Charles winced as the room fell silent. Rob set his gun on the table and walked out.
* * *
Later that night I saw Rob sitting on a ridge by himself. I wanted to go up and talk with him, or just sit with him, but I was young and scared so I just watched as he sat there, all night.
* * *
"Why, I've seen civilians die before. I've killed thousands of people in this damn war... so why is her death different? Is it because I had to pull the trigger on her, a civilian?"
Rob took the last drag of his cigarette and flicked the butt at a school bus.
"What is different between a civilian and a soldier? Does it make that much of a difference?"
Rob sat the rest of the night in silence watching over the camp, wondering if this ten-year-old girl starring back would also meet the end of his gun before the end of the week when their rations run out. Starvation is the worst way to go, and everything be damned if Rob will let her go through that.
* * *
"Aaah," cried out a voice from inside the camp.
"Turned," shouted Rob as he came rushing back to the group, "George, get them out of here, John with me."
As George threw me over his shoulder, I got a glimpse of the fight, at least fifteen of those things surrounded Rob and another five on John. I could still hear the screams as we turned the corner.
"This spot should be safe for now, SP-Unit... we'll just call you 98, stay here, guard Charles and Beth."
"We'll be safe here Beth," Charles said in a comforting voice.
It felt like hours before any of them returned.
YOU ARE READING
We All Fall
Science FictionA nuclear war broke out between major powers in the year 2022, Beth and a team of soldiers in advanced combat suits journey through the wasteland in search of any remaining pieces of civilization. Mutated people, raiders and radiation everywhere the...
