Chapter 28

A Chapter by BrynnaW.

“What the heck are you doing here?!” His eyes drilled into mine. My voice was gone.

“Kit! Answer me! What are you doing here?!” He caught everyone’s attention.

“I- I volunteered… for the army…” I stuttered.

“Volunteered?! Are you insane? Do you have any idea what it’s like out there?! Any idea at all?”

“Well, judging by the dirt and blood smeared all over-----”

“This is no joke, Kit! You could die out there! Why didn’t you listen to me when I told you to stay to take care of mom and dad?!”

“I am! We were bombed! We were forced to go to our uncle’s and then we started to run out of money! This was the only way I could make sure they got money to take care of themselves!” Tears welled in my eyes as my breathing quickened. Erik continued to glare until he roughly grabbed my shoulder to steer me to a table away from the one he had been at before. My friends muttered something about seeing me later.

“Sit down,” he growled and sat down on the other side. Neither of us spoke for a while. I was going to get some food but Erik spoke.

“Are mom and dad OK?” He asked.

“What? No yell?” I challenged him.

“Kit!”

“OK-OK, gosh… As far as I know, they’re fine. At least they were when I left.”

“Which was…?”

“A week ago.”
“Hmm… What group did he put you in?”

“One.”

“D---- it!”

“Erik!”

“He should have placed you in my group. We don’t leave for another six days and…”

“What?” I crossed my arms.

“I can protect you!”

“No, I can protect myself.”

“What cabin-room do you sleep in?”

“I think… 40. From the looks of it, a group was recently in there but was kicked out.”

“Or killed… I’m going to stop by before lights out. No complaining.”

“Fine, but I’m going to eat.”

“Too late. Hear that whistle? Dinner’s over.” Erik got up and left. I scowled before catching up with Aiden. He seemed to think that I was going to talk but then I shook my head at him. We walked together in silence.

Inside the cabin was just like the boot camp. We had the same bed order and the same shower times. I was on edge during my shower because I was afraid of seeing my brother again. When I finished my shower I sat on my bed with Aiden. I wrapped my arms around him while my head rested against his chest. Gently, he ran his fingers through my long hair. That was when my brother entered the room. He stood at the edge of the bed but I hadn’t noticed him until he spoke.

“Met some friends?” He smirked.

“Yeah, I met some… This is Aiden and then over there is Evie and Harriett.” I pointed to each person.

“Hello, Aiden, I’m Erik.” They shook hands and I looked uncomfortably at the both of them.

“What did you want, Erik?”

“I want you out of the army but, obviously, that isn’t going to happen… Listen, Kit, I just want you to be safe. I mean look at me, I’m covered in blood and dirt. It’s not fun killing people, even if they are our enemies. Know why? They might have a wife, a husband, or maybe even children. I don’t like doing this but it is either that or die and it sounds kind of selfish but… I don’t want to die.”

“And you think I want to die? No way! I just want to help mom and dad!”

“I know it’s just…”

“It’s just I’m young and I have a full life ahead of me. Yeah, I get it! But you are only a year older than me! You’ve lost just as much as me, OK?! I joined for all Christians, not just mom and dad. I’d rather die fighting for a free country rather than die sitting at home from a bomb because I didn’t do anything!”

“Kit, I only meant that I wish you weren’t here in the army… Listen, I’m sorry… I came here to just see if you knew what you were doing. I guess you do and I’m proud of you. You’ve got guts but I wish you had used those guts for something else.”

I didn’t say anything.

“Well, good night, Kit. Two more days and you’ll see living Hell.”

“Night.” I mumbled as he hugged me.

When he left, I heard my friends saying that I was lucky that I actually knew someone there. I couldn’t reply to them.

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