EMP Post-Apocalyptic Survival by Hunt, James (acx book reading .TXT) 📗

was struggling for breath, and when he saw Ben, he stretched out his hand, and it was all Ben could do to take hold of it and give the boy some comfort.

“It’s… hard… to… breathe…” The boy gasped between each word, and despite the warm evening, his hand was cold as ice.

“It’s all right,” Ben said, trying to offer what comfort he could. “Just take it nice and slow. Breathe like me, in and then out.” Ben did slow inhales, and then slow exhales, and watched as the young soldier struggled to follow along.

The kid couldn’t have been older than eighteen, probably fresh out of boot camp, or perhaps he hadn’t even finished and was mobilized to come here and join the fight.

Ben held onto the soldier until the last few breaths drained from him, and the boy became completely still. Ben continued to hold the boy’s hand, and he couldn’t help but wonder where his parents were and when and if they would ever learn of their son’s fate.

“Ben!” Jackson weaved his way through the rubble. Dir and soot smeared his cheeks, which were red from exertion. “I can’t believe you survived.”

Ben kept his attention on the young boy now dead. How many other young men and women would die throughout this conflict? How much blood needed to be shed before people realized that this fight was pointless?

“Ben, we need to move,” Jackson said. “The enemies are advancing to the front lines.”

Ben gently laid the boy's hand down on his stomach and then folded the other one on top of it. Ben held the cold hands there for a moment before reaching up and closing the young man’s eyes. “Be at peace now.”

Ben stood, still staring down at the young man as Jackson grew more anxious.

“Ben, we need to go,” Jackson said.

“Where’s the device?” Ben asked.

“What?” Jackson answered.

Ben faced Jackson. “The piece of the nuclear device we brought here, where is it?”

Jackson gestured to the rubble that surrounded them. “Buried somewhere under here, I guess.”

“We need to find it,” Ben said. “We need to make sure it doesn’t fall back into their hands.”

“It’s probably destroyed,” Jackson said. “Half of our forces are gone. They are barely holding back the bastards at the frontline as it is. They must’ve known we were coming and planned to arrive here earlier than we expected.”

“All the more reason to get the device,” Ben said. “If they knew the military was already here, they also probably know about the device we stole. They came here because they want it back.”

Gunfire erupted nearby, and both Ben and Jackson reached for their weapons. They saw a small unit of American soldiers retreating from the advancement of around fifty enemy combatants. In the span of thirty seconds, Ben watched as at least three of the American soldiers were killed while their comrades struggled to bring their bodies back to a safe spot.

“We need to move,” Jackson said.

Ben knew they couldn’t take on all of those soldiers, but they might be able to salvage all this by making sure the device needed to complete the nuclear bomb didn’t fall back into the enemy’s possession.

Ben and Jackson headed back into the strip mall where the command had been set up. Ben wasn’t sure what to expect to find, but he was surprised when he found the commanders still around the table, trying to strategize on how to pull everyone out.

Before Ben could speak, a young soldier darted past Ben and Jackson and into the tent.

“General! They’ve gotten past our second lines. Everyone is in full retreat.” The young soldier was out of breath, and he was covered in dust from the bombs.

General McGuire looked at the map and then frowned. “Pull everyone back to the checkpoint. Grab as many wounded as we can carry. Make sure everyone makes it back.”

“Yes, sir!” The boy saluted, still maintaining decorum even in all of this chaos. He darted past Ben and Jackson.

“Sir, we think the enemy is also making a play for the device we brought back,” Jackson said.

McGuire looked away from the map and to the duffle bag, Ben and Jackson had brought in. “So much fuss over a little piece of a machine.”

“Sir,” Ben said, stepping forward, “we need to get that thing out of here.”

McGuire walked back to the table and scribbled something on a piece of paper, and then handed it to Jackson. “There is another unit heading down from the north. It’s small, definitely not enough to handle the fight that’s heading our way, but if you can get to them before they arrive here and give them the device, they can get it back to DC before they run into the same trouble we had here.” The general handed Ben the duffel bag. “It’s imperative they do not recover this again.”

Even though Ben understood how important this was, he didn’t want to leave his family again for another mission.

“Sir, my family is still at a compound nearby,” Ben said. “If you could send over a unit to grab them and bring them here before the enemy finds them, I would be incredibly grateful.”

Ben knew it was a tough task for the general, considering the situation everybody found themselves in, but he had to try. Because if the general wouldn’t send somebody, then Ben would go back himself. And Jackson would have to take this device to the unit alone.

“I’ll send over unit if you give me their coordinates,” McGuire said.

Ben sighed in relief. “Thank you, sir.”

Once Ben relayed the compound’s coordinates, the general dismissed them. Before they left, Jackson turned back to McGuire. “Sir, we will turn this around.”

“You bet your ass we will, Colonel,” McGuire said. “Good luck to both of you.”

With their mission clear, Ben and Jackson hurried out of the building as the enemy forces started inched closer. Asheville had once again transformed into a war zone. And Ben could only hope to survive like he had done before.

The soldiers never