The Resistance: Book 5 of the After The Event Series Read Free Page B

knowledge should have put him at ease but it didn’t. The men were hard, beards and dirt covered their faces, their eyes were sharp and they stared at Ben, Ohio and Ty like they were prey. One of the soldiers stepped forward. His head had been shaved bald at one point but as his hair grew back it produced what looked like a shadow covering his scalp.
                  “Nice hardware you all got there,” the man said, gesturing at their guns. “Where did you get them?”
                  “We’re in the Army,” Ben said. “We were based here and left to escort a group of civvies right after the last attack.”
                  The man’s smile only seemed to affect one side of his face. “The hell you talking about? You Army?” He turned to the men behind him and raised his shoulders. A few smiled but the rest continued to stare at them. “How long since you cracked twenty years old? Three days?”
                  Fear still gripped his stomach but he couldn’t deny part of him felt pride that the man thought he was considerably older than he actually was.
                  “What are your names?” he asked.
                  “I’m Ben,” he said, stepping forward. “This is Ty and that is Ohio. We came back to search for a friend.”
                  “That it?” The man asked staring at them. “You came back to this battleground to search for a friend? The United fucking States of America is under attack and you’re playing search and rescue for one person?”
                  “What’s your name?” Ty asked, stepping alongside Ben.
                  The man’s eyes fell on Ty and Ben felt Ty step back half a step.
                  “You can call me Reaper,” he said with a crooked smile. “These here are my Angels of Darkness. And unlike you, we’re trying to protect a country of people, not just a single person.”
                  “How?” Ohio stammered. “They took out all our bases. There is nothing left here.”
                  “We’re here,” the man said, standing up straight. Ben noticed the man’s nose had been broken at one time and hadn’t healed properly, as it sat at a slight angle. “They may have taken this city but it doesn’t mean they can keep it. For every one of us they have killed we will take out twenty. Their children’s children will regret the day they tried to take our country.”
                  “How many of you are there?” Ty asked.
                  “You’re looking at us.”
                  “This is it?” Ohio asked.
                  “We’re more effective than an army of a hundred. All it takes is a couple of bombs to take out a convoy, a single magazine can end over a dozen lives. Wars aren’t won by numbers.”
                  Ben looked at the group of men before him. They looked haggard and exhausted but they seemed to be carved out of stone. He knew Mason was still somewhere in this city, probably fighting for a group just like this. This was his best chance to find him.
                  “Where do I sign up?” he asked.
                  Reaper looked him up and down slowly and did the same to Ohio and Ty.
                  “You join us then you’re under my command. I don’t care what you used to do, how you used to do it or why you think it works best, you got me?”
                  They nodded their heads.
                  “Fair enough,” Reaper smiled, revealing a set of yellowed teeth. “Earn your keep, don’t die and we’ll get along fine.”

Alec
     
                  The place had been a mining camp before the power went out, and the Chinese military had reopened it.  The soldiers led Alec and the remaining male captives through the camp. Emma had been taken