The Severance by Elliott Sawyer Read Free Book Online Page B

but we’re fresh out here,” Nelson said.
    “I hope Bena doesn’t get scuffed up too bad,” Big Joe mused, as he looked out into the darkness.
    “Nah, Joe, it won’t be too bad. No harm, no foul,” Jake said.
    “Yeah, that’s great,” Nelson said, “especially since he wouldn’t have been caught fucking up if you hadn’t fucked up to start with.”
    “Sorry, Sergeant,” Big Joe said.
    “Why don’t you tell the Captain what you did?” Nelson said, tapping Big Joe on the shoulder. Big Joe stepped back from the machine gun and let Nelson take over.
    “So whatcha do, Joe?” Jake asked. He didn’t normally concern himself with his men’s smaller screw-ups (he had squad leaders for those), but he thought an interesting story would help keep him awake.
    “Well, Sir, Corporal Harris reminded me to bring fresh batteries with me when we got on shift, but I forgot,” Joe said.
    “Tell the captain how many times I reminded you,” Nelson said. Even in the darkness, Jake could see Joe roll his eyes.
    “I was reminded twice,” Joe said, sighing.
    “Yikes,” Jake said, faking a concerned tone. He’d been hoping for something a little more dramatic.
    “Don’t worry, Eastman, when we get off, you’re going to learn about following instructions and, while I’m at it, I’m going to teach you about not blowing me off,” Nelson said, nudging Joe with his foot.
    Joe’s shoulders drooped. He would be doing plenty of push-ups and squat-thrusts. Because he was so strong, it would take a long time for Big Joe to become exhausted and for Sergeant Nelson to be satisfied that he’d learned his lesson. Jake smiled and gave Big Joe a pat on the knee.
    “You’ll be okay, Joe,” Jake said. Big Joe nodded slowly.
    Sergeant Nelson’s posture stiffened; both Eastman and Jake noticed instantly. Big Joe grabbed his carbine and took his position next to Nelson.
    “What’s up?” Jake asked.
    “Movement. Twelve o’clock, about three hundred meters,” Nelson said.
    “I can’t see it on night vision,” Joe said in a calm, even tone.
    “It’s too dark for night vision, I picked it up on thermal,” Nelson replied. Night vision required at least a little ambient light to function and there was no moon.
    “How many?” Jake asked
    “Just one, no two—oh wait, there are a bunch of them now. Two of them are carrying something. I’d say about ten, moving toward us,” Nelson said.
    “Damn, Sergeant, how’d they get so close?” Joe asked.
    “Dunno, there are plenty of little ditches and hills out there to hide behind. What do you want to do, Captain?”
    “Give me your radio,” Jake said. Nelson handed his handheld radio to Jake.
    “Seven, this is Six, over,” Jake spoke into the radio.
    “What’s up, sir?” McBride replied.
    “I’m up here with Nelson and Eastman. They’ve picked up about ten guys walking toward us. Three hundred meters.”
    “Roger that. Your orders?” McBride asked.
    “Have Bena update Battalion and see if we can get close air support to take a look at these guys.”
    “Roger. I’ll wake everyone up and get them ready,” McBride said.
    “Okay. Let me know,” Jake said, setting the radio down. In the darkness, he could hear the soldiers in the other bunkers rustling around, preparing for possible action. Below him, in the darkness, he heard the door of the command post shack open and close, as McBride walked to where the remaining soldiers were sleeping. Seconds later, Jake heard soldiers clamoring about as they put on their gear.
    “They’ve stopped, Sir,” Nelson said, looking through the thermal sight.
    “What are they doing now?” Jake asked, wishing they had more than one thermal imager. Other platoons had six thermal scopes and a host of other night-fighting equipment, but Jake had to beg and plead to get just one. Some of the more robust bases had elaborate security camera systems that could render both Infrared and Thermal video images with massive zoom