"William W. Johnstone - Ashes 13 - Fury In The Ashes" - читать интересную книгу автора (Johnstone William W)

dossier. You haven't seen much combat, have you?"
"Not much. After the Great War, even during the few
years of so-called peace under President Logan,
we stayed in our little valley there in Nevada and no
one ever bothered us. I worked as an RN in our
clinic. Then everything fell apart a couple of years
ago. I've been on the run since then."
"It must have been a very isolated little valley."
"Oh, yes. It was. But the outlaws found us."
"Were there so many coming at you that you couldn't fight
them?"
She smiled at him. "We weren't warriors,
General. We were teachers and technicians and
nurses and medical doctors and scientists. And
I suppose, looking back, very naive in our
thinking that we would
be left alone in our little paradise."
"Even paradise must be defended, Linda. I've
been told that even the gates of Heaven are guarded.
The Rebel army has not cleared the United
States of punks and thugs and crud by extending the
olive branch of peace to them. They'd have snatched it
out of our hands and stuck it up our ass."
She shook her head and tried to hide a smile.
"Is it true that you shoot criminals, General?"
"That depends on the crime, Linda. Understand this
now. We take very few prisoners. Anyone who
fights us is our mortal enemy and we will destroy
them. It's a brutal time we live in, Linda.
Always has been, for that matter. It's just a little
worse now. Or better, depending on your point of
view."
"Better?"
"We've got a chance to start over. And we're doing
it. Every sweep the Rebels make means we clear
the crud and leave the good. There are people not fifty
yards from us who were once criminals. They were the
smart ones. They saw the writing on the wall and
realized that the only thing that faced them was a bullet
or a noose. We gave them a chance to redeem
themselves, and they took it. But those days are
over, Linda. There are too many outposts where people could
surrender. Few do. What we are now facing is the
hard-core criminal element. Those punks south of
us know we're coming. They could surrender, and we'd
accept it. But only for the next few days. After that,
no."
"It seems so brutal."
"It's practical." He glanced at her. "I'm
curious about something."