Predator Stalking Shadows 38

"Scott was beginning to wonder how this situation would resolve itself, with neither he nor Ellison prepared to give an inch, when his question was answered in the most spectacular and devastating fashion. All at once there was a massive explosion behind him, the blast from which hit him like a truck and sent him flying through the air. For an instant he felt like Superman, swooping toward his enemy. He caught a glimpse of Ellison's eyes and mouth stretched open, a mask of either rage or shock, and then Scott was engulfed in a cloud of smoke and hurtling shrapnel, which hit Ellison and his men full-on."pg.289-290 chpt.11

"The nearest splash of vivid red was soaking the left side of a soldier who was lying on his back. Something, a piece of shrapnel, had torn open not only his combat fatigues but the flesh and bone beneath. The entire left side of his body,
from just beneath his breastbone to his groin, was now a massive open wound with red things spilling out of it. The soldier was still alive, his hands, also red, pressed to his side as he tried desperately to hold himself together. His teeth were clenched and his face was screwed up in pain. He was one of Ellison's men, but what side he was on didn't matter." "Ahead of him were more of Ellison's men. Some lying still, some writhing and groaning, some starting to sit upright. But where was Ellison? And then Scott saw him, half-buried"pg.291 chpt.11

"He staggered forward, leaned over him, stared into looking at, and his face. At first he couldn't tell what he was stretched out a hand, half-intending to brush away some of the debris. Then things came into focus, and at once he realized what it was about Ellison's face that he hadn't been able to work out. The man's features were gone. They had been crushed, obliterated, by a jagged chunk of rock that must have hit him with the speed of a cannonball, judging by the fact it was still embedded in his face."pg.292 chpt.11

"Of his own now eighteen-strong team, twelve were able-bodied and six too injured to fight. As if reading his thoughts, Marcus said, "What's our next move, sir?" Scott thought about it. They could retreat - and probably should - but with only twelve fit men to carry six casualties that would leave them horribly vulnerable to attack."pg.297 chpt.11

"He was ten meters to Scott's left, with two other guys. All three of them were now pointing their rifles at the far end of the clearing, where Ellison and four of his mercs had died."pg.298 chpt.11