Story 709: A Joke in the Dark

The moon hung pale and bloated over the jagged peaks, its light casting sickly shadows across the ruined battleground. The stench of rot clung to the air, thick and suffocating. The last echoes of gunfire had faded, leaving behind only the sound of something wet slithering through the corpses.

Kruger pressed his back against a crumbling wall, his breath ragged, his wounds screaming. His men had dragged him out of that cursed chamber, but now they were scattered—dead or worse.

And Selene? She was out there, waiting.

"Oh, General..."

Her voice slithered through the air like a poisoned whisper, playful and cruel. Kruger turned his head slowly.

There she stood atop a pile of corpses, one hand on her hip, the other pointing a single gloved finger to her own temple, mimicking a gun. A mocking grin split her face, blackened lips stretching too wide.

"Bang," she said, pretending to pull the trigger.