Spirits of the Earth: The Complete Series: (A Post-Apocalyptic Series Box Set: Books 1-3) by Milo Fowler (paper ebook reader .TXT) 📕

as much as I do.” Determined to stand, I tip myself forward and land on my padded palms, drawing up my knees. “And it’s Sergeant.”

“Either way, you’re in charge of this godforsaken expedition.”

I nod. “Where are the others?”

“Don’t know. Found you first.”

“No sign of...hostiles?”

“Not yet. Sure hope some firepower fell out of that chopper with us.”

“Morley was in charge of the guns.” Our weapons-tech officer.

Granger chuckles. “Then I suggest we find him next.”

I grimace as I force the cumbersome suit to comply, arching my back and planting the soles of my boots in the sand. It takes some doing, but with a well-timed shove from Granger, I manage to stand.

“Offline—that’s all this thing keeps saying.” I rap on my helmet again. “Any chance you could turn it off?”

“The HUD? Not without opening up your suit. And I’m pretty sure you don’t want me to do that out here.” He pauses. “Looks like there’s a fracture in your helmet’s outer layer. Must have broken some of the optical transfer filaments—”

“You’ll have to lead the way.” I close my eyes to shut out the flashing display, but the red glare pierces through my eyelids.

“Where to, Captain?”

“We’re out in the open, I take it?”

“We’re sitting ducks, to use an antiquated phrase.”

“So we find cover.” In my mind’s eye, I can see the overturned ships on the shore. Discarded playthings left by some monstrosity of a child. “How far to the coast?”

Granger’s boots shuffle as he faces west—using his HUD compass, no doubt. “Distance,” he uses a voice command from the owner’s manual. “Distance to shore,” he specifies.

I strain to hear approaching sounds of any kind. Footsteps. Humming solar engines. Those jeeps couldn’t have vanished without a trace. The hostiles are still here, somewhere. And they’re watching.

“It’s saying five and a quarter kilometers. Quite a trek in these suits. In this heat.”

“Describe the terrain.”

“Well, uh—”

“Just tell me what you see. Sand dunes, rock formations—anything that would provide adequate cover?”

“Yeah, there’s plenty of both. It’s a desert wasteland out here, man. But I see a few outcroppings of rock that look promising.”

I hold out my arm. “Lead on.”

“How’s your O2?” He guides me forward.

“Fine.” Without the gauges on my HUD, there’s no way to check pressure levels. “For now.”

“Guess you’ll know for sure when you start choking.”

I clench my jaw.

Granger clears his throat, breaking the silence. “Just saying it like it is, man.”

Again, I consider removing the helmet. Insane, sure, but I have only two options: suffocate as the suit’s oxygen runs out, or breathe in the contaminated air outside. I try to swallow. The dryness is still there.

“We’re here.” Granger places the palm of my gloved hand against solid rock. “Granite boulders maybe four meters high. Should give us enough cover.”

I sense a shift in gradient. “How steep is this hill?”

Granger chuckles. “You sure you can’t see?”

If the hostiles abandoned their vehicles, they would have taken to higher ground in order to command a better vantage point. Which means my trusty engineer and I will remain exposed until we hold a similar position.

“We need to climb.”

“You really are blind as a bat. Cuz there’s no way you’d even think of hauling your ass up this hill if you could see what I’m seeing. One slip on the way up, and we’ll be acquainting ourselves real intimately with a few jagged rocks below.”

“We have to get to higher ground. We’re not alone.”

“I sure as hell hope not! The others made it—we’ve just got to find them.”

“They’re watching us.” I keep my voice low, though I doubt it matters. Despite the fractured outer layer, my helmet is soundproof. But my ears are still ringing, and I don’t want to overcompensate by shouting at the internal mic. “They haven’t left.”

Granger’s breathing on the comm channel cuts out for a moment. His boots shuffle. “You mean—the hostiles? Where?”

“Can’t say.” The short hairs on the back of my neck are standing at attention right now. A marine always knows when he’s being watched. I can’t understand how Granger doesn’t sense it too. How many tours of duty has he seen? You don’t last long in the field without a second pair of eyes in the back of your head. But then again, the guy’s an engineer—a whole different breed.

“Captain, I don’t see anybody. But if you’re right, then finding some firepower should be our top priority.”

I tap my helmet and curse. I can move properly in the suit now, but I still can’t see a damn thing. “Afraid I won’t be much help.”

“Fine. I’ll go look around. Meet you back here.”

“We stay together. That’s an order.”

“Listen, you just stay put, and I’ll—”

“I gave you a direct order.”

“Sorry, Captain. I hate to do this, but it looks like I’m assuming command here. You’re in no condition to argue—not until your HUD’s back online, anyhow.” His boots trudge away. “Don’t even think about court-martialing me later. You know I’m right.” He takes off across the sandy hardpan.

I grunt in acknowledgment. There’s no reason to believe we’re not the only two survivors from the chopper. We stand a better chance sticking together. Apart, we’ll be picked off easily—and without Granger’s eyes, I’m completely lost.

I curse the hazard suit, the scientist who prepped it, the UW itself. What were they thinking, sending us into this war zone? The particulars of your mission will appear on your heads-up displays, once you’ve reached the drop site. Well, that’s not happening. You run into any unexpected difficulties, you radio. Don’t delay. That’s what we’re here for. We’re your backup. Also out of the question. Even if my HUD was functioning and I could contact the Argonaus, I don’t recall seeing a second chopper on that flight deck. Captain Mutegi will have to send a bird inland from one of the other vessels in the naval blockade. But would he risk a second chopper after what happened to ours?

I have some trouble wrapping my mind around it. These hostiles are well-equipped. Their solar jeeps ran at full