HIATUS

It was midnight. A man can be seen wearing an expensive suit, middle-aged, with a muscular build and he had a set of hair that was turning white at the side. He is drinking an expensive bottle of wine "Domaine Romanee Conti" in his office.

His office had a minimal design, the wall was painted with brown type color. An expensive wooden table can be seen in the middle, behind the table is a huge cabinet for storing paper. On the right side of the office are a set of window doors use to go to the balcony.

He was in a good mood an hour ago. It changed when he received a letter. The letter was received by his secretary and was only given to him 1 hour before midnight.  Written in the letter was a piece of saddening news.

Capt. Williams had died due to a heart attack in a bar in New York. "Another one huh…..died due to a heart attack," he said with sadness. He went outside the balcony to feel the cold breeze as he continued to drink his wine.

For a while, sadness marks his face but was soon change to anger. "Heart attack!" he said as he throws the wine glass on the floor. He stared at shattered wine glass, and the slowly moving wine on the floor, "What waste of life, heart attack. Bullshit, you died cause you were drinking all day and rotting of self-pity for years now." he said angrily.

Capt. Williams was his squad member during the war. The only surviving squad member left, now dead. At the beginning of the war, they were 10 men. Each had their own stories, some got married before being deployed, 1 even eloped.

Those 10 men were then sent to battle in Europe fighting the nazis. As they were battling every day, smelling gunpowder, hearing the screams of fellow men. Men who believe themselves to tough even for war, but scream for their mother as they die.

Those 10 men became brothers, brothers that would die for each other. Defend each other. As the war rage on some of his brothers fell, some because of bravery others due to stupidity. He cried for them, all his remaining brothers did. War was cruel and took away 7 of his brothers.

Now all his brothers were dead. Even with all the help he gave, his brother in all but blood died. Died due to his own undoing. Not even a death gained in the fighting.

Anger, sadness, pity, emotions that he had felt in the war came bubbling up. "You are all dead now. Throughout the war, we fought together. We ate, we slept, we cried together. I still remember your dreams," he said with tears slowly falling on his cheek.

He returns to his office, grabs another bottle of wine, took, and drag a recliner chair in the balcony. He took one entire mouthful of wine before sitting down. For a while, there was silence as he stares blankly into the night sky, too sadden to appreciate the beauty of the view.

"You know Frank, your twin daughters grew up to be extremely talented in business. I hired them for my company years ago. Now both of them are supervisors of their respective locations," he said as he took another mouthful of wine.

"Hahahahaha, George, your younger brother owns a boxing gym now. You were right the sod couldn't box, took a near-fatal head injury for him to quit, hahahaha," he said sarcastically with more tears falling down his face. "Fuck you guys!" he said with a shaking voice.

" Robert didn't you wanted to own a bakery when you returned, so you left your life savings to the girl you married. The fucking bitch spend it all," he said as he gulps the wine. "Oh, she was sleeping with your neighbor," he said with anger. His sobs grew louder.

He directly finishes the entire bottle, once empty he smash it on the floor."Hey Wal," he stutters. "Walter I...I bet you were…..happy that we..made you sleep with that redhead…..before you blew up the next day," he said stuttering.

In the chair, you see could the man in pain. Lost of his last brother had pained the man greatly. Sobbing, and drinking under the stars. "Ralph, Edward, your wives all remarried now. I…I see them sometimes…in the cemetery..," the man said. "Hi, Leo... I took care of your mother…..she passed 3 years after you died. You…already know…that right….First Roy and now Williams, you were the remaining two, but you killed yourselves....why did you waste it, why waste life," the man said with great grief.

After a while he stopped crying, stop drinking, he was just staring blankly in the night sky. Just feeling the cold breeze of the morning air hit his face. Then after a few hours, dawn came.

It was beautiful the man thought. After gazing at the rising sun, the man gained clarity of sort. He suddenly stood up from his chair and said "You're dead now.... the 9 of you will all be remembered as soldiers, nothing else. After the war, I made something of myself, I refuse to be labeled as just a soldier who fought in the war," the man said with anger and determination in his voice.

"I made a company, I became a CEO, I will not just be labeled as a soldier, I am more than that," said the man as clench his fist. As he stood gazing at the morning sun, charisma seems to ooze out of him. The sadness, the pain, the grief seems to vanish.

Unbeknown to his brothers, the war was the place the man gained an understanding of life. As men lay dying due to war, the man understood his powerlessness. His weakness, nothing would be lost if he died. Sure, his family would grief, but aside from that, nothing. His legacy would be nothing else but being a soldier. The man considered these an insult.

As he was fighting in the war he heard of the stories of "Captain America", sure he was happy for his country for winning battles in the war. But jealousy was there in the heart of the man. Captain America may just be a soldier but he would live behind a legacy for all to read in the history books. A man that gave morale to his fellow soldiers. While the history books will only remember him as a "fellow soldier" of Captain America, nothing else.

"I will be remembered, I will leave behind a legacy, I will not die and be labeled as a "nobody","  said the main, solidifying his belief.

"I am Charles A. Carter and I will be remembered in the annals of time," said the man with a firm belief in himself.