POV: BELIEF SETTLEMENT
It was nighttime, and that meant the demon dogs would soon appear.
Major Cromwell had Brin his second in command and the other soldiers on high alert, anticipating the attack. Meanwhile, Oliver stood nearby, still arguing with him about the plan.
“Major, you cannot go ahead with this,” Oliver insisted, his voice rising in frustration.
“Oh? And why not?” Major Cromwell responded with a hint of disdain.
Oliver crossed his arms. “Because you're planning to have your soldiers fire from the walls with those rifles.”
“Affirmative.”
“Well, based on what we’ve seen from those rifles, half of them are going to explode. That’s going to give the demon dogs the time they need to scramble up the walls.”
Major Cromwell gave a dismissive snort. “These are demon dogs. At the end of the day, they’re dogs.” He emphasized the word ‘dog’ like it was a joke.
Oliver’s expression hardened. “You’re right—and you’re wrong. These are ‘demon‘ dogs,” he stressed the word demon, making sure the Major didn’t miss the difference.
Cromwell waved him off. “Don’t worry about it, citizen.”
“At least let us get ready with our weapons, too,” Oliver pushed.
“That’s not needed,” Cromwell snapped. “Civilians will just get in the way. We’ve seen you panic before, in wars.”
“This isn’t a war,” Oliver shot back. “This is our life. We’re not going to panic and run. We’ve been handling this for three weeks now. We know how to deal with things.”
“I’ll take your advice under consideration,” Major Cromwell said, voice dripping with condescension. His inner thoughts were far less polite: ‘And my suggestion is that you fuck off wanker.‘
Oliver knew his experiences with the wasteland was being discounted by the Major, and started forming back up plans for the inevitable failure.
***
As the howls of the demon dogs echoed through the night, the atmosphere in the settlement grew tense. Their blood-chilling cries sent shivers through everyone, raising the hackles of even the bravest souls. The soldiers positioned on the walls looked visibly nervous, while the civilians, standing in the shadows, were more worried. Not because they feared the demon dogs—they had fought these beasts before—but because they had been stripped of their weapons. The soldiers had confiscated everything under Cromwell’s orders.
The first of the demon dogs appeared in the distance, their glowing red eyes cutting through the darkness. They moved with terrifying speed, claws scraping against the ground as they rushed toward the gate. Cromwell clenched his fists.
“Fire!” Major Cromwell ordered.
The soldiers pulled their triggers. The crack of rifles echoed, but then came the inevitable disaster. Half of the weapons misfired as predicted. Explosions erupted from the barrels, sending shrapnel flying. Soldiers screamed as their rifles detonated in their hands, the force of the blast shattering stocks, blowing out bolts and receivers. Faces were shredded as wood and metal fragments became deadly projectiles.
Oliver cursed under his breath, watching the chaos unfold just as he’d predicted. ‘We knew this would happen,‘ he thought bitterly. ‘Damn it, Cromwell.‘
The demon dogs, sensing weakness, rushed the walls with renewed ferocity, their monstrous bodies slamming against the stone, claws tearing into the structure as they started to climb.
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Several of the demon dogs reached the top of the wall, their monstrous forms looming over the battlefield like nightmares come to life. Their red eyes gleamed with savage glee as they tore into the soldiers.
The ballistic armor the soldiers wore was useless, shredded like paper beneath the dogs’ claws. Slobbering jaws snapped and ripped with terrifying efficiency, their sharpened teeth and claws a blender of gore, leaving the wall shiny with blood.
Screams of agony filled the air as the soldiers fell one by one, their defenses obliterated. The dogs roared in triumph, feeding off the chaos, their dark, matted fur drenched in the blood of their prey.
With half of the soldiers already incapacitated by the misfiring rifles and another large group torn apart by the initial wave of demon dogs, Oliver sprinted through the chaos toward the settlement kiosk. His heart pounded as he reached it, fingers fumbling briefly before slamming down on the glowing button labeled ‘Manadome of MegaAwesomeness‘.
A faint hum filled the air as the force field activated, flickering to life around the settlement. The protective barrier shimmered like a dome of blue light, cutting off the rest of the approaching demon dogs from scaling the walls.
But it wasn’t over. The dogs that had already breached the top were still within the force field, and they weren’t finished. Blood and fur flew as they continued to savage the soldiers. Claws ripped through armor, teeth gnashed, and more screams pierced the night.
Oliver stood, panting, watching the carnage inside the dome. ‘We’ve got to do something,‘ he thought, tightening his grip on his sword. The Major had allowed him to keep it as a “ceremonial item”.
“Anyone who’s still able, we need to clear those dogs out—now!"
Trusting the soldiers from Earth had been a mistake, and the settlement was paying for it now.
"We can't let them continue!" Oliver shouted at the civilians behind him, rallying them. He glanced up at Major Cromwell, whose face had gone pale, finally realizing the gravity of the situation.
Cromwell hesitated, staring at the havoc his own plan had caused. Oliver caught his gaze, shouting over the noise of the battle. “Let us fight! Or the settlement will fall!”
The Major, visibly shaken, gave a short, reluctant nod. “Do whatever you have to,” he muttered, his voice carrying the weight of his failure.
Oliver turned to the gathered civilians, his heart racing. “You heard him! We fight!”
Oliver had made a backup plan, and that plan involved buying a new stack of the cheapest weapons possible from the vending machines. Clubs.
With the newly bought weapons in hand, the people of the Belief Settlement surged forward, prepared to do whatever it took to defend their home.
The battle with the remaining demon dogs was tough. The soldiers, having discarded their useless rifles, fought with their Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife, stabbing and slashing in desperation. The Earth knives snapped as they tried to puncture the thick demon dog hides. The citizens of the Belief Settlement joined the fray, swinging their newly bought clubs and a few smuggled weapons they’d hidden from Cromwell’s men. Blood and chaos painted the battlefield, and when the last of the demon dogs finally fell, the settlement was left in ruins, having suffered its worst loss yet. There were over seventy five dead or dying soldiers, and five heavily wounded Belief citizens.
Oliver wiped the sweat from his brow and surveyed the carnage. His voice was steady but filled with a quiet anger. “Tidy up the battlefield.” The citizens used to his command started their duties.
The remaining soldiers were battered and exhausted, and Major Cromwell watched in shock as the citizens began dismembering the demon dog corpses with stoic determination. They didn’t stop there. Some of the civilians turned to the bodies of their fallen comrades and soldiers, removing weapons, armor, and anything of value.
“You cannot loot the bodies of soldiers!” Major Cromwell barked, his voice thick with indignation. “Those items belong to the United Army of Earth!”
But Oliver ignored him, and so did the citizens. Their loyalty was to the Belief Settlement, not to Cromwell’s faraway leadership.
The soldiers, bloodied and uncertain, looked toward Cromwell for guidance. He hesitated, clearly shaken by what had just happened. Finally, he straightened his back and barked, “Oi, enough of that! You’re to stop this pillaging ‘immediately‘!”
Oliver turned, meeting the Major’s gaze. His expression was defiant, but he didn’t say a word. The citizens, just as silent, continued their macabre work, leaving Cromwell’s command hanging in the air like smoke from a dying fire.
Major Cromwell seeing them ignoring his orders descended from the tower, his footsteps heavy with guilt. He approached Oliver, who was overseeing the final touches of the settlement’s restructuring.
“Oliver,” Cromwell began, his voice steady but carrying an undercurrent of earnestness, “before we dive into the practicalities, there’s something we need to discuss.”
Oliver wondered if this was about to turn into an all-out verbal brawl. He had enough to deal with after the demon dogs had wreaked havoc on the settlement, and having a conversation with this screw-up of a major definitely wasn’t at the top of his priorities.