Free Justice by Gillian Zane Page B

one here to watch them.  

FIFTEEN | Shoot to Kill

    I held on as the vehicle powered through the crumbling streets of Lakeview. This was an all-terrain vehicle so it wasn’t an issue, but it did throw you around a lot. The roar of the engines and the screaming of the bikes that surrounded us had my adrenaline jacked up. This was what I lived for. This was it. This was war.  

    The lead vehicles squealed into the parking lot of the strip mall, fishtailing and shining their lights on figures rushing from the building.  

    “Morning, boys!” I laughed a bit maniacally.  

    There was no “stop or we’ll shoot,” or announcement of who we were. Zach opened fire on the armed men from his position on the roof. They dropped in the street, their guns useless. They hadn’t even fired. Three down.  

    Our vehicle screamed to a stop and Murphey and I used the roof shield and pointed the M4s at the door. The soldiers and troopers on bikes jumped off them and took cover behind the doors of the bigger vehicles.  

    Now it was time to let them know who was here. Who was going to kick their ass.

    The third vehicle rolled in carrying Poche and the civilians. He got out of his vehicle, fully visible in his uniform, and raised a bullhorn. When he had taken the third vehicle I thought he was being a typical officer and leading from the rear. But he was the most vulnerable of us right now. My respect went up.  

    “Southern Clan, this is the United States Army, you are surrounded. You will come out now and give yourself up, or we will come in and take control, by force.”  

    An unnatural silence settled over the area.  

    I could almost hear Murphey’s heartbeat.  

    Three shots rang out. Crack. Crack. Crack. I saw the flash of a muzzle, high and to the south. The shots came from above us and in what felt like slow motion one of the troopers fell. I thought they would try to take out Poche, but they had gone for a trooper who had been trying to take cover behind the four-wheeler.   It was a head shot, their sniper was a good shot.  

    “Sniper. On the roof,” I called into my communication.  

    “Get ready to go in,” my com buzzed with Blake’s voice.  

    “I’m going up there to take out the sniper,” Romeo’s voice crackled through the com.  

    “Roger,” Blake replied. “Cover Romeo, I need Chaillot with him.   Then we’ll breach the main building. Just like we planned, people. We’ve got these assholes. Only take prisoners if they’ve got two hands in the air or their dirty faces pressed in the ground at your feet. If not, shoot to kill.”  

SIXTEEN | Taking Chances

    The squeal of tires and a sudden burst of headlights shone across the yard, illuminating the civilians as they gaped through the chain-link fence. These vehicles were coming from the Jefferson side of the base. We were getting overrun from both sides. Who was in the vehicles? Was it us or someone else? I couldn’t tell. I wanted to go to the fence to see what was going on, but the children were more important. If it was a horde of biters, or something else, this supposed army, I was the only one armed that could protect them.

    A hail of gunfire exploded and I fell back and crouched low.  

    Those weren’t our guns.  

    “Southern Clan, this is the United States Army, you are surrounded. You will come out now and give yourself up, or we will come in there and take control, by force.”  

    I turned and ran back to the gym, almost falling into the room as I pushed the glass doors open and ran across the slick tile.  

    “Tennis shoes, pants and jackets on now, kids!” I shouted from the center of the large area. Heads popped up from behind the counter. It was dark, but from the lantern that burned low, I could see the fear in their eyes.   If it was the Army, they wouldn’t attack the children, but I doubted this was the actual Army. If the United States Army was still functioning we would have heard something. We would