An Undeclared War (Countdown to Armageddon Book 4) by Darrell Maloney Read Free Book Online Page B

else?”
         “No. None of the rest of them were within range of the cameras.”
         Tom said, “Scott, you might want to work your way back to where you came from. Hook up with your other guys at the Bobcat. I think the only ones left are in the brush just east of there.”
         “10-4.”
         If John and Randy had heard Tom’s words, they might have waited for Scott and Robbie to arrive. But they had no clue that reinforcements were on the way.
         They could, however, hear moaning and cursing coming from the stand of shrubbery they’d just fired into.
         “Help me! I surrender! I give up! Please take me to a doctor. I don’t want to die.”
         Randy looked at John and said, “It could be a trick.”
         “Yep.”
         It so happened that the Bobcat was pointed almost directly at that same spot in the brush. John rose just high enough to press the gas pedal down four times and then turn the ignition key.
         It started right up. Maybe this was John’s lucky day after all.
         And whether it was or wasn’t, at least he and Randy wouldn’t have to check out the wounded gunman without cover.
         John shoved the gearshift lever into drive, and the machine slowly crept forward.
         A Bobcat creeping without a foot on the accelerator will never break any land speed records. But it moves fast enough to mow over any bushes or tall grass that get in its way.
         And the shrubbery which hid the two bad guys was no match for it.
         John knelt low, on the left side of the Bobcat, as it crept toward the mournful cries. Randy stayed a bit farther back, his weapon leveled and ready to fire at anything or anyone who suddenly burst out of the brush.
         The blade on the front of the Bobcat prevented John from seeing Pike and Gonzalez until it was too late. The machine rolled over Pike’s body with a series of sickening crunches. Gonzalez narrowly avoided its wrath by moving out of the way at the last second.
         John and Randy let the Bobcat continue to roll, and lowered their weapons at the terrified Gonzalez.
         Pike was dead before they got there, badly mangled. It looked like his body took the full brunt of the hand grenade. So he felt nothing when the Bobcat rolled over his skull and crushed it like an eggshell.
         Gonzalez had only minor shrapnel wounds. But he did h ave an ugly abdominal wound from two .556 caliber rounds from the M-16.
         “Please. Get me to a hospital. I don’t want to die.”
         He sobbed like a little girl. He was a truly pathetic sight.
         But Randy wasn’t in a forgiving mood. He raised the rifle again and fired three rounds into the wounded man’s head.
         John caught his breath, stunned. But only for a moment, before he relaxed.
         Randy looked at his friend and said, “Did you see any wounded men out here?”
         John shook his head.
         “Nope. Just a couple of dead ones.”
         The war was over. Now it was time to account for the casualties.
     
     
     
    -11-
     
         During the last few miles of their journey to the battle, as they started to hear voices on the radio, Scott and John both strained to hear those most familiar to them. John was desperate to hear that his wife and daughters were alive and uninjured.
         Scott was worried. Joyce was a defacto leader of the group. Other than Tom, Scott expected to hear her voice the most, giving direction and support to the others. But he never heard her utter a single word.
         Perhaps he knew. Or at least had a strong suspicion. When he saw John and Randy walking out of the brush, upright, with no fear of being shot, he suspected it was finally over.
         But just in case, he asked Tom two questions.
         “Tom, are there any more of them?”
         “No. That’s all of them.”
         “Tom, how is Joyce?”
         Tom Haskins was a