Free Grunt Traitor by Weston Ochse Page A

bunkers. “What unit were you with?”
    “Romeo Six.”
    “You fought well. I remember when you brought back the remains of Romeo One Zero. I remember when you had our backs.” I had another thought. “Where were you for Phase I?”
    “Roswell.”
    “Where they kept the aliens?”
    She snorted. “All they had was space junk. Now they have all the aliens they can handle. You up at Irwin, now?”
    “Yep.”
    This was the moment. I could see it in her eyes. What to do with us? I knew that part of her wanted to let us go. We had a shared experience. We’d been in combat together and come out the other side.
    “What now?” I asked, nudging.
    She frowned. “Not sure. That you killed Lou puts a monkey wrench in things.”
    I regretted that we’d kept the jacket. “What was he to you?”
    “He was in Romeo Six too.”
    I closed my eyes and shook my head. And I’d just killed him like it was nothing. “What was he doing with Devil’s Thunder?” I asked, finally opening my eyes.
    “He thought he’d have a better chance of survival. He wanted to get away from the 605 Wall.”
    “I hear Devil’s Thunder likes to rape and pillage,” I said evenly.
    “There’s no shortage of that anywhere nowadays.” Her eyes hardened. “How’d you kill him?”
    I could have lied, but I didn’t. “I put a knife through his ear.”
    “From behind?”
    I nodded.
    “Did he even know you were there?”
    I shook my head.
    If she was going to kill me, she’d do it now. I could see my demise working through her eyes as she strained to find a solution that would be equitable to the memory of Lou, but also let me live.
    Seconds passed.
    “Who are you with? GNA?”
    She grinned. “That shill? I didn’t like him when he was on television. Why should I like him now?”
    I shrugged. “He seems pretty popular.”
    “He just has good organization. I’ve known some who joined for the healthcare.”
    I snorted. “I knew people who joined the Army for that, back when there was health insurance.”
    “Lot of good that did them.” She stared long and hard at me, then she stood. “Uncuff them,” she said, pointing to the man with the M16.
    He was tall, rail thin and bald except for tufts of hair clouding above each ear. “But he killed Lou.”
    “Lou knew what he was getting into when he left us.” She shook her head. “Wrong place, wrong time. Now uncuff them.”
    “But Sandi!”
    She whirled on him. “We talked about this when he left. What if he came against us? Would you give him your neck?”
    He jerked his head towards me. “But he just stuck a knife in him.”
    “Steve! What would you have done if Lou had me in a corner? Wait for him to turn around?”
    His shoulders sagged. “I liked Lou.”
    “Me too.” She walked up to him and squeezed his arm. “But he chose them over us. Phil, help them put their gear away. We’re bringing them back to the farm.”
    Phil was about my height and I now noticed by the hang of the pants that he had a prosthetic left leg—something I’d become familiar with, after all the roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan. His face was pocked with what I recognized as scars from embedded concrete. Another victim of an IED.
    “Sure that’s a good idea?” he asked evenly.
    “I’m sure.”
    He nodded and began redistributing the gear they’d confiscated back to us. Once Dupree and I repacked everything, they gave us back our weapons and we were on our way. As we climbed back up the embankment to the gravel pit, I was completely aware that this was not how I thought this episode would end. Goes to show that life still had a few surprises left in it.

 
I’d like to share a revelation that I’ve had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you’re not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area, and you multiply,