Bandana coughed; he could no longer hold back as his rhyme was interrupted. The Worm he was about to stab didn’t waste another moment. In a flash, an arm as hard as metal flung the man to the ground, and a heavy foot pressed down on his stomach to hold him in place. Had the invaders been able to talk, they might have mocked him, but the foot moved down slowly like a hydraulic press. Bandana spat up blood as he turned to look at the sound of a car. A familiar jeep was barreling down the town road, and a recognizable bald head was behind the wheel.

The Worm that stood atop him was gunned down, and the jeep drifted around the fallen soldier, coming to a stop as a wall between the approaching Worms and Bandana. Slacks jumped out and ran to his fallen ally.

“You’re not dead, are you?” the bald man grunted.

“You think that’s enough to kill little old me? You must be having a hard time to se–” Bandana stopped mid-sentence as he coughed up some blood. He slowly pushed himself up and accepted a sidearm from Slacks.

“You shouldn’t be moving around,” the sniper grunted as he pulled his rifle from his back to his hip.

“You shouldn’t be in close quarters,” Bandana said with a smile as he pulled the pistol's slide back. “But I guess we both felt the need to help our friend,” he added with a tilt of his head toward the yellow Reaper.

“No reason to let her die.”

“Aye.”

Slacks shot his long-barreled rifle from his waist at a nearby Worm that stepped too close for his liking. It blew the invader back as the exoskeleton was torn clean through. The bald man stumbled back as the significant recoil almost knocked him to the ground.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Bandana coughed again. Words were lost, and he emptied a magazine on another nearby Worm. He silently held out a hand to Slacks to receive a reload and, after cocking his gun, held the free hand on Slack's back to offset some of the recoil of the next shot from the rifle. Both men almost fell over, but dug their boots into the ground and stood firm. As long as they lived, no Worms would make it past them.

Another Worm approached with an energy gun at the ready, and Bandana filled the weapon with holes. It exploded into a ball of energy, taking the invader and two of its companions out as it tried to fire. Slacks blew away another Worm and reached for another magazine. He loudly patted around his clothes and cursed. Bandana finished off the pistol, and both looked at each other with understanding in their eyes.

They were about to die.

The Worms didn’t waste another moment once their opponents were defenseless. They quickly shot the jeep, splitting the metal frame in two with a precise laser shot, and surrounded the duo. Out of energy, Bandana fell to his knees and held his hands close to his chest as he struggled to breathe.

Slacks swung his rifle like a club at the head of the nearest Worm. The invader caught the gun and crushed it like an empty pop can before making any contact. Slack’s eyes grew wide, but he could do nothing as he was shoved to the ground—rough edges of sharp arms tearing through his clothes and dying them red. He spat on the foot of the Worm, but the message must have been lost in translation since the invader was unfazed.

Guns aimed at the duo on the ground, but before they fired, a string of bullets battered the invaders from the side. Bandana had already grown weak, but Slacks made a small smile as a familiar duo headed in from the side. Helmet and Glasses, rough looking but alive, headed their way.

“You two aren’t dead, are you?” Helmet shouted.

“We’re not dead,” Slacks grunted from the ground, but his words were too weak to carry far.