Human Error

Blood and Tears

Shrieking and wailing soon met all of our ears, sounding as if it came from every direction, even behind us where the rest of the cave lays out. Squad Leader Harrison peeked out from the mouth of this stone cavern and made a few hand signals. 3 o'clock. Stand your ground. Get ready. I raised the modified sniper rifle to my shoulder and checked the scope for what had the be the 10th time. When I lowered it, I backed up some more and now stood with the group of 10 year old mutants. Lucky kids… if I can even say that much. The most we had to worry about was the oncoming aliens and building these suits so we'd have enough oxygen to last a few days.

The sounds drew closer, snapping me free of my thoughts and bringing me back to reality. I turned my head sideways, "get ready, they're coming."

As if on cue, two of the bastards pounced to the entrance, deformed and mutilated. These weren't standing like the rest. These two had their spinal cords prominent and their necks contorted a certain way, their heads always stuck straight. They walked on their hands and legs, which were stretched out, elongated. They looked like spiders missing their four other legs; and they were nightmare inducing.

My comrades raised their weapons with slight hesitation and then fired at the deformed creatures. For such long bodies, they were mobile. At most, they got hit six times, and it hardly fazed them. We kept firing as more extraterrestrials of the type the kids had killed came along.

"Fall back! Fall back!" I heard Harrison yell; everyone turned and started towards the rest of the cave, still firing if they could. I got a few shots off and took down one of them. There was a horrible, bloodcurdling scream that came from behind me.

"Squad Leader!" someone yelled. I was unable to determine who it was.

"Ensign, get your ass in that cave before I throw you in there!" Mulligan. Shit… did we lose Harrison?

The kids looked horrified, one of which was curled up sobbing in another's arms. Winged arms, might I add. The rest were getting their weapons and preparing to fight. The tallest kid stood in front wielding this huge stick, obviously being either the person in charge or the protector

More screams and more pulsefire rounds being shot off. I nailed another one and my comrades, or what was left of them, handled most of the rest. There was a blur beside me, a flash of yellow and beige. I jumped and observed as this small girl, who wore a huge, disgusting grin, launched herself on the back of one of the aliens. It flailed and shrieked while reaching for her, to which she stabbed at its arms and then pressed her blade under it's chin. Jesus…these kids are monsters. The tallest kid came to help, bashing at the thing.

We finally took them out. Of the fleet, only 17 remained.

I dropped my sniper rifle and fell to the ground in front of a familiarly shaped body. Built, large muscle wise, and large hands. I grabbed one of those hands, my own a little under half its size, and broke down right then and there. Why did he have to die? Why did Xion have to die?! It's not fair!

It's all those mutants' faults…