As the copter flew over the open waters, Black looked around the interior. He'd started the day with a dozen men. Half of them had died or were seriously wounded. Men like Keane and Gimble would live to fight another day. Men like Diaz, Hawkins, Nico, and Graves had lost their lives for the sake of the mission. Men that he'd recruited, trained, and fought next to. They were like brothers, and somehow trading their lives to get access to an uninhabited island didn't seem like a fair trade to him.
Black looked around the helicopter and saw Gimble and Spags. Gimble was heavily sedated, with his broken arm resting comfortably in an impromptu sling. And then there was Spags. Despite his poorly timed jokes, the man had come through when he needed to the most just like Black knew he would. He was currently doing hand puppets over the copter's rotor noise, and several children were deeply entranced by his hand motions. He wondered how many of the other people Atkins had managed to get to safety. He'd heard the Lieutenant had managed to avoid losing any more of Black's squad, and he was grateful for that. They'd already been evacuated to Hope Island, and Black couldn't wait until he'd be reunited with his friends and squadmates once again.
But he couldn't help but wonder how many of the people on this helicopter and the others like them already on Hope Island would become the new building blocks of the human race. Only time would tell. Until somebody came up with a permanent solution for the Reapers, Black and his team would keep acting like Operation Freedom was an ongoing mission. Because right now, it seemed like the only sure thing in this crazy new world.
Acknowledgments
Special thanks:
To Nicholas Sansbury Smith. Thank you for suggesting in late 2016 that I write this story for your Extinction Cycle world. It became part of Amazon's Kindle Worlds program for your great book universe. This story was greeted by your loyal readers and you with virtual open arms which meant a lot to me.
When 'Zon decided to discontinue Kindle Worlds and unpublish this novella (along with hundreds of other authors' works), that wasn't the end of the journey.
You reached out to me and asked me if I wanted to rewrite this novella as my own universe or be part of a box-set of other indie authors.
In the end, I made the business decision to rewrite this novella and make it part of my Wretched series universe. But no matter what, I appreciate your unwavering support every step of the way. More importantly, I consider you a valued colleague and friend.
To my wife and my two children, who immediately got excited about this book. The running question for weeks was “But is it going to have zombies?” Sorry to say there’s no zombies in this story, but I still love each and every one of you with all of my heart and soul.
To my mom. Thank you for everything you do and who you are. I love you.
To my editors Pat and Wendy, who once again hunted down any mutant typos or grammar mistakes and shot them down with extreme prejudice. Thank you for your help once again.
To Officer Keith (name withheld to protect his privacy). As a proud member of the Philadelphia Police Force, he was able to advise me on current tactics, weapons, and methods for both SWAT and police. Thanks again for your help—this book is a stronger and better one because of you.
Some quick book-related comments.
First, based on my own educational experiences while pursuing two previous health-related college degrees, I've yet to come across a research lab which had its own restroom. Having said that, I couldn't resist having some literary fun by making one and killing off a character in it. So blame it on author imagination and not on ignorance of how a real lab would be laid out.
Second, there is a Hope Island, which is part of Rhode Island. It is indeed a bird sanctuary where people are not allowed to be on the island for certain months of the year. The Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island ordering building materials to be sent to the island and being best friends with another Lieutenant Governor is straight from my own imagination.
Third, the SWAT team members in this book are presented as being extremely accurate shooters. This was something I thought long and hard about how I should portray their skills.
The thing is... when it comes to training and gunplay, Philly SWAT is in a league of their own.
They were the first SWAT team ever created so there's some serious bragging rights about staying "first and best" in the SWAT community for them.
To join SWAT, you have to be a member of the Philadelphia Police Force for at least five years and a superior officer has to recommended you try out.
Part of the initial test to join SWAT is two separate firing range style tests. A SWAT candidate has to score 95% or better on both accuracy tests in order to pass that test.
The next test is to drag a 180 pound weighted mannequin two hundred yards out of a building. The SWAT candidate is in full battle gear and has to pull the “fallen teammate” to safety by themselves.
The men and women of Philly SWAT are typically at the firing range 2-3x/week. That's in addition to all of their drill work and training exercises (i.e. breach and take down robbers in a bank robbery scenario).
They are extremely fit. They are in the gym, lifting weights and doing cardio two hours every day because it's mandatory for them.
That's for all Philly SWAT team members.
A Philly SWAT sniper is an even more impressive. You see, the only way to become a Philly SWAT sniper is to challenge and beat out an existing one in an accuracy contest. If they are beaten, the existing SWAT sniper has to willingly concede that the challenger is better than them and hand over their rifle (and their position as SWAT sniper) to their conqueror.
Officer Keith told me that during his time on the force, he has never heard of a single SWAT sniper being bested in an accuracy challenge.
It's for these reasons that I felt it was important to have Black and his men be extremely accurate shooters and seem almost “super human” in combat.
Last but not least, to my current and new readers. I hope you enjoyed Operation Freedom. If so, please take a few moments to leave a review where you purchased this novella. As a self-published author, every honest review helps other people know about my books and inspires me to keep writing them.
Thanks again for reading this book. You can check out any of my other books offered on Amazon by doing a search on my name.
Or if you prefer, you can check out my Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/E.G.-Michaels/e/B00NU1V4Y2/
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