Girls Frontline- The Labcoat

The Line Must Hold

And so, they ran.

They ran from the explosions, gunshots and particle rounds, and screams.

The tree line wasn't far.

Persica held little Roland's hand as they ran further and further into their haven.

Soon, soldiers ran from the camp as well.

Roland could see them get mowed down by the dozens, falling into the grass field as rounds pumped through their backs, leaving streams of blood in their wake as they streaked out the other side.

Some fired back without success.

There were too many of them, and they just wouldn't die.

The older sister Covered his eyes, masking his mind from the carnage before them.

Racing through her head, the chain of events was simply too much of a shock to her.

This can't be happening.

This can't be happening.

This can't be happening.

One surviving soldier made his way in their direction and found both hiding in the same bush.

"Keep running into the woods, they're chasing us," he whispered urgently, waving over the Persica.

She was unresponsive.

Resolving to protect the children, the man tucked into a bush a few feet away and clutched his rifle tightly.

He was barely 20, if not younger.

He had a scared look on his face, muffled by the blood and dirt covering him.

It didn't take long for the T-dolls to catch up.

One of them scans with a green light, leaving not a spot behind.

The light passes Persica in a state of shock, and Roland who had wiggled himself out of his older sister's protective hold.

It turns red.

Suddenly, the soldier pops out of the bushes and responds with a burst of fire, blowing chunks of steel out of the back of its head.

"Hey Buckethead!" he shouts, grabbing its attention as he held down the trigger for dear life.

It turned itself in his direction, hoisting its massive rifle, and fires one shot.

The green flash pierces his abdomen, and the man is on his knees, coughing blood. It wouldn't get any better.

He pulls a grenade off his belt and yanks the pin as the Robot lifts him by the neck.

With his last moments, he motions for Roland to take his sister and run.

Just after the Assailant brutally wrenches the Soldier's head off, the explosive resonates throughout the forest, leaving a brief flash, and nothing more.

But he would rest easy, knowing his actions weren't in vain.

The Military reclaimed the sector by dawn, and the two of them were found in each other's embrace, sleeping away the cold night.

When he woke up, all that Roland could see was red.

Why did they want to kill people?

What even were they?

That one day felt like a week.

He saw things he shouldn't have, and his mentality paid the price.

Roland would be scarred forever.