To Be A Hero

By M.H. Lee

What's It Take To Be A Hero?

 

It's the year 2030 and the whole world is watching while American soldiers fight insurgents in Syria. But with TV networks in charge of the war what's the real goal and is a hero really a hero?

• Language: English
• Publisher: M.H. Lee
• Release date: Feb 16, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524209599

Book preview

To Be A Hero

ALSO BY M.H. LEE

When the Time Comes and Other Stories

The following short stories which are part of the collection are also available on an individual basis in ebook format:

The Bearer *

The Price We Pay *

Death Answered My Call *

Drowning In Their Darkness *

To Be A Hero

The Taste of Memory

In Search of a Frickin' Hero

By Your Side When the Sun Sets

Titles with an * were also previously included in the essay and short story collection A World Dark & Cold which is no longer available for purchase.

TO BE A HERO

United States, 2030

Brian leaned forward, his gaze riveted on the large flatscreen television that covered most of the living room wall. He'd dimmed the lights in the room so that nothing distracted from the tense action playing out before him.

On the screen, First Sergeant Balimor ducked behind a concrete barricade somewhere outside Tadmur Syria, his gun clutched close to his chest as enemy gunfire hit the ground in a staccato rhythm, little puffs of dirt floating through the air with each shot.

Brian could almost smell the dust and ozone of the battle. His hands clenched as he imagined himself there next to the First Sergeant, a gun gripped tight in his hands, adrenaline coursing through his veins.

The sergeant and his men were pinned down by at least ten insurgents. He and his soldiers had made a mad dash for safety across a litter-strewn courtyard, one man providing cover fire as the others threaded their way through a maze of broken concrete and rebar.

But now there was nowhere else to go. They were stuck, trapped.

First Sergeant Balimor called in a strike on the enemy position. It was amazing how precise bombing runs had become since the networks took over the war. Even two years ago, the sergeant could've never called down a bomb practically on top of his own head without even flinching. But now he could.

As the insurgents continued to fire at the barricades where First Sergeant Balimor and his men waited for rescue, Tanya Young, Brian's favorite reporter—she looked like an angel with her soulful blue eyes and honey-blonde hair—took shelter next to the sergeant.

First Sergeant Balimor. She flashed him a dimpled smile as if they were just sitting on her front porch drinking some sweet tea on a hot Sunday afternoon. Pretty intense fighting back there.

He nodded, his hands still clenched around his gun as another barrage of bullets hit the barricade to their left. Given enough time the insurgents' bullets would cut through the concrete barriers currently sheltering the men. They needed that air strike.

Brian clenched his own hands as he strained to hear the sound of drones approaching.

Were you scared? Tanya asked as a grenade exploded about ten feet away. She didn't even flinch, her soft blue eyes focused on the sergeant.

He glared at her for a second,