Chapter 4

“Where would you

go?”

“Someplace where there’s no

fighting.”

He laughs because there isno

place like that any more.

“When this is over, I’m

leaving. Tomas and I, and we’re not coming back.”

He grins. “You’ve got a few more years

before you’re up.”

I’m not talking about re-enlisting. I

just don’t want to fight anymore. Things were different before I

crashed my plane but what do they need me for now? I can’t fly, I

can’t fight…I’m stuck behind a desk at a pencil-pusher job anyone

could do. Let them find another starry-eyed boy to fight their

battles. I’m not going to lose Tomas to their wars.

Alden glances at me and must see the

tight set of my jaw. “You’re serious?”

I shrug, half-hearted. “I’m just

talking.”

Tomas is out in the field, sleeping in

a tiny foxhole, and my bed is going to be empty and hungry tonight.

Maybe that’s all this is, who knows? Maybe I’m serious, I’m not

sure myself. “I just miss him, that’s all.”