Recharged by John Stowers

Author:John Stowers [Stowers, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Dog Press
Published: 2019-12-28T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

The dream was different this time. There was no wall of fire, just darkness. His face was burned and the pus forming around his eyes had sealed them shut. For more than a day he’d lain in ashes, waiting for someone to find him. The first thing he heard was the sound of MRAPs rolling up the trail where the pass had been. The armored cavalry had arrived too late. Then came the voices of the searchers and battlefield forensics techs. They were searching for evidence and trying to figure out what had gone wrong. “Body!” someone called out next to him.

He jerked at the sound.

“He’s alive!” the voice shouted.

Footsteps running through the powdery ash. Other voices. An engine starting. “Hang in there, soldier; we got you,” another voice said. Older, reassuring, someone in charge. “Sergeant, call in the medivac.”

“Yes, sir.”

Time passed. A chopper landing. “He’s over here. We haven’t moved him,” the older voice again.

Pain. Movement. Strapped onto something, probably a stretcher.

“My name’s Jack. I’m a pilot. I’m gonna fly you outta here, okay. You’re gonna be alright.”

Movement. Someone shaking him.

“Ray,” Jennifer whispered. “The chargers are off.”

Ray opened his eyes, staring through the blackness to where the faint glow of the chargers’ lights had been when he fell asleep. “Damn. How long have they been off?”

“I don’t know; I was asleep. I just woke up and realized it was pitch black.”

“I haven’t slept that soundly in years,” Ray said. “Help me find my arm.” He started feeling around.

“Here,” Jennifer pressed the glow button on her watch. It read three-oh-seven.

In the dim light of the watch’s glow, Ray saw his arm sitting on the floor, still attached to the charger. He quickly unplugged it and attached it to the pin protruding from his stump. With his right index finger he felt around on his wrist for the LED button. “Damn. Only forty-four percent.”

“What do you think happened?”

“I can still hear the generators, so the extension cord must be unplugged.”

“Maybe someone got up to use the bathroom and kicked it.”

“Help me with my legs,” Ray said, fitting the right one in place.

Jennifer unplugged the charger from the left leg and passed it to Ray. With his legs firmly attached, Ray stood up and walked cautiously to the desk. “Watch your eyes.”

Jennifer heard a click and the room lit up with the powerful beam of the Maglite.

“Let’s go check out the generator.”

Stepping out from the manager’s office, they could see the hammocks set up around the vehicles off to their left. “One problem with the bathroom theory,” Ray said. “The bathrooms are that way, there’s no reason anyone should have been walking around over here.”

“I was worried you were going to say that.”

Ray shined the light along the length of the extension cord, to the point where it disappeared in aisle six. Touching Jennifer’s arm, he stepped toward the aisle. From the tip of aisle six, he shined the light all the way down to the end. As far as they could see the extension cord looked fine.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.