AB (The Blake Reynolds Chronicles Book 1) (22 page)

As Tara’s group
plowed into the enemy lines, they were stunned by the number of bodies on the
ground. As the group approached the communication building, Tara saw someone she
thought resembled Blake enter the building. When she hit the front lines of the
battle, her only thought was to get into the building and help her husband.

The enemy’s
numbers quickly thinned around the building due to the quick work of Tara’s
group of reinforcements, and she only had one AB between her and the door. A
large, Asian-looking woman in exercise clothes lunged at her with a homemade
spear. Tara parried the spear to her left and continued to charge forward. As
she passed, she brought her knife to the woman’s throat and stroked it across
her neck. The woman fell to her knees and attempted to close the wound and
breathe.

Tara didn’t bother
to turn to see if she was being pursued. She ran down the hallway and yelled
for her husband. “Blake! Where are you? It’s Tara!” No answer.

Suddenly, she heard
gunshots around the corner. The noise came from a small-caliber handgun, which
made her worry; it didn't sound like it was military issue. She rounded the
last corner and noticed a young private and an AB SEAL lying on the ground in a
large pool of blood. Tara grabbed the gun out of the dead AB’s holster and
checked to see how many rounds were left in the clip. There were only two
bullets left.

She rushed in
the room and saw the man in the white coat fire a shot at Blake’s head.

“No!” Tara
screamed. She instantly raised the pistol and fired a shot. In her rush, the
bullet missed its mark.

Lord Dameon looked
at her and leapt to the computer. “You’re too late!” he said.

All that Tara
could think about was that she was too late to save her husband.

She took a
quick breath, leveled the gun, and pulled the trigger. This time, she was dead-on.
The bullet hit its mark in the center of the man’s head. The impact of the
bullet sent his body backward slightly, so his hand came down harmlessly on the
shift key on the computer. At that moment, Tara honestly didn’t care if the
message had been sent or not; she only cared about her husband. His body was
motionless on the floor in a pool of his own blood.

She sprinted
over to him, crouched on the floor, and rested his head on her lap. She felt
for a pulse and in her panicked rush she couldn’t feel one. However, she felt
on the other side of his neck. The pulse felt extremely weak, but it was there.
Tara cried uncontrollably as Blake moved slightly.

His eyes
fluttered open.

“I hope you
didn’t expected angels and clouds,” she said, covered in the gore of war.

Blake grinned.
“You’ve never looked so beautiful.” She laughed through her tears just as his
eyes closed.

Tara did her
best to stop Blake's bleeding. She kept him alive long enough for the medics to
take over. They rushed in, stabilized him, and placed him on a stretcher to be
loaded onto a helicopter.

“I won’t leave
your side,” Tara whispered. She followed Blake and the medics, and they were
loaded along with other wounded. They flew to Camp Pendleton’s base hospital.

When the
helicopter landed, the medical staff forced her to stay in the waiting room.
She protested but eventually complied. She watched as more wounded flooded through
the doors, offloaded from the helicopters.

Tara smiled
when she recognized the soldier on the gurney being rolled out the through the
doors. His head and abdomen were heavily bandaged. She ran to him and hugged
him tightly.

“Ouch!” Blake
said.

“Sorry!” They
laughed, and he patted her shoulder. “We did it.”

“What happened
out there?” Blake asked.

“Once the
antigen reached all the ABs in the area, the tides turned. The retreating troops
re-engaged, but for the first time, numbers were on
our
side. The communication compound was quickly secured, the medics
and medical helicopters flew in, and everyone was helped.” She frowned. “Sadly,
there were few, if any, soldiers left alive who weren’t wounded. But all the
ABs are dead, and the message wasn’t sent!”

Tara hugged him
again, and her eyes filled with tears. “I love you!”

Bret grew up in a small town in
Idaho.
 
This was before the time of the
electronic babysitter.
 
Life was filled
with hunting, fishing, and hanging out with friends.
 
For an escape, science fiction books were his
method to explore the universe.
 
He now
resides in Utah.

Please visit
www.BretLandon.com
to learn more about him
and his writing process.