(Military Guard#1) FIRE!!

Hundreds of bullets came crashing toward the unguarded Gemma, who was too caught up in her victory. Still, in her pose, Gemma’s body then started to be riddled with the hot metals of rifle rounds, pistol rounds, shotgun rounds, and some sniper rounds.

Gemma let go of Hope, her arm losing strength as a tsunami of tar poured out of her stomach and chest with all of her internal organs being liquified.

As Hope lay on the ground, her arms couldn’t budge to protect herself against the amount of leftover bullets gently blanketing on top of her. With the deafening noise continuing to surround her, Hope had one choice but to close her eyes as she awaited help from a miracle.

Meanwhile, Benn leaned on a wall to avoid the Vulcan of bullets raining across the bar, landing on the side that wasn’t causing him excruciating pain. Seeing Gemma being ground against the bullets, Benn continued to stare straight at Gemma, her stance now gone as she was nothing but liquified organs and an unattached head.

(Military Guard#1) Guns down!

Outside the bar, an entire platoon of military guards armed to the teeth, carrying military-grade assault rifles, handguns, and shotguns, perked their ears up as a loud voice came from the middle of them. Noticing that the leader had his hands pushed down in a gesture, all the soldiers slowly and steadily pointed their guns down, not wanting to cause any harm.

Pointing their guns down, a middle-aged man in the middle looked at a large squad of about six people, his face contorted with his nose wrinkling up from his voice.

(Military Guard#1) You six, enter inside the building to check up on any survivors! Make sure the enemy is dead!

(Group Leader#1) Yes sir! You heard the Lieutenant! Let’s move out!

(Guard #1) Yes Sergeant!

The squad of six looked at one another, pushed their boots off the street pavement and ran towards the front entrance of the bar. Making their way past the door, the squad of six pulled out military high-beamed flashlights from their soldier uniforms, five out of the six carrying their flashlights with their left hand while their rifles were on the right.

The squad of six noticed the target had its chest and stomach missing, their organs completely tarred and burned as it turned her into a lump of spoiled soup. With most of the soldiers looking away, as some started to gag at the sight, they turned their attention towards another matter.

The Sergeant noticed a young woman being covered in heavy machine gun bullets, her hair and body wrapped in a blanket of death. Looking towards his men who were looking around the destroyed room, he straightened his neck as he thumped his chest, letting more oxygen flow into his chest.

(Sergeant) We have a survivor! Get the medic team now! She looks like she’s barely alive!

Three soldiers ran outside to rally their finest medics, holstering their guns to their chests as they sprinted in an unsoldier-like fashion. Placing his hand onto Hope’s forehead, he felt the high fever that her body was in, his palms already sticky and sweaty.

Noticing a slight static on her leather jacket, the sergeant rubbed her shoulder area, his thumb and pointer finger trying to identify the static. Coincidentally, it caused him to get shocked, pulling his hand back towards his body as the zap sent out a piercing shockwave through his whole body.

(Sergeant’s thoughts) How the hell did she get electrocuted?

The two soldiers looked around the room as they tried to find any other survivors, their eyes panning the dirtied floors. A short soldier, a soldier small and thin, looked up towards a tall soldier with blonde hair, his eyes sharpening at the tall man next to him.

(Guard #2) I’ll look for the survivors and you look for any corpses to bring back.

(Guard #1) sighs … alright.

(Guard #1’s thoughts) If I don’t go along with him, he’ll throw another hissy fit.

One of the soldiers, the short and thin one, noticed Benn lying in the dark, his face and body shrouded in the darkness as he made a cold frown upon his face. Looking down at the shark-human, he continued to stare at Benn, until the sergeant looked towards the soldier, the soldier having his body blocking Benn.

(Sergeant) See anything?

(Guard #2) … No sir … just a corpse.

Looking away, the small thin soldier carried onwards as he continued scanning the other areas of the, avoiding Benn’s glare. Setting his open palm on the wooden floor, he leaned the back of his head against the wooden wall.

But the tall soldier, when looking towards the sergeant and small soldier interaction, noticed Benn. Squinting his eyes more, his breath caught in his throat as the shark-human lay in the shadows…

(Guard #1) Wait, we got another survivor!

The blonde-haired soldier wielded his gun as he ran towards the injured Benn, seeing the devastating state that Benn was in. Passing through the many broken wood and shards on the floor, the soldier managed to reach in front of Benn, his eyes softening as he looked towards Benn’s injured hand and liver.

Placing the butt of his gun on the floor while still holding onto it with his right hand, the soldier crouched down, having one knee on the ground. Ignoring the lingering scent of smoke and metal, the soldier extended his left hand towards Benn.

(Guard #1) You’re a soldier, right? Here, take my hand, I’ll help you walk.

Benn stared at the white-toned palm that reached out to him, the soldier's face neutral and calm. Looking downward onto the floor, his eyes noticed the little cracks of wood, a soft comparison of material to that of many years ago…

Turning his head upward, he reached out his shaking hand towards the soldier, using his safe hand so that he could pull himself up.

Getting Benn off of the floor, Benn noticed the youthful facial features that riddled the blonde-haired soldier, followed by the soldier’s slim figure and skinny appearance. The blonde-haired soldier wrapped an arm around Benn’s neck and shoulders, holding him up as he and he walked their way out of the smoke-filled bar.

(Sergeant’s thoughts) Why can’t most of my soldiers be more like Private Zirardge? I just hope he doesn’t turn out the way his father is…

(Sergeant) I’ll carry her out of here then.

Extending his arms towards the sleeping Hope, the Sergeant placed his left hand on Hope’s head, followed by his right arm in between her thighs and calves. Carrying her bridal style, the Sergeant put one knee on the first, checking Hope’s breathing as he put his head on her chest. Hearing that she was doing fine, he carefully lifted his knee off the ground, making sure that no sudden movements dare strike his—

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(Guard #2) Sir! The lich is gone!

Flinching his arms, the Sergeant sharpened his eyes towards one of his soldiers from the center of the bar, his throat trembling inside of his throat.

(Sergeant) What the hell do you mean she’s gone?!

Having Hope in his arms, one of his soldiers pointed towards the area where Gemma was supposed to be located.

As if like the mist, she disappeared into the dead of the evening, her organs or bodily fluid nowhere to be seen as not a trace of tar was present.

______________________________________________________________________________

(Quintiles 29, 59 / 7:53PM)

Sitting on a small metal chair on a street filled with soldiers, Benn remained still as he laid his arms motionless on the ground, remembering the warmth of the soldier who helped him.

He watched as that same soldier holstered his gun on his chest strap, his arms having a hold on Benn’s wounded hand, as blood continued to pour out. Benn turned his gaze towards the medics who looked at him worriedly, followed by the soldier turning his attention onto the medics who remained still.

(Guard #1) Heal him! He’s losing blood!

Giving the soldier a nod, two medics ran towards Benn. Replacing the soldier, one of the medics looked at Benn’s hand, having a white latex glove on both of his hands.

Having Benn’s hand, the medic evaluated the pouring blood, looking to the other medic who was analyzing another wound on Benn, a wound on Benn’s right side of his stomach. Being evaluated, Benn ignored the medics as he focused his attention on the blonde-haired soldier.

(Guard #1) Is there something I did sir?

(Benn) Nothing, just surprised that’s all.

The crevices of his lips created an upside down U shape as he looked down. With his safe hand shaking, he rubbed his thumb on the bone of his pointer finger, his nail scratching the bluish pigment on his palms.

Looking up towards the blonde-haired soldier, Benn furrowed his brows as he cleared his throat.

(Benn) You’re not like the others.

(Guard #1) Pardon me, sir.

(Benn) Do I scare you?

(Guard #1) Why would I be scared sir?

Benn looked up at the soldier, his eyes sharpening as his large nose started to crinkle. Seeing his nonchalant and youthful face tilted to the right side of his face, Benn let out a sigh as he looked down onto the black pavement.

He took note of the many cracks on the pavement, his eyes scanning them as he continued to talk with the soldier.

(Benn) Were you raised in Ticia?

(Guard #1) Sir, I was raised in the countryside of Haxouburg.

Benn gulped as he heard the word Haxouburg, his forehead starting to roll down with cold sweat. Wiping away the sweat with his safe hand, the arm sleeve of his jacket pelting against the whitish pigment of his forehead, he sharpened his shark-like eyes towards the soldier.

The soldier in question let out a reassuring smile, the corners of his lips barely reaching the same height and length as his nose tips.

(Guard #1) I can safely tell you that I’m not a discriminant, or what many beast-humans like to call it.

The soldier put his right hand onto Benn’s left shoulder, his unwrinkled palms feeling the fabric and leather of the black leather jacket. Upon making eye contact with Benn, the soldier let out a sigh as he softly squeezed his shoulder with his hand.

Feeling the soldier’s grip on his shoulder tighten, Benn continued to look down at the ground as his eyes looked down onto the many cracks of the pavement.

(Guard #1) Hey, my girlfriend is a cat-human, and she loves me as much as I love her. My family despises the idea of both of me and her being a couple, but you know, love is love, right?

The two medics who evaluated Benn’s wounds stopped to turn around to see the blonde hair soldier, their eyes squinting as their faces contorted with a hint of disgust. One of the medics, the one overlooking Benn’s bleeding hand, continued to crouch down as he cleared his throat.

(Medic #1) You’re not beating the feline fucker allegations Zirardge.

(Guard #1) Excuse me?

(Medic #1) Look, sir, I don’t mind beast-humans. I grew up in El Niabea so I don’t care if I have to heal them. But…

The medic turned his attention back towards Benn’s hand, grabbing a roll of adhesive white bandage with his right hand. Holding Benn’s hand with his left hand, he used his right to roll up Benn’s hand repeatedly, making sure the bloodied hand stopped gushing out.

Finishing the rolling rotation, he then stared at the covered-up white bandage, the medic’s left hand trembling as he rubbed the contents of the bandage.

(Medic #1) I think it’s morally wrong for humans to mingle with beast humans. Humans should mingle with humans and beast-humans should mingle with their said species. Too much interspecies mixing and in the next hundred years, humans will look like a group project.

(Medic #2) Oh, stop being a hypocrite.

The medic who tended to Benn’s wound on his stomach turned around to see the other medic, his eyes gleaming with sadism as he smirked his lips. Having his right hand on Benn’s stomach, he placed his left hand on his chin, tapping his fingers lightly.

(Medic #2) You know you have no right to say anything bad about mingling. Did you forget who your past lover was?

(Medic #1) Well, it wasn’t a beast-human, that’s for sure.

The medic tending to Benn’s hand straightened his back as he looked at the other medic, a sly smile merking across his face as he put both hands on his hips, and finished dealing with Benn’s hand. Placing a handful of red gel across the stabbed area on Benn’s stomach, the medic started rubbing it as he looked at his friend.

(Medic #2) Ok, tell them what the lover looked like then.

(Medic #1) Well … her name was Eve, and she was a quiet woman at that—

(Medic #2) Was it Eve or Steve?

(Medic #1) Screw you!

The medic that was called out stood up and stomped away huffing. Seeing the medic’s outburst, the three of them looked toward one another, having their mouths puffed up like chipmunks.

The blond-haired soldier let out a small chuckle, having his hand on his chest as he turned his head towards Benn.

(Guard #1) So yeah … I guess love is love after all…

(Gwen in Benn’s thoughts) Real question Benn. You rarely talk but you’re always near me. Why is that?

Benn’s face lit up a warm smile, his back still hunched as he looked up towards the blond-haired soldier’s statement. Putting both of his elbows onto his thighs, with his hands holding his knees, Benn let off a playful chuckle.

(Benn) Yeah … love is love …