Read Online Warning Order by Joshua Hood - Free Book Online Page B

position as the American lay down suppressive fire. The jihadists were swarming through the area, on their way to the crash site, and some of them stopped to engage Mason’s team before they ran past.
    Acrid black smoke and the stench of cordite hung over the area as Blaine and Grinch squeezed out of the jagged spider hole to Mason’s rear and headed immediately for the downed aircraft. Mason paused to watch them slip onto the street, hoping this wasn’t the last time he’d see them.
    They counted on him to keep them safe, but he was sending them into harm’s way, which made him feel like shit. Like him, they knew what they had signed on for, but sending them out into the chaos that was unfolding on the next street over was well above the call of duty.
    Mason had wasted valuable time covering Renee, and as a result he and Zeus had lost what little advantage they had. Mason’s battered body already taken a beating, and he wondered if he still had enough left in the tank to make it out alive.
    â€œFocus,” he told himself, turning his attention back to the street.
    The two men bounded up the street, one firing while the other moved, stopping only to strip magazines off the dead. Reaching the end of the street, they finally caught a glimpse of the objective.
    But they still had a long way to go.
    Mason heard the sounds of a heavy gun firing just around the corner, and when he poked his head out to get a better look, he saw that it was coming from a Russian ZPU-1 antiaircraft gun mounted to the back of a Toyota Hilux. A fighter standing to the right of the truck was providing rear security, and when he spotted Mason peeking around the corner, he ripped off a long burst from the PKM he held low on his hip. The machine gun was nothing more than a robust AK-47, and as it bucked in the man’s skinny arms, the rounds sailed harmlessly past Mason’s head.
    â€œGive me a break,” he said to himself.
    The firing died suddenly as the ZPU jammed. The gunner began cursing and hammered his fist on the feed tray in an attempt to clear a jam.
    Mason wasn’t too worried about the PKM, but he needed to move before the fighters got the ZPU back into action. Taking a deep breath, he shot out from cover, racing toward the blackened, burned-out vehicle. As he passed, he caught sight of a charred teddy bear lying forlorn in the middle of the street, a silent memento of the war’s destruction.
    â€œAllahu Akbar . . . Allahu Akbar,” the man wielding the PKM bellowed at the top of his lungs chasing Mason across the open space with a wild burst from his machine gun. Behind him, Zeus calmly braced his rifle on the side of the building and put a bullet in the fighter’s head.
    Mason was almost to cover when rounds began pinging off the hulk he was hoping to hide behind. Zigzagging desperately, he could hear the rounds buzzing past his head like hornets as he dove behind the car.
    â€œThey’re behind us,” Zeus yelled while firing. Now he was the exposed one, and Mason hugged the scorched bumper of the car, trying to cover his friend.
    Mason counted five men, and he expected them to rush Zeus, but instead they set up a base of fire and began maneuvering down the street, hoping to pin down the Libyan until they got close enough to deliver the kill shot.
    Another RPG shrieked down the street. “Zeus,” Mason yelled. “Take cover.”
    The rocket impacted short of its intended target, and the Libyan ducked behind a slab of concrete. The explosion blew up a cloud of smoke, which provided enough concealment for Zeus to link up with Mason.
    Mason saw a figure rushing through the haze and took him down with a single shot from the AK, while one of his comrades filled the gap instantly and laid suppressive fire on the two men hiding behind the car.
    The ZPU gunner finally cleared the jam and began blasting away, mercifully oblivious to the firefight unfolding behind