The 122nd
Chapter Two: Home Sweet Home
Another new morning. It was that time of day again where the land of dreams faded into the harsh reality of life. It wasn't the first time Bryan had woke up sleep deprived, but it certainly had been a while. Since his departure from Earth, he hadn't been good on getting sleep. It was something Bryan was not accustomed to, but it would be adjusted in due time. As Bryan walked to the light switch, he began to think of all the things he had accomplished yesterday. It seems that pile of paperwork might never end, but at least today would be a different day. After a little preparation and some good early morning exercise, Bryan would be out there with the soldiers enjoying a tour of this installation he was stationed at. Bryan had no idea just how large this installation was aside from the wall maps he had occasionally glanced at. As fresh as he was, Bryan knew that he was putting exploring on the back-burner. It was time to make that a priority again today.
After turning on the lights, Bryan started his morning routine. After he had finished doing it all he found his uniform on the back of his desk chair. He dressed into it and groomed himself up a bit. Before leaving his room, Bryan checked his pockets to see if there was anything in them. Finding nothing, he soon opened the doors and was in the hallway. It only took a few seconds to step out into the hallway before turning around and using his key card in the card reader. The door quickly shut closed after inserting and removing the card. It was a black colored metal door, with ridges going horizontally and evenly spaced about a foot apart from the bottom to the top. It looked rather cold for a living unit door, but Bryan shook his head deciding not to complain about it. He didn't want to start the day in a bad mood.
Walking down the hallway was simple enough. Step by step, captain Bryan traveled down through the hallway past numerous other doors leading to rooms of others soldiers. One thing Bryan was glad about was that the officers were mixed in with the lower ranking grunts, which made him feel more on-the-level than if they had been separated. Although Bryan realized the risk of being outnumbered by so many lower ranking men, it was better to be around them than be far away from them. Better to keep an eye on the grunts than let them be together and away from the higher officers like himself.
One of the doors behind him, about twenty feet behind Bryan's left, whooshed open. Bryan slowed down and glanced behind him to the door and saw a young male private emerge from the room. The private seemed to not be fully awake yet. Well past those days of waking men up the hard way, Bryan continued on his way with a barely noticeable smile. Indeed, everyone here is about as new as he was and it was no surprise that any vacation time these young recruits had gotten would show when they get back. Eventually, it would wear off on everyone.
Finally reaching the end of the hallway, Bryan walked up to the door which looked different than the rest. It was a gray door that separated in the center vertically. There was a keypad on both sides of the door for entry and exit. There were also two small windows on both the left and right parts of the door, but a bit of height was required to see through the tough glass. Bryan punched in his number into the keypad and it opened with mechanical zing sound, slower than the room door.
Bryan walked through the door and before him lay a much wider and longer corridor, with an illuminated white portion of the wall labeled canteen on both sides of the northern entrance into the canteen, a distance not too far down the hallway. To the left of the corridor were two tight hallways that forked at the entrance to the large corridor and to the right were also two tight hallways that forked as well at the entrance, but seemed slightly different in design than the one on the left. Bryan could see a door on the right hallway as well, but with no wall labels. He remembered the maps he had previously looked at which told him the door led to an office. The long corridor ahead of him stretched quite far down, at least seventy-five feet, with two more hallways at the end of the corridor on opposite sides of each other adjacent to the wall ending the long corridor.
He took a left as soon as he exited the living quarters from which he had emerged from and entered one of the tightly spaced hallways. The hallway inside the living quarters was slightly less lit compared to these hallways and corridors, but he understood it was to induce sleep. Eventually, Bryan reached the elevator from which he had gotten here. The elevator was located at the eastern canteen entrance. Between the elevator and the canteen was about twenty-five feet of open space and another two illuminated walls with canteen displayed on them. As the elevator doors opened, Bryan saw a few people exit the elevator and head to the canteen. Bryan quickly made his way to the elevator and as the doors began to close shut, Bryan smiled to himself knowing that a whole world was about to be seen.
After turning on the lights, Bryan started his morning routine. After he had finished doing it all he found his uniform on the back of his desk chair. He dressed into it and groomed himself up a bit. Before leaving his room, Bryan checked his pockets to see if there was anything in them. Finding nothing, he soon opened the doors and was in the hallway. It only took a few seconds to step out into the hallway before turning around and using his key card in the card reader. The door quickly shut closed after inserting and removing the card. It was a black colored metal door, with ridges going horizontally and evenly spaced about a foot apart from the bottom to the top. It looked rather cold for a living unit door, but Bryan shook his head deciding not to complain about it. He didn't want to start the day in a bad mood.
Walking down the hallway was simple enough. Step by step, captain Bryan traveled down through the hallway past numerous other doors leading to rooms of others soldiers. One thing Bryan was glad about was that the officers were mixed in with the lower ranking grunts, which made him feel more on-the-level than if they had been separated. Although Bryan realized the risk of being outnumbered by so many lower ranking men, it was better to be around them than be far away from them. Better to keep an eye on the grunts than let them be together and away from the higher officers like himself.
One of the doors behind him, about twenty feet behind Bryan's left, whooshed open. Bryan slowed down and glanced behind him to the door and saw a young male private emerge from the room. The private seemed to not be fully awake yet. Well past those days of waking men up the hard way, Bryan continued on his way with a barely noticeable smile. Indeed, everyone here is about as new as he was and it was no surprise that any vacation time these young recruits had gotten would show when they get back. Eventually, it would wear off on everyone.
Finally reaching the end of the hallway, Bryan walked up to the door which looked different than the rest. It was a gray door that separated in the center vertically. There was a keypad on both sides of the door for entry and exit. There were also two small windows on both the left and right parts of the door, but a bit of height was required to see through the tough glass. Bryan punched in his number into the keypad and it opened with mechanical zing sound, slower than the room door.
Bryan walked through the door and before him lay a much wider and longer corridor, with an illuminated white portion of the wall labeled canteen on both sides of the northern entrance into the canteen, a distance not too far down the hallway. To the left of the corridor were two tight hallways that forked at the entrance to the large corridor and to the right were also two tight hallways that forked as well at the entrance, but seemed slightly different in design than the one on the left. Bryan could see a door on the right hallway as well, but with no wall labels. He remembered the maps he had previously looked at which told him the door led to an office. The long corridor ahead of him stretched quite far down, at least seventy-five feet, with two more hallways at the end of the corridor on opposite sides of each other adjacent to the wall ending the long corridor.
He took a left as soon as he exited the living quarters from which he had emerged from and entered one of the tightly spaced hallways. The hallway inside the living quarters was slightly less lit compared to these hallways and corridors, but he understood it was to induce sleep. Eventually, Bryan reached the elevator from which he had gotten here. The elevator was located at the eastern canteen entrance. Between the elevator and the canteen was about twenty-five feet of open space and another two illuminated walls with canteen displayed on them. As the elevator doors opened, Bryan saw a few people exit the elevator and head to the canteen. Bryan quickly made his way to the elevator and as the doors began to close shut, Bryan smiled to himself knowing that a whole world was about to be seen.