Assault or Attrition Read Online Free PDF Page A

would be nearly impossible to locate, let alone travel to
across hundreds of kilometers of rocky terrain. And if anyone from
the Red Army was able to find me, there was no way they were getting in; based on the initial specs I’d
reviewed, the fortress was reinforced, top to bottom, with iridium
plating – it would take a nuclear blast just to cause a dent.
    I explained the
impressive list of amenities to Peyton as the floor plans slid by.
“It has everything,” I said excitedly, swiping over to a photograph
of the massive dome, “including an ecosystem generator that can
replicate any climate. Even during the coldest months of winter we
can swim in a tropical oasis. And the best part is that there are
enough resources to sustain us for decades . I’ll be
protected from the Red Army, and we never have to leave.”
    She shook her
head from side to side, eyes reflecting a deep sadness. I’d seen
Peyton upset before; I’d seen her drained, defeated and demoralized
– I’d been at her side during her worst days. But this was
something different. It was as if she was in mourning. “What makes
you think I’d want to live there?” she asked.
    I stared at her
for a moment, puzzled by her question. This was the most logical
plan I could imagine, and I’ve pored over every possible scenario.
“You don’t get it: you’d never have to work again. We’d have
everything we need at our fingertips; safety, security, all the
money we need. It’s perfect.”
    She glared back
at me. “You’re unbelievable, you know that?”
    “I don’t—”
    “This is your
man cave all over again,” she interrupted. “That dusty concrete
cube you’d hibernate in when you lived in The Fringe. This is just
bigger and has nicer bathrooms.”
    “But it’s safe ,” I assured her.
    Peyton brushed
the long pink strands from her face and sighed deeply, sagging
against the wall. “So is a prison cell, Matt. You don’t want to
live in this dome to be ‘safe’ from the Red Army. You want to hide.
You want to bury your head in the sand and pretend that life isn’t
going on around you. I thought – or I hoped , at least – that
after Arena Mode you’d learned something.”
    “People hate
me, ” I shouted, much louder than I’d intended. “I could get
killed at any moment. How can you not get that?”
    “There are a
lot of unpopular people. People who make hard decisions that affect
millions, and they don’t go into hiding. They go out and
live their lives.”
    “And they’re
taking a huge risk,” I replied.
    She took a few
steps across my small recovery room and placed a warm hand on
either side of my face. Her voice softened and her eyes drew me in.
“You lived . For the first time in your life you stood up,
made a tough decision and fought for something. Arena Mode should
have been your wake-up call: live life to the fullest, because it
can end when you least expect it. And here you are, ready to throw
in the towel.”
    I pulled her
hands off my face and squeezed them gently. “I don’t think you
understand the gravity of the situation.”
    “I don’t think you get it. The more you retreat into your shell – do
nothing, say nothing – it’s just going to upset people even more.
You’re a public figure now. Running makes it look like you have
something to hide.”
    I raked my
fingers through my hair and exhaled loudly. “I don’t want to
be a public figure. I never asked for this.”
    “And I never
asked to be this cute and insightful,” Peyton replied with a tiny
smile. “We all have our crosses to bear.”
    I returned the
smile, but it quickly faded from my lips. What she was proposing
didn’t make sense – for any of us. “Look, Fortress 23 is my only
option at this point. Maybe, once this Sergei Taktarov thing has
died down, in a year or two, I can come back to New York. Then we
can start fresh.”
    “That’s kind of
the thing about life,” she replied with an exasperated sigh. “It doesn’t die down.