Crash Flux 1: Welcome To The Machine (15 page)

He lost track of his targets in the small explosion that followed.  He picked them up again as they ran past a breach in the barricade.  Adon struggled to put the rifle back on target.  One of the soldiers tripped as the other struggled to carry him across the gap.  His faceplate was smashed and blood trickled forth from his visor.  As the other struggled to pick up his wounded comrade, Adon snapped off another shot, afraid he would lose them once they ducked behind cover.  The wounded soldier’s chest exploded, and his partner fell to the side.  The other soldier grabbed the launcher and made a break for it.  Adon tracked him ten feet before he heard the distinctive thump of the hand mortar.  He whirled the scope, saw the smoke plume, and dove for cover.  The explosion half buried him in rubble, knocking the breath out of his lungs.  He struggled to inhale, coughing out the dust and debris hanging in the air.  He forced himself to his feet, half-walking, half-crawling.

A series of explosions neared closer and closer, knocking him to his knees, barely audible through his ringing ears.  He got up, then was immediately knocked down again, propping himself up on his hands.  More explosions erupted, but they were muted, farther away.  He stood up, peering over the barricade just in time to see the mortar soldier’s position reduced to rubble by the two remaining brutes.  He spotted his corpse almost immediately with the low light scope.

Adon almost fell over with relief, and then remembered the last soldier was out their somewhere.  He scanned the battlefield with the scope’s optics, and then quickly focused through his own eyes.  He stared for a moment, and then caught a hint of motion from the corner of his eye.  He whirled his rifle around just in time to see the rocket launcher bearing down on him.  He held a split second, exhaling, then fired.  The ground shook as the rocket pulverized the ground around him, but he managed to catch a glimpse of the soldier as his head was knocked backwards in a bloody mess.

Adon took a moment to scan the battlefield.  He relaxed for a moment, breathing.  The silence was interrupted by a loud crack, then a wet thud.  Adon rolled back behind cover, then looked at his shoulder.  The bullet had cut straight through.  It didn’t hurt at first, until he tried to move.  He ran backwards through the defensive maze, ducking bullets whizzing past his head as he jumped gaps of rubble and struggled to keep his head low.  He stumbled onto the brute’s position, where Irule and Raydin were also in hiding.  “I got jumped.  Sniper hiding somewhere back there.  My shoulders shot to hell, I can’t hold the rifle steady.  If I had nerve wires like you, maybe…” he shook his head.  He looked over his crew in desperation.  “It looks like you’re the only shooter left, Raydin.”

He wheezed, “Can’t… starting to black out…”

Irule said, “You have to Raydin, you’re the only chance we got.”

Raydin took a deep breath, then took the rifle.  “Help me take off my helmet.  That way,” he said, pointing right.  They came to another hole, which Raydin slowly crawled into.  He pointed the rifle closer to the ground, pushing the trigger for the laser distancer.  The scope’s view widened, giving him a larger view of the battle.  He breathed again, seeing stars.  His vision cleared, and he caught a muzzle flash near the disabled APC just as a round landed a foot away from his position.  He hit the distancer again, and saw the sniper signaling to someone behind the APC.  He caught the motion of the missile turret mounted above it, and realized that part of the APC must still be functioning.

“MOVE!”  Raydin blacked out as he finished his breath.  He felt a jarring in his bones, felt himself coughing up blood.  He felt a hand slapping him lightly into consciousness.  He opened his eyes, and could see Irule’s lips moving.  “Lost… another… destroyed… last barrier.”  He raised himself up, and managed to look over the wall.  One of the brutes lay mangled on the floor, P.P.C. lying on the ground next to him.  He signaled Adon to give him his rifle.  He zipped open a pouch on his hip, and took out the first of two rounds.  He ejected his magazine and  manually loaded a round into the chamber.

“HEAT rounds.  Weigh pound… apiece.  The charge in the casing so powerful it fucks up the barrel.  Can only fire two before the rifle is shot to hell.”  He wheezed, then started coughing.  “It’ll skag a tank.”

He propped himself up on his rifle as Adon helped him up.  “Where you want me to drop you?”  Raydin pointed to a long line of rubble, “Over there.”  Adon set him down behind the rubble.  Raydin dragged himself over the rubble once again.  Five more soldiers lined up near the APC waiting the snipers signal to move out.  Seizing the only opportunity he saw available, Raydin targeted the missile launcher on top of the APC, aiming for the ordinance inside.  His first shot sparked off the edge of the launcher.  The sniper signaled the APC for the final blow, and took aim at Raydin.  Raydin began to see black, fading out again.  He caught the muzzle flash from the sniper’s position through his scope.  A slight thud in the dissolving construction foam beneath him sent a shiver through his spine, but he was too tired to care.  He groaned as the second shot grazed his face, stirring him awake.  

He took a deep, wheezing breath, and took aim one last time.  He lined up the scope, keeping it steady even as his vision became blurry and distorted.  He waited until the end of his breath, and pulled the trigger.  Raydin sighed as he saw the back blast from the missile being fired, then, to his shock, relished in the momentary exhilaration as the turret exploded, leveling the APC and everything else within twenty meters of the blast.  

He smiled, succumbing to the darkness as it overcame him.

Kevin Battleson is a graduate of Orange Coast Collge and a debut author who has written three novels. He lives in the small town of Westminster located just south of Los Angeles in Orange Country. He has two cats, and a dog, enjoys working on computers and computer hardware. Having written his third book before he turned thrity, he is currently on sabatical enjoying his life as a freelance author.

This is just the first of Crash Flux series! There's lots more to come!

So stay tuned for the next Crash Flux book,
Tangled Webs
! 

Coming Soon!