Atomic Fracture by Don Pendleton

Author:Don Pendleton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Worldwide Library
Published: 2014-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

David McCarter turned his head to the side, then spit out a gritty mouthful of saliva. It hit the floor just to the left of the slowly widening hole in the wall, and was every bit as reddish brown in color as the floor on which he stood. He had already tried to blow his nose on a bandanna he’d had stashed in his pocket. But nasal fluid wasn’t the problem. The red dust flying through the air had caused the membranes in his sinuses to swell, blocking a good ninety percent of his breathing.

Taking in air through his mouth wasn’t an option; it had become a necessity as the dust swirled thicker through the air with every shovelful of dirt he, Manning and Hawkins displaced in the common wall the safehouse shared with the dwelling adjacent to it.

McCarter resumed digging, striking the wall with his entrenching tool much like a man might lunge with a spear. Slowly but surely, they were making progress. But time was definitely not on their side.

Outside, the barrage of gunfire from the Radestani government troops continued. Phoenix Force and the few of Jabbar’s PSOF rebels who were not too afraid to raise a rifle, kept returning that fire. But new fissures were appearing in the walls—even the ones in this bedroom where the digging continued. It was only a matter of time before the whole structure came down.

McCarter had taken his turn with the shovel, giving Hawkins a brief rest. Then he’d handed the entrenching tool back to the young warrior and moved to the side of the bedroom window. Next to him, he could hear the steady pounding of a rifle caliber louder than the 5.56 mm and 7.62 mm weapons most of the men inside the dwelling were firing. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that Jabbar had taken up a kneeling position next to another window not ten feet away. It was the roar of his longer 7.62 NATO rounds—referred to as .308s when measured in inches rather than millimeters—causing the racket.

McCarter could only pray that the more powerful rounds were taking out enemies.

T. J. Hawkins had been digging at the wall next to the Phoenix Force leader. Now he stepped back and dropped his arms to his sides. The tip of his folding shovel rested on the ground as he took a brief ten-second rest. “We would get saddled with the thickest wall in this whole prehistoric apartment house,” he said. “We’re trying to dig through this while the other walls are about to come down on our heads.” His voice trailed off, his eyes looked upward and his mouth opened slightly. Then his eyes dropped to meet McCarter’s.

As for the Phoenix Force leader, he stared back. It was obvious to the two men that the same idea had struck them both at the same time.

“Why didn’t we think of this earlier, Hawk?” McCarter said.

Hawkins shrugged as he leaned his entrenching tool against the wall next to the hole.

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