Last Stand

I thought I knew what I was getting into when I signed up to be a Ranger.

My family was caught in an AWE. I lost both my parents. I was about to lose my sister too when the FBC came in. I'd thought it was hopeless, that humans couldn't do anything against the paranatural. But I watched them work, and they saved us. They were all heroes to me. That's why I signed up.

They made sure to tell me it wasn't an easy job. That they weren't heroes. That there was a high chance I would die. I didn't care.

Seven years. Seven years of fighting an enemy I still don't understand. Seven years of watching friends lift off the floor mid-sentence and turn back toward us, still chanting. I didn't sign up for this. I wasn't prepared for it. I didn't know what it meant to be a hero. To shoulder all that responsibility.

The radio cracks.

"God dammit." Arish. "They broke through the last Sector. They're coming your way. You're the last line. If they get out of the Oldest House, there won't be anything left to protect."

He doesn't say anything after that. He doesn't have to.

It's up to us, then.

I can hear them now. The chanting gets louder. Since the Director disappeared, the HRAs have been failing one by one, and we've been injecting ourselves with Black Rock instead. I check the needle is secure. I'd rather die than become one of them.

I look at my team. They're all quiet. Even Dale, who never shuts up, isn't talking. I guess they know. We all know. We can't stop them anymore. We failed. Nobody says it.

I grip my gun tighter.

"Rangers. I don't know if we walk out of here. I don't know if we can hold them. But right now we're the only ones who can try, so we try. Behind us is Manhattan. Behind Manhattan is everything else. It doesn't leave the Oldest House. Whatever it takes, we stop them here."

Someone cheers. Then all of them do. It isn't about whether we can. We have to.

It's so loud. The chanting is louder than the gunfire, louder than my own thoughts. It sounds like freedom. It sounds like I could finally let go and be at peace.

But I can't.

I'm down. I can't see if anyone else is alive.

I feel the sun on my skin. After seven years of artificial light it feels so good. But I can feel sunlight, and I know what that means, and the joy goes out of it.

We failed. The Hiss is out.

I'm fading. I can only trust the Director now. I have to believe she had a plan. That she wouldn't have left us alone for no reason.

The wind. The sun. It feels so good.

static

"Is anyone alive? Report. I'm seeing the lockdown has been lifted. I need a status, now."