Free Sway's Demise by Jess Harpley

her M4 around, kicking out the magazine. “We’re going to need something which incites a little more fear.” She tapped the packed rubber cartridges against the side of the barrel, the vibration shaking in her still swollen knuckles from weeks ago, and she tsked with pain.
    Richard nodded, “Armory first, then our positions on the wall.”
    Fabel and Xander stayed watch at the entrance they’d come through while the guards went to carry out his orders. Though it killed them, the rest of the squad jogged on to the weapons store.
    Taking every opportunity possible, Sway stood close to Reese as they loaded fresh, live round magazines. They would bump shoulders every so often, an interaction she needed desperately to stay sane as she prevented thoughts of the morning from penetrating her resolve.
    She looked to the homemade grenades—old alcohol bottles stuffed with gunpowder, cotton, and rice, corked and fused at the top. Priyon hate fire , she justified as she stuffed it into her side satchel.
    As they were packing up, Lanie came rushing in with eggs floating in a warm broth. The thought of eating more of what they’d just vomited up sickened Sway, but she powered through, and it was worth it. The warmth of the liquid soothed her raw throat, and the egg filled her hollow stomach. She was ready to hit the wall with her sniper.
    Reese and River parted from them at 12th and Tranquille after Sway kissed him for what seemed much too short a time. She missed his embrace as soon as she’d departed from it, wondering if it was the last day she’d ever feel it.
    Silently, Eli and Sway pressed on. Though walled in, they checked their surroundings with added fear. The rusted metal fence dividing the sides of Tranquille Road were still lined with shredded, burnt out Christmas lights, their plastic coverings chipped and eroded from eighty years of weather.
    At the southeast corner sat their perch, a concrete courtyard stretching between where they stood and where they needed to be. The way was blocked by semi crates, tractors, crushed cars, train boxes, and everything else the community could use to block themselves into safety. Eli led the way with ease, though they both knew the path well.
    Up into the two story bank, they took the stairs two at a time. They stepped carefully in the near pitch black, following the streams of light piercing the holes in the window boards. Grasping each side carefully, they huffed and pulled the barrier away. Midmorning sunshine was hazed with red from the fire that saved their lives, or perhaps, damned them.
    “Check northeast for me.” Eli loaded his L96, pulling the sniper table over to the open window. She peered through the small hole in the boards on the other side of the room, taking a long look over the Safeway and ranch style houses, Thompson River not far in the distance.
    Scanning once more, Sway nodded to him, “It’s quiet,” but added gravely, “for now.”
    “See if you can get an eye on our cattle island.” He pointed west.
    “Not from down here. Let me get up to the roof for a second.” She hopped up the ladder in the center of the room to the custom made roof access. Custom would imply some level of detail went into it. It was a thick metal sheet, barred with a tire iron.
    Grunting, she shoved it open with difficulty. Blinding rays penetrated her squinted lids as she hid from the sun. She scanned the gravelly landing with her M4 as her eyes dilated to accommodate the light. Climbing the rest of the makeshift ladder, Sway moved in a crouch across the west side of the building.
    Her spotter’s scope served well to survey the island. All the cattle were going about their business as if nothing were wrong. She checked east once more, then south. Turning her gaze north, into town, she spied the bustling of fear in every direction. They were preparing for war.
    With one last look around the perimeter, she descended into the building. “Looks clear all the way around. Cattle