Snake Eater - THE BRAVO BOYS [book three]

Chapter FIVE

Logan Nash

~ over twenty years ago ~

- Waco, Texas -
× The Children Of David Compound ×

An earth shattering explosion shakes the compound walls, so vicious and deafening it dulls my hearing and dazes my head.. The shockwave of the blast sends an arrhythmic flutter through my chest and soon a slow creeping smoke, thick and putrid begins to swirl around the air.. Gunfire and screaming echo down the corridors outside the cramped bedroom I share with my sister and the shattering of glass from the window above rains down around me where I am knocked down to the floor.. Through the apocalyptic terror that crashes around us, all I can hear is the hysterical howling sounds of my sister crying..

She wails so loud and filled with panic that triggers every protective instinct in me as I crawl across the dingy carpet to where Dixie is huddled in the corner, her knees folded to her chest as she rocks back and forth in fright.. Sheltering her frail frame as best I can, I wrap my arms around her and she collapses against me, stuttering in fear.. "T-They're gonna k-kill us, Logan! We're all gonna d-die!"

I know that she is right, we're all going to die, the messiah had warned us as much, he'd told us to prepare for our ascension.. It's been weeks since the destruction began and after what now feels like a lifetime of starvation and dehydration, the men in black have all but proven their point.. That our congregation is nothing to them.. That no matter what the cost is, our suffering is insignificant.. They have warrants to execute, no God could save us and no amount of guns for protection could keep them from them breaking down our doors to end our existence..

"It's okay, Dixie.. It'll be okay.." I comfort numbly, clutching my sobbing sister close, unable to soothe her fears with any other words than the lies that fall from my mouth..

I don't have the heart to tell Dixie that I want the devils to come..

I want them to shoot me, to end this suffering.. I want this whole ordeal to end..

Better to be dead than to live another day in this hell.. Better Dixie die now at my side than become another slave to the Prophet..

Better we both leave this life before it gets any worse..

Perhaps in death the two of us might find peace..

-BANG-BANG-BANG-

The flimsy door to our bedroom is kicked down and the lawmen begin to pour into the cramped space with their reflective gas masks covering their faces and their heavy artillery assault rifles pinned on us.. "GET DOWN ON THE GROUND! NOW!" Their orders are loud and layered one over the other to become a thunderous symphony of threat and intimidation.. "GET DOWN ON THE FUCKING GROUND! PUT YOUR HANDS UP!"

I can feel my sister trembling beside me as my body becomes paralysed and rigid, at odds with my desire to comply, my ability to comprehend their conflicting requests lags behind all reason and logic..

How can I get down on the ground AND put my hands up?
I don't understand.. Are they trying to trick us?

"AHHHHH!" Dixie begins to scream so shrill it hurts my ears, out of her mind with fear and unable to move just like me.. We're just a couple of kids, not soldiers like these devils seem to believe..

Just kill us.. Kill us now.. End it fast..
I pray for a swift mercy that doesn't come..

Shaking, I try to reach for my sister's hand so that we might be together in death, only to be grabbed severely by the back of my neck and thrown halfway across the room..