A Kingdom of Our Own

Chapter Seventeen - The Cemetery

The sky was blue, yet a little hazy at the same time. Although it was rather mild for early spring, there was a bitter edge about the weather, with a light, but chilly wind blowing persistently.

Looking around, there was nothing to see other than wide open fields of wild grass, with the odd tree and some hills in the far distance. The only sign of human life in fact was a dusty track leading up towards a small graveyard – an oasis of death in the middle of nowhere.

There were three figures stood at the far end of the secluded cemetery, and another about halfway down, intermingled with the gravestones. All of the stones, row after row of them, were identical – a harsh, drab grey in terms of colour. The only way you could distinguish one from the next was by looking at their plaques, engraved with names of the deceased. If life after death really was this grim and dismal, then God help us all.

All four of the figures present were men, and to compliment this scene of misery, all of them were emotionless and stern-faced. They were so routine and sincere in their movements, that trying to imagine one of them smiling, or having a personal life of their own came as a rather difficult task. And it wasn’t just their manner and firm facial expressions that were strikingly similar.

Their form of dress was uniform, even in terms of size, with all of the men being of a similar height. They wore long, formal black coats, with golden buttons on the cuffs and a white belt tied firmly around their waists. Below this, their trousers, which featured a long red stripe along the side, were a slightly lighter shade, being more of a navy blue. What stood out the most though were the white sailor caps, with a golden crest sewn onto their fronts, which they wore proudly on top of their heads. Obviously this obscured much of their hair, although admittedly this didn’t matter, given that all of them (with the exception of the lone older man) had their hair shaven down to a grade three.

The man who stood alone, held what appeared to be a folded United States flag in his pristine white-gloved hands, although this wasn’t where his gaze was set. His focus was directly ahead, in the general direction of the three other individuals, standing to attention. It was in this direction that he was headed, taking slow but even paces as he went, as if timing his arrival, the slow precision of his movements meaning a great deal.

Meanwhile, the three figures standing at the foot of the graveyard had assembled in an orderly line. Held tightly in each man’s grasp was a gleaming M1 Garand Rifle, its stock pressed against the ground as they stood to attention. Then, after a brief sigh of remorse, they raised their weapons. It really was amazing how they managed to conduct it in time with one and other, with so little communication. After all though, they had conducted this drill many times before. Too many for their liking. In one slick movement, they pumped their rifles, loading the first bullet into the barrel.

Aiming their firearms upwards, in a westerly direction, they fired.

BANG

The sound was transmitted across the surrounding fields in a stunning fashion, deafening all those who stood near. They repeated this exercise in the same coordinated manner a further two times, and then lowered their weapons once more, standing to attention.