"I'll make it all right, Lieutenant. I might even be able to sight the gun if you lift me into the seat." "Good man, Peterman!" Blake turned to Jerry, "Well, Conlon, it looks like you and I are the only ones on our feet. That means we've got work to do." "My eyes are bad, but I think they're clearing up now," Jerry said. "Things are pretty rough," Blake said. "From what I've been able to determine, the whole nation's been blasted." "Lieutenant--no!" Jerry cried. He moved forward toward the Lieutenant and clutched Blake by the shoulders. "I've got a wife and kid back home!" "We all have relatives back home, Conlon. You're no different than anybody else. And it's just as bad for us as it is for you. You've got to get a grip on yourself. There's nothing you can do for them one way or the other." "The hell there isn't! I'm going back to 'em!" The Lieutenant's covered hand whipped out and slapped the front of Jerry's helmet below the vision lens. Jerry went backwards and dropped to the concrete floor. "Sorry, Conlon," Blake clipped. "I didn't do that in anger. I merely wanted to snap you back to your senses! You're still in the Army, and I'm still your commanding officer. As far as the Army is concerned, none of us have any relatives." Jerry got to his feet. There was no question that the Lieutenant was right. The Army was the big boss, and soldiers were not supposed to have personal feelings. There were several million soldiers protecting many millions of people and the only way that Mildred and Billy could be protected was through the combined and strategic effort of these soldiers. There were soldiers in the interior risking their lives to protect people like Mildred and Billy--soldiers with relatives in the city that Jerry was supposed to protect. It would be a sorry plight if, at the first sign of trouble, all the men would run home to their own little families. It all seemed like a crazy nightmare to Jerry. No matter how big the catastrophe, human beings still worried about the little problems along with the big. It was a strange feeling to look over the top of the bulwark and see nothing but the dirty gray sky where the forms of big buildings should be. The shock was less horrible to him because by the time his sight returned, he was accepting the awful scene of destruction as an unchangeable fact. * * * * * It was several hours later before a small contingent of radiation clothed soldiers arrived in several jeeps. A Colonel of the Army stepped out. Blake and Conlon stood at attention as the officers introduced themselves. The Colonel's name was Harrison. "I'm trying to find out what we have to work with. Not much, I'm afraid," the Colonel said. "The Government's gone. Communication is disrupted." "Did you say there was no more government, Colonel?" Jerry asked. The Colonel nodded. "That's what I said." "Then there's no hope--nothing left to fight for any more?"