Ghost Bricks by Emmett Kane

Author:Emmett Kane
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Young Adult, Post-Apocalyptic, Apocalyptic, Fiction
Publisher: Emmett Kane
Published: 2024-01-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

“Corporal Hack, please report.” The radio crackles and Captain Kelly grinds his teeth. “Corporal, report.” Still nothing.

Kelly slams the handset down and starts pacing furiously around his office. “Goddammit. She had to have been close. Too close, I guess.” The captain furrows his brow and sighs, then he strolls over to the door and opens it a crack. A young soldier startles to attention on the other side and throws up a crooked, anxious salute.

“Sir?”

“At ease.” The Captain sticks a piece of paper through the gap, upon which is drawn an image of a hand grenade. The pin is removed and the spoon is released. “Take this down to the tattoo shop. Dennis will know what to do with it.”

The grunt salutes and rushes off, and Kelly slams the door.

“If you want someone killed right...” He pulls open a drawer, wide and shallow, and withdraws a satellite map of a mountainous region. He sets it on his desk and consults a notebook, then scribbles something in the margins. “That’s from her last report. North of that is death, south is nothing, east would have been retreat, so that just leaves...Skylight?”

The captain crinkles his nose.

“Tiber and his crew won’t make it far in the wilds, so they must be heading for civilization. Oh well, we’re due for an exhibition anyway.” A smirk grows on the mercenary’s face. “Maybe the Cranes will lease me my old office.”

— — —

Bounding foothills tucker out and turn into rolling plains, and the group starts to pick up the pace with Harris at its head. The silence, which was mournful and reverent before, begins to grow awkward. Sloan cuts through it. “Harris. What happened back there during the storm? How did you lose us?”

The question isn’t accusatory, merely curious, but Harris grows pensive anyway. “I did what I often do,” he says. “I made a mistake.” He pulls a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and flips the lid open. There is one left in the crumpled container, sitting alone. Sloan raises a brow and the survivalist waves her expression off.

“You know I don’t smoke, and this isn’t an offer to start. It’s a terrible habit. Hell, this isn’t even my pack, see, it’s a story.” There is a pause, and then the survivalist begins, “I got a bad feeling back there in the mountains. Knew that we should’ve slowed down, taken our time, but I didn’t listen to my gut.” He withdraws the cigarette, holding it between his fingers like a pencil. “That wasn’t the only time I went against my instincts. I used to do...contracting work. Had a partner that I’ll just call Richy. Years ago, we had a job that went sour, and he told me he wanted to split ways for a bit while the heat died down. He could never keep his cool without me, though, threw fits and got in fights. I knew it was a bad idea and I let him know as much. He tossed me his

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