Kill Chain by J Robert Kennedy Read Free Book Online

were.
    Her foot hit something
and she glanced down to see one of the drones lying on the floor, one the brave
Chinese woman had shot before dying. Her eyes irresistibly stole a glance at
the bullet-ridden body of the only person to have put up a fight, her eyes
still open, determination the final expression preserved by her death mask.
    I want to be like her.
    She stared at Herr Holst as
she forced herself forward.
    Such a nice man.
    His face was turned away
from her, thankfully, she hating to imagine what his final expression might be,
he just a normal person like her, never supposed to have been put into a
situation so terrifying, so deadly, never supposed to think of how your body
might betray you in your final moments, an expression of fear, of terror,
eternally preserved by those who would discover and document your undignified final
pose after your death.
    She stifled a sob.
    Suddenly the buzzing
sound of the drones grew louder, causing her finally to notice them. They were
everywhere, except directly in front of her, and it took a moment to realize
they had formed a corridor, perhaps five feet wide, directing her toward the
truck, its ramp now down, beckoning her as if the open mouth of a horrifying
beast meant to devour them all, body and spirit.
    A drone bobbed toward
her, urging her on, and it was then that she finally noticed something that had
escaped her the entire time.
    The barrel of a gun,
pointed directly at her.
    A handgun, lying on its
side, mounted to the top of the drone.
    That’s where the shots
came from!
    Her eyes narrowed
slightly as she stared at the drone mere inches from her face. She had heard of
weaponized drones of course, though they were huge compared to these. These
drones were small enough that she could probably reach out and grab it,
throwing it down to the ground before giving it a good stomping.
    She would if there
weren’t dozens of his buddies hovering nearby.
    These drones were small,
like something her friends might fool around with. Hell, she even had one at
Camp David that she would use to make videos of the property for fun, videos
she could never share for security purposes.
    No Facebook for her.
    No social media
whatsoever.
    It sucked.
    She understood the
reasoning behind her father’s decision. In fact, it had been his and her
mother’s before she died. And with her now an involuntary celebrity thanks to
her dad’s career choice, she’d probably never be truly free, truly independent,
for the rest of her life. Her father’s job had taken her mother’s life, and it
had already taken hers, at least figuratively.
    The life a normal teenage
girl craved was dead to her, forever relegated to the dustbin of choices not
available to the young children of world leaders.
    She thought of Jeff, her
one piece of rebellious behavior not yet detected by the security teams that
constantly surrounded her, and how he’d probably think this entire situation
was so cool from a tech perspective.
    He had been the one who
had figured out how to set up her phone so they could exchange text messages
without anyone knowing.
    He was smart.
    Extremely smart.
    Dad would probably
like him if he’d ever give him a chance.
    Jeff would understand
what was going on here better than anyone. Hell, he’d probably have been able
to figure out a way to regain control of the bus, or take out these drones.
    I wish you were here!
    She inched forward.
    Then he’d be dead too.
    All the men were dead.
Would they have killed boys as well?
    Probably. They had
already threatened to kill her.
    I wonder if he’ll
remember me when I’m gone.
    She frowned.
    Probably not. That
bitch Wendy will be all over him before I’m in the ground.
    Jeff had arrived late in
the school year—something she knew was tough. She had too. After the assassination
of the last President, and her father’s swearing-in, she moved to a school
closer to the White House, leaving all her friends behind. She had cried,
screamed and fought,