Future Unfolds by J.L. Yarrow

Author:J.L. Yarrow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Story Plant
Published: 2024-12-19T14:01:55+00:00

The word sobbed from beneath him, bringing him out of his shock. He’d forgotten all about the man curled in front of his body. He pushed off, allowing the guy to stagger back with the chunky rocket launcher still in his arms.

Jafar mutely looked him over, realizing his own enviroarmor had protected them both. Charred clothing melted into the flesh on the fellow’s side, but he seemed oblivious. He would survive. He moaned, which turned into a hoarse, coughing fit. When the spasm passed, the man resolutely brought the weapon to his shoulder and lurched into the corridor. He careened toward the intersection, one clumsy step after the other, increasing his pace until he disappeared around the corner. Jafar followed, sickened by finding one carbonized body after another.

“No,” he whispered over and over, consumed with guilt at the horrifying sight.

Hundreds of smoldering bodies piled upon each other, filling the charred corridor. He stepped around them, over them, wading through bodies and slipping on ooze or ash. He couldn’t be sure which.

Sucking in a painful breath, he bellowed, “Civilians! They’re civilians!”

He buried his nose in his elbow, gagging at the stench of burned flesh. I killed them, he thought, choking down bile. I killed them all. His heart sank, and his motions felt choppy, robotic. He kept going until he heard voices bouncing down the hall.

A weird, low chuckle waffled around him. He squinted, looking for the source of the sound, and realized he’d reached the halfway point to the elevator foyer. Ahead, he saw the rocket launcher man standing with his feet planted wide, straddling a dead colonist. The weapon still rested on his shoulder. Beyond him, the UCP soldiers milled about in the elevator foyer. Unaware of his presence, their attention focused on the Zeyer manifold laser.

Jafar zeroed in on the weapon. These butchers did this with the laser, he thought, aghast. The group clapped each other on their backs and gathered up far-flung weapons, clearly jubilant. A few ventured out, poking at the remains of the Victus Palus colonists. Jafar concentrated, willing himself to not go crazy.

The murmur of voices became louder. He heard the telltale noises of the freight elevator door opening. A sudden, shrill war cry pierced the atmosphere in the hallway. The lone surviving colonist—the man with the rocket launcher who stood between Jafar and the murderous invaders—went berserk, screaming at the top of his lungs. He reared back and fired, sending the missile ripping toward the middle of the UCP troops and tearing into the elevator.

A few people hit the foyer floor. Jafar flung his body down and curled into a ball a split second before it exploded, sending another blast wave thundering down the corridors. A deafening chain reaction of grenades and ammunition went off like the American’s Fourth of July, ignited from the heat.

Unwilling to see more, Jafar buried his head. Nothing good would be left. He prayed the laser cannon had not survived. Surely it didn’t. He prayed Kants would show up and that all of this would not be real.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.