Reclamation (Rise Book 3) by Nathan Hystad & Devon C. Ford

Author:Nathan Hystad & Devon C. Ford [Hystad, Nathan & Ford, Devon C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aethon Books
Published: 2020-05-03T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

Zhao

Gregory Zhao was no coward, despite what that bastard Tom Mason said of him. He deflated, cursing himself for his harsh thoughts about a man who had given his life so willingly. He’d done it to give the surviving humans on the planet the chance to spark the flame of rebellion. He was torn between telling people—proving to them—that he hadn’t sat on the west coast for twenty-five years hiding away. That he wasn’t hoping the monsters would simply disappear like he was a child in bed squeezing his eyes closed and pulling the covers up tight to banish the nightmare. Instead, he wanted them to know he was a brave, cautious, and meticulous leader who was waiting for the conditions to become optimal.

Those conditions were far from perfect, but since the Mason boys had arrived, wanting to unite the world and retaliate, the decision to abandon their base was taken out of his hands.

For the last two days, ever since the credible intelligence about the impending attack had been argued over and eventually believed, the survivors of the human race had been ferried north and their one exhausted pilot pushed herself harder than he felt was safe.

Safer than staying put, he thought, wincing at the implied risk he left others in.

There was no hope, none at all, of evacuating everyone. To that end, the underground bunkers were filled with people and supplies, and only those able to maintain the fight were sent away in the desperate hope of keeping the machine of revolt turning.

Anyone not fighting had been asked to leave, intending to survive this latest threat as they had lived: by their own guile and strength of character.

Leading these hundreds of people was the big, strong Freeborn who had volunteered for every dangerous assignment and had been denied for a number of reasons. When he came to Zhao with this plan, he was surprised to be granted permission and asked to begin immediately. His people, the seemingly endless snake of humanity departing from a place they hoped was safe, now had a full day and a half head start on whatever atrocities were coming for them.

Zhao scoffed to himself in dark amusement at the fact that the warning of their impending annihilation had come from someone who only too recently had been an enemy of their race, a traitor to his own species, but it was that very duplicity which had prompted the laughter.

He stood, tugged down the vest he wore festooned with spare ammunition for his shotgun, and drained the dirty glass of rust-colored drink before pulling a face as the courage-enhancing substance infused his body with the resignation and will to fight to the end.

Gregory Zhao was no coward, and maybe those who saw him as one would live to tell the story that proved that once and for all.

Everyone, man and woman alike, who formed the small group intending to stay and defend the base for as long as possible was a volunteer. Considering their force was expecting this choice to be the final one of their lives, there were many of them.

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