Chapter 2:
When the war started Anthony was seventeen. Baby faced, he dreamed of glory in battles in exotic lands, power among the people of Aeryn and respect beyond measure. At the beginning of the war conscription was introduced to those of the age of twenty and over. With the war expected to be over quickly, Anthony felt his chances of fighting were slim and so he was crestfallen. Like any boys his age at that time Anthony had to bear the shame of not fighting for his country, he endured the looks of disappointment and disgust when he went into town to buy food while boys barely older than him were fighting and dying. The war was not going as smoothly for the Confederation as anticipated. The Blue order were proving to be a much tougher opponent. When Anthony turned twenty the war was very much still on and Anthony got the chance he craved for. Along with the other baby faced boys he packed his bags and went off to basic training. Unaware of the horrors that faced him, with his dreams of glory very much in his mind.
Captain James.W. Archer was in charge of Anthony's platoon. A powerfully built man , he had a formidable presence which was exactly suited for turning these farm boys into soldiers and by extent into men. " You all know why you are here. You dream of glory. You fancy yourself to be the next hero of the Confederate army. Well let me get this straight most of you are returning home in a body bag, if you listen to me I might bring you home. Is that understood? ". Anthony remembered feeling terrified and confused when hearing the Captains words. Nevertheless , his voice rang out in unison with the rest of the platoon. "Yes Sir!".
From that moment on, Anthony's life was full of grueling marches and brutal hand to hand combat all the while suffering abuse from the Captain. He struck a close friendship with two boy's in his platoon. Mark and Chris. The three of them endured the Captains torture for six months until the day when he gathered them around and told them they were ready. "We are shipping out in the morning" is how he simply put it. This was it, Anthony thought.
"Anthony.... Anthony?" , Mark shook him side to side. Anthony's mind went back into focus. He realized he must have been day dreaming for what felt like ages. " Come on Anthony... we are moving out, we've almost reached the target". " Ya , Ok let's go" Anthony he mumbled back. The men resumed their marching, the snow kept falling.
Edited by John Marston - 10 Mar 2013 at 17:14