Stryker: A Post-Apocalyptic Tale by Bobby Andrews Page A

He saw the sister break down in tears, and
concluded that Erin had given her the news about their parents. Haley’s
shoulders moved up and down and she covered her face with her hands. The pickup
moved over a hill and disappeared.
    Stryker took up a
position on the second floor, armed the missile launchers, and settled in for a
long night. His earbud crackled when Sarge announced he was in position, and
they settled into what was going to be a long wait. Both of them slept, and as
the horizon started to meet the earth, woke up.
     
    “Guns up,” Sarge
announced into Stryker’s earbud. He had already been up for over an hour,
watching the sun glimpse over the horizon.
    “Ready here. Fire
on my launch.”
    “Wait one.” A few
second passed, then Sarge announced, “We have another woman in the second
truck.”
    “Shit,” Stryker
muttered. He paused to consider the situation, then keyed his mic. “I’m going
to wait for them to start to unass the first truck, and then hit it with the
LAW. I’ll only go for the second one if they try to escape. I know it’s a risk,
but we can’t leave that woman with them. We’ll need to move in fast and
suppress their fire. I’ll go for the woman when we have them down and
defensive.”
    “Got it.”
    “I’m moving
downstairs to get ready to assault. I’ll fire the LAWs from there.”
    “Fire on my
command,” Sarge answered. “I have a clear view of the second truck.”
    “Roger,” Stryker
said as he charged down the stairs and set up on the front of the building by
sitting in the chair that propped the door open, launchers propped against the
wall behind him. They wouldn’t see Stryker wasn’t one of them until it was too
late.
    His earbud came to
life again. “Erin’s on the hill with the M-40.”
    “Does she have
comms?”
    “Affirmative.”
    “Then dial her up
right after my first LAW. Tell her not to kill Brody. Shoot to wound if need
be.”
    “Roger that.”
Stryker was furious about involving Erin in the fight, but accepted it. They
would need all the help they could get under the new circumstances.
     The first
truck came into Stryker’s view, moving down the road directly toward where he
sat. Sarge was right; the second truck was obscured by the first. As the truck
lumbered toward him, Sarge gave the command to fire after the vehicle stopped
and the men stood up. Stryker removed the safety pin located at the rear of the
tube. Then he moved the front and rear sight covers, allowing the sights to pop
up into their firing positions. He removed the first of two safeties, held down
the red safety lever located in front of the cocking lever, and then fired by
pressing forward the red firing button with his thumb. An enormous whooshing
sound cracked the air as the projective left the tube, and the back blast
emitted a four-foot tail of flame. The missile impacted the radiator of the
truck. It reared up like a horse, throwing men to all sides of the vehicle and
separating them from their weapons. Stryker quickly prepared the second LAW,
hoisted it on his shoulder, and waited for the command. Sarge was already
raking the unarmed downed men with continuous fire from the SAW, and Stryker
fought to not look at the damage.
    The sight remained
steady on the now-visible second truck. The passenger saw Stryker aiming the
LAW at the truck. He pointed to where Stryker stood and the two men left the
cab and moved toward the back of the building, the larger man dragging the girl
behind him. Stryker carefully laid the LAW on the ground and brought up his M-4
as the men moved closer. He was sure the larger man was Brody. He sighted
carefully, squeezed off a round, and the man went down, releasing the girl, who
stood rock still, looking confused. The second man pirouetted to the ground
after the boom of the M-40. Stryker looked around and didn’t see any bad guys
moving. He ran over to where the girl stood and she cringed away. His ear bud
crackled to life. “Clear,” Sarge