Unbowed (Lee Harden Series (The Remaining Universe) Book 5) by DJ Molles

Author:DJ Molles [Molles, DJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-02-08T16:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-ONE

─▬▬▬─

IMPASSE

In the darkness on the side of a midnight road, Lee waited like a spider in a web.

He lay on the top of the MATV, staring up at the sky. He had watched the moon rise, and now saw it, blood red on the horizon. Mars had risen and stood above him, glowering down at him, a mocking god. The Milky Way stretched vast and implacable, uncaring, so far beyond the pitiful human struggles that occupied the lives of those trapped on this dust speck.

Meteors occasionally streaked the sky. In the absence of light, Lee could see the movement of satellites every once in a while. They were still up there, their orbits degrading. Perhaps some of the meteors he saw were those pieces of former technology, plummeting through the atmosphere, no one left on earth to care about the utility they’d once supplied.

Here on earth, all that remained was survival of the fittest. That fertile, hot-blooded concept that civilization fought to bridle. But civilization was gone. Survival was king again, its usurpers dead and gone.

Lee had explained himself to Brinly and Angela. Neither of them had called him paranoid. Such accusations were baseless in this reality. Paranoia was the spirit of survival. Paranoia, and aggression. Kill or be killed.

Beneath him, Angela was sequestered in the armored confines of the vehicle, Abby with her, along with a few Marines to guard her. Brinly was out there, somewhere, in the scrubby flatness. Silently waiting with several squads of trained killers.

Lee’s armor was heavy on his chest. His hands rested on his rifle. He breathed steadily against the downward pressure. In through the nose, hold, out through the mouth, hold. Box breathing to suppress the humanity of his stress.

His legs ached to find a new position, but he kept still. He thought perhaps that Abby was asleep beneath him, and he did not want to shuffle about on the roof and stir her awake. He had no doubt that Angela was just as wakeful as he.

His earpiece crackled softly. Brinly’s whisper: “You called it, Boss. Got a visual on a crew of ten to fifteen, moving towards your poz.”

Lee didn’t stir. Somehow he managed to be disappointed. How did that work exactly? He didn’t trust anyone, and he usually assumed the worst. And yet when he was proven right, he didn’t feel satisfaction. He felt disgust.

He keyed his comms. “I copy. Any chance it’s Cass coming to talk?”

A pause. “I don’t think so, Lee. Positive count on fourteen. Moving overland, off the road. Armed. Not looking like they’re in it for a talk.”

“How far out?”

“About a mile from you.”

Lee took a heavy breath. How was this going to play out? Well, he supposed it would play out however they chose. He would respond accordingly. “I copy. Keep on them. Let’s give them a chance to do the right thing. The second they present a threat, take them out. I trust your judgement.”

And so he waited. As the stars continued to wheel silently and slowly overhead.

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