Free The Revolution Begins (Molon Labe) by G.S. Kyle

handed the soldier his paperwork.  The soldier’s eyes narrowed as he noticed only one name on the paperwork.  He looked up and was about to speak when I shot him between the eyes with a silenced 22.
    I pulled Matthew down across the seats as I jumped out the passenger side door.  I began firing at the soldiers on the right side as I took a knee. They had raised their weapons and started to aim and fire while I was standing.  The shots hit the door and van side above me.  I dropped both soldiers with multiple shots.  Neil had burst from the back door of the van and rolled to the ground firing at the remaining soldier on the driver’s side.   He hit him four times, taking him out.  Neil was slow to get up and I noticed he was bleeding from his right leg.  A quick look revealed he had been grazed by a bullet there. It was bleeding, but not bad.  Matthew was groaning in the front.  When I got there I could see why.  Blood had splattered and covered the dash. Matthew had been shot in the left shoulder at least once, maybe twice by the soldiers who fired at me.  His shoulder was a bloody pulp.  He was losing blood and needed help fast. It was against protocol, but we had to take him to the base, and we had to get him there soon. The van was pretty shot up and a quick turn of the key revealed that something important had taken a round. It wouldn’t even turn over. Our only option was to take what the bad guys had ridden in with.
    What we found were three new Honda four-wheelers.  They had likely been confiscated from the local dealership.  We had to chance that they had been unable to place GPS tracking on them.  We checked them quickly and loaded up with Matthew behind me (strapped to my back so he wouldn’t fall off).  Neil took all of ours and the fallen bad guys gear (again, we couldn’t afford to leave military gear that we might be able to use).  We left the bad guys in the ditch piled up in their skivvies, and pushed the van into the woods. We did our best to conceal it, but it would be found, and with that, Matthew’s family would be in trouble.
     

    Chapter 22
    "An armed man is a citizen. A disarmed man is a subject."
Anon.
 
    We returned to base and dragged Matthew and our gear into the mines. We still had a half mile of mine shaft to travel to get to the main complex, and as Matthew began to go in and out of consciousness, he started pleading with me to protect his family.  I promised him I would. It might have been a foolish promise, but it was one I intended to keep.  Matthew had taken bullets that were meant for me. I owed him.
    Vincent was the first person we saw, and before he asked any questions he scooped Matthew up into a fireman ’s carry and began to clear the way for us to get to the hospital.  When that man started yelling “make a hole”, people just instinctively got the hell out of the way.  We got to the hospital and Vincent laid Matthew out on a gurney.  Then he started asking questions.
    “Doc, Mac, w e got a wounded soldier in here”, Vincent called out. Doc and Mac rushed in and started working on Matthew who had heard Vincent calling him a soldier and despite his pain, was smiling. I promised him again that I would take care of his family and Neil and I stepped back.
    “What the hell happened? ” Vincent asked.  I relayed the story and just as I mentioned Neil’s wound, Allison ran into the room.  She took one look at Neil and pulled him over to a gurney.  She ordered him to take his pants off.
    “Wow !” I said, “We’ve only been gone for a week. Isn’t that a little overkill on the greeting?” Vincent and I laughed, but Allison gave me a look that I never want to see again.  I walked away sheepishly, Vincent following while muffling a chuckle.
    “A llison, I just got grazed”, Neil said. “A little soap and water and a band-aide, and I’ll be good as new.”
    She raised her hand to hush him, but instead he grabbed it softly and kissed it.