"Where is everyone?"
A cry brimming with surprise and doubt.
Five people in a row, instantly silent, swallowing nervously.
After a moment of hesitation, someone spoke uncertainly, "Could it be, we've been discovered?"
"Whoosh—"
"Whoosh—"
"Whoosh—"
The Type 88 sniper rifle fired bullet after bullet, met with the alarm of their helmets and plumes of smoke rising in the dark.
"Yes, I'm smoked out," someone agreed, disheartened.
"I'm smoked out too."
"I'm hit."
"Same here."
...
The first to voice their confusion, after a pause, admitted, "Alright, I'm hit too."
In less than a minute, before the five had time to react, they fell in an utterly calm manner.
Even the word "heroic" didn't apply.
They were dumbfounded, their faces turning ghostly pale as they sat back-to-back on the ground, as if pondering the meaning of life.
"She's headed for our company, isn't she?" someone sighed, the tone nearly numb.
"Probably."
"I feel nothing inside."
"It feels like I'm in a dream."
