Nick of Time

Rushing to the precious center of a section of the wall, Tarian grabbed one of the rifles of the dead still lining the failing wall. He bent down, and a tear threatened to escape, but he forced the emotions down. He could grieve for the dead later. Tarian wished that the dead could have been given the respect they deserved, but they couldn’t spare the manpower. As a result, bodies and their rifles littered the walls.

With burning, hatred, Tarian popped up and fired upon the advancing horde. After getting a couple of shots off, he spun back under the meager protection the wall presented him. After a couple of moments, he turned toward a hole in the wall, and he could see the undulating mass below. Tarian brought his weapon to bear upon the swirling mass of body and sinew. As he studied the things through the scope, he could make out individual creatures.

Nick of Time

With methodical breaths, Tarian stared down at the things through his scope and with precision movements fired his rifle. Each lance of light took one of the swirling bodies in the chest, but before the corpse could fall from view more jumped in to fill the momentary void. As Tarian focused on taking another shot, he was torn from his perch. Though as Tarian’s body twitched to keep the enemy in his sight, he heard someone shout, “Tarian!”

The use of his name hit Tarian like a blow from a massive hammer. His beleaguered eyes looked at the source of the shout, and he saw Lloyd and Sherry. He crouched lower and asked them, “What is it?”

“We need to fire the missile,” Lloyd said as he ducked further from view.

Sherry stared at Lloyd, but she addressed Tarian. “No, we cannot use the last missile yet. We need to save it.”

“And what exactly do you want to save it for, Sherry?” Lloyd quipped as he tightened his grip on the debris from the crumbling wall. With narrowed eyes, he went on anger building with every word. “In case you haven’t noticed those things have massed right in front of us and show no signs of stopping any time soon.”

“We have to wait, Tarian,” Sherry pleaded as she ducked under an arrow.

Tarian shook his head and addressed Sherry, “No, Lloyd is correct. Their mass has centered itself. This is our chance to eradicate most of what’s out there.”

“What if you’re wrong?” Sherry asked as she tried to vanish from sight.

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