into the main artery of the city. I could see the market place nearby. I thought I'd take in some of the sights and sounds, maybe buy some fruit. I told the driver to halt the vehicle so I could get out. The sergeant leaned out the passenger side window.
"Hey sir!" I walked over to him. "Just remember to be careful. Being in uniform makes you a marked man. Stick to the main roads and bigger inns and bars. Don't go wandering down back alleys. Remember anybody here is a potential threat to you. They'd just love to take out an officer."
"Thanks. I feel a whole lot better now sergeant."
"Hey, just lookin' out for you sir. We're gonna be back along this main road again in two days. Your little trip should be up by then. Just look for me when it's time to come back."
"Sure sergeant. By the way, I didn't get your name."
"Wallace. Staff Sergeant Christophe Wallace. Just call me Chris, never liked being called Christophe. Don't worry about your name, half the base knows about your story Lieutenant Chiang."
"Gee, ain't that comforting." With that SSgt. Wallace saluted me and I returned his salute. I never really felt comfortable having men nearly 20 years my senior salute me, but the Major always told me I'd get used to it. I watched the truck pull away and found myself in a crowd of locals, walking about the market going about their day. I couldn't see what the sergeant was so worried about. They didn't wave or smile at me but it seemed like they treated me with a sort of indifference, like I'm just another face in the crowd.
I walked to one of the market vendors who was selling dried fruit. I bought from him a bag of dried mangoes and paid him with Osean dollars which seemed to make him very happy. I told him to hold on for a second and in true tourist fashion, I produced a small camera from my pocket. I took a photo of this wrinkly faced old man holding up the 10 I had just given him. He smiled, showing off all eight teeth he still had. With that he waved goodbye to me. "See," I thought to myself, "they're friendly enough."
As I was walking up and down the market I could hear the distinct sound of boots walking about in step. I looked over across the main street and saw a squad of Yuktobanian soldiers patrolling the neighborhood. This was "their" city after all and it was their responsibility to police the population. But then I saw someone walking along down the street towards the squad of soldiers carrying what looked like groceries. The sun was in my eyes but I could discern that it was a female, standing around 5 feet 3 inches tall, black hair tied back and dark skin tanned by the blazing sun that obscured my view of her.
Being a fool who recently ended a long relationship I did the stupid thing and crossed the street hoping to strike up a conversation with her. I could make out that her figure was definitely not that of a little girl. Maybe two years younger than me, five at the most. I was maybe three feet to her rear right side when I saw her bump into one of the uniformed men patrolling the road.
"Hey you should watch where you're going missy." I saw the Yuke soldier grab her by the wrist. "Maybe I could show you how to watch where you're going while you're walking down a busy street eh? It's a good thing you got men like me around. Next time you bump into someone he might not be as friendly as I'm being right now. So what say you come with me and we get a little friendly back at headquarters?" She spit in his face.
"You little…" He grabbed her other wrist and threw her to the ground. I went pale as I saw him raise his sidearm. "Y'know I wouldn't hesitate to waste you right here! Doesn't matter to me. This is a Yuktobanian city sweetheart!"
"Private!" I yelled out. The soldier looked up, pistol still fixed on the girl.
"What you want? Can't you see I'm busy keeping the peace?"
"I'm sorry. I thought I misheard you. Try adding a sir to the end of that Private!"
"Hmph. Little Osean boy thinks he's hot shit huh?" He holsters his pistol. I'm relieved but only slightly. "Those wings on your chest make you some fighter jock? You pilots are all the same."
"If it's all the same to you, I think you should leave the girl alone and continue on your patrol."
"Psh, yeah whatever."
"What was that?"
"Ugh, don't you ever stop with that crap? Fine. Yes sir." He signaled to the rest of the squad to keep on moving, but I didn't let it go. I just had to be the righteous one.
"Private!" I yelled back. "We salute the rank not the man." The squad saluted me and I returned it, but being the officer they could drop their hands only after I did. I held my hand up staring down the one private who was harassing the girl. I met his gaze, looking at him memorizing my face as I memorized his. I dropped my salute and they followed suit, turning away and walking along on their patrol.
I helped the girl up. "Vultures eh?" She doesn't say anything, just scrambles for the groceries she dropped. I help her, but she doesn't seem necessarily thankful. I then have the bright idea of offering her a slice of dried mango. She looks at the fruit, then me and reaches out to my other hand. I think to myself, "Hey she's warming up to me pretty quick." Then I remember: I'm holding the bag with the rest of my dried fruit in that hand.
She snatches the bag and runs down the street. I give chase and see her duck into an alley away from the market. I follow her, making a turn off of the main street and into a dirty back alley. Lost her. Now, I was minus some good fruit and alone again. I hear rushing about coming from the market, but I'm in no hurry. I have nothing to look forward to except finding a bar and get hammered. Who cares if it's only 1:00 in the afternoon: I'm hot, thirsty and very depressed.
I turn around to head back to the main road and am met with a familiar gaze from a familiar face. "Miss me flyboy?"
He tells his buddies to stand back. I expect a good scrap and was looking forward to kicking his ass all the way back to Cinigrad. Too bad he wasn't looking for a fight, just to smack me around. He slams me in the solar plexus with the butt of his rifle and I go down.
"That's it? Even for a flyboy you're pretty weak." He puts his heel down on my chest and smacks me across the face with his rifle. "This is my town. Obey my laws and everything will be copacetic. Now, have a nice day sir."
One more time he slams the butt of his rifle into my forehead. It knocks me out and I lay there, unconscious. I was laying in the smelly back alley of some nowhere town at the edge of the largest desert in the world. Even here, the war came for me.