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

not they're beefing up the gangs in San
Francisco is something we have yet to learn. But if
I had to take a guess, I'd say they're not.
I'd bet they're heading for the L.a. area. San
Francisco is a box that we're going to nail a
lid on."
Leadfoot of the bikers said, "You want some of my people
to roll south, General? We could get you some
intelligence on where they're heading."
"It would be risky, Leadfoot. Maybe too
risky. You'd be out of communication range in a few
miles. If you carried anything that would reach us, that
would immediately be a tip-off to any gang member with the
sense of a warthog. We don't have repeater
systems in this part of the country, yet."
"If we don't try, General," Wanda
said, "we'll be going in blind."
"That's true. I won't make a decision until
after Redding is taken tomorrow. We may get lucky and
get our hands on prisoners who want to talk.
Get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a
very busy day."
Ben walked back to his quarters and took down his
M-14, cleaning it carefully. Smoot lay on
her bed and watched him, waiting for a chance
to sneak-attack him and give Ben a wet lick in
his ear.
The old Thunder Lizard had taken a lot of
criticism since its inception back in 1957 when
it was introduced as the T44 and adopted by the
military as the M-14. Critics decried the
weapon as being too heavy (8.7 pounds, empty),
and the sighting system as too complicated. The bipod
was too heavy, they said. Ben had put his people to work on
the weapon and they'd modified the rifle, coming up with a
thirty-round staggered box magazine that worked and a
bipod made of much lighter material. The
7.62x5lmm bullet (.308) packed a much
heavier wallop than the .223, and besides, Ben
liked the weapon. He had carried a Thompson
SMG for years, but finally had had to retire
the weapon when he discovered the Rebels were holding it
in as much awe as they did the general. The M-14
was a man's rifle, for on full auto the weapon
could punish the shoulder of an inexperienced shooter.
Ben did not fall into that category.
Ben turned his head and Smoot nailed him.
Ben was up long before dawn the next morning. He
shaved and dressed while the coffee was boiling on his
little camp stove. He heard a slight noise