The War Journals: Resistance

“Holy mother of god!” TJ exclaimed watching through binoculars as a concrete block exploded 500 yards away.

  “You like that?” I asked, standing up “This is the classified Specter .50 cal sniper rifle, equipped with incendiary rounds. This particular model is still considered experimental, only a few people in the world have had the privilege of firing it. It is hands down the most powerful long range rifle in the world. We have ten of them.”

  “How did you get these?” Salinger asked in amazement.

  “We have friends that would like very much for us to succeed.” I said as I pried the lid off of a nearby case. “This is AMOS, he likes to blow shit up.”

  “Can't say I’ve ever seen one that wasn't attached to a tank,” Sombers said offhandedly, as he and the recruits started unpacking our munitions.

  “Well luckily,” I said, while directing them through the hundred-plus crates, “this model doesn't need to be, though it's heaver than all fuck from what I understand.”

  “Be careful with those!” Sombers yelled as Sarah almost dropped a case of mortar shells, “There'll be no trace we ever existed if you set all this off.”

  “That bad, huh?” Jesse asked

  “Definitely,” Sombers said “then whoever lived would have to explain why our little earthquake shook civilians off the top of the space needle.”

  “Don't touch those!” I yelled, hobbling toward Terry. “See the big ass sign that says, “Don't fucking touch these?” It isn't there to be sardonic.”

  “Sorry,” he said sheepishly “I thought you wanted it all unpacked.”

  “I do,” I said sitting down on the crate to ward off any other loose hands “but these go last. You guys aren't ready to handle these.”

  “Wait, what?” Jesse asked incredulously, “You bring us guns that are fresh out of sci-fi novels, but we can't touch whatever that is?”

  “Yup, pretty much.” I said “well, that is unless any of you forgot to tell me about your extensive experience with high powered explosive charges and their components.”

  “No?” I asked a moment later, “Didn't think so. So once again, please refrain from coming near these crates for now. You can build all the tree houses you want with the lumber tomorrow.”

  “Hey,” Jesse teased “I haven't blown off any fingers yet.”

  “Here,” I said tossing him a crowbar “Go open that container full of grenades, maybe you can try a little harder with them.”

  “Which one is it?” he asked.

  “The one marked grenades, dummy.”

  “Oh,” he said, “yeah, OK that makes sense.”

  “I wouldn't even trust him with that crow bar.” Sombers said taking a seat beside me. “Isn't it nice to have all your heavy lifting done for you?”

  “Yeah,” I said, “But you know what we need?”

  “What's that?”

  “A case of beer to drink while they work.”

  “Hell,” he said laughing, “I’d settle for a box of wine.”

  “Classy.”

  “Well, we don't have to drink straight out of the box,” he said. “By the way, I saw you running this morning.”

  “I wouldn't call it running so much as quickly hobbling forward.”

  “Well, whatever you call it,” he continued. “You just keep using that anger to propel you. I've watched a lot of good marines succumb to their demons in my career and if I know one thing, it's that you have to stay in control of that rage or your disability starts to control you.”

  “It's funny,” I said “my second year I got a pretty nasty infection in my leg from some razor wire, and I sat in the infirmary with these guys who had lost limbs from IED's or were paralyzed by a sniper. I never thought it could happen to me.”

  “I hate to say it,” he lamented, “but it almost always happens to the best of us. You put yourself in harms way enough times you're bound to end up in someone's cross-hairs.”

  “That's what this resistance is,” I said “a bunch of people with more balls than brains, all living in the cross-hairs.”

  “In my 25 years there have been a lot of conflicts I didn't agree with.” Sombers told me “Days when I told myself I had to fight even though I knew it was wrong. This group, they remind me why I wanted to become a marine in the first place. That if something is worth having, than you have to fight for it with everything you've got.”

  “We should probably go finish teaching them how to do that,” I said standing up.