Battle Lines (The Survivalist Book 5)
Read Battle Lines (The Survivalist Book 5) Online
Authors: Arthur Bradley
Table of Contents
Books by Dr. Arthur T. Bradley
Handbook to Practical Disaster Preparedness for the Family
The Prepper's Instruction Manual
Disaster Preparedness for EMP Attacks and Solar Storms
Process of Elimination: A Thriller
The Survivalist (Frontier Justice)
The Survivalist (Anarchy Rising)
The Survivalist (Judgment Day)
The Survivalist (Madness Rules)
The Survivalist (Battle Lines)
The Survivalist (Finest Hour) - May 2015
Available in print, ebook, and audiobook at all major resellers or at: http://disasterpreparer.com
The Survivalist
(Battle Lines)
Author: Arthur T. Bradley, Ph.D.
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://disasterpreparer.com
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission from the author.
Illustrations used throughout the book are privately owned and copyright protected. Special thanks are extended to Siobhan Gallagher for editing, Marites Bautista for print layout, Nikola Nevenov for the illustrations and cover design, and Parkinson Myers and Vanessa McCutcheon for proofreading.
© Copyright 2014 by Arthur T. Bradley
ISBN 10: 1500647497
ISBN 13: 978-1500647490
Printed in the United States of America
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, 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.
“All men are afraid in battle. The coward is the one who lets his fear overcome his sense of duty.”
George S. Patton
1885–1945
Foreword
Every soldier believes he is on the right side of history. Standing shoulder to shoulder they huddle in muddy foxholes, vilifying enemies for their purported deeds. Derogatory nicknames are adopted to further depersonalize the enemy. Some slurs describe the individual soldier, such as Joe, Ivan, Charlie, and Jerry. Others describe the entire race or culture and are often even more offensive, such as Krauts, Jews, Japs, and Gooks. The intent is always the same, to make it easier for soldiers to kill without regret or remorse. It is the natural order of things. No good man wants to kill another good man.
This is not to suggest that conflicts are without evil, only that those who fight for its cause rarely see the dark reality of their actions. German Nazis stuffed women and children into incinerators. Imperial Japanese soldiers burned prisoners alive as they were forced to retreat across the Pacific. Chetniks systematically massacred Muslim villagers, cutting out the hearts of anyone of non-Serbian descent. In nearly every case, those committing the atrocities did so by rationalizing that they were simply following orders, working as part of a national war machine to create a safer and more just society.
Most atrocities are later dismissed as “the evils of war,” an assertion that individuals committing such barbarism should rarely be held accountable. Even when trials are held, they are often only symbolic. In the case of the Nuremberg Trials, the tribunal found evidence of millions of deaths in concentration camps, yet only twenty-four individuals were ultimately charged. Dark chapters are buried between the pages of history books so that civilizations can move forward without wallowing in regret or shame.
Soldiers fight for their own reasons. Some take up arms for national pride. Others fight to resist, or perhaps enforce, religious persecution. Many more put their lives on the line for their family’s safety. Regardless of the reason, there comes a time when ordinary men and women must find the courage to choose a side. It is then that battle lines are drawn, and the only way to survive is to become what the enemy fears most.
Chapter 1
Tanner Raines and Samantha Glass stood on the vice-president’s front lawn, a ring of cedar trees surrounding the small plot of grass. The Naval Observatory stood a few hundred yards to the southwest, its distinctive turquoise-colored roof and retractable observation dome peeking out from between the trees.
Tanner patted his thick stomach.
“I want you to hit me as hard as you can.”
Samantha looked up at him and shook her head.
“Why in the world would I do that?”
“Because you need to know your limitations.”
“I’m twelve years old. I already know my limitations.”
“Maybe. But I want to make sure.”
“I’m not going to hit you.”
“Why not?”
“Because I might kill you.”
He snickered. “Believe me, you won’t.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Look at me,” he said, puffing his chest out. “I weigh two-bucks-fifty, and you’re what? Maybe ninety pounds right out of the shower?”
She glared at him. “Just because you’re bigger than me doesn’t mean I couldn’t accidentally kill you.”
“With a dump truck maybe.”
“Still, I don’t want to hit you my hardest.”
“Okay, then give me, say… eighty percent.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“Okay, but if you get hurt, it’s your fault.”
“Noted.”
Samantha tightened her fist and punched him in the stomach.
“Harder.”
She hit him again, this time really leaning into it.
He didn’t flinch.
“What does that teach you?”
She shrugged. “That you’re a side of beef.”
“One of the nicer things you’ve said about me,” he said, grinning. “But no. It teaches that you don’t yet have the strength or mass to win a fistfight against a grown man.”
She looked less than appreciative.
“That’s your great self-defense lesson? Teaching me that I can’t defend myself?”