Dead Mech Walking: a mech LitRPG novel (Armored Souls Book 1) by Xavier P. Hunter

Author:Xavier P. Hunter
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781942642411
Publisher: Magical Scrivener Press
Published: 2017-08-06T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTY

Reggie returned to his hospital room feeling drained and with a sense of nagging trepidation. He’d splashed so much water on his face it ought to have counted as a shower. His eyes still stung, and he had a hollow pit in his stomach.

Who was waiting for him? Dr. Zimmerman hadn’t said. It was supposed to be a surprise.

Swallowing down his worries, Reggie turned the doorknob and stepped inside.

Standing at ease, staring out the window, was a brawny fireplug of an army sergeant in fatigues. At the sound of the door, the sergeant turned.

A puzzled frown drew Reggie’s brow together. “Whitten?”

“Hey, King,” Whitten replied with a grin.

Reggie would have known those crooked teeth of Kyle Whitten’s anywhere. They’d gone through basic together and ended up spending most of their service time in the same unit. Only Reggie’s dog tags had been around more than Whitten.

Reggie strode across the room and accepted a crushing handshake, matching it grip for grip as well as his current physical condition allowed. Whitten had a hand like a work glove, thick fingered and almost entirely callus.

“Man, just look at you, lounging around in civvies a welfare surfer wouldn’t be caught dead in,” Whitten replied, looking Reggie up and down.

“Me?” Reggie scoffed. “Look at you. I’ve been out of commission what, a month? You must’ve lost ten pounds.”

Whitten’s smile faltered a shade, but only for a moment. He patted his gut. “Gotta keep my girlish figure. How ‘bout you? They feedin’ you enough in here? Didn’t think to smuggle you in a steak, but…” He just chuckled without finishing the thought. It sounded forced.

This is why no one had been by to visit him. If Whitten was nervous being here, Reggie could only imagine the rest of the unit. He’d seen Whitten at age 18, fresh off the farm, chewed out by drill sergeants. He’d been under fire with Whitten more times than either of them could count. If Reggie hadn’t just seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have known that Kyle Whitten had a nervous setting.

“They’re feeding me. I was off regular food a while, but I just had a burger. This place doesn’t have a half bad cafeteria for a hospital. But enough about me; how’s the rest of the unit holding up?”

Whitten shrugged. “Oh. You know. Same old guys. Everyone’s doin’ their thing. Working hard. Patrols. Same old shit.” He swallowed. “It’s good seein’ ya, King.” Whitten cleared his throat. “Not a day goes by I don’t think about that ambush.”

Reggie’s lips twitched halfway to a smile. “Don’t say that too loud. That’s the reason I’m stuck here. Post-traumatic bullshit, they say. You’re liable to get diagnosed if you’re not careful.”

Whitten clasped his hands in front of him. “Is that what they say?”

Reggie nodded. “Listen, if you can get word to Colonel Tasker, let him know I’m fine, fit for duty. Maybe if the old man can lean on these pill-pushers I can get back behind a desk, at least—something in uniform.

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