The Frontlines

-1:10 P.M-

--Charlie's Perspective--

Fighting on the frontlines was difficult enough, but doing it in this war, where everything would be lost if we all died... was a lot tougher, to say the least.

I was told to split off from Carl and Mandi to go join the frontlines in case they needed help. When I watched them fight, they really didn't need my help at all. Everybody was fighting to a safe standard and nobody on our side was dying. The unprepared situation Orion's army had to deal with really put us above them, so we were able to gain the upper hand.

I know it was a war and it was selfish to think this... but I wanted to be a part of history when we win and tell our children this story. I don't want to be known as the man who sat behind all of the hard workers, I want to be on the frontlines to make history as well. I wasn't sure why I just know started to feel like this... maybe it was the motivation. I want to impress Mandi when we both make it out of here alive.

I pushed my way to the front, pulled out my shield and sword, and started slashing and blocking at Orion's soldiers as they came forward against us.

The swords slid against each other and my shield had various cuts on it. I was now a part of the battle, but I hadn't killed anybody yet. I defended as much as possible.

"Charlie! Cover me!" I heard from Cody. That was one of the boys Sky trained. I nodded and followed right behind him, along with Tyler, David, and Robby. "Let's clear a second path just in case!" Cody said out loud as we joined him.

I did my fair share of pushing through armor and shields, along with blocking attacks from Orion's soldiers as Cody led the charge. I deflected hits, stabbed people, and kicked them off of my blade, moving to the next soldiers as I progressed up the frontlines from a different direction. There was an ice wall behind the soldiers we fought, so we only had a little bit more to progress before claiming enough ground to set up a temporary base. I guess that had been Cody's plan all along.

We killed a large majority of Orion's soldiers and pushed up towards the wall, letting the remaining two surrender. I'll never forget their faces full of fear as Cody held his daggers up to both of their throats.

I guess looking at their faces as they worried for their lives sent me over the edge, as I got sick and couldn't fathom killing another person like that. I worried so much about not being able to sleep at night as I thought about those people... I never thought I'd be a murderer.

I had newfound mercy for those soldiers we came across. I wanted to make sure they weren't here against their will... but at the same time, were any of us? I wondered how many people I knew were here against their will, because they were told they needed to fight... because they needed to. How many people are actually cut out for killing people in such high volumes like this?

I put up sandbags in silence and watched more carts roll in with supplies. We cleared everything behind us but we were barely halfway through. I'm sure we expended most of our energy in the first ten minutes of fighting, but how much longer did we have to endure this?

"Charlie! Can you help me move some medical kits over to that shelf?" David asked me. I agreed and followed behind him, holding the medical kits over my head to try to alleviate some tension. I got some chuckles, so I'd say I was doing a fine job.

Suddenly, black smoke billowed through the air and blocked all of our vision. What the hell was this stuff? Was it a smoke bomb? Why was there so much?!

"Hey! Everybody, use your shields to fan away this smoke! Careful! This may be a sneak attack!" David shouted out. I listened to him and picked up my shield by the edges, waving away the smoke from the area. Shit, if we're under attack, I have to be ready!

I drew my sword and held it in one hand while waving the shield around in the other. "Cody! David! Robby! Tyler! Where are you guys?!" I shouted out. They led me over to their voices and soon enough, the black smoke was cleared out enough to tell where everything is. The other people on the frontline all gathered inside of the barracks, as it was the only place we could all see.

"It's okay guys! I need shield users guarding all around the barracks. Those who can still fight, follow me!" Cody shouted out. We all agreed and formed a wall of defense, guarding the unknown horrors in the black smoke. It tasted weird... almost like ash?

I thought about where it could've come from as I followed Cody up a small slope. There was a high mountain, but it was physically impossible that it could turn into a volcano... sometimes, when I look out to the horizon, I noticed a huge cloud as far as the eye could see on the ocean. Those clouds were white, but maybe they came from there?

"Enemies!" David shouted out. We all went back to killing the soldiers. Cody and the others looked a lot more refined in their fighting style. Cody was able to keep his speed and increase his strength and ability to block. He had no open spots an enemy could strike. David had a grip I could tell would've squeezed somebody to death, Robby was keeping a level head, and Tyler was acting cocky in the fight and beating his enemies that way. These four were so proficient... it almost made me feel useless!

I kept up with the two, using my sword and the things Tavian and Sky taught me to prevail against the various soldiers. We cleared the area after about five minutes of fighting.

"Nice job boys! Hey, we can set another base up here just in case. Robby, Tyler, can you guys go get the cart?" Cody asked the two. I sat around with David as we blew more smoke out of the area.

"Look at us... hey, when Sky and the others move up here, do you think they'll praise us?" Cody asked us.

"Of course, he would, he'll praise all of us," I told Cody. "It's not like we're entirely useless... but there are some people who are just stronger than us, we have to deal with that," I added. Cody nodded.

I heard a strange noise originating towards the left of us like a rope releasing. As I looked to our left, I saw the smoke blow away past this weird machine with a bowl on the end of it. I didn't recognize it at all. I've never seen anything like that in my entire life. It had a lot of wood and a bowl on the end of it... there were large stones next to it...

"Is that a trebuchet?! Everybody! Run!" David shouted out. A trebuchet?! They had those?

I was ignorant at this time. As I was being pushed off of the cliff, Cody's body was taken away from me as I turned to see what pushed me. The big rock hit Cody and sent him flying off the cliff adjacent to the smaller glacial cliff I fell off of.

"CODY! SOMEBODY! GET A ROPE!" I looked down past the ice by the barracks to see Cody lying on the floor. He was still moving and smiling, so he was okay, we just had to get him up here!

Tyler handed me a rope and I started to slowly fish it down to Cody. As I fished it down, a wooden barricade we had built to seal off the section of land Cody fell into burst open with Orion's soldiers. I started to slide the rope as fast as possible, but they got to Cody far too fast.

"Surrender and die easily!" The soldiers said to Cody.