As the dust settled, it was time to count losses.
Janus stared at the plaza, now strewn with bodies.
They had lost so many; their forces were halved.
When he first got the report, he immediatly started planning new strategies, accounting for the lack of manpower they now suffered.
It took him more than a moment to remember that he wasn't just looking at numbers: These people all had names and faces, faces he knew, names of friends.
He was disgusted by his lack of humanity.
Even now, in front of the bodies, he couldn't stop thinking about the next steps of his plan.
"Ray wasn't found, I'll have to nominate someone to perform the last rites"
"Tobias died, someone will have to be promoted to Lieutenant"
In the chaos of it all, his mind was still focused on the task ahead of him.
Only the sight of his daughter distracted him
'Nicole! Why didn't you use the potion I gave you?'
'Good morning father, I too am happy you're still alive'
'I asked you a question'
'And I would have answered, if you cared to show a bit of compassion'
'Don't you understand that you could have saved lives if you used your explosion potion, as you were told?!'
'I'm sorry, commander I'll make sure to follow your orders, next time'
She left, leaving her father with his thoughts.
Janus retreated in his chambers, angry; not at his daughter, but rather at himself.
He realized he had been acting ever since the start, to protect himself from the pain.
Alone as he was, for the first time in what seemed ages he was himself again.
He cried until he could no more.
Nicole was walking off the rage that built up while talking to her father.
Her icy resolve had been shacken for a moment, and she needed to regain the composure.
She knew the battle was useless, the monster that was assaulting them was merely prolonging the fight for its own enjoyement:
Why else deploy archers so late in the battle?
Where were the bony giants and the spectres?
The retreat too was nothing more than a message, and it spelled to her "I can't end it now, it wouldn't be fun enough"
She arrived at Yofandel's shop, and entered without announcing herself.
'Is it done?'
She asked at the elf, who was sharpening one of the swords that made up his collection, no doubt damaged in the attack.
'Imbuing an arrow with the magick from a potion is never easy'
'But is it done?'
he stopped his work, getting up and turning towards her, before producing an arrow
'Yes, I finished short ago'
there was a strange tint in the metal, and upon close inspection, Nicole could see tiny magical circles engraved in the arrowhead, which seemed to flow like a miniature river.
'And you assure me this-'
'I can assure nothing, and it all depends if you managed to learn something in your training'
They were interrupted by the church bell ringing in the town square.
It wasn't the mourning cadence they expected, it felt more rushed.
It was an alarm.
'Gods above, not Lenny too...'
'Didn't know you two were friends, Tim'
'We weren't, but he did such a good pie, he and his wife used to invite me over all the time...'
'I'd call that a friend'
'Maybe... But I never got the chance to return the favour, and now I never will...'
Tim started to tear up, his voice cracking, as Lisa hugged him.
In the city square, this was now a common sight, as the city mourned those who fell on the first attack.
A dark cloud hanged over the city, uncharacteristic of the season, as if to mirror the situation.
A farmer by the name of Ghian was holding a prayer book, his uncertain voice chanting hymns to the Gods. He had been chosen short ago, due to his voice and skill, but, for the first time, all were missing the halfling priest.
'The fat bastard managed to die before us, eh?'
John appeared behind the two as they were walking through the square
'John! We thought you were still in bed'
'Nah, they'd have to chain me there. Who'd have thought we'd miss that priest, ay?'
'Must truly be the end of times if we're missing him. They never found the body though'
'Him and of so many others'
The trio offered a silent prayer to the sky
'Ehm, boys, is it me, or did Lenny just move?'
'It can't be, he got shot in the...'
Tim's voice faded, as he turned to the corpse, who was rising up, along with many others
'... head'
'Undead!'
the other two managed to scream, alerting the rest of the town.
The cry also echoed from other places in the square, as all the ones that had been killed were now rising up.
But it was already too late: mouring man and women were caught by the unexpected aggressors, and were being torn apart.
The trio exchanged glances, they were mostly unarmed, their skinning knife was clearly unfit for the situation, but they still drew the small blades.
'We have to get to the church!'
'Praying won't save us now, Lisa!'
'To ring the Gods damned bell, idiot!'
They started running, but it was clear that John was slowing them down, the wounds were still fresh.
Soon, Tim and Lisa were forced to help him limp ahead
'Leave me here, they'll reach you'
'Shut up and focus on walking straight'
'The bell is too important, leave me here, I'll manage'
'Lisa, he's right, they're still out of sight, but they'll be any moment!'
'We have time, they're zombies; zombies can't run, can they?'
A scream came from an adjacent street
'Nosh could run, that's how he got to me'
'But he was special, right?'
'Nothing about this is normal'
'I am not going to leave you here'
'Then you two can die together! I'm running for the bell!'
Tim broke into a sprint, leaving the two alone.
Lisa and John stopped, turning towards the now visible army of zombies coming towards them
'This is the end, isn't it, Lisa?'
'Seems like it. Any last regrets?'
'Only one: leaving the heroic act to that idiot there'
'Could be worse'
On the West gate, Jonas kept watch.
He had been forced into watch duty, having lost both parents in the first assault.
Turning from time to time to look at the town square, wondering which one of the black spots his loved ones were, he was among the first to notice that something was wrong.
He started climbing the tower, considering whether to ring the bell or not, when a chilling wind breezed over him.
Looking behind him, he noticed something something.
"Is that frost? But it's summer, what the-"
His thoughts were interrupted by a gripping sensation in his chest, followed by an intense chill and searing pain.
He turned around just in time to see a ghost, its bony hands passing through his chest, gripping at something inside him.
He tried screaming, fighting it, but he simply couldn't touch the phantom, and he could barely manage a muted screech.
Wailing at an intangible foe, he tripped and fell.
In his last moment, he could see them.
An army of skeletons, led by a zombie gnome.
The gnome had a keyring in hand.