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Reality no longer existed Pitt felt as if he were fighting a war A grenade went off, a crushing explosion that deafened hiht off balance and thrown backward

His head struck against a steel pipe and an expanding ball of fire flashed inside his head And then, like a wave breaking in the surf, the nightmare swept over and smothered him

The Special Operations Forces landed and regrouped behind the ore tracks that shielded their approach fros They quickly spread out in a loose battle formation and waited for the command to move in The snipers established their positions around the h their scopes

Hollis, with Dillenger at his side, crawled up to the summit of the tracks and cautiously peered over The scene had the look of a graveyard

The ghost e for a battle, but the cold rain and barren round

The dull gray sky fell and gave the decaying buildings the look of a place that didn't belong to any world

The firing had stopped Two of the outer buildings were blazing fiercely, the s into the low overcast Hollis counted at least seven bodies littering the road on one side of the crushing mill

"I hate to sound mundane," said Hollis, "but I don't like the look of it"

"No sign of life," agreed Dillenger, peering through a pair of small but powerful binoculars

Hollis carefully studied the buildings for another five seconds and then spoke into his transht, let's mind our step and move in-"

"One moment, Colonel," a voice broke in

"Hold the order," snapped Hollis

"Sergeant Baker, sir, on the right flank I have a group of five people approaching up the railroad track"

"They armed?"

"No, sir They have their hands in the air"