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

left the table, and the others followed.
                  Alec caught Bruce’s eye and the man was on the verge of tears. “I….can’t. I’ve never been so hungry in my life,” Bruce cried.  Before Alec could do anything the man stood up and walked back toward the building with his cup held out in front of him. “Please, I need another bowl.”
                  One of the soldiers stepped up and aimed his gun in Bruce’s direction but the man didn’t slow down. “Just one more bowl, I’m starving.”
                  The soldier lowered his weapon and waited for Bruce to get within an arm’s length, then in one quick motion slammed the butt of his rifle into the man’s face.  Bruce cried out and fell back on his ass.  The soldier laughed and stepped forward, slamming the rifle into the man again. This time Bruce didn’t say anything but fell onto his back.  The rest of Yankee Camp stopped watching but no one said anything or even reacted.  Alec started to stand up when someone called out.
                  “Stop!” He turned and saw Xu strolling up with a smirk on his face. The man said something in Chinese and the soldier beating Bruce answered back. Xu laughed once and waved him away. “So you hungry? I understand what it’s like to be hungry but here you have to earn what you get.” Xu looked over to Camp Yankee and Camp Rambo and everyone dropped their gaze. “I will give you all chance to earn more food.” 
                  Xu yelled out instructions in Chinese and one of the soldiers came out of a building with a thick rope over twenty feet long.  The soldier threw the rope in between the two camps.  Xu walked over to the tables and sat in a chair. “Winner gets another bowl.”
                  Members of both camps walked over to the rope and took up positions on opposite sides.
                  “Tug of war?” Bruce asked as he staggered onto his feet.
                  Tug of war for food.  Alec looked to Xu, who had a large smile on his face, which was reflected in the faces of the surrounding soldiers.  Alec walked over to take his spot on Camp Yankee’s side and as he grabbed hold of the rope and looked across he realized that Camp Rambo outnumbered them by over five people--not only that, but there was a beast of a man on the other side.  The man looked to be in his late forties and towered above his surrounding campmates, Alec estimated the man to be at least 6’6”, and his broad shoulders made him seem twice as wide as he actually was.  The man was emaciated like the rest of them but with plenty of food he would have been an ox.  The man gave orders to his camp and placed them in position and then it was quiet.
                  Xu smiled even wider. “Begin.”
                  The rope shot forward, burning Alec’s hand, before he finally gathered his grip.  Cries of determination came from both sides but it was over before it even began.  Alec put the full force of his body into pulling, but the rope’s momentum only paused briefly before it shot forward again and all of Camp Yankee was pulled off their feet.  The ground met Alec’s body hard and he lost hold of the rope.  He waited to hear a cry of joy or triumph from the other side but it never came.  Alec stood up and dusted himself off and watched as Camp Rambo just stood there emotionless.  The large man nodded toward a few of his campmates but everyone else just stood there.
                  Xu clapped several times and stood up.  “Rambo gets extra portion, Yankee go to bed.”
                  Alec’s stomach rumbled but he turned and began to follow the rest of Yankee to their building. Once again Bruce didn’t move.
                  “That’s not fair,” he stammered. “You need us. You want us to work hard then you need to feed us.  We can’t do