Infinity Squad by Shuvom Ghose Read Free Book Online Page A

the rear, prodding them faster. This wasn't going to work.
    And then one of the snakes snapped out like lightning and bit Steve in the calf.
    "Owww! Damn it!" he cried, starting to hobble.
    "NO! Faster!" I yelled. "Grim! Zaz! Carry him!" They pulled his arms over their shoulders on the fly and kept going as I started to fire my rifle at the snake pack. "Weapons free! Fire but keep moving!"
    Bullets weren't super helpful against the quick, flowing shapes the thickness of garden hoses. The snakes seemed unimpressed by the firepower we unleashed, pressing in even closer on all sides as we struggled to keep running.
    "Grenades!" I yelled. "Grenades!"
    These were effective. Huge gaps opened in the surrounding swarm, snake bits flipping high into the air with each explosion. But the gaps were filled quickly as more snakes poured from the holes as we descended the mountain. It was a little cooler under the tree cover, but the new snakes were warming fast.
    I keyed my mike to the base frequency.
    "Fire control! Fire control! This is Infinity Squad Actual! We need support!"
    "Roger, Infinity Squad," a bored voice said from the other end. "This is Fire Control. We are triangulating your position now. There we go... just another few seconds now... got it. We are ready to fire. Are all of your squad's buffering bands green?"
    I checked quickly. "Yes they ar- DO NOT FIRE DIRECTLY ON OUR POSITION! REPEAT! Fire ONLY on the enemy, behind us!"
    There was a confused few seconds on the other end as we continued to run, hopping small streams and rocks. Zazlu and Grim were still three-legged-racing with Steve in between them. I tried firing my rifle on the snake pack again with little effect. They were snapping at my heels now.
    "You seem to be moving a quite a speed," Fire Control finally said into my ear. "And not in a straight line. It's tough to place an accurate rolling barrage in that case."
    "Nothing in this jungle is in a straight line! Fire anyway! Behind us!"
    "Roger," the dispirited voice said. "Test barrage, coming up."
    Off in the distance, drums boomed. Thirty seconds later, a group of huge explosions ripped up trees and dirt where we had been forty seconds ago. And killed maybe the five slowest, dumbest snakes in the pack.
    "Closer! You've got to fire closer to our position!" I yelled, using my hot rifle tip to knock away a snake that lunged for my ankle as I passed.
    "That's going to be tough, Infinity actual. We'll need some sort of stationary point to target."
    Shit. Shit. Shit. This was going to hurt. A lot.
    "Prepare to fire on ONLY my radio position," I said, then switched to the squad frequency. "Everyone, throw grenades on three! Zazlu! Get them back to base safely!"
    To his credit, Zazlu kept running as he asked, "Sir? What?"
    "Just get them back! One! Two! Three!"
    Grenades arced out to all sides of us, and the explosions bought us a little space. I stopped, turned 180, and started running back into the snake pack. "Fire Control! Barrage on me! NOW!"
    As I hoped, most of the snakes followed me. As I hadn't hoped, they started biting me immediately. I got one or two with my swinging rifle but the others wove right past and sunk fangs into my knees and thighs. Each bite burned like a cattle prod.
    "Sir! No!" someone yelled. But I was too busy swinging my rifle like a club at the snakes lunging at my head, neck and eyes. I felt bites all along my spine. Then I heard the whistling overhead.
    And then blissful searing heat ripped the flesh from my body even as the snakes were eating it.
     
     
    I awoke in a resurrection tank, screaming.
    "SNAKES! FUCK!"
    "It's okay trooper," the calm, red-headed, Doctor Shannon Murphy said from next to me. "You've just been killed and have been resurrected, like they covered in Boot Camp."
    I sighed and sunk back into the luke-warm water. "We've got to stop meeting like this, Doc. War does not determine who is right, only who is left."
    She looked confused and concerned at the same time.