Sunshine State by James Miller

Author:James Miller
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780748133505
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Published: 2011-10-05T19:00:00+00:00

…

– We’re in danger, aren’t we?

We’re not safe. We need to be quiet.

– They’re out there?

Yes. But it’s okay. We can fight.

the wind

…

FREETOWN

Thirty minutes later three customised Chevrolet Suburbans left the camp. The vehicles charged forward along a narrow muddy trail, plumes of dust billowing in their wake, branches and boughs brushing against the windows. Front and rear vehicles had been adapted, their roofs cut away to allow for a swivel-mounted heavy machine gun. All three were fitted with bull grilles and extra headlights and painted in tiger-stripe camouflage, while metal plates had been bolted on to side panels and doors to reinforce the bodywork and shield the tires. A large rainbow flag, emblazoned with the letters ‘QLA’, flew from the machine gun on the first vehicle. Metal grilles covered the side windows, slots cut into them just big enough to accommodate the barrel of an M16 rifle. Antennae rose out of the back, jammers and heat detectors designed to thwart guided missiles or disrupt timed bombs.

Mark sat in the middle vehicle, wedged on the front bench between the driver and Stone. He would have preferred to be near the door to facilitate a faster escape if the Suburban were disabled but he knew he was in no position to choose. Stone had returned his money and equipment along with his pistol and an M16A4 assault rifle with a 40mm grenade launcher attached to the barrel. The stock of the rifle had been painted in rainbow colours but otherwise the weapon was in good condition. He was carrying four hundred rounds of ammunition and five grenades. They’d also found him a flak jacket with QLA camouflage and an ill-fitting combat helmet. Four more troops sat in the back of the Suburban. Between the three vehicles a total of twenty members of the QLA were on the offensive. A wave of excitement washed through him. Less than eight hours in the Zone and already he was rushing to battle with the QLA.

They burst out into a clearing, passing houses sunken and rotten as hulks dredged from the ocean and washed onto a grassy shore. Mark glimpsed voracious gardens overgrown with enormous magnolia and gnarly trees devoured by the debris of exploded supermarkets.

Then they swerved on to a freshly laid road, the tarmac a gleaming glossy black tongue. ‘Okay soldiers,’ Stone said over the CB radio. ‘We’re on the DynoCorp road to Freetown now. Stay alert. We might encounter problems at any moment.’

Faster, they sped past tall palm trees leaning to the sky, slender wind-ripped trunks like the long necks of strange sea-creatures and overgrown plantations of cane, sharp green leaves drenched in the sticky fullness of the afternoon sun.

The CB radio crackled into life. ‘This is Alpha Car, unidentified vehicle approaching, over.’

‘Roger that. Status?’ said Stone.

‘Civilian, it’s signalling to us, over,’ replied the front Suburban.

‘All cars slow down, full defensive, I repeat, full defensive, over,’ Stone ordered.

‘We have recognition,’ said Alpha Car. ‘They’re from Freetown, over.’

They pulled up beside the vehicle. Mark could see several men inside, faces white with shock.

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