Read Online Stone Soldiers 1: Mythical by C. E. Martin - Free Book Online

“Sandals?”
    “You're lucky they even had any that big,” Josie said.
    While Mark tried the shoes on, she rummaged in her other plastic bag. She gave Jimmy some beef jerky and a bottle of water.
    Josie had attracted some attention though. Two dirty locals. They were walking up to Jimmy’s truck, talking to each other and watching Josie.
    Cletus and Pete were dressed like rednecks. Plaid shirts with the sleeves torn off. Dirty, ragged blue jeans and cowboy boots. They wore ball caps- Cletus’ with “Caterpillar” on the front, Pete’s with “MOPAR”. The sweaty men were covered in razor stubble, with long, dirty hair down to their shoulders.
    They walked right up behind Josie with big grins. Cletus looked Josie up and down. Twice.
    “Who-wee! Look what we got here!” Cletus said appreciatively, elbowing Pete.
    Pete leered. “You're mighty fine, missy! What's your name?”
    Josie rolled her eyes, then turned around to face the locals. She gave them a withering glare.
    “Can I help you with something?” She asked coldly.
    Pete took his hat off long enough to wipe sweat off his brow. He grinned evilly and winked at his pal, Cletus.
    “I sure hope so, baby. I need lots of help,” Pete said.
    Guys like this they had plenty of in 1962. Mark stepped down off the truck- even over their stench, he could smell these two were trouble.
    Cletus and Pete seemed to notice Mark and Jimmy for the first time. Jimmy didn’t impress them- a skinny nerd wearing nerdy clothes. Mark on the other hand... the locals were baffled by the flip flops, obviously military cargo-pocket fatigues and the KE$HA t-shirt. And the precise flattop hair cut.
    “Well, hello, Sarge,” Cletus mocked. “You just get back from the war?”
    Josie worried where this might be going. She hoped she could prevent that. She held her hand up, towards the locals.
    “Trust me fellas, you don't want any of this,” she said.
    Cletus suddenly grabbed Josie around the waist and pulled her in close. His sweat soaked through her shirt and he reeked of body odor and stale beer.
    “You're right, girly. I want all of it!” Cletus declared through a mouth full of teeth Josie suspected hadn’t seen a toothbrush in years.
    Josie responded accordingly. She drove her knee up into Cletus’ groin as hard as she could.
    Cletus immediately let go. He also stepped back a few steps, doubled over, holding his privates. He felt like throwing up, and his vision swirled a little.
    Pete didn’t like that. Nobody treated his best pal like that. Especially some scrawny, little city girl. No matter how good she looked.
    Pete balled his fists and took a step toward Josie, his face showing his anger.
    Mark stepped in, calmly reaching out with both hands open, intercepting Pete. With little effort, he pushed against Pete’s chest.
    The small shove sent Pete flying. Nearly twenty feet, like he’d been hit by a car.
    Pete hit the ground hard, tumbling end over end, his hat and one boot coming off. He rolled several more feet before he came to a stop.
    Cletus, still doubled over, couldn’t tell what had happened. His vision had cleared and he saw Pete hit the ground behind him. Holding his groin, he staggered over to his friend.
    Mark touched Josie lightly on the shoulder. “You okay?”
    “I’m fine,” Josie responded. She was trying to brush the invisible filth of Cletus off of her. He was disgusting and made her feel dirtier than several days in the desert without a shower had.
    Jimmy was just shocked. He’d wanted to say something, to do something. But like always, he’d been too scared. Then Mark had taken one step, and pushed with less visible effort than it took to open a door. And now the local was trying to pick himself up from the ground.
    If Jimmy didn’t like Mark, he’d think that was pretty darned cool.
    Cletus and Pete, meanwhile, had come to a different conclusion. They were too stupid to realize just how strong Mark was. He just looked like some steroided