Off World- Ragnarok by J F Holmes

Author:J F Holmes [Holmes, J F]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cannon Publishing LLC
Published: 2019-02-23T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 24

1-9 Scouts, Team 2, the Great Bridge

He could actually feel the bridge vibrating under him, the ancient structure pounding under hundreds of Gvit feet. Sergeant Joe Johnson would have cursed, but he didn’t have the breath. His side was killing him, his lungs heaved, and his legs felt like lead weights. Sweat poured off the soldier, the salt stinging the small cuts and scrapes he’d gotten running through the brush.

Behind them, the Gvit trampled over the body of Specialist Cobb. She’d tripped and been skewered by a ten-foot-long spear through her back. Johnson had turned and fired in a rage, knocking one of the aliens down, but then dropped his rifle in its sling and ran, tears starting down his face. It was the first time he’d lost one of his men.

Crossing the bridge had been a gamble. The first divisions had passed by, after what seemed like hours. Coming down out of the pass were tens of thousands more, being held back by giant siege machines. After a quick conference between Johnson and Running Lance, they’d made the decision. Around them lay the bones of thousands of dead Gvit casualties, reminders of the battle the year before.

“Why haven’t they blown the bridge?” asked Alvarez. “Isn’t that what’s supposed to happen?”

“Somebody screwed the pooch is what happened,” answered Running Lance.

There was a silence broken only by the far-off rumble of artillery, more felt than heard. “Someone’s catching it,” muttered Specialist Crane.

“If we stay here, we’re screwed. There’s no other way across the river,” said Johnson.

Running Lance grunted. “Told them they should’ve left a boat concealed on this bank.” It had been a tough decision, one the scouts had asked for, but someone up at ACECOM had done a risk assessment, of course, and it was judged to be “too dangerous due to currents and aggressive wildlife”.

“Doesn’t matter. Do we go for it or not?”

“I vote yes,” said the corporal, “but it’s your decision, and you’ve got to make it quick.”

Johnson cursed and said, “OK, let’s go. Drop everything except weapons and ammo. Rally point is at the COP. MOVE!”

They shouldered their packs and started sprinting, scrambling up onto the raised roadbed and running flat out. The ancient flagstones were smooth and level, but here and there, plants had grown up in the year after the battle. Archeologists had estimated it be more than five centuries old, not built by the Gvit. It was rock solid after all these years, and tough enough to drive an Abrams tank over it.

None of that mattered to Jones. He saw smoke rising three kilometers ahead at the end of the bridge, and knew that thousands of Gvit might be waiting for them on the other side. What was behind them was even worse, probably two hundred thousand.

They’d been spotted right away, only a kilometer separating the lead elements of the Gvit column and the eastern approached to the bridge. Everyone knew they would be, and that they were in for the race of their lives.

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