Destroyers of the Lost Garden (The Lost Garden Trilogy Book 3) by K.T. Tomb

being curled up was next to impossible. He started to panic as he thought his ride would never end. His lungs started to burn and his chest tightened. He knew that if he wasn’t able to breathe soon, the Chosen One would be knocked out of the war, before he even had a chance to fight.
     
    ***
     
    Geronimo rested underneath the truck next to the one he’d blown up. The ground was uncomfortable as he repositioned himself while he protected the backpack. Well, they did want to see what was in his backpack. Since it was their last request, it was the least he could do. He doubted it would work the same way if he ran into any others.
    He heard people running all around what was left of the destroyed truck. They seemed to be cursing. He saw legs dressed in military boots running all around the area. He counted at least ten soldiers. Ten to one? Been there. Done that.
    Never had the stakes been so high. Just trying to imagine his mission was surreal. It was like a wild dream. No matter what the outcome was, it was most assuredly not a happy ending for him. Geronimo slowly pulled out a picture of his wife and him. It was his favorite photo of Molly. He was behind her with his arms wrapped around her as she faced the camera. She had that sparkle in her eyes. That sparkle was for him and him alone.
    Whenever he was away from her for any amount of time, he would kiss the photo as if it would be the last time he would get a chance to kiss her. When he returned, he gave her the most passionate kiss he had ever given her up to that point.
    He smiled as he closed his eyes and kissed the picture. He always held on to the belief that he would see his Molly again.
    He couldn’t have picked a better place to keep his faith strong.
    He opened his eyes, put his picture away and looked in the direction of the tanks. He couldn’t judge the exact distance because of the trucks in front of him; being flat on the ground didn’t help either and he’d lost one of his Mac 10s in his hurry to find shelter from the explosion. Carefully, he loaded the other.
    He inched closer to the side of the truck that was furthest from the gathering of soldiers and checked as much of the area as he could from his supine position.             
    He took a breath and clutched the backpack with all of his might. He inched out from under the truck. He was vulnerable. Thankfully, his enemy was focused on pulling their friends out of the mess he’d made. A mess he made just to survive. It was worth it.
    He stood slowly and looked around. He tried to walk as stealthily as he could to the next truck when he heard someone behind him shout.
    “Shoot him! There he is!”
    Geronimo started to run to toward the tank. It seemed even further away than before. As he ran he zigzagged back and forth to make himself a harder target to hit. He gritted his teeth and focused on his goal. If he could just reach the tank.
    That’s when the automatic weapons opened fire.
     
    ***
     
    It was dead quiet inside the fortress. Sulina strained to hear the low hum of the emergency lighting. The lights were positioned on the wall, every twenty feet and mainly in the halls.
    Sulina took point as Morina and the others followed. Ellisia brought up the rear. Despite not having much light, they could see just as easily as if it were outside in broad daylight. The Fallen had a keen sense of night vision.
    Sulina stopped in front of the metal door that led to the stairs.
    “It looks like we have our work cut out for us,” she said, as she looked through the small glass window crisscrossed with wire. She saw that the stairwell was undamaged.
    “I’m curious, Ellisia. How are the lights still operational? I thought all of the power was taken care of with the computer virus.”
    Ellisia looked up at the closest light.
    “It’s an emergency power system activated only when the main power is cut off.”
    “So, that means there is a possibility that the main power can be restored