Easy Day for the Dead by Howard E. Wasdin and Stephen Templin Read Free Book Online

from feeling—seeing a widow and fatherless children at a funeral always hurt him to the core, but now, Alex didn’t have the luxury of mourning, feeling, or belly-button gazing. He had a mission to accomplish—a mission that could potentially save many lives. Now Alex was responsible for keeping Pancho and John alive.
    Alex broke through the cloud layer and his vision cleared. It was nautical twilight, his favorite time to make magical mayhem. He saw shapes on the ground, the horizon, and stars in the sky to the east, where the cloud cover was broken up. Alex looked down at the tritium sighted glow-in-the-dark Silva Ranger compass mounted on his chest strap. He was off course. No kidding . Alex’s shivering hands reached up to his parachute toggles and corrected course. Quickly he stuffed his hands under his armpits to protect them from the cold. The cold made his brain slow down. Thinking became difficult.
    He spent the next thirty-seven minutes gliding and checking the sky above him for signs of Pancho and John. When he thought his head would fall off his neck from all the twisting he spotted a black shape a thousand yards above him. Pancho! He looked around and was amazed to see a chemlight just seventy-five yards below him, off to his left. John! They’d found him. The sense of relief was incredible. He wouldn’t tell them, but a tear came to his eye. He checked his GPS and saw they’d traveled forty-nine miles from initial jump to their current altitude and position; 2,220 feet and forty-nine miles. Alex couldn’t feel his hands or feet. He was ready to land in a volcano if it would warm him up.
    John landed first—fortunately, his atomic backpack didn’t explode into a giant mushroom cloud and take all of them with it. Johnwas the fastest gun, but even he looked like his frozen body was moving in slow motion. Gradually he brought about his AKMS assault rifle and crouched into a covering position as Alex and Pancho came in to land.
    Alex hit hard, the soles of his feet stinging as if they’d just slammed against an iceberg. He pitched forward awkwardly, ramming one knee into the dirt then the other as he did his best to roll and absorb the landing. He lay flat on the ground for several seconds, gulping for breath.
    A loud thump a few yards away told him Pancho was on the ground. Alex picked himself up and without a word went about policing up their landing site, burying their parachutes and oxygen tanks and readying their gear. No one said a word about Danny. Alex hoped the enemy didn’t hit them now because his fingers were so numb, he didn’t think he could pull the trigger. Minutes later, they were ready, and Alex signaled Pancho to lead them out.
    Pancho patrolled at the point, watching 180 degrees in front of them. His position was the most exhausting—trying to sense everything before it sensed them. Alex followed in the middle, wiping the frozen tears off his face, then alternating between covering the left and the right with his eyes and AKMS. John secured the rear by stopping occasionally to turn and check the 180 degrees behind them.
    The desert evening was cold. During the day, the heat caused water to evaporate into the atmosphere, creating a barrier that trapped long-wave infrared radiation near the ground. As a result, the area became dry and clouds scarce. At night, when the sun disappeared, there was nothing to block the heat from escaping earth. After the heat fled, the desert became cold.
    It felt good to be moving on patrol. Gradually, sensation returned to Alex’s legs and arms. After three kilometers, the cold pain in his hands wore off, and he felt he had a fighting chance at being able to shoot someone. Two kilometers later, the patrol weaved around thebases of sandy dunes and rock formations. They came across a goat path and followed it toward the village.
    After two kilometers on the goat path, Alex noticed something to his left. He