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

gunmen no doubt heading down toward him to finish the job and also collect the device, Ben reached for the duffle bag and forced himself to stand. Even though his arm and leg were on fire with pain, he managed to shuffle forward, and he had his pistol at the ready should the shooter get too close.

Ben limped forward, moving at a glacier’s pace, hoping to escape this place with his life. But the darkness falling around him made it difficult to see, and his vision was starting to blur from the pain.

The next gunshot forced Ben to scramble behind a column of concrete next to the road. It had once held up an arch for a decorative entryway into a cluster of shops that were now nothing but burnt skeletons of their former selves.

Ben dropped the duffel bag, and he had to use both hands to grip the pistol. He used the injured arm as the trigger, and he didn’t think it was strong enough to hold and aim the pistol and handle recoil if he were to fire.

Ben carefully peered around the edge of the pillar, unsure of what kind of scope the shooter had at his disposal or how skilled of a shooter he was dealing with. Ben hated that his eyes adjusted to the darkness, and he looked for any shapes that were moving toward down the road.

There was a brief exchange of gunfire, several rounds, and Ben assumed that was Jackson’s final stand. He knew the colonel was a formidable fighter, but he was injured, and the shooter that was tracking them had the element of surprise still on his side.

And then whatever hope that Ben was holding out for Jackson ended as another bullet struck the column Ben was using as cover. Ben fired off two rounds just to let the shooter knew he was still alive. But after Ben fired his weapon, he knew he was in no condition to hold his own. His best survival tactic now was evasion.

Ben searched for the nearest escape route and knew that while heading through some of the old, crumbling buildings was dangerous considering that they could collapse at any moment, he couldn’t hold his current position.

Head pounding from the long day and the pain in his arm and his calf, Ben was distracted. And his frazzled mind missed the footsteps that had managed to sneak up behind him.

“That’s far enough, Ben,” Mark said.

Ben felt the end of Mark’s rifle barrel nudge the back of his head, and he turned around to find his brother with a gun aimed at him.

“I knew you’d come back,” Ben said. “You just couldn’t let my family alone.”

Mark remained stoic but steady. “I came to finish a job.” He glanced down at the duffle bag before returning his attention to Ben. “Is that the device?”

Ben shook his head. “Just let me go, Mark. Do you really think the people you’ve sided with should have a nuclear bomb?”

“Open it up,” Mark said. “But first, toss your pistol over there.”

Ben did as he was told, and once the weapon was discarded, Ben opened the duffle bag. He wasn’t sure how this device was supposed to be operated or if the device was broken or not, but Mark seemed satisfied with the contents inside.

“Push it toward me,” Mark said.

Again, Ben followed the instructions. Once Mark had the duffel bag in his possession, he stepped backward, keeping the rifle aimed at Ben.

“Don’t do this, Mark,” Ben said. “If the organization you’re with keeps getting their way, then the world as we know it will end. You know that this is wrong. I know you do.”

Even though it was dark, Ben saw the conflict on his brother’s face. He had always been somebody who wanted to fight for a cause. But Ben had never thought his brother would pick a cause that was so vile and dangerous.

“I know that you think that you have the moral high ground in this,” Mark said. “But the world you’re so quick to defend discarded us. After our parents were killed, there was nobody to help us, no justice. I was still a kid myself, and I wasn’t in any condition to take care of you.”

“All I’m hearing is that you were the one to discard me,” Ben said. “Is that what you’re here to do now? Again?”

“History does tend to repeat itself,” Mark answered. “That’s exactly what the people I am fighting with are trying to stop. We want to create a world where all of the mistakes we made are completely erased.”

“And you think the best way to erase those mistakes is to set off a nuclear bomb, killing more of your countrymen?” Ben asked. “How many innocent people have to die? Because I can promise you that this trajectory that you’re on won’t leave a world left for you to rebuild.”

Ben knew that somewhere beneath all of the propaganda that these people had shoved into Mark’s head was the man who used to take him fishing. The brother who would sneak his dessert in the middle of the night after his parents had denied him when he didn’t finish his dinner. He desperately wanted to reach his brother, but Mark had to take the first step.

“Come with me,” Ben said. “The knowledge that you have about this organization could help bring an end to so much violence.” Ben gestured to the city around them. “Look what happened to our home. Despite how much you say you hate this place, you mean to tell me that seeing it this way doesn’t affect you at all?”

“I cannot be swayed,” Mark said. “I have purged myself of all the things in my past that could cause me to fall back into old habits. I am not your brother anymore.”

Ben could believe what he was hearing. Of course, he had cursed his brother for a very long time after what he did, but deep down, he always wanted them to