EPILOGUE
Eckhart retrieved his sword and gazed at the carnage he had ended. Nightfall had been defeated. It was all over. He breathed a sigh of relief. Jones was still at large, though. He sheathed his weapons and blasted into the sky. He would arrange a clean up crew to take care of the mess that was made in Times Square and the street that he fought on. He could now calm the monster he had become. He could now choose the family life and be done with the soldier life. He would always be a soldier, but would not be fighting anymore. From this point on, he would be retiring from Phoenix as a Knight. It had been a great many years with Phoenix, but he felt it was time to retire and move on with his family.
He flew back to the base beneath the depths of the ocean and reunited with his family and other Knights. Tears of joy were shed as well as tears of sadness. Eckhart was happy to be with his family and mourned the deaths of his fellow Knights.
One week later.
Arlington National Cemetery
John Eckhart, his family, the remaining Knights, Calvin Rowe, Roland Powell, Joe Frazier, Larry Holmes, Floyd Patterson, and Jack Dempsey gathered in ArlingtonNationalCemetery to honor the five fallen Knights. Frazier spoke the encouraging words at the twenty-one gun salute that the five men were given. Seven marines stood to the side with their M1 rifles ready to give the salute. Jericho Hawke, William Ackerman, Ethan Nantz, Magnum Shark, and Robert Crost lay at rest in their respective graves. They paid their country a great service and to the world as well. They would be greatly missed as they were a vital part of the team.
Each of the five men was posthumously awarded the Silver Star, Distinguished Service Crost, Purple Heart, and the Congressional Medal of Honor. Frazier ordered the marines to proceed with the twenty-one gun salute. The marines fired the first seven. The shots echoed in the daylight sky. They fired the second set of seven. They then fired the last set of seven. The marines then left the area. The remaining Knights dressed in their Phoenix uniforms saluted the fallen soldiers. They stood for several seconds in the snow covered ground.
YOU ARE READING
THE IRON SHIELD
ActionJohn Eckhart, a former ex-special forces soldier now New York City detective, life is changed forever when he becomes involved with a secret organization to take down another secret organization that threatens the world with a plot to bring about gl...
