{"id":2964,"date":"2016-08-26T00:00:28","date_gmt":"2016-08-26T04:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=2964"},"modified":"2016-08-25T21:21:33","modified_gmt":"2016-08-26T01:21:33","slug":"thirty-nine-02-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=2964","title":{"rendered":"Thirty-nine – 02"},"content":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Thom’s point of view.]<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHow do we look?\u201d J.T. asked as he came out to meet Thom partway between the gate and where he\u2019d been standing. Thom exhaled, shaking his head slightly as his friend fell into step with him, heading back.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing we can do until this is over,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll need to reinforce from the inside in a couple of spots and make sure we\u2019ve got ranged up in the tower and on the walls with pretty heavy cover. I really don\u2019t want whoever or whatever this is getting too close.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you really think we\u2019re going to have a choice in that regard?\u201d J.T. asked, his expression as grim as his tone.<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably not,\u201d Thom murmured. \u201cBut when do we ever, Jay?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, never,\u201d J.T. said, shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans. \u201cBut something\u2019s got to give sometime?\u201d<\/p>\n

Yeah, like us.<\/em> Thom shook his head with a grimace. \u201cDon\u2019t think that sometime is today, Jay\u2014but we can hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not like we\u2019ve got any other choices, right?<\/em><\/p>\n

His lips thinned.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s too many!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It was Matt\u2019s voice yelling and the sound shot shivers down Thom\u2019s spine. His ribs ached and his leg was worse, but he kept moving, limping toward the wall. He tried to shout but the words died in his throat, swallowed up by pain, by it being too damned hard to breathe.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cJust give me a few more seconds!\u201d Phelan shouted back. \u201cThat\u2019s all I need, just a few more seconds!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWe might not have that kind of time.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thom could see the Hunt on the wall, could see Paul up in the watch tower, sniping with his rifle. He didn\u2019t see Marin, but somehow he knew she was there somewhere\u2014though what she was doing was a mystery to him.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWhatever you\u2019re going to do, Phelan, you need to do it now or we\u2019re all dead!\u201d Matt yelled.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He could see his brother-in-law now, clinging to the wall near the gate. Blood streamed down his face from a gash at his hairline, glittering in the sun.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thom fought down the bile that rose in his throat.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Light flared in the distance followed by a sonic boom.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 His world went dark.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Thom’s point of view.] \u201cHow do we look?\u201d J.T. asked as he came out to meet Thom partway between the gate and where he\u2019d been standing. Thom exhaled, shaking his head slightly as his friend fell … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,217,14],"tags":[150,171,170,160,181,149,148,168,147,165,158,146],"class_list":["post-2964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-5","category-chapter-39-book-5","category-story","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-j-t-mackenzie","tag-matthew-astoris","tag-original-fiction","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-thom-ambrose","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-LO","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2964"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2965,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2964\/revisions\/2965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}