by Pauline Yates Why’d you bring me home, Jimmy? Couldn’t hack a third tour of duty? The war ain’t over. You and me, we make the best team. But you’re a coward, ain’t ya, Jimmy? Shit, if it wasn’t for me, you’d be rotting in a body bag. Is this how you repay me? […]
by N.E. Rule On her patio, Linda’s jaw clenches in determination as she starts her classical music. Exactly one minute later, punk rock blasts back at her from her enemy’s yard. She storms onto his deck. His words strike first from his hot tub. “Dumb bitch, stealing my batteries is the best you got? […]
by Marion Lougheed I float above the body that used to be mine, imagining I will break free if only I tug hard enough. Our corpses blanket the field, our blood already drying. Our enemy has slain us all. “Help me!” I call, but I am voiceless. The survivors straggle up the hill. A […]
by John Lane Before the commencement of Operation Overlord, the newest soldier of First Infantry Division composed a letter, an effort to reassure his mother. She feared losing him to a bullet like her father during the Great War. In writing, Private Joseph Edad promised to see her again. Then, on D-Day, as he […]
by James Rumpel Daddy, can I have a gun?” asked little Isaac. “I can shoot the monsters just as well as Jimmy.” “I’m sure you could, son. But you have a much more important job to do. The government says this is the best way to defeat the invaders. We have to slow them […]
by Dawn DeBraal Thousands of them, dead. Commander Helmet observed ravaged bodies as far as his eyes could see. Total devastation. His exhausted men sat, welcoming the reprieve while fresh recruits took up the grave detail. The men dug trenches, throwing dead bodies into them, while great fires rose, hot enough to burn the […]
by Darlene Holt After aliens invaded, war waged against humanity, and civilians sacrificed normalcy to join the cause. Command assured us training wasn’t necessary, despite our lack of military experience. Just an injection to ward off illness. When they released us into the streets to kill the invaders, I hid, paralysed by fear, as […]
by Andrew McDonald The sentry never heard me. I stab all the way through his neck, behind the jugular. Pushing the blade forward, I tear out his throat. He dies without even a whisper. Quietly, I drag him into the woods, away from patrols. With my hatchet, I split his skull, careful not to […]
by Jason Hardy We find one slumped against a mailbox on Barrow, hand probing the machete notched broadside his skull. He brightens when he sees us; thinks we’re here to help. Larson helps him, alright…with a spike through the eye. We heave the body onto the truck. On Flagler, we spot a lady in […]
by Renee Cronley Tonight, your locked doors are about as useful as mine were that night you came to me. In my heart I know the scent of the gasoline I’m painting your house with inspires the same fear in you as the chloroform did in me. A restraining order is not justice. I […]