“Stay put, Fitzie. You took a beating back there,” Rico said with a smile. Her dimples were the best thing Fitz had seen all day. She blew a bubble, and her grin widened now that she had his attention.
“If you’re going to blow it, now’s the time!” Tito said.
Dohi stood and walked over to the open Black Hawk door with something in his hand.
Below, branches from hundreds of trees reached up toward the chopper like skeletal fingers. The tunnel to the Nazi facility and the pickup truck came into focus.
Dohi looked back at Fitz for orders. With a nod, Fitz gave him the all clear.
Raising the detonator, Dohi pushed it once, then twice, and then a third time. Three concussions thudded in the distance, deep and loud. Fireballs shot out of the tunnel entrance, slamming into the gate and flipping the pickup truck. The flames raced over the snow, plowing into the graveyard of human and Juvenile corpses, and slamming through the forest.
The bluff over the facility sagged, cracked, and caved in, sealing the prison where the military had once again tried to play God. The weapon had ended up not being a vile or tube after all. Like VX-99, the weapon designed here had turned the poor souls that had once lived in the fishing village into monsters.
Fitz watched the rooftops pass below, saying a mental prayer for the innocent civilians that had lost their lives. Some of the hybrid creatures might have escaped the inferno and retreated into the forest, and Fitz secretly hoped they might be able to find some sort of peace.
All that mattered now was that Team Ghost had completed their mission. They had killed the monster and destroyed the old Nazi facility. Somehow, once again, Fitz hadn’t lost a man, woman, or dog.
But this time he had come very close. Stevenson wasn’t out of the woods yet, either. Fitz crawled over to him and grabbed his hand as Tito flew over the harbor and ocean, returning to the USS Forrest Sherman for fresh orders.
Webb, the Crew Chief, sat across the troop hold, incredulous eyes on Fitz.
“What the hell happened out there, Master Sergeant?” he asked.
Team Ghost had one hell of a story, but Fitz wasn’t prepared to tell it now. Instead, he tightened his grip on Stevenson’s hand. The man cracked his eyelids and focused on Fitz, his lips trembling.
“Hang in there brother,” Fitz whispered. “This battle is over, but we’re going back to war.”
Thanks for reading SNAFU: BLACK OPS.
We hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as we did putting it together.
Please consider leaving us a review if (and anywhere) you see fit. Any and all reviews are gratefully accepted. If you have any questions, or want to quote from the book, please contact us at any time.
I would ask please, if you DO review online, send a link to Geoff via editor@cohesionpress.com or via our Facebook page messaging system. If you review for a magazone or paper, let us know and we’ll buy it.
Thank you.
Geoff Brown — Director, Cohesion Press.
Mayday Hills Lunatic Asylum
Beechworth, Australia
Amanda J Spedding — Editor-in-chief, Cohesion Press
Sydney, Australia