Read Online Running Dry by Jody Wenner - Free Book Online Page B

the armies shoot at each other every chance they get from the ridges built to keep the other at bay.  I could have easily been assigned up there, in the real battle zones, and be forced to actually fight, so I guess being down here is slightly better.  I think.  Except the last thing I want is to get into a gun battle in a dirt maze, with bullets ricocheting around like pinballs. 
    I come to the fork in the tunnel and remember, without having to dig for my flashlight again, that I am supposed to go right.  Finally, around the bend I hit the end of the line.  There isn't anything else on the map, but I feel another set of metal rungs.  I guess there is nothing else to do but climb out. 
    This end of the tunnel has a metal grate and when I push, it easily comes away.  I step up and out of the darkness into more darkness.  I don't see anything.  I take out my flashlight and shine it around me.  I see something strange, something I've really not seen before.  Trees.  Lots of dark green trees are all around me.  And on the ground, there appears to be a worn dirt path.  I guess I need to follow it.
    I'm clearly out of the city now.  I've never seen this many trees in my life, even fake ones.  They surround me as I slowly walk the path.  The scent of them is enough to make this whole experience worth it.  I just keep filling my chest with deep gulps of nature.  Eventually, my eyes adjust and the trees part and I look up at stars and moonlight.  If I wasn't walking toward my potential demise, this would be pretty spectacular. 
    Faint voices let me know I've reached my destination, hopefully not my final one.  The clearing grows wider and I stop because this is it; my last chance to turn back, to run and never stop.  Once I accept it's not a possibility, not if I want a chance to see Bekka again, I march straight ahead intently, ready to get the whole thing over with and done. 
    Charging in, I expect punches or gunfire and wince with arm shielding my face.  When I open my eyes, I can see instead, I'm hardly noticed.  I count about eight guys huddled in squatting positions with a dim lantern in the middle of them.  Their backs are turn toward me, so I can't even tell who any of them may be.  Someone finally notices me standing there and waves me over.  It's my CO, Officer Fulton.  There is a man speaking directly across from him in the circle that I don't recognize as I get closer.  He just keeps talking and the others are listening intently, even Fulton.  He doesn't stop as I approach.  Fulton inches over to make room for me to join the huddle.  The others look up, but keep their focus mostly on the guy talking.  He gives me a glance but finishes his sentence, "...so, it's a good idea, but I think we should wait at least two more weeks."
    There are a few nods and murmurs. 
    Fulton says, "Guys, I want you to meet Zane Brenner."
    They all turn their heads to look up at me.  I notice one other squad leader from training, but none of the others look familiar at all.  "Hey," most of them say, or something like it. 
    The guy who'd been talking says, "It's nice to meet you Zane.  We're glad you're going to take your brother's place.  We know the mission was important to him."
    "Um, what exactly is the mission?" I say.
    "For both sides to start working together," he says.
    "Both sides?  You guys are Southies?"
    He chuckles, "Yeah.  I'm Pete and this is Eddie, Johnson, and Frankie.  I think you know the others."
    When Frankie turns and smiles at me, I see that he's actually a she with short dark hair, mostly hidden under a stocking cap.  Her eyes search mine and her smile is of a sympathetic nature.  I realize these are people who knew my brother, maybe even better than I did.  I suddenly feel very weak and emotional, like he is somehow with me right now.  And I'm also relieved.  This is not a mission to bury my body into the ground. 
    "Welcome to the Resistance," Frankie says.  Fulton gives