The Guardsmen

Chapter 34: Cheers

The rustling and rowdiness of the bar is completely silent in Evander's ears. He tightly grips the glass in his hand. Sadness covers his face as he stares at the dog tags in his hands: 'Ace Bellum'. Evander puts the glass to his lips and starts to chug everything that was in it.

"Whoa there, buddy. You good?" asks the bartender

"I'm fine. Can I have another? Same glass is fine" replies Evander

"Keep this up and I'm going to run out of cranberry juice, sir. Would you like a beer or anything stronger?" says the bartender as she refills Evander's glass with juice.

"No thank you, sir. I learned a long time ago that I better stay away from the stuff" Evander chuckles.

The bartender shrugs her shoulders and continues to the next customer. Evander returns to gaze at the tags dangling in his hands. Over and over he replays that day in his mind; trying to find some way, any way, to change the outcome. Loud shouting breaks Evander from his trance. He looks to the side to see a group of soldiers gleefully singing in slurred tongues. Evander tries to muster as much of a smile as he can. Hours felt like minutes. Next thing he knows, the bartender slides the bill towards him.

"You sure you're good, sir?" asks the bartender

"Yeah" Evander replies while reaching for his wallet, "Just been a long couple of months"

"Wanna' talk about it?" she asks

"I appreciate it, but I'm sure you're about to close. I don't want to be a bother" Evander politely says as he places several slips of paper on the counter.

"Actually, we closed about an hour ago" she chuckles as she collects the payment

"What??" shouts Evander as he quickly turns to find an empty bar

"It's fine, sir. You're not doing anything and I gotta clean anyways" says the bartender as she slides his change back to him

"I'm still sorry. I've been coming here since my last tour, so I should know better. Thank you" Evander says as he gets out of his stool

"Sir, your change?" asks the bartender

"Keep it!" Evander shouts as he downs his glass of juice and starts to walk away

"Oh...um..thank you!" the bartender replies in an appreciative tone

"Keep up the good work!" says Evander

He waves goodbye as he walks out the door. As he turns forward, his eyes widen as a massive figure slams into his shoulder. Evander looks at the figure. It's a man. He's wearing a large poncho over his head.

"Watch it, buddy!" says a familiar voice

"Hey, 'buddy'. They're closed. And you better check your attitude before you come next time" Evander sneers

The man turns to Evander and softly gasps.

"Flash??" says the man

"Wha-" Evander says in a confused tone

The man removes his poncho. Andrus flashes a bright smile towards Evander.

"Andrus??" Evander shouts as he returns the smile

The two of them tightly embrace and slap each other on the back. The breath in Evander's lungs is knocked out of him.

"Sorry, Flash. It's been too long!" Andrus shouts

"It has!" Evander replies.

"So they're closed, huh?" Andrus says as he motions towards the bar behind him.