EnEmE: Fall Of Man by R.G. Beckwith Read Free Book Online

help,” said Alvarez.
     
    “We need a base of operations,” said Hauer. “This building won’t last long, and the best place to house our resistance needs space to house people, security, and access to medical care and equipment that can be salvaged.”
     
    He looked at the group as the weight of what he said sank in.
     
    He looked sternly at the group, “I want that hospital.”
     
    We stared around the room at each other intently. Before anyone could speak the world turned upside down. There was a deafening sound as all the windows in the front of the building shattered inward, pelting us with glass shrapnel. Two armoured host soldiers like the ones who had killed Banyan walked in through a now empty window frame. But I didn’t have time to worry about the soldiers as I watched them walk in because of the simultaneous explosion behind us. The back wall collapsed and buried Albright and I in tons of rubble.
     

Chapter 9 - Rubble
     
     
    “Jace!” Kiebler screamed, nearly inaudible over the roar of the destruction.
     
    One of my arms was sticking haphazardly into the air between two large pieces of brick wall that were slowly crushing it.
     
    She began to pull at a huge piece of debris that she had no hope of moving on her own.
     
    The tremendous weight of the wall made my breath shallower every time I exhaled. A large chunk of debris put steady pressure on my torso, squeezing the air out of me like a huge boa constrictor, allowing a little less air in every time I breathed.
     
    Through an opening in the rubble I could see the light of day.. I could see just enough to know that Alvarez and Freeman had opened fire, Freeman with his mini-gun, and mowed down the two armored soldiers who had entered the store. One of them stirred, beginning to rise and move forward again. His jerky movements made it clear that he’d been injured, but was forcing himself to rejoin the fray. Despite the struggle, the host soldier regained his footing. Standing upright, he turned and levelled his weapon just in time to take the full blast of a rocket-propelled grenade mid-torso.
     
    “Die, fucker!” Alvarez roared.
     
    The force of the rocket flung the host soldier backward into the air, off his feet and out the broken window. It then exploded and sent small bits of flesh, bone and armor flying in all directions.
     
    A shard of bloody armor-turned-shrapnel whizzed past Alvarez’s head, close enough that it moved his hair before lodging in the part of the building’s sidewall that still stood. Alvarez stared at the piece of metal that could have been his death warrant for a second, then released a breath he hadn’t known he was holding before hefting his rocket launched back onto his shoulder.
     
    Alvarez and Freeman each aimed their grenade launchers out the store’s shattered front window at their assailants, who I could not see from my vantage point. They released a volley of RPG’s, which were followed by a series of explosions and battle groans from outside the store.
     
    At about this time I realized that my breathing was not quite shallow, the pressure barely allowing any air in, as my vision began to fade. Just as I thought I was taking my last breath, the tremendous pressure suddenly lifted. Air rushed into my lungs so quickly that it was painful. As the light poured in on me and I began to see more clearly, I could tell that Hauser had joined in Kiebler’s rescue attempt. He stood over me like a triumphant savior, using a pry bar with the surplus store tag still attached to lift the weight of the large boulder off of my body.
     
    The tearful Kiebler scrambled into the opening, moving the smaller boulders that had now been loosened and freeing the arm that was wedged in the debris.. A pins-and-needles feeling rushed over my bruised arm as the blood began to return to it. Kiebler gave me a quick once-over, checking for injuries.
     
    “You’re going to be all right,” she said, her voice still hoarse from