Side By Side

15

Warnings:
-None

Clay's POV

I sat in the bus with my sergeant because I was being moved to a different platoon. My sergeant went with me because he wanted to fight for me and be with me during the upcoming classes and training.

He talked to me like I was his friend right now which made me really comfortable. I knew this would be different when the training started again, but I liked this moment.

'How long have you known you're gay for?' he asked with a curious voice.

'Since my thirteenth, sir,' I answered, leaning back on my seat.

'Ever fallen in love?'

I shrugged shyly and felt my cheeks heat up a tiny bit. 'I guess once, but that wasn't anything serious. I don't have a boyfriend or anything if that's the problem.'

'I don't know what the problem is with gay people in the army. I also don't know what the problem is with women joining the army. If a woman passes all the tests, she's good enough to join,' the sergeant stated. 'And there's no problem if you would have had a boyfriend.'

I smiled shortly and looked at my uniform. 'I used to get these uniforms for my birthday when I was around the age of eight,' I chuckled. 'Then I walked around while saluting and acting like I was marching.'

He grinned. 'I was pretty similar to that.'

'Could I ask something about the time you've served in the army, sir?' I asked, looking up at him.

'Of course. I joined the army when I was eighteen and I was sent to Iran. I was away from home for a year and then went back again. Years after being sent to random countries, the world war started in 1914. I joined that army and fought until the end of the war. I served for ten years more until 1928 and then I started doing this work. I haven't stopped anymore.'

'Are there still these big wars going on?' I questioned.

'Yeah,' he nodded. 'And we fear there's a Second World War coming because of a man who is trying to take over the world. We don't know how long this is going to take and how big it's going to get. A lot of countries in Europe have been occupied already and I heard they are attacking the Soviet Union now.'

I was really interested as he kept talking.

'I haven't checked in a few days, but the attacks go really fast. I think there might be places in America that are getting attacked too... the Jewish people are getting oppressed.'

'Jewish people? Why?'

He started explaining everything he knew to me and then sighed. 'Honestly, I think this might be the start of a Second World War... we really need people like you to serve in the army right now.'

I nodded slowly. 'That's horrible. I really want to fight for freedom now. Wars are just so unfair and I wish I could stop them all.'

'You're already helping a lot by joining the army.'

I smiled as the bus stopped and we arrived at a different area with a barrack and a platoon that was sitting outside while eating breakfast. Me and my sergeant stepped out and the sergeant walked up to the group who immediately stood up and saluted. I saluted too as my sergeant spoke up.