“Josephine!” Richard yelled out once more as loud as he could. The Aug took aim and fired at him. The pulse rifle blast hit the ground just a few feet from his face, blinding him. Richard reached for the rocket launcher, as he tried to block out the unbearable pain. His bloodied hand felt the door to the cabin and as he pulled himself up, something grabbed him from behind, and dragged him under the launcher. Richard kicked aimlessly with his uninjured leg, unable to see what was going on out of his watering eyes. He thought he heard a soft voice calling his name, but the sound of explosions and the searing pain overwhelmed him. A moment later he felt an intense blast of heat against his back and then everything went dark. The searing pain was gone, and he felt like he was floating on a cloud. He knew the Augs had won, and his miserable life was over. A fitting end to a man filled with hate and revenge.
Chapter 21
Richard slowly opened his eyes and saw Josephine’s sweet innocent face smiling down at him. “Am I in heaven?” he asked.
“No silly, you were knocked out when the shock wave hit us,” she replied as Sean gave him another shot of morphine to numb the pain.
“Shockwave?” he mumbled in confusion as he rubbed his eyes.
“Yep,” Josephine replied as she gently lifted his head so he could see the dark orange mushroom cloud rising over the production facility.
“Help me all the way up,” Richard asked. Josephine put his arm over her shoulder and lifted him. Once he was back on his feet, the enemy surrendered to him. The Augs had witnessed the destruction of their production facility, and there was nothing left worth dying for. They had lost the fight and they knew it.
“Lay down your weapons, and we’ll let you go. If you don’t surrender, we’ll nuke Great Falls next!” Richard threatened. A commander of the Augs slowly stepped forward and laid his weapon at Richard feet.
“We surrender,” he replied with an expressionless look on his face. Richard nodded and then pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to the Aug. The Aug looked down at the note and then looked back at him.
“I don’t understand, this is the note I gave you in Fairfield?”
“Turn it over,” Richard replied.
The Aug flipped it over and proceeded to read what had been written on the back of it, “To the leader of the Augs; if you lay down your arms, abandon your pursuit of world domination, and never implant another human being, you may live out the remainder of your lives in peace. I will wait for your response at our camp in the north which you may enter under a white flag of truce. If you do not respond within two weeks, we will continue attacking your cities until you are all destroyed. Sincerely, Richard of the Northern Clan.”
“Are we free to go?” the Aug asked.
“Yes, but you must take the letter back to your superiors, and make sure they understand I am serious about this,” Richard said in a stern voice. The Aug quietly turned and walked over to a group of his comrades near the edge of the camp.
“Do you think they will accept your offer?” Josephine asked.
“I don’t know… but they have lost the one thing they were willing to die for,” he replied, as he glanced over at the crater where Malmstrom AFB once stood.
“What about retaliation, surely they will want to kill us after what we have done to them.”
“If they were human, I would expect it, but their social structure is ruled by self preservation and propagation. Since we have removed the latter, they have nothing to gain by fighting us. We have offered them peace, and threatened them with death, which do you think they will choose?” Richard replied.
“So the war is over?” Josephine asked.
“Yes,” Richard said in a confident tone.
“Where will the Augs go?” Josephine asked.
“The nuke only destroyed the base, Great Falls is still perfectly habitable,” Richard replied.
“What about the fallout?” she asked.
“The city is west of the base and the prevailing wind blows east…” Richard suddenly realized that Jake and his men were northeast of the detonation.
“What is it?” Josephine asked.
“Have you seen Jake?” Richard said in a concerned tone.
“He was over near the ravine… oh here he comes now” Josephine replied.
“Hey, you made it,” Richard said in a welcoming tone.
“I see you let the Augs go,” Jake responded disapprovingly.
“Yeah, I gave them an ultimatum, peace or death. In truth though, we can not afford to continue fighting them. Any further losses on our side will put our survival as a species in jeopardy, and let’s not forget that they still outnumber us exponentially. I think we have proven who is the dominant species, but let’s not push it,” Richard insisted. Jake nodded and then walked away without responding to Richard’s statement.
“Is he alright?” Richard asked, seeming confused by his actions.
“I don’t know? Let me go see what’s wrong,” Josephine replied as she helped Richard sit down before taking off after Jake.
“Are you okay?” Josephine questioned after stopping him.
“Nothing is wrong!” Jake replied sharply.
“Your actions and your voice contradict that assertion,” Josephine said in a demanding tone.
“Very well, you’ll figure it out in a day or two anyway. My men and I were not far enough away from the city when the bomb exploded. I’m not an expert, but I am certain we have been exposed to a lethal dose of radiation,” he admitted. Josephine stepped closer so she could examine him. Then her eyes began to tear, as the dirt and grime thinly veiled patches of swollen red flesh and blisters in their infancy.
“Oh no… I fired the missile off too early. I should have waited. This is all my fault!” Josephine cried. Tears ran down her face as Jake reached out and hugged her.
“Don’t blame yourself, if you would have waited, the Augs would have had time to overrun the camp. We would all be dying, instead of just a couple of us,” Jake said in a solemn tone.
“I know, I am so sorry,” Josephine said as her voice cracked.
“It’s alright,” Jake replied as he patted her on the back. “You did the right thing, you should be rejoicing, not crying. The war is over thanks to you and Richard.”
“You’re not angry with me?” she said.
“I love you, how could I be angry. Now dry your eyes, and go help Richard. He looks like he’s getting jealous,” Jake said in an effort to make her feel better.
Josephine wiped her eyes and gave Jake a look that conveyed her sympathy. Then she reluctantly headed over to check on Richard.
“How are you doing?” she asked.
“My leg is still useless, but Sean said the wounds are superficial, and I will recover.”
“That’s good to hear,” Josephine replied with a smile that quickly faded as she thought about Jake and the others who had not been so lucky.
“Did you find out what’s bothering Jake?” Richard asked.
“He and his men were too close to the blast… I think they have radiation sickness,” Josephine said as she held back the tears.
“Sacrifice is an inevitable part of war, but had you not fired that warhead off when you did, we would have lost the battle, the war, and our fight for survival. Your actions saved all but a few,” Richard insisted.
“That’s what Jake said,” Josephine admitted with a sniffle. Richard gently wiped a tear from her face and kissed it.
“I would like to thank Jake and the others for their sacrifice, do you think that would be appropriate?” Richard asked.
“Yes, I’ll go get them, you just stay put and rest your leg,” Josephine replied.