Free Blood of Heroes (The Ember War Saga Book 3) by Richard Fox Page B

toy and shook her head.
    “Sir, we’re outside the shelter,” Orozco said through the IR. “Steuben and Yarrow are at the edge of town. They say we’re clear of banshees. I can see people moving in the shelter, but no one’s answering. Want us to go in?”
    “Stand by, I’ll be right there,” Hale said.
    Hale got back to his feet, his ears ringing from the impact with the iron bar. Some of the farm plots were partially flooded, and green stalks stuck out of the mud, drooping with fat grains. Rows of bushes with bright white berries rustled in the wind that carried the inferno ever closer.
    A squat semicircle of a structure was built into the side of a canyon and a stairway cut into the earth leading to the main entrance. Orozco and Standish waved to Hale from a waist-high stone wall around the shelter.
    “Torni?” Hale said into the IR.
    “She was with some kids last time I saw her. Figure she’d bring them to the shelter?” Bailey asked.
    “Makes sense,” Hale said. He jogged to his waiting Marines.
    “We took out three around some kind of melon patch,” Standish said. “Damn things were eating. Eating! You believe that? Since when do Xaros need to eat?”
    “Since when are Xaros anything but drones?” Orozco asked.
    “Great questions for later,” Hale said. “Let’s get this shelter open.” He looked back at the approaching fire. “We may need it.”
    Hale went down the stairs and knocked on the door. He heard a rustling within.
    “Marines from the Breitenfeld ,” he announced, knocking against rusted metal. There was no answer. “To hell with subtlety,” he said and reached for the handle.
    “Sir!” Torni’s warning came before he could open the door. She was at the top of the stairwell, panting, a pair of Dotok children in her arms. “Sir, step back very, very slowly.”
    Hale backed up the stairs, his rifle trained on the door.
    “Kids say there are banshees in there,” Torni said. The children nodded as Caas nibbled on her fingernails and pointed to the door.
    “Caas, no!” Ar’ri pulled his sister’s hand away from her mouth. “Momma said.”
    “Kids say a lot of things,” Orozco chided. “I almost got my head blown off by an IED because some little Malaysian brat promised me his family’s shed was safe.”
    “Cover me.” Hale pulled a magnetized disk off his belt and pulled out a few yards of thin wire attached to it. Marines used them as cams against a ship’s hull as an extra safety measure when working in the void. Flying off the side of a ship, “Going Dutchman,” was a harrowing experience and not one that guaranteed survival. Hale tossed the disk at the door and it snapped on. He gave the line a jerk and the door swung open with a squeal.
    “I see bodies,” Orozco said.
    The Dotok kids started whimpering.
    A hulking shadow marched toward the open door. Standish snapped off a shot, then pulled a grenade from his belt.
    “Flash bang out!” He threw the grenade through the open door and ducked aside.
    Hale turned to the Dotok kids and saw Torni was already shielding them with her body.
    Hale wrapped an arm over Torni and added his mass to block any shrapnel.
    The ground shook as the grenade exploded. Standish rushed into the shelter and three shots sounded from within.
    “Clear!” Standish shouted.
    Hale pulled away from Torni, who held the children close to her, whispering into their ears.
    “It’s OK. I’ve got you and I won’t let anyone hurt you,” she said to each Dotok.
    Standish trotted up the stairs and brushed gray blood off the edge of his rifle. Hale tried to step around him to get into the shelter, but Standish put up a hand to block him.
    “No, sir. You don’t want to go in there,” Standish said, his ever-cocky tone subdued.
    “Got some civvies,” Orozco said. He took a hand away from his cannon and pointed at the plot of bushes. A handful of Dotok stood between the rows of bushes, staring at the Marines. All were filthy, covered in