Free Eden's Children (Earth Exiles Book 2) by Mark Harritt

ripped.  You’re done.  I can’t take a chance.  You need to go get your hand checked out by medical.”
    “Aw, come on!  Don’t take me out of the fight, Mickey!”
    Ken stepped in, “Don’t argue.  We can’t send you to the hospital if you’re wrong.  Get in there, strip out of that.  If Joan gives you a clean bill of health, you can come back out.”
    Scott walked towards the cage door, mumbling the entire way.  Mickey patted him on the back, “Quit yer bitchin.  Get your ass in there.”
    With the two men out of the way, it was business as usual.  They stepped up, and Joe started handing out ammunition and rifles.  Mickey and Tom handed over their Sig rifles.  Joe handed them to Latricia, who cleared them and took them back to the armory.  Joe handed them the sniper rifles. Mickey took the .50 BMG as Tom took the Desert Tactical .338.  They swapped their empty magazines for the full ones.  Mike, Everett, and Rob swapped out their rifle and pistol magazines for full ones.  They were hurrying as fast as they could, but it wasn’t fast enough for Jennifer.
    Jennifer’s voice sounded, “Mike, you need to get over here, one of them is climbing up.”
     
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Chapter Three
    They hurried through the curtain of rain pouring off the cliff.  The tops of the fallen trees swayed slowly as the dragon climbed.  Bellows filled the air and rang off the cliffs as the dragons roared their challenge. The light from the ledge scattered, throwing shadows into a chaotic landscape.  The team made their way back through the detritus of the fallen trees and shattered spawn carcasses.  Mike heard the buzz saw sound of rail guns opening up.  They hugged the side of the cliff, trying to avoid the larger debris.  Mike arrived at the rail right behind Mickey, taking in the nightmare scene.
    Dragons were spread across the clearing, but Mike didn’t see the Ancient.  One of the larger dragons was clambering across the top of the fallen trees.  The tree trunks cracked and settled as the dragon’s enormous weight pressed down.  Just for a moment, Mike thought the trees might not hold the weight, but he was disappointed when the dragon kept climbing.
    Blood streamed off the dragon as the incandescent iron rounds of the rail gun ripped into its hide.  Instead of slowing it, the pain drove the dragon as it tried to close with and kill its tormentors.  Mike watched the dragon place one great paw on a juncture of trees to support its weight
    He spoke to his team, “Shoot the elbow of the left forearm!  If we can break the joint, it can’t climb the trees!”
    It was only about fifty yards, an easy shot.  Mike and Everett opened up on the dragon first.  The bullets ripped into the joint.  Rob and Tom shot, the wounds increasing the blood flow down the limb.  Mickey shot the .50 Barrett, and the dragon slipped as as the limb weakened.  It tried to stabilize itself.  The team poured lead into the leg.  The dragon screamed as the joint snapped, the shattered limb breaking through the hide.  The great bulk tilted to the left, and the dragon slid off into an opening made by the crossing tree trunks.  It lay there bellowing, unable to extricate itself.  The new position left the top of the head and the back of the neck exposed.
    Mike lowered his rifle and pointed at the dragon, “Mickey, Tom, can you hit the spine?”
    “Only one way to find out,” Tom said.  Tom and Mickey started shooting at the juncture between the spine and the skull.  Mike, Everett and Rob switched to the same area that Tom and Mickey were targeting.  The dragon suddenly stopped bellowing and started jerking uncontrollably as the heavy fire severed the spinal column.
    Mike felt a hand on his shoulder.  He turned to see Ken and his team.  Kent talked to him over the command channel.
    “Where do you want us?” Ken asked.
    Mike pointed at the other side of the wall, “We have this