Militia Read Online Free

he still had some food in his room to get him through until lunch time. Instead of waiting for the Colonel’s young driver Mike chose rather to walk the short mile or so to his unit’s command headquarters. After walking through the mountains for days with all of his equipment this was an easy walk and Mike wanted the time to think before having to speak to a bunch of officers about the previous day’s events.
    He walked slowly and managed to arrive at the headquarters building at the same time Colonel Thomas did. The Colonel gave him a quick glance as if expecting to see him an hour before he was supposed to be picked up and opened the door for Mike to enter.
    “You know Private James never picks me up in the morning because I like the walk. He is going to be at your room waiting for you in an hour. That poor kid is so new he will probably be waiting out there until you get back too nervous to come here without you,” the Colonel laughed, “Hoffman, you might have just cost me a driver for the next few hours!”
    “Sorry sir, I just wanted to walk, gives me time to think.”
    “I understand and I don’t blame you one bit. I’m gonna put on some coffee and then step into my office to do some boring paperwork before our meeting. Grab yourself a cup and go find something to read in the Sergeant Major’s office. He won’t be in this morning and that way you won’t have to deal with all these officers coming in before you have to. I’ll come get ya when we are ready.”
    Mike thanked the Colonel, and once it was done brewing, poured himself a cup of coffee and headed to the office next door to Colonel Thomas’s. Their Sergeant Major didn’t have much good reading material lying around, and Mike knew better that to start going through his drawers. He found a couple old army magazines on the desk and began flipping through them just looking at the pictures. The time went by slowly but finally Colonel Thomas knocked on the opened door and waved at him to follow.
    The long table at the end of the large office was now filled with Captains and Majors, most of which didn’t appear like the kind of men with combat experience. Mike even noticed a couple brand new lieutenants who looked like they were just out of officer school. As he walked into the room every eye went right to him. Colonel Thomas motioned for him to take a seat at the center of the table which Mike did without acknowledging any of the others watching him. The room was silent as Mike sat which he took as his cue to start. He briefed them on his entire mission from the original mission briefing to getting knocked out at the cave.
    The whole time he talked he noticed these officers looking at him like they were just amazed by what he was saying. Having to sit here and brief a bunch of non combat officers angered Mike but he kept calm knowing that it was just part of the job. When he was finished the questions started, most of which Mike had either already answered in his brief or were completely irrelevant. With each question Mike’s patients grew thinner. He was just about to snap and start cussing the whole room full of his superiors out when the Colonel ended the meeting. Mike stood, saluted the Colonel, and walked back out of the room.
    Mike had just left the building and was heading for the phone room when Colonel Thomas stopped him. “Hoffman, can I talk to ya for a minute?”
    “Yes sir, what can I do for you?”
    “Look Mike I’m sure that you have heard the rumors by now about the rest of us stuck over here getting pulled back to the rear and sent home. I just got the official orders while you were waiting in the Sergeant Major’s office. Mike, they are sending the whole base back to home station next week and it looks like a lot of us are going to be disbanded soon after. “
    “Yes sir, I heard some guys talking about it. Is there any way that I can link up with another unit that is staying?”
    “Nah kid the whole damn theater is coming