Authors: Dirk Patton
Anvil
Anvil
V Plague Book Ten
DIRK
PATTON
Text Copyright © 2015 by Dirk Patton
Copyright © 2015 by Dirk Patton
All Rights Reserved
This
book, or any portion thereof, may not be reproduced or used in any manner
whatsoever without the express written permission of the copyright holder or
publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a critical book review.
Published
by Voodoo Dog Publishing, LLC
2824
N Power Road
Suite
#113-256
Mesa,
AZ 85215
Printed in
the United States of America
First
Printing, 2015
ISBN-13:
978-1518704611
ISBN-10:
1518704611
This
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, brands, places, events and
incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a
fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual
events is purely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Unleashed: V Plague Book 1
Crucifixion: V Plague Book 2
Rolling Thunder: V Plague Book 3
Red Hammer: V Plague Book 4
Transmission: V Plague Book 5
Days Of Perdition: V Plague Book 6
Indestructible: V Plague Book 7
Recovery: V Plague Book 8
Precipice: V Plague Book 9
Anvil: V Plague Book 10
Rules Of Engagement: A John Chase
Short Story
Note
Thank you
for purchasing Anvil, Book 10 in the V Plague series. If you haven’t read
the first nine books you need to stop reading now and pick them up, otherwise
you will be utterly lost as this book is intended to continue the story in a
serialized format. I intentionally did nothing to explain comments and
events that reference books 1 through 9. Regardless, you have my
heartfelt thanks for reading my work and I hope you’re enjoying the adventure
as much as I am. As always, a good review on Amazon is greatly
appreciated.
You
can always correspond with me via email at
[email protected]
and find me on the internet at
www.dirkpatton.com
and follow me on Twitter @DirkPatton and if you’re on
Facebook, please like my page at
www.facebook.com/FearThePlague
.
Thanks again
for reading!
Dirk Patton
November,
2015
I look
inside myself and see my heart is black
I see my red door I must have it painted black
Maybe then I'll fade away and not have to face
the facts
It's not easy facing up when your whole world is
black
No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue
I could not foresee this thing happening to you
If I look hard enough into the setting sun
My love will laugh with me before the morning
comes
The
Rolling Stones –
Paint It Black
I couldn’t move. I was in
shock, staring at my wife. She screamed one more time before going still
and watching me. I desperately searched the blood red eyes for any sign
that even a small part of her was still in there. I didn’t find what I
was looking for.
I glanced at
Rachel and she was frozen in place, staring at Katie. Turning back, I was
surprised to see that Katie had moved next to Martinez’ corpse and was nudging
it with her shoulder. When she saw me watching, Katie stopped and stared at
me. I stared back, tears running down my face. I couldn’t breathe.
“We have to
go,” Irina grabbed my arm to get my attention before moving to Rachel.
“I can’t,” I
mumbled, unable to take my eyes off the terrifying sight my wife had become.
“Bring her,”
Rachel said as Irina removed the grenade strapped to her throat and began
working on her cuffs. “Maybe there’s help in Seattle.”
My heart
leapt with faint hope. Swallowing hard, I took a deep breath before stepping
closer and doing something I’d never done before. I hit my wife.
Hard. With my rifle’s stock, right on the temple. Her horrible eyes
rolled up in her head and she slumped into unconsciousness.
I stood
there looking at her, vision blurry from the tears in my eyes. Absently,
I noted the metallic jingling sound as Irina freed Rachel’s hands.
Finally turning away from Katie, I looked at Martinez. Another woman I
realized I loved. Not romantically, but the kind of love you have for a
kindred spirit who has become family. I started to reach for her, to hold
her lifeless body in my arms, but Rachel wrapped me in an iron hard hug.
“There’s
Russians all around us,” she said in my ear. “If we’re going to have a
chance to save Katie you need to get your shit together. Now, goddamn it!”
I turned and
met Rachel’s eyes as Irina snatched up the dead medic’s rifle and began
removing spare magazines from his corpse.
“We have
maybe thirty seconds before someone decides to come see what is happening,”
Irina said, swapping mags so a full one was in the AKMS and it was ready to
go. “How are we getting out of here?”
“You got
four of them fuckers headin’ your way.”
I had
forgotten about Titus, but his voice in the radio earpiece reminded me I still
had a slight edge.
“What about
the sniper on the far edge of the park?” I asked, stepping out of
Rachel’s arms.
“Who are you
talking to?” Rachel silently mouthed the question but I ignored her as I
reached up to press the device deeper into my ear.
“They’re
still there,” Titus said. “Don’t look like they noticed nothin’.
Yet.”
My mind
slowly began to spin back up to speed and I looked around the area.
“What direction
are the ones approaching from?” I asked.
“From the
west. Same direction you came in,” Titus answered immediately.
“Just crossing that small parking lot.”
I took a
moment to warn Rachel and Irina about the sniper and told them to stay close to
the helicopter so he didn’t have a shot at them. Pulling out the remote
trigger I changed it to the final setting, lifted the protective cover and
pressed the button.
All around
the perimeter of the park, the small C-4 charges I’d planted on the underside
of every manhole cover detonated. The noise was furious as the plastic
explosive blasted dozens of cast iron plates free of their resting places and
into the air.
“Whooooeeeee!”
Titus shouted over the radio. “That got them fucker’s attention!
You probably just killed about thirty of ‘em. The ones in the parking lot
are headin’ the other way. But you still got a whole lot of ‘em running
all around like you kicked an ant hill.”
“What about
the sniper?” I asked.
No matter
how many of the Russian soldiers on the perimeter went down, I wasn’t going
anywhere until he was out of commission. He was definitely the first
priority.
“He’s still
there and looks all pissed off. Sit tight and be ready to run when I tell
you. Got something up my sleeve.”
“Titus, what
the hell are you doing?” I shouted into the radio, but he didn’t answer
me.
“Goddamn
it!” I said, dropping my pack and digging out the six Claymore mines I’d
brought with me.
Quickly, I
set them up to form a small, defensive perimeter around where we were
sheltering. Stringing the wires back to a trigger, I pressed it into
Irina’s hand.
“Only fire
when I tell you,” I said, looking into her eyes as I kept my hands wrapped
around her’s.
She nodded
and squatted down with her back against the hull of the Hind.
“Titus,” I
called into the radio. I needed to know what was about to come my way.
“Hold your
fuckin’ horses,” he panted back, obviously running as he spoke.
“What the
hell are you doing?”
I pointed in
the direction I wanted Rachel to watch for anyone trying to flank us. I
was scanning in the opposite quadrant. She took the AKMS from Irina and
brought it up to her shoulder.
“Tryin’ to
save your narrow ass,” he panted back. “Got my deer rifle and headin’ for
the bell tower in a church. Should get me higher than this fucker. Now
shut the hell up and let me be for a bit.”
Grumbling, I
reversed the direction of my scan, pausing when I saw five soldiers walking
towards the helo. One of them appeared to have a leg injury as he was
being helped by two others while the remaining two guarded them. They
looked jumpy as hell, rifles in constant motion as they kept checking all
around.
They were
probably bringing their comrade to the medic and hadn’t seen me. I wanted
to shoot, but hesitated because they were in full view of the sniper’s position.
If they suddenly started dropping it would alert him to the fact that
something wasn’t right. He might not be able to shoot me, but he could
sure as hell make a call on the radio and send a whole bunch of his buddies
running to ruin my night.
The five
soldiers were about a hundred yards away when Rachel called out that she had
three more approaching from her side. Fuck me, this was going to get ugly
in a hurry.
“Titus,
whatever you’re doing, you’d better do it quick,” I said.
“Shhhh,” was
all he said, then there was the loud crack of a rifle from the far side of the
park. A moment later there was a second, then a third shot.
“You’re
good, son. Get the fuck out of there,” he said, satisfaction clear in his
voice.
“Sniper’s
down?” I asked in surprise.
“Yep, and
his buddy, too. Get going. If you can make the tunnels, I’ll see
you in the shelter.”
What the
fuck? How had he just pulled that off? But then I learned a long
time ago not to count out an old dog just because he was old.
“Rachel,
hold your fire,” I said as I pulled the trigger on the Russian walking point.
He crumpled
to the ground, dead, and I quickly shifted aim and dropped the second
man. That left the two helping their wounded friend and they had reacted
when the first one fell. One of them threw himself to the side, prone on
the wet grass, looking for where the shot had come from. The second one
pulled the injured man down with him, a second later both of them bringing
their rifles up.
The turf in
the park was billiard table flat and there was no cover. Sure, going
prone had reduced their profile and presented me with much smaller targets, but
they were inside eighty yards by now. I shot one of them, his head
snapping back before it flopped onto the ground. That was the shot that
let the other two zero in on me and open up with their unsuppressed rifles.
Bullets pinged
off the armored hide of the helicopter I was pressed tightly against. Rolling
to the side, I scrambled behind the cover provided by the Hind’s landing
gear. Popping up, I braced my rifle on a tire and drilled a round into
one of them. His rifle went quiet. The last remaining guy decided
it was time to retreat, leaping to his feet and running a zig-zag pattern away
from me.
“Got a lot more
coming. Fast!” Rachel shouted.
She started
firing the AKMS. I knew they must be close for her to have decided it was
more important to start shooting than it was to obey my instruction to hold her
fire. Trusting her decision, I took a couple of seconds to track my guy
before pulling the trigger. My aim was true and his corpse tumbled to the
wet grass.
A quick scan
showed more coming, responding to the gunfire, and it sounded like Rachel had
more than she could handle. To her credit, she was firing single shots. But
she was also firing as fast as she could pull the trigger.
There was
heavy return fire and I suddenly realized that Katie was still out in the open,
hanging unconscious from the winch cable. One stray round was all it
would take to permanently eliminate any chance she might have, no matter how
fantastical it might be.
Scrambling
along the side of the Hind, I moved to where Rachel was firing steadily and
peeked around her head. Nearly twenty Russians were charging, firing as
they ran, and they were no more than forty yards away.
“Irina,
fire!” I shouted.
A moment
later all of the Claymores detonated with enough force to rattle my
teeth. Mud and grass was thrown into the air, the water on the surface of
the ground atomized and turned into a fine mist by the force of the
explosion. It hung there, obscuring my view, but the incoming fire
stopped.
Grabbing
Irina’s wrist, I pulled her along as I dashed to Katie. I didn’t need to
tell her what I wanted. As I wrapped my wife up and took her weight off
the cuffs, Irina quickly unlocked them with a key she’d taken off the medic’s
body. Scooping Katie into my arms, I shouted for Rachel to follow me.