The earth shook beneath the thunder of artillery.
After my ears stopped ringing, I heard laughter, a snippet of a song, and then a short and brutal scream.
The sound, far more than any other than I have heard in the past eight days, pierced my heart.
Clenching my BAR, I forced myself to approach the source of the noise warily. It would do no good to run into a fight. I long since disabused myself of the belief that it would do any good in battle.
When someone screamed like that, there was no saving them.
I reached the position just as a team of artillerymen was loading their howitzer. A moment later, the lead crewman pulled the firing line, and again the world rumbled. As the piece rolled back, the men burst out laughing again and plucked small creature up from the ground. It was dazed, its eyes rolling around in their sockets, and it took me a moment to realize they were holding a miniature person.
Whether it was male or female, I do not know.
What I could see, however, was the short, brutal thrust of the loader’s arm as he stuffed the person into the still-hot chamber of the howitzer. There was a shriek from within, but it was cut off as the door was slammed shut and locked.
The creature was fired out a moment later.
And even as the piece was recoiling, I was firing the BAR.
I aimed low, taking the men’s legs off at the knees. What few miniature persons remained, scattered, leaving me with the artillerymen and my rage.
I tied off their injuries and staked them down around the howitzer.
The men howled in pain, and several times they attempted to engage me in conversation. I ignored them.
Instead, I concentrated on attempting to find any normal munitions for the howitzer.
Happily, I did.
When I was ready, I tied the lead crewman to the front of the howitzer, the muzzle of it pressed against the small of his back, his arms, and severed legs tied to the wheels. Smoking my pipe, I loaded a shell into the chamber, closed it, and with the others watching, I fired the gun.
I took my time with the other four.
Strange, I was the only one who found it funny.
#horror #monsters #supernatural #death
War truly is Hell. Leave it to the Hollow to find a way to make it worse.