Coward (Beta Reader)

Chapter 1

"Sing along!" a voice can be heard, echoing as it slowly fades away.

"This won't be the last time you'll hear this song..." it says again.

...

"INCOMING!!" a scream can be heard from far away. The scream was followed by an explosion that splashes boiling-molten rock to other stone houses. The grasses are all in fire, and everything's burnt to crisp, leaving charcoal and bones behind.

Dried blood marks are everywhere on the ground, and some even splatter to the houses' walls before it went dry. But unlike other naturally-dried bloods, this one seems to be exposed to an extreme heat that reaches over 2000 Degree Celsius, making it crisps like the Jacobs crackers.

pat pat pat pat

Multiple footsteps can be heard, rushing toward a stone house that's barely even safe to stay in.

"Haa... Haa... How many left?" a fighter with his right-hand bleeding from his cracking-burnt hand leaned on a wall, catching his breath.

"hfff... hfff.. 4..." another fighter who's wrapped with red bandages all over his body lean next to the burnt-hand fighter. The bandage-wrapped fighter sniffs himself, and reacts with a not-very-surprised face. "Man, I smells like blood..."

The burnt-hand fighter feels exhausted. Not only there's only 4 of The Stones Class 3, but none of those 4 The Stones are defeated, even after Sword Crater City's best fighters are almost eliminated. "Still the same..." he said, taking another deep breath before letting out a big sigh.

"Where is this 'fire-fighter' dude...? I'm pretty sure he can do something at least..." The burnt hand fighter asked, wondering if there's anything they can do to see a line of hope. "According to our intelligence, that 'fire-fighter' dude ran away before he even fought" the bandage wrapped fighter fixes his bandage with a first aid box he brought along.

"Admit it... We can no longer fight..." the bandage wrapped fighter said with a lost-hope tone. Both of them stays silent, thinking about their fate.

...

"HAHAHAHAHAHA" both of them laughed.

"I'm not a piece of shit to be THAT coward..." that burnt-hand fighter laughs as he wipes his joyful tears with his bleeding-burnt hand. His blood on his hand leaves a little blood mark on his cheek. The bandage wrapped fighter smiles and stands up.

"Alright... My painkiller is about to run out... I better die fighting than die for nothing..." he said as he stood up in front of the front door. The bandage wrapped fighter takes a deep breath, and holds the doorknob.

BAM!! The door was smashed to the side by The Stones that just found where they were hiding. The bandage wrapped soldier was buried in the piles of shattered stone wall and wooden door. His hand was the only thing that was left outside of the piles of stones.

"Uhh... the painkiller still works, right...?" the burnt-hand soldier asked his fighting partner. The bandage wrapped fighter gives a thumbs up, indicating he didn't feel any pain after the impact. He then passed away due to great blood loss and excessive impact on his critical organs. Blood can be seen flowing on the floor of the house, slowly drying as it flows closer to the blazing heat of The Stones's leg.

"Well... This is it... My time is finally up, and I'm finally going down..." The burnt hand soldier exhales his last breath.

"Hopefully the plan works..." The burnt-hand fighter made his final thought. He closes his eyes, ready to accept his fate; to be burned to ashes. He slowly can hear a sizzling sound coming from his face. And as he opens his eyes again, he realizes that he was in a completely blank place.