"Gustav Hasvord. The Short-Timers " - читать интересную книгу автора

the book into my thigh pocket and reach to the front of my flak jacket for
another grenade.
We work our way through the house, fragging every hallway, every room.
But we can't find the sniper.
The tank fires into the second story of the house next door.
I say, "No time."
Cowboy shrugs. "He wasted T.H.E. Rock."
I take a few steps down the stairs. Cowboy holds up his hand. "Listen."
Animal Mother's M-60 is ripping up the roof over our heads.
I say, "Is Mother dinky-dow? Crazy?"
Cowboy shakes his head. "No. Mother is a prick, but he's a good grunt."
We run back to the library.
We drag a heavy antique desk to the ruined skylight and Cowboy climbs
up onto it and lifts himself back onto the roof.
The crack of a Simonov sniper's carbine pierces the muted rhythm of
Mother's machine gun.
Cowboy falls back through the skylight. Alice, who has climbed up onto
the desk, catches Cowboy and eases him down to the desktop.
I pop a frag. I climb up onto the desk and take hold of the roof with
my left hand. I let the spoon fly. The spoon phinnnnings away and rattles
across the floor. I hold the sweaty green oval for three seconds and,
lifting myself up, I flip it up and back so that it rolls across the roof
directly over us. The frag bursts, spraying seven hundred and fifty pieces
of steel wire across the roof. The ceiling splits. Alice hugs Cowboy.
Plaster and splintered wood bounce off my helmet.
Rafter Man jumps up onto the desk and lift himself up onto the roof.
Surprised, I pull myself up after him.
The tank fires into the ground floor of the house next door.
Rafter Man and I crawl on our bellies on the roof.
Behind us, Alice lifts Cowboy over his head like a wrestler, deposits
him gently upon the roof. Then Alice climbs up. He picks Cowboy up in his
arms as though Cowboy were an oversized baby.
Doc Jay calls to us from the roof of the first house.
Alice pulls a tent rope from a thigh pocket and ties it under Cowboy's
arms. He flips the other end of the rope to Doc Jay. Doc Jay gets a good
grip on the rope and braces himself as Alice lowers Cowboy into the chasm
between the houses. Doc Jay pulls in the slack as Cowboy falls. Cowboy's
limp body swings over and thuds into the wall beneath Doc Jay's feet. Doc
Jay grits his teeth, pulls Cowboy up. Alice looks back at me, but I wave him
on. He leaps over to the first house.
Doc Jay gathers up all of our gear and Alice throws Cowboy over his
shoulder and they start back down.
Rafter Man has crawled up to the crest of the roof. He peeks over the
crest.
Bang. A hiss.
I crawl up beside Rafter Man. I take a peek. From behind a low chimney
at the opposite corner of the roof a thin black line protrudes.
We hear the incredibly loud clanking of the tank as it rolls on the
street below. It stops.
Animal Mother and Lance Corporal Stutten stop firing.