A MIND OUT OF TIME

-CHAPTER TWO-

The air above London hung thick and gray with the pollutants of ongoing war. Ignoring the old restrictions, the Belgian Army, which had invaded England two months before Bryce had been enlisted, had been using chemical weapons until they had been cut off from their Yugoslavian suppliers.

From his hospital bed, Lance Corporal Jack Anderson watched his son Ambrose take orders from Bryce Lynch. Both of them were young, and both had had their naïveté beaten out of them on the field of battle: Ambrose by the death of his cousin Richard, Bryce by a piece of shrapnel from a dirty bomb that had forever scarred his young face.

Anderson was proud of both of them. Ambrose and Bryce were good friends. It was nearly impossible to be in combat alongside a person, risking your life for them some days, having them do the same for you on others, and not become good friends.

On the streets of London, battles were waged daily. Many shops and flats had been reduced to rubble. Shelters were set up in the disused maternity wards. There were no births now. That had been forbidden because of the multitude of birth defects that had been caused by the chemicals in the air and water.

"Fall back and regroup!" Bryce called out to his soldiers as the Belgians brought in reinforcements from their Yugoslavian and Lithuanian allies

Reaching the husk of an old Zik Zak Know Chow, Bryce motioned for his fireteam to follow him inside.

Opening his rucksack, Bryce pulled out the radio and set it on the remains of a table in the corner.

"This is Second Lieutenant Bryce Lynch of Fenchurch Division currently in command of Fireteam Four," he radioed. "The Belgians just brought in their buddies and we're feeling a bit lonely here. Anyone read me?"

There was a disturbing silence for a matter of minutes. Then, a voice answered.

"Second Lieutenant Lynch, this is Corporal Fred Myers," an Australian accent came back. "Mind if me and my mates join the party?"

"Sure glad to have you, sir!" Bryce said as his team cheered. "The more the merrier. Transmitting location codes."

Bryce tapped the codes into the radio.

"Got them," Corporal Myers told him. "Tell them to get ready for a real battle, cause the Third Anzac Corps are on our way."

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