The Return Home – Part 20

Shepherd Book, six Alliance soldiers, and the pilot of their crashed shuttle were sitting in the wreckage of the shuttle as waves of Reavers attacked them through the surrounding forest in a park in Miranda’s capital city. All of them were injured in some way or another and ammo was getting low for the few weapons they had. The pilot had called for helped from the nearby Alliance battle cruiser Dortmunder but that help was still minutes away and the Reavers were pressing their attacks. Lying unconscious in the wreckage of the shuttle was High Chancellor Adam Cutter, the man Book swore to kill. He promised himself to save the last bullet for Cutter if the Reavers broke through their defenses.

Now a new wave of Reavers was running and screaming and shooting bullets and darts and many other projectiles at their place of refuge. A spear was thrown and caught one soldier square in the chest and down he went with a gargled scream. The pilot was the next to die as a bullet struck him in the face and he dropped without a sound. Two more soldiers went down from gun shots and Book couldn’t tell if they were dead or just wounded more. He himself had a broken left leg, a badly wretched back, and multiple cuts and bruises from the crash. Now as the Reaver attack reached the shuttle wreckage he knew it was time to make peace with God.

The Reavers were among them and it came to close quarters combat. Reavers died and then two more soldiers were dead and Book and the last two soldiers fired their last bullets from the interior of the shuttle wreckage and then they knew it was over as they prepared to use their guns as clubs. Book couldn’t even stand to turn around and kill Cutter as he had sworn and as a Reaver stood over him snarling and raising a nail studded club to kill him, Book said his final prayer. Then their was a scream of pain as red spots blossomed over the Reaver’s body and as he fell the others turned to see Jayne Cobb laying into to them with Vera on full auto. In a few seconds a