As the horde swarmed around us,
I could hear Tom on my left, whimpering under his breath,
"We're gonna die, we're gonna die."
He always acted like this.
But this time, I can't blame him for it.
Hell, I'm beginning to think we're all gonna die.
There's no hope in us eliminating this horde, and all the workers are most likely corpses already.
I could sense despair creeping into everyone's mind, and not just the greenhorns.
As I looked to my right shoulder, there's Finn—terrified out his ass, but determined and focused.
And like always, to my left shoulder, it's Leo with that fearless grin of his.
Not even in this moment does his grin break.
I know I said I was ready.
But this—
But this is something else.
"DO I SEE FEAR IN YOUR EYES?!" Commander Axe roared abruptly, grabbing everyone's attention.
"THIS IS WHAT I LIVE FOR! THIS IS WHAT WE, CAVE GUARDS, LIVE FOR!"
"WE ARE NOT THE ONES WHO SHOULD FEAR DEATH! WE ARE NOT PREY TO BE PICKED OFF!"
"I WILL MAKE THESE FUCKERS SUFFER FOR EVERY MAN, WOMAN, AND CHILD THEY TOOK!"
Commander Axe pulled out his sword from his left hip,
Hurling it at an incoming hell bat,
Splitting the sucker in two,
The sword only stopping when piercing a second hell bat in the head.
Simultaneously, he ripped a spear off his back, thrusting upwards at a hell bat diving and attacking from above, piercing through its head and out of its lower body.
Thick black blood jetted down over his body.
He swung the spear, sending the dead hell bat exploding against the rocky wall, black blood flying everywhere.
"We are not the prey—we're the predators."
Everyone stood still, taken aback by the commander's indomitable will and might—even the old guards who had fought alongside him for years.
"Now, let's show these fuckers hell!"
And in that instant, all the fear and despair that crept into our hearts were overshadowed by the surge of hope and courage he ignited in us.
"HELL YEAH, LET'S DO THIS!" Greenhorn Carson yelled, readying himself once again, riling up the greenhorns.
Carson thrust his spear at an approaching bat.
The bat barely dodged, the spear piercing its wing.
Greenhorn Henry simultaneously thrust his spear through the bat's head, killing it.
Carson put his spear down while Henry raised his, splitting the bat in two.
A second hell bat came soaring in—Greenhorn Aaron, who stood between Carson and Henry, cocked back his sword and released a slash across its body, decapitating the bat.
"Well, well, I guess they're good for something after all," Owen muttered to himself.
"Now, right men, let's not fall behind the new blood," Lieutenant Rogers uttered to the old guards.
One of the old guards threw his spear, piercing a hell bat in its chest; another swung his spear, cutting its head in two; and another thrust his spear into a hell bat and slung the bat into another, allowing Finn to finish it off.
"Well, Kel, we can't let them do all the work," Leo said to me while piercing a hell bat Tom missed.
"Yeah," I said, thrusting my spear into a hell bat launching toward Leo.
Leo cut the bat off my spear while ducking under, killing another bat.
Finn struggled to kill them. He managed to pierce one in the stomach. With his sword still in the bat, he slammed it into the ground, calling for another guard to kill it by piercing its head.
"WE HAVE TO GET TO LIEUTENANT BOB!" one of the old guards shouted.
"THE HELL BATS ARE EATING HIM ALIVE!" Mr. Owen yelled, his eyes widened, his eyebrows furrowed.
"OKAY, WE KILLED ENOUGH OF THE FUCKS! I WANT YOU ALL TO BREAK THE CIRCLE AND FORM TWO WALLS!" Commander Axe roared.
"I WANT ONE SIDE WITH ME, FACING TOWARDS BOB—PUSHING THE FUCKS BACK DEEPER INTO THE CAVE TO RESCUE BOB AND GET THE REMAINING MINERS TO SAFETY!"
"AND I WANT THE OTHER SIDE FACING THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION, PICKING OFF ALL OF THE FUCKS ON YOUR WAY TO THE GATE!"
"LEO, I WANT YOU LEADING THE SECOND LINE—DON'T DISAPPOINT ME!"
Leo grinned.
"Don't worry, Commander. I'll make you proud."
Tom, Finn, Carson, and I were in Leo's line.
While Owen, Rogers, Aaron, and Henry were in Commander Axe's line.
Commander Axe's line began picking off the bats, quickly moving forward in seconds.
"Alright, gentlemen. Let's make Commander Axe proud," Leo shouted to us.
Leo changed the pace of the hell bats in an instant, cutting four down.
"What the hell are you doing, Leo? You're going to get yourself killed!" Tom yelled at Leo.
As Leo was piercing a hell bat, another came soaring in right at him from his blind spot.
Leo sensed it but didn't have time to react.
Without thinking, I leapt forward, hurling my spear—piercing its body inches away from Leo's head.
"You gotta be more careful," Carson said with a sigh of relief.
Leo jumped back, landing in the middle of the line in front of me.
"Yeah, sorry about that, guys. I guess I got a little carried away.
It won't happen again," Leo said, easing everyone.
"Now let's do this the right way," I said, stepping up toward Leo.
END OF CHAPTER 3