Pillars of Glass by Polaski Michael

Author:Polaski, Michael [Polaski, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Michael Polaski
Published: 2015-02-08T05:00:00+00:00

A knock on his chamber door pried him from a hazy dream that soon faded back to darkness from where it came. Before he could stand from his bed to great the visitor, the alarm clock sounded, confirming that it was time to be on the move once again. He turned off the Alarm and moved to the door. He didn’t bother looking at the nameplate on the grunts fatigue as the door opened, he just looked at the man who was holding in his outstretched arms a new folded uniform as well as a new pair of combat boots.

“Good morning sir, Brigadier General Baldr wanted me to come by and give these to you. He said I should also take your old boots and old fatigues to make sure they don’t wander off.” He was timid in his request. Alex noticed this but laughed, Alex was less than twenty years of age, and this man, probably in his thirties, was asking for his clothes.

“At ease, uh?” Alex looked for the nameplate, then his patch. “Gunny Hayes.” Alex took the uniform and boots and turned as the Gunnery Sergeant relaxed in his stance. Picking his old uniform up off the ottoman, and his boots from the floor, he decided to engage the man in polite conversation. “Where are you from Gunny?”

“Actually sir, I am from the Independent Colony, I was brought in by General Baldr when I was young. I ran away sir, I was looking for excitement and have been here at this facility for approximately thirteen years or so.”

Alex put on the bottoms of his uniform and was amazed. They were much smoother than the burlap bottoms he had been wearing the previous night. Living in a war torn city he made what he needed to survive, and now this gift was something that he felt proud of. Nights would no longer be spent hunting rats and squirrels to survive. Raiding pantries in homes only once a week to conserve the limited and ever depleting stockpile of Anderhill and the nearby villages and townships. The jacket, bore his name on the breast, and gave him an overwhelming sense of pride. But the pride slowly ebbed as he bent over to tie his boots, and then the revelation came.

It came as the dawn did moments later, he was no longer just a child of the war, fighting for survival. He was now a mighty hammer, forged from blood, looking for a nail to strike. Still crouched he reached for his orders and stood tall for the first time since the war began months before, the muscles in his back spoke to the different feeling, but he wasn’t listening, taking a deep breath he muttered quietly. “Remember the Burden,” and then looked at the man still waiting in front of him.

“Gunny, I want you to dispose of that uniform in a manner you see fit and find a new home for the boots. There are many men still out there

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