“Attention !  . . .  Attention !. . .  This advisory level is now . . .  orange. Repeat. The advisory level is now.  . . orange .  I repeat . . . Attention . . .”

Thousands of bodies moved  around the airfield, not even pausing to listen to the intercom message. Any person could lose themselves  easily in the large crowd.

I however was having no such luck. I could hear every whisper and feel every eye that landed on me. I had been sitting on the bench for a little less than an hour and no one had dared to sit next to me.

 I considered pulling my cover over my head and feigning sleep, but decided against it.

Let them talk.

I leaned my back against the bench, stretched my legs out and returned my scan of the crowd.  I was doubtful I would see the face I was looking for.

Giving up the search I turned to my left and inadvertently laid eyes on him.

He was a good distance from me. He was wearing civilian clothing; light colored pants, a long white t-shirt and sandals. All of his military tattoos were covered. His pale blonde hair was pulled into a neat ponytail that wavered as he looked back and forth-- looking everywhere but in my direction.

I stifled the urge to call out to him and pretended to look into my Syndicate. A warning identical to the Airfield’s announcement was scrolling across it.

He finally turned to me and we caught each other’s eyes.  He began to  walk toward me, quickening his pace as he got closer.

“K-,”

“Haley.”

 I quickly stood to prohibit him from coming any closer to me.

“This is Corp. Dean,” I introduced the man  who had been standing just around the corner to my left.

“Hello.”

“Afternoon,” Dean responded.

Haley hesitantly took his hand out but, Dean did not reciprocate the gesture.  Haley stood there with an awkward smile looking at his reflection in Dean’s shaded eyewear.  After a few seconds Haley quickly put his hand back into his pocket.

“I just have to get my bags off the—um, baggage claim. I will be right back—sir,”he said, shaking off Dean.

“Hurry,” I said

With that he turned and  walked quickly back through the crowd.

“ . . . your son, sir ?” Dean smiled.

“No.” I said,” Do I really seem old enough to have a son his age ?,”

“I guess not,” Dean chuckled.

My few years in the service had worn on me.  More explicitly, the place I had been had worn on me.

Something  moved in my peripheral vision and I quickly turned to see a teenager staring at Dean and I.   

“Why don’t you go the fuck somewhere else !,” the stranger growled. “You motherfuckers. Trying to get us all nuked.”

The young man came threateningly close to me like he wanted to instigate a fight. I had better fights to fight. I was just here minding my own business, I wasn’t here for anyone’s amusement.

A small crowd gathered to watch the confrontation.

I casually lifted my coat to reveal the revolver I was carrying and the boy began to  back away.

“Kill us all. Fine.” He said under his breath as he walked away.

I thought I might enjoy  some time in the civilian world, but I guess I was wrong. They would never let me have it. As if I had never done anything to them.

“People really don’t like military, do they ?,” Dean asked

“No, they just don’t like war.” I corrected him

Luckily, Haley came back at that moment and we could make our leave. We walked through the long, crowded hallway and towards the entrance of the Airfield. Haley swayed from side to side as he walked, I thought to tell him to walk straight but I didn’t.

I watched Haley sway into Dean’s path and Dean ran into him, falling over the boy, both of them collapsing on the ground with a smack.  Once again the civilians crowded around them.   I’m sure a few took video and pictures. I could see the headlines now.

Look How The Military Falls

“Haley, watch where you are going!” I scolded him as I reached an arm to help Dean.

“I’m so sorry, s--.” Haley said picking up Dean’s fallen eyewear.

  Haley paused as he looked into Dean’s colorless blind eyes.

Dean groped the air until Haley put the  shades in his path. Dean put the glasses on his face  and continued walking without incidence. 

Outside, the sky was getting  a little too dark for comfort. Dean got into the driver’s seat and I sat in the backseat with Haley. He sat on one side of the car and I sat on the other.

Haley removed his jacket revealing the military insignia on his wrist, the design trailed up his arm spelling the words “Freedom Liberation Army”. His eyes remained on Dean in the driver’s seat.

I briefly let my hand touch the back of his neck  before placing  my hand back in my lap.

“How is your family ?,” I asked

“Really good,” he said, “Uh, we really like the new house, it was so nice of you to help --,”

“I didn’t do anything. You do a good job, you put in a reasonable leave request, the military responded accordingly,” I said.

Although,  I did make a point of expediting some paperwork for him.

105 days.

105 days  had been too long. I was surprised he had come back.

Of course he came back, he was just that naïve.

The Eastern State—our enemy—had  become erratic with their bombings. They never knew exactly where our nuclear power strong holds were so they used brute force.

 A gruesome attack happened  near Sun Valley, where Haley’s family lived. He feared for  his family’s safety and wanted them moved to Fort Perch, which had been declared a neutral no-bomb zone.

As soon as his family was moved  Haley put in for all of the leave he had accumulated in his 2 years.  

105 days’ worth of leave.

We fell into silence and a soft  rhythmic rain began to beat against the window. He leaned his head against the window and kept  a close eye on Dean. Within minutes Haley was asleep

The drive to the base was 5 hours from the Airfield, I was sure the rain would let up by the time we made it to base.

“Sir,” Dean called from the front seat after an hour” I will need to stop for fuel, while we are still near a sprawl.”

“Fine.” I said as he pulled into an abandoned looking fuel station  and convenience store up ahead

He pulled the car near a fuel pump and turned it off.

“I’m going inside.” Dean said, “ Would you like something, sir ?,”

“Just a bottled water,” I requested.

Dean exited the car in his protective gear and jogged inside the convenience store.

I sighed and reached my hand over to Haley’s face, stroking his cheek until he opened his eyes.

“I missed you,” I said. I hated  him for making  me say something like that

He touched my hand and I let our fingers intertwine.

“Do you know what I would give for 105 days of no work, no military, no . . . bullshit ? ” I continued.

He responded to me with silence and a weak smile.

“ What the hell is wrong with you ?,” I asked.

He undid his seatbelt, crawled into the middle seat and leaned over to place his lips over mine. It was a chaste kiss,  I  hardly felt the touch. I jerked his arm forward, forcing him to fall into my lap.

 I pulled his lips from mine . I couldn’t kiss him back,  if I did I wouldn’t be able to stop.

 “I’m just tired. I don’t like flying . . .I took a sleeping pill during the flight,” he said

I was still in disbelief our absence was over.  I was a bit resentful that he had basically been on vacation while I had been doing everything but that.

“You must have enjoyed getting to close your eyes to this damn war,” I said, “Did you pretend the world isn’t going to hell, living in the comfort that you won’t get killed today. Did you do that ? Close your eyes to this whole damn mess. Tell me.”

My strokes became rougher, I stopped . . . I wasn’t going to let myself get jealous.  I was happy for him. If I couldn’t leave I could atleast live vicariously through him.

He looked at me dead in the eye. I noticed his bronze eyes were a little red.

“I couldn’t close my eyes to the mediastreams and the rumors. No one can,” Haley said, “ Everyday, I prayed about the war, everyday I thought ‘someone probably lost their life today’ and  everyday, I missed you, Ken.”

I couldn’t resist any longer, I was about to I let my lips fall on him when I saw  Dean coming out of the store. We both stared at the approaching Dean for a second before I  pushed Haley off of me.

Dean opened his door and leaned inside the car.

“They are all out of bottled water, sir,” Dean reported.

“How the hell are they out of bottled water ?,” I asked

“I don’t know. The guy behind the counter just went on this whole tirade about shipments  being redirected and he blamed it on the base nearby and--,”

“Fine. Just pump the gas so  we can go.” I said

Dean slammed the door and began to pump the gas. After a second I reached over and held Haley’s hand in mine.

“Sir, is Corp. Dean.. blind ?,” Haley whispered

“Yes,” I said,” He was blinded in the line of duty during the attacks at Fort Patriot 3 months ago,”

“Then.  . .  why is he driving ?,”

If I wasn’t so pissed about the whole water thing, I may have been amused by his question.

“A new military cybernetics programs helps him see. It’s in the raw stages but, he can see anything that is moving as long as his eyewear is on. This vehicle is mostly driven by autopilot anyway.”

“ It’s just . . . he tripped over me at the airport can’t help but to think that if his cybernetics  malfunction . . . ”

“Yes, well maybe you should stop thinking,” I snapped.

I hadn’t meant to snap. He, like everyone else just didn’t understand.

We couldn’t just toss the useless soldiers aside because they got injured.  Not when we had the technology to patch them up to be “good enough”. Through grants and public interest Channing and his team at Ft. Life had come up with some amazing military cybernetics.

Soldiers were a commodity and our supplies were low. The draft had been a joke. All it did was give worthless criminals more work as once honest citizens looked for ways to escape the draft.

I put my hand on Haley’s thigh and gently squeezed it.

“I suggest you sleep in the car. The day will start once we arrive,” I said.

 

***

“ . . . and if you go down two blocks there are these mansions and every now and then there is a crowd at the largest one, a glass mansion on a hill. It kind of looks like it is floating, which is kind of funny. Anyway, if the president is doing something--- which is usually all the time-- the glass mansion is crowded and lit up. Most people aren’t invited but, sometimes the events are open to the public. They say we can’t think about our problems all the time . . .,”

I had forgotten that whiskey made Haley  more interesting and a beer just made him talk endlessly. Not that I minded it much, I could tune in and out of   and he never noticed.

He spun from side to side on the barstool, rimming the half empty beer bottle with his finger. I tuned out of Haley’s chatter and looked at what was going on around me.

The Radio, was in the town near the base and had fast become a military bar. Many of the locals had up and left the already abandoned town when they discovered the new FLA base was going to be 30 miles away.  The owner of The Radio, Jezebel was a real character.  A woman in her late 70’s who had seen so much she didn’t care about getting nuked or killed.

I usually talked a few minutes with her, but I had company now.

I didn’t mind if the other soldiers saw me talking or having a drink with Haley. I just made sure we kept an appropriate distance. At this point I am sure more than half of them knew I was fucking him, which was fine.

It was being in love with him that would cause me problems.

“ . . .  at least that is what my father said but, anyway I had it pulled out and it stopped hurting me completely. I don’t even notice it is missing, I wonder if that is what . . .”

I snapped my attention back to him but, as soon as I did the moment was gone.

Father ?

Never once in two years had he ever mentioned his father or a father of any kind. I had seen a few photographs of his mother.

I wonder, what does a man have to be like to have a child like him?

A bell went off in the bar. It was 9 o’clock and the curfew was coming up soon in less than an hour. A caravan was waiting outside for the soldiers. The curfew was new--we had to keep track of the soldiers as best we could.

“You have to go with them.” I said to Haley.

“Why ?,” he asked “What about you ? Are you staying here?,”

“I am the highest ranking officer at this base, I will do what I want. You on the other hand don’t even have an official title. Now, go. “

He nodded his head, slid off the stool and whisper into my ear.

“Good night, Lieutenant.” He whispered and walked out the door.

I stifled a smile and pretended to be interested in the bar menu.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile, Mr. Maxwell,” the bartender, Avery observed.

Avery was Jezebel’s reluctant granddaughter—I’m sure she wanted to flee the area like all the sane people, but she stayed to keep her grandmother company. With loyalty like that I wish they would let us recruit more women.

“Can I have a sparkling water,” I responded, brushing off her comment.

She set  2 glasses in front of me and filled them with water. I picked up one glass, she picked up the other and we toasted—for no reason really.

She returned to work and I began to sip my drink when I heard the cacophony of screams followed by a  loud crash, an explosion of light and the smell of burning flesh. I don’t remember leaving the bar stool as I came closer to the door.

I ran out the door and  saw the military caravan crashed into a building and engulfed in flames. I looked around and saw Haley.

He was standing in front of the bar, in front of me, looking in horror at the crash.

“Alex, Alex why weren’t  you in that caravan ?,” I asked shaking him.

“I-I wanted to tell you something ,” he said

“What ?,”

“I-I forgot”

I lost myself and pulled him into an embrace. The embrace only lasted a second before I went to see who I could save from the accident. It was futile though, they were already dead. It was our own undoing, we only used the cyberntically cured injured to drive cars and carvans,  many of them were blind from radiation poisining.