Down and Dirty: SEAL EXtreme Team Short Story Read Online Free Page B

shit was strewn all over
the place. Nick pushed aside what he could and crawled around the larger
pieces, searching…searching. He was moving too slowly, but he couldn’t seem to
make his limbs go any faster. “Billy!”
    And then Nick saw what he never
wanted to see. His best friend was buried underneath the engine block. Billy
was stone-cold still. That engine block was a heavy mother, but Nick’s heart
was heavier. Making it to his knees, he used every ounce of strength he had to
lift the metal. A torn-up mess was underneath. “Shit, Billy.”
    Nick began CPR, pouring his
breath into his buddy’s lungs, forcing his heart to beat. It was no good, but
he refused to give up. The rescue teams would have to pull his hands off
Billy’s cold chest. “Live, damn you!”
    Nick heard his own voice. The
explosion deafness was easing back. He gave two more quick breaths and Billy
sputtered.
    “Hell…” Billy’s voice was weak,
but his green eyes sparkled. “Always knew you wanted to kiss me.”
    Tears burned Nick’s eyes. “Shut
up! You need to rest. Another SEAL team is on the way.” He hoped.
    “Watson?”
    “Didn’t make it.”
    “Crap. You’re hurt, Nick. Blood
all over you, man.”
    “I’m okay.” He hurt all over,
but most of the blood wasn’t his. He sat down. Ripping the cravat off his neck,
he pressed it to a gaping wound in Billy’s side.
    “We’re exposed. Leave me,
brother. I’m not going to make it.”
    “Shut up!” Nick looked around
them. Billy was right. They were exposed. “That barn over there. We can make
it.”
    “Not me. You go.” Billy’s face
was a strange, moldy-meat shade of gray.
    “I’m not leaving you,” Nick
growled. “Get that out of your thick head.”
    “Please, Nick. Go. But promise
me…” he wheezed, “…you’ll look after my sister. This is going to mess her up.
She loves me.”
    “Don’t know why. You’re a real
pain in the ass. Stop this morbid shit so we can crawl to the barn for cover.”
    Blood had soaked through the
cravat and was pooling into Nick’s cammies. This was FUBAR. His best friend
couldn’t die. He scooped Billy up and cradled him in his arms.
    “Promise me.” Billy coughed.
    “Yeah, yeah. I’ll look after
your sister. No hardship there. Thank holy God she’s not as ugly as you are.”
    Billy closed his eyes and let
his head fall back against Nick. “Hell, no. She got the good-looking genes.
Stubborn. Tough. Like you. Gonna be hard on her. Take care…of each other.”
    Billy’s eyes didn’t open again.
    Nick held on, closed his own
eyes, and let the darkness take him.
    Gunshots woke him. Hostiles
were close. Too close. Was he going to die in this shithole? With one arm still
wrapped around Billy, he fired into the night. Hostiles returned fire, bullets
ringing off the Humvee’s engine block.
    He battled on his own for
fifteen minutes, loading and reloading his guns, and then Billy’s. The whistle
of a launched missile cut the air. The explosion landed close to the barn. The
assholes had missed. He pulled the trigger one last time and heard the fatal silence.
Nick was out of ammo. Grabbing his knife, he was ready. They wouldn’t drag him
away without a fight.
    “Come on, you bastards,” he
growled. “Try to take me.”
    The hostiles fired again. This
time a rally of machine gun fire responded, and the battle escalated. Relief
flooded his chest.
    “Hang on, Billy. The rescue team’s
here,” he whispered. But Billy didn’t move. He’d stopped breathing hours ago.
    A huge explosion rocked the
night, shaking the ground beneath him. It was the biggest blast Nick had ever
experienced. The hostiles stopped shooting. No one could’ve survived.
    “Hooyah! Willy’s Special got
those suckers!” One of the SEALs cheered.
    A few minutes later, a SEAL stepped
out of the darkness and squatted before him. His blue eyes scoured Nick’s face.
“Lieutenant Commander Nick Talley ?”
    Unsure of his voice, Nick
nodded.
    “I’m