Chapter 21
I feel my insides being turned upside down in the gut-drenching drop. I feel my hair being pulled pack by enormous winds. York is under me, well the purlieus. I begin to feel for the tag that will erupt the parachute out of my backpack. When I pull it, I am forcefully lifted upwards, then slowly float down.
I land on a ledge of some sort in a pair of small homes, more like little trailers. I jump to the ground and begin to withdraw the heavy parachute. The adrenaline from the fall slowly vanishing in my system.
Soldiers gather up around me and others are arriving from the air. Keene and Scarlet are already here, and I see Olden feather down yards from me. Then Flux.
"Nice landing." I say sarcastically. Olden's landing was amiss and he might of sprained an ankle.
"Shut up." He says jokingly, he rubs his knee and pulls it in some way. I see Joyse land behind Flux and she has no trouble taking off her parachute. When all the twenty-five soldiers are united, we move slowly into York. No phenomenons yet.
The streets here in the outsides of York look like the perfect image of a utopian society. The city is a peninsula without large mountains surrounding it. Only the sea and civilization. Skyscrapers as well, but they look empty from the distance.
No flaws in the houses. The sidewalks and windows are polished clear and shiny. The lamp posts standing tall and fancy. Even the lighting seems peculiar in the morning light. I adjust the earpiece before Sterling begins to speak through it.
"Alright, you want to make it to base one by nightfall. You have to turn right on Winder, which is coming right up."
He says.
"Roger. Is there like cameras in my uniform or something?" I ask.
"No. The earpiece has a tracker. And I have a map." He responds.
"Only some citizens live here, but it's mostly alpha soldiers. The homes where you're at are all residential homes. Half of the citizens evacuated." Sterling adds. I look back at the squad, making sure they're fine.
"Why haven't we seen any alphas?" I ask Sterling.
"Oh, they're not this far out, but they are sneaky." He informed. I adjust my helmet and grip onto my gun. I scan my perimeter, when I spot what looks like an explosive in the middle of the street. In Septimus, we had to also recognize and remember different kinds of weapons.
"Guys. Hold on." I call to the group. Being used to Septimus, I reached down for a rock, but found black asphalt instead.
I am my gun and back a few steps.
"Wait! If they see the smoke, they'll know our location." Joyse implies.
"Let's just try to go around it." Suggests Flux. We circumvent the bomb and continue on. I take out my binoculars, sighting the street named Winder, lying a block away. I signal the group and I relax on the gun. Suddenly, the ground begins to rumble and we go down and roll to the side of the street. A bomb is dropped ahead of us, blocking the street. The smoke rises about thirty feet and the flames spread out, as if programmed to totally block the street. The flames go down in a while, but the flames are still hindering the avenue.
I hear Sterling in my earpiece,"What's wrong?" He asks.
"A bomb was dropped, it's blocking the street. Do we go back and find another way to base one?" I ask, the other bomb behind us goes off, but it is smaller than the one dropped. Glass from close houses bursts, nearly missing me.
"No. You're probably tracked down already. You have to options, up or down." Sterling addressed.
YOU ARE READING
Republic of Tactics
Science FictionBovise Asherman. That's me. The last name I inherited from my tyrant grandfather who's actions got many killed. Which is another reason lots of people feel abomination towards me. Dertus is a "city" ushered by oblivion. Where no resident is allowed...
