Free Invasion by G. Allen Mercer Page A

then run to us when called?” he asked, looking at Daisy.
    “Yes, she will,” Leah said.
    Joshua handed her the end of the cord.  “Will you tie it to her and make her sit and stay.”
    Leah saw the logic of what the boy was proposing.  Daisy could easily out run and get to a sprint faster than they could.  Daisy would already be in motion to get out of the way once the grenades detonate.
    “Good idea,” Grace said, rubbing the dog’s ear.
    Leah took the cord, and then walked Daisy back to the grenades and had her crouch down.  She then tied the cord to a ring on Daisy’s pack.  “Alright girl, you can do this,” Leah said, feeling a lump in her throat.  She loved this dog.
    Daisy wagged, but seemed ready to follow direction.
    “Alright,” Leah said, “you two head back that way.  Watch out for the helicopter, you’re exposed.  Let’s find a tree or some rocks. Go!”
    Both teens took off running back down the path that had brought Leah and Daisy to the water tower.
    Leah looked down the hill in time to see them launch the first mortar.  “Damn it!” she said and hugged Daisy as the mortar hit the top of a tree and exploded close by.  “Daisy, on me!”
    The dog went to total attention, with keen focus on Leah.  “Daisy, stay,” she said, spreading five fingers out in front of the dog’s face.  She then turned and ran, following the kids.
     
    Ian set the helicopter down roughly.  Violet and Anna were there instantly; one of them opening the back door where Bob was sitting.  Bob pivoted his legs, and stepped out.  He wasn’t letting go of the dead boy.
    The other Scouts piled out of the helicopter, leaving Mary and Ian.  Violet opened Ian’s door before he could take off again.
    “Bring back my other boy,” she yelled.
    He nodded to her, and allowed her to shut the door.  Once she was clear, he applied throttle and the bird jumped off of the ground.
    “How much ammo do you have left?” he asked Mary.
    “I don’t know,” she answered.
    “Don’t worry about it,” he said.  “We’ve got what we’ve got.”
    “Momma B, this is Bulls-eye, what’s your status?  Over.”
    He got two clicks of the microphone, which mean that she couldn’t talk.
     
    Leah slid to a stop next to Grace and Joshua.  They were fairly exposed, but this was far enough from the grenades.
    “DAISY, COME!  HURRY HURRY HURRY!” she yelled at the top of her lungs.
    It took a second, and then they saw the dog round a small tree at full stride.
    “Hurry, hurry!” Leah reinforced.
    The dog took two more strides and the grenades exploded behind her radiating a shockwave or pebbles pine needles and dust.  The blast pushed Daisy’s legs out from under her and she rolled along the path. Grace broke from cover and ran towards the dog.
    A large section of the rusty third leg of the 1930’s era water tower vaporized from the detonation.  The weight shift on the tower and the buckling of the wounded steel leg was instant; the tower was going down.
    “Holy crap!” Joshua said, now kneeling next to Grace and Daisy.
    The back two legs of the water tower bent forward with so much momentum and torque that the 90-year-old concrete footings that had held them to the earth were pulled from the ground, and the tower was free. The weight of the falling mass of water and steel knocked down any tree that was in the path of the tower.  Once the actual tank, filled with 75,000 gallons of water, hit the ground, the entire vessel exploded and released the liquid, causing a torrent of carnage and destruction down the hill.
    The three would be soldiers edged up so they could see down the hill; Daisy walked next to them. 
    “Holy shit is right,” Leah said, watching Joshua’s handiwork sweep away most of the side of the hill, the truck, the soldier, the communications equipment and a large section of the road over the side of the cliff. 
     
    “Son-of-a-bitch” Ian said, into the helicopter’s headset.  “Did you