No Surrender

Written for the Daily Flash Fiction Challenge with a word limit of 300.

The prompts: Story must take place at an airport

No Surrender

Colonel Savage downed the ham sandwich in three bites. It was the first food he had eaten since yesterday morning. His g-suit took care of biochemical stability issues; still, there was no real substitute for food in one’s belly.

He looked around the canteen and saw himself in every battered and gaunt face. They were losing the war. Everyone knew it and yet, they continued to fight on. Flight crews worked around the clock to patch fighters that, in an earlier time, would have been scrapped for spare parts. Pilots took the battle to the enemy without fear, knowing they were out-numbered and out-gunned. Fewer and fewer returned each day.

Americans had not had to fight a battle on their own shores since the Civil War, nearly two centuries ago. The history books had said the war had resulted in the survival of the United States. Those same books said that the winners had been just in their battle. It was right that the Union had won.

History books are always written by the ones that win.

This war was going to be different in two ways. First of all, the devastation was on a scale never before seen. Entire cities had been reduced to ash. Secondly, the United States of America would lose. There was no way to change that outcome. The invasion had been swift, unexpected and completely overwhelming.

Colonel Savage took no pride in the fact that the United States was going to be the last country to fall. His one regret was the fact that there would be no one left to write the history books. This would be the end of Man.

He looked up to see the flight crew signal that his aircraft was ready.

It was time to fly. Time to fight.

Word count 300