CROC

The Officials moved like a school of fish, so tightly packed it was hard to tell where one shield ended and the next began. The men opened fire, their bullets pinging off the glass. Pointless. Wasted. Their unfazed targets spread out like links in a chain, circling the main building. We were at a standoff. One step forward, and they were easy prey. We had them trapped, but for how long?

"Won't we run out of bullets?" I roared above the chaos.

"Can't get shit past you!" Reggie kept his finger on the trigger, his eyes wild, and his arm vibrating beneath the force of each shot. "Tex is taking his damn sweet time!"

As if Tex heard him, he kicked the door back open and tossed a lit bundle of dynamite. It skidded across the ground, rolled beneath the shields, then boom.

Screams erupted. Dust, fire, and bodies blew into the air. It rocked my bones and nearly tossed me from the tower. I gripped the rail. A hunk of debris collided with Reggie's head, knocking him backwards.

I ducked for cover and crawled over to him. "You alright!"

He clutched the spot, blood seeping through his fingers. "What hit me?" He looked to his left. A booted foot lay on its side. "That's got to be the goddamn nastiest shit to ever happen to me."

Another explosion shook the tower, and I scrambled over and grabbed the light. Smoke rolled, allowing me brief glimpses of the carnage below, but I couldn't see enough to pick a target. The wall of Officials had dissolved. Any order at all was gone. As the clouds cleared, bile rose into my throat. A few of the men were beating open the locks to the other buildings, and stampedes of ghostly-pale corpses burst from within. They tore over one another, pushing and shoving with wild, glassy, unblinking eyes.

They'd been locked in the dark, starved, diseased. It was so much worse than death. It was. . .cruel. Senseless. Why?

I froze, watching them and the men still raging against one another. Bodies lay scattered wherever they'd landed, both whole and in pieces. Ours and theirs. So much blood. So much death. So little purpose. This was humanity. This was what Willow had tried to explain. This was what she feared, and why Pappy had insisted I hide.

Reggie hobbled to his feet and slumped over the gun. Blood spilled from his hairline, dripping down his face. He pulled the trigger, firing off a few rounds before swaying on his feet. I caught him just before he tipped over and lowered him back to the floor. He clutched his head.

"Just stay down," I said. I stood and began throwing knives, taking down an Official with each one. An injured Tex hobbled toward the main building, Merle and Cecil supporting his weight on either side. I reached for a blade and found my belt empty.

I turned. Reggie lay unconscious—slow, shallow breaths the only thing separating him from the dead below. I eyed the gun. I'd watched the men enough times, I knew how it worked, but I'd sworn to never use one. But if they didn't make it inside, then this was all for nothing. I grabbed it, testing the weight and feel in my hands. Slowly, I pulled the trigger, and it kicked back as if it were alive. I jolted, then tightened my grip and aimed again, focusing on the Officials closest to them and working my way outwards.

They disappeared inside, and I turned my aim elsewhere, everywhere. The Earth was colorless no longer; black charr and deep red painted the ground in splotches. I kept shooting, adding more details to the gruesome picture we'd created.

Until a group of shielded Officials caught my attention. I fired on them, my bullets ricocheting backward, doing nothing to stop them as they marched closer, headed straight for us. The man in their center had a strange pack on his back, and a gun unlike any I'd seen before. One of them motioned to us, shouting a command. Then the man pointed, and a stream of flames shot forward, drenching the beams of our tower. A burst of heat wafted around us, and I jumped back, feeling like a fish just dropped into the frying pan.

"Reggie!" I bent down and shoved his shoulder, but it was a wonder he was even still alive. Too much blood pooled around him. His skin was pale. But we needed to move, and I couldn't just leave him behind, no matter how much I disliked him.

The temperature rose, fire dancing up the walls, flicking through the gaps in the floor. With a groan, I hoisted him up, slinging him over my shoulder. He was heavier than a gator. Massive as a bear. Awkward to hold onto, and I couldn't climb down. We had to jump.

I moved to the backside of the tower. The inferno raged, fighting to barricade us in before we could escape. Any second, and our chance was gone. I stepped up onto the wall and looked down. Smoke rolled up, blacker than the blackest night, swallowing us up and singeing our lungs. I held my breath, searching for the best place to land, but I couldn't see anything.

I beat my chest with my free hand then roared as I leapt blindly. Gravity snatched and yanked me down, while every other part of me lifted: my organs, my eyelids, every hair on my body. Reggie levitated out of my hold, and I frantically looked down, searching for the ground. Then I crashed into it.

My leg snapped; red hot pain sliced through me. I scrambled, searching the ground for where Reggie had landed. I found him a few feet away, but I could barely stand, let alone pick him up. The tower gave an almighty groan, then a flaming beam slammed to the ground beside us. I cried out, then grabbed Reggie's arm, dragging him with me as I clawed my way forward.

The wood screeched, like a creature lurking within the smoke, ready to devour. Another crash sounded overhead, then to the right.  I released a harsh breath as I strained, using all my strength to heave Reggie another inch. Sweat coated my skin. My heart thundered against my ribs. Each time I moved, the searing torture in my leg radiated up my spine. Stars filled my vision; I blinked them away. I grunted, growling, roaring, as if death were something I could scare away. I would not die. My muscles flexed as I picked up speed. Crawl. I would not die. Pull. I would not die. Crawl. I would not die!

An ear splitting squeal ripped through my ear drums, and the air whooshed. I covered my head with both hands, body tensed for impact. It was like being inside a storm cloud, at the center of its thunder, a rumbling booms echoing in every direction. I hissed as something hit my back, then flinched, mouth opening on a silent cry, as a board smacked into my injured leg.

Then, as quickly as it'd started, it was over. I coughed and pushed up from the rubble, checking Reggie's pulse, shocked to find him still alive. I listened to his heart, tracking the rise and fall of his chest. We'd survived this long, but we weren't out of the woods yet, and we'd never make it by crawling. I patted his face. "Reggie, wake up." I shook him hard. "Wake up!"

It was no use. He didn't budge. I was about to give up and leave on my own to find help, when bootsteps pounded the ground, headed toward us.

I struggled up, baring my teeth, expecting the Officials, but instead, a few of ours rushed into view. "Holy fuck! You assholes survived that!"

Two of the men lifted Reggie, then the third, Isaac, supported my weight on one side. We stumbled over the debris and out of the smoke. "Tex," I panted. "They were inside."

"That's the plan," Isaac said. "This place is meant to blow any minute. It's time to get the hell out of dodge."

A group of Free Soldiers lay belly down, exchanging fire with the Officials at the fence. Hordes of ghostly figures stampeded past them, down the hill, toward the town. We followed their frenzy, tears springing each time my left foot touched the ground. Distantly, I heard Tex roar, "Fall back! Fall back! Fall back!" Another explosion erupted behind us.

We stumbled down the hill, gaining ground back toward the city. We needed cover. We needed buildings and walls and anything that could help offset the blast, but it was too far. "We'll never make it!" I said, my gaze scanning for anyplace closer we could take cover.

"We wi—"

Something warm and wet splattered across my vision, and we fell forward, slamming into the ground. I coughed, choking on dirt as I craned my neck. "What happened?"

I froze. Isaac lay face down, a blanket of hair and blood obscuring his features. The back of his head was gone, replaced by a steaming, black hole. I shuddered. His arm was still draped across my back, his grip tight on my ribs, as if he'd tried to use me to cling onto this world.

Feet pounded the Earth around us, spindly bodies sprinting for salvation. One stumbled over me, and I bared my teeth, roaring against the ground as blue-hot fire rocketed up my spine. I tried to get up, but I couldn't move. The pain was too much; my left leg seemed to be missing. I flopped down, pressing my cheek to the ground, shivering and cold and exhausted. I was so, so tired.

"Pappy has to go sleep now."

Shadows gathered across my vision, promising peace, and for the first time in my life, I let them win.