Arisen : Genesis by Michael Stephen Fuchs

told you where it is this time?”
    “Of course not. And I will be in the back of one of the tr— have to go.” The last three words were hissed. The call ended.
    Baxter walked in. “Zack. They’re ready.”
    “The hospital? We’re going?”
    Zack looked up. He could hear clomping on the stairs. Bob and Dugan appeared, carrying the wounded man down on a Talon assault stretcher, which normally lived upstairs folded up in a big nylon pouch. An IV bag lay on the man’s chest. They put him down in the hall and stepped inside the TOC.
    “Consider this your operational briefing,” Dugan said. Zack and Baxter spun up their attention and tried to get their game faces on. “Phase one is we have to recover the vehicle. We’re going to leave the casualty in the entryway while the four of us go out and secure the crash site.”
    Zack or Baxter must have betrayed alarm at this.
    Bob said, “It’s not total bedlam out there, though it’s not what you’d call safe either. But you’ll be okay.”
    Dugan resumed. “We’re basically going to need you two to pull security, one facing each direction up the street, while Bob and I rock the truck back on its wheels.”
    “Can you do that?” Baxter asked.
    “Barely,” Bob said.
    “And no choice,” Dugan said. “It’s too far to the hospital, and too crazy out there, to try and hoof it while carrying a litter. We’ll give you part two of the briefing in the truck.”
    “They’re going to take care of us, right?” Baxter whispered to Zack as they started to file out. But Bob overheard him.
    “Hey, I’m just here to drink beer and fuck fat chicks,” he said.
    Everyone laughed at the look this brought to Baxter’s face.

Rock & Roll
    Instead of exploding out the door in a dynamic exit, first Dugan carefully checked the front door camera. When the coast looked clear, he gently undid the locks, then eased open the door. This mirrored the evolution of SEAL tactics over the past fifteen years. Whereas they used to chuck flash-bang grenades and go in shooting… now they crept along in silence for as long as possible.
    They found they lived longer that way.
    Occasional single shots could still be heard in the distance, along with muted peals of AK bursts. And the smell of smoke was totally unmissable on the air, as well as in the eyes. But nothing was going on in their street. Leaving the stretcher in the entry, the four of them walked outside as the late afternoon began to bleed into early evening.
    Aside from the distant gunfire, it was almost peaceful. Half an hour ago, it had seemed like the city was a cooker set on boil, and building up to an explosion. Now it had calmed again. Maybe people were hunkering down, getting off the streets. Did this mean the panic was over? Or was it just a lull before the bigger storm?
    The SEALs placed the analysts where they wanted them, slung their rifles, and got on the other side of the truck, facing its roof. They began to rock it slowly, then faster, picking up momentum. Bob called it out: “Three… two… one… over!” And with that, the three-ton vehicle tipped over its center of gravity and rocked heavily onto its wheels. Dugan and Bob brought their rifles up, and resumed scanning every direction in 360.
    The problem with urban combat was that it was always 360.
    While the SEALs covered the group, Zack and Baxter hefted the stretcher, straining and adjusting their grips, and carried it out into the street. Moving in the open, Zack felt incredibly vulnerable. He was taking baby steps, and his grip threatened to fail at any second. The weight of an unconscious body was horrendous. Evidently, Baxter was both stronger and surer of grip.
    Basically, he was younger.
    But they managed to cross the distance and get the casualty into the back of the truck, and then followed it in. Dugan and Bob piled in front, started the engine without gunning it, and quietly rolled out.
    On the four-minute drive to Edna Adan Hospital, they didn’t