Next was a short rest period during which they were dismissed and allowed to throw themselves down in the shade. Sergeant Oluja went off a few paces and stood talking to some other men, also sergeants. A messenger was sent back to the H.Q. tent, and presently they saw three men hurrying toward them with plastic jugs and tin cups. They scrambled to their feet, quickly formed a jagged line, and grabbed the cups of water as they were offered. The water tasted warm and had a chemical smell, but Aloj gulped his down as if he had had nothing to drink since yesterday. Then the three water carriers gathered their jugs and cups and returned to the tent.542Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIJkWpNxhv3
Aloj went back to his shady spot and lay down. Tokar sat down on one side of him and Kszar on the other.542Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOT62x7ldp7
Aloj stared up at the sky. It was a clear burning blue laced over with the sharp leaves of the oak trees under which they rested. It reminded him of times at home in the village, times when they had stopped, work for a moment, to look around, to look up at the sky....542Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡONjpBgq4H9
"My God," said Aloj suddenly, "we've only gone a day. Less than a day. It seems like forever."542Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmNOBBb7dx7
Tokar nodded.
"It is forever," said Kszar softly. "None of us will ever go back."
They were silent for several moments. Then Aloj said, "My other---my sister---the babies. What will happen to them now that I'm not there? I was the only one left to work in the packing shed. My mother can't work---she has to take care of the babies. And my sister..." His voice trailed off.542Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuxG6tbNUbS
Neither Tokar nor Ksar spoke.
Then Davor, who was sitting only a few feet away, said, "The army will take care of them. The BCD has a committee that goes around and brings food and clothes to the families of the soldiers."542Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ88TctM871o
He seemed confident as he spoke, but Tokar gave him a long, hard look. "My father was taken to fight for the Bordurians two years ago. How come we never got any food or clothes? These...." he glanced down at his mismatched uniform---"these are the best clothes I ever had---and they likely came off a dead man."542Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLj3iJLYAQu
"So does everything else that the BCD gives out," said Davor bluntly. "Where else would they get anything? When people get killed or houses---a village---gets bombed or burned, they go in and take whatever they can find that's left and give it to the people who are still alive. Dead people can't wear a shirt or eat meat."542Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuzZqlr4aYW
Kszar looked at Davor thoughtfully. "All the same, nobody in our village was ever given anything. We lost plenty---both the Bordurians and the Syldavians used to take food---beans and rice and chickens and eggs and fruit---but we were never given anything."
Davor shrugged. "So? No system is perfect. But it will work out in time. When we win the war..."
"The four hundred and forty-third war...." put in Aloj.
"When we win, Borduria will have a free government, and jobs, and doctors, and...."542Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrfp7YqnYPZ
"The only thing any of us is ever going to get out of this war is the ditch they throw us in when we get killed," said Kszar bleakly.542Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz3VOuAL549
"Bažnja! Bažnja! Fall in! You will now receive your rifles!"542Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGKnjK3omSX
"See?" said Davor as they scrambled to their feet. "And you said the BCD wouldn't give you anything?"
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