"I hope the rest of you can manage the gun while I'm gone!" Jerry cried.
"We'll manage all right until you get back."
A faint far-away roar sounded in Jerry's earphones. The sound became rapidly louder. "No sense in me coming back, Lieutenant, because from the sound of things, you won't be around much longer."
Jerry backed toward the concrete steps that would take him to ground level. He climbed up, kicking away litter so that he would have places for his feet. He kept the rifle pointed at the motionless, watching men. The roar became louder.
Lieutenant Blake called up to him. "You're from the inland area, aren't you, Conlon? I think the chances for your family were pretty good. Emergency stations are starting to come through from the interior. The guided missiles had a lot of near-misses."
Out of the corners of Jerry's eyes he detected a strange looking dark cloud appearing along the horizon. From the west, not the east! That was odd. The dark cloud spread across the horizon, coming closer. Rocket planes! Hundreds of them!
Jerry was at ground level now. Up here there would be no protection. A blast and shock wave could sweep across the flat ground unhindered. The roar became deafening. Now he could recognize the ships. They were Army Comets!
He wanted to leap with joy. His spine tingled with excitement. The cloud was roaring overhead now. The Comets flashed onward, bent on a purpose, a death-dealing, earth-shaking purpose! That's the way the Enemy had wanted it. The Enemy had chosen its weapon, and the Army was on its way to blow the Enemy so sky-high that its own attack on Jerry's homeland would seem insignificant by comparison.
Jerry tossed his rifle over the edge of the bulwark. The thunder overhead snuffed out the clatter of the rifle when it struck the concrete below. Jerry went down the steps holding his hands over his head. It was a full minute before he stumbled back to where he had started. "I changed my mind about leaving, Lieutenant!" Jerry shouted. He might as well have been trying to shout above the roar of a hurricane.
The Lieutenant waved Jerry's arms down, and Jerry was close enough to detect a smile inside the Lieutenant's helmet. Blake turned and walked away in the direction of the dugout as though nothing had happened.