Free Tales of the Forgotten by W. J. Lundy

gates. If you see
personnel on the ground, we’ll stop for quick ammo collection but that’s it.”
    “There
are sealed cans of ammo in the guard shack, near the gate,” Brad said.
    Sean
gave him a puzzled look.
    “Sorry,
I forgot about that earlier,” Brad explained. “But I know where it’s at and I
can grab it on the way out,” he added.
    Sean
nodded and they lifted their heavy bags of goods to their backs. When they were
all stacked on the door, Brooks unbolted and slowly opened it.
    Just
as he’d said, the outside was clear of primals. Silently, Brooks moved in a
crouched run to the nearest barrier, his footfalls barely making a noise. He
lifted his hand to point out the two meditating primals at the end of the
street. Calling his men to a halt, they all took a knee while Brooks and Sean,
in perfect timing, took synchronized shots that dropped the two. They listened
intently to make sure they hadn’t alerted any of the sleeping lions before they
got back to their feet and moved toward the gate.
    They
moved quickly and silently without stopping until they arrived just short of
the exit. Brooks again put his fist in the air, calling the group to a halt. He
pointed at Brad and called him to his position up front. “Where’s this guard
shack?” Brooks asked.
    “Right
there, next to the wall,” Brad pointed to a spot less than a hundred meters
away. Alone and against the ‘T’ wall sat a plywood structure with Plexiglas
windows. Sandbags covered the walls halfway up, and they were also stacked
along the roof. From a distance, the structure appeared empty.
    “Okay,
go clean it out, the shack looks empty from here,” Sean whispered, looking through
his scope at the guard shack.
    As
Brad started to move towards the shack, he looked behind him and saw that Hasan
was following. He nodded his approval to the man. Brad stopped just short of
the shack and then signaled to Hasan that he was going to open the door and
peek inside. Brad walked the last few feet to the door and slowly turned the
handle and pushed on the door. When it was opened just a crack he looked
inside. He saw a decomposing uniformed soldier crumpled on the floor, his
corpse blocking the door. Brad slowly put his weight against the door, pushing
and sliding the man’s body out of the way. When he was able to finally enter
the shack, he felt a deepening sense of grief as he looked down at the dead
soldier. Even though he didn’t recognize the man, the body represented everyone
he had lost. He quickly shoved the feelings aside and sucked it up.
    He
pushed the door the rest of the way and stepped over the soldier. He found the
ammo cans in an unlocked locker, right where he remembered them to be stored
from his time on guard duty. Brad lifted all four cans of rifle ammo from the
trunk, then another two cans of the pistol ammo. Hasan stepped forward and tied
a rope through the handles of three of the cans and lifted them to his back.
Brad did the same with the last three cans and they moved back towards the
team.
    They
linked back up with Brooks and Sean and followed them out through the gate and
onto the road. As they put some distance on the gate, Brad felt his levels of
anxiety begin to fade. Brooks guided them rapidly down the road and to the
large formation of rocks where they had hidden the vehicle. Brad was relieved
when he rounded the corner and saw it sitting there just as they had left it.
He had been nervous that the primals might have torn it apart or some other
survivors may have driven off with it during the night. Wasting no time, they
stowed their duffel bags of gear and the thousands of rifle and pistol rounds
salvaged from the guard shack. After a last, careful look all the way around,
they boarded the Defender and Brooks started the engine. He backed them up and
pulled the vehicle onto the road, speeding away from Forward Operating Base
Bremmel, the camp that now housed an army of primals. Brad glanced back one
last time at his