Fireteam Delta by J. Halpin (ebook reader that looks like a book txt) 📕

Rhodes whistled to Nisha. The woman stood, talking to Logan and a group of runners. They’d been directing the supply line, making sure the men on the walls didn’t run out of supplies or food.

At Rhodes’s gesture, she broke things off and headed in their direction.

“We’ll make sure they do as they’re told.”

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The gate slammed shut behind Summers. He held his gun at the ready, scanning the forest. Every so often, an elf would weave between the trees, firing an arrow at the wall to harass its defenders.

Nisha yelled something he couldn’t grasp, but slowly, the refugees began to part.

“Move!” Rhodes snapped. “If they get in our way, you shoot them.” Rhodes looked to Summers and Nowak. The two didn’t answer.

They pushed forward through the crowd. Summers ignored the thin, hungry faces watching them. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be a problem for much longer.

“Summers, you and yours are point. Nowak, you’re watching my back.” Rhodes spoke with as much authority he could muster.

Summers took the lead as the group started jogging forward.

There was a dull white shine above the forest canopy, which Summers could only assume was their target. It disappeared as they cleared the tree line, the light from the fading day dim.

“Two o’clock,” Nowak called out.

Summers turned to see ten men with spears sprinting toward them. Orvar fired first. The spearmen were dead half a second later.

Summers reloaded as they pressed forward, tossing the spent magazine and aiming for the trees ahead. He heard shouting, and the sound of another rock being loosed on the walls. Then, he stopped.

“Keep moving!” Rhodes called from behind.

“Wait.” Summers held up a hand.

He hadn’t been able to pinpoint it, but there were dozens of scents around them. Too strong to be residual, which meant . . .

Summers looked up to find tens of elves crouched in the branches of the trees. Some had bows; most had spears, swords, and shields.

“Above us—”

Summers reacted half a second too late. The elf above him dropped, spear angled toward Summers. A burst of fire resounded from behind him, and Summers dodged back, just as the elf that been about to skewer him slammed into the ground, dead.

Summers turned to see Rhodes’s smoking gun aimed above his head.

Summers didn’t have the time to process the fact that Rhodes might have just saved his ass, as the rest of the elves reacted, dropping from the trees in droves. All hell broke loose. They’d managed to avoid being caught in the middle of the ambush, but there were too many for fifteen men to handle easily.

“Shit!” Summers rolled to his side as an elf stabbed a spear in his direction. He fired center mass, tearing through the spearman’s leather armor and dropping him in an instant.

He turned. The elf in front of him raised a shield just as Summers’ round pierced through it, dropping him. Aim, fire, repeat. He took out five more before something in the distance caught his attention. The same long-haired horses Summers had seen earlier charged toward them at a terrifying speed.

“We have more coming!” Summers didn’t wait for a response as he kneeled, then shot a grenade into the mass of cavalry nearly on top of them. He saw bodies thrown to the ground from the explosion, the horses panicking at the sound. Most of the riders fled, scattering through the forest as fast as their mounts would carry them.

Summers reloaded his rifle and turned. They’d lost two of Rhodes’s men, and one of Nowak’s. One of the twins had a spear wound in his leg, but it didn’t look to be slowing him down.

“Stay on target!” Rhodes ordered. “Summers, take those goddamn things out while the rest of us cover.”

Summers didn’t argue. He didn’t have the time, and like it or not, this was something they needed to get done.

He signaled his squad, breaking into a slow run.

“On me!”

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The trebuchets were massive. There were three of them, each constructed of ivory-white bone and wood. Summers only had a moment to register the sight before the elves manning the machines caught sight of Summers’ group. They bolted.

“Ignore them. Focus on the target!” Summers punctuated his order by firing a grenade into the furthest machine. The explosion shattered the main arm, and the entire thing collapsed in on itself.

His people followed suit, and soon, all that was left of the machines was nothing more than shards of bone and burning debris. The others breathed heavily, clearly tired.

The sound of gunfire only intensified as they finished, and Summers hefted his rifle, gesturing back to where they’d come from.

“Move!” Summers took off without looking back.

Only Orvar managed to keep up. The others weren’t used to combat, let alone the situation they found themselves in. Still, they managed to snap out of their daze after a moment.

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Summers returned to see Rhodes on the ground, a spear sticking out of his shoulder. Nisha was beneath him, screaming something to the men around her. Riders rode in wide circles, throwing short spears at the group and retreating into the trees before they could return fire.

“Shit.”

Summers didn’t waste time. He unloaded his weapon on the riders, killing several and downing the horses of the few that had begun to charge.

“Get to the gate. We’ll cover you!” Summers fired again as more elves appeared from the trees. He was getting low on ammo, but he had enough to see them through this.

“Open the gate!” Nisha yelled, half carrying Rhodes as they ran.

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Summers broke from the tree line just as the gates rumbled open. Rhodes and his men were too busy firing at the literal army on their heels to worry about the refugees that had begun pouring inside. A few of the guards put