Quietly, Quiggly stepped into the darkness as he stealthily approached and steeled himself for whatever might lie ahead. He couldn't hear a thing. His skin, which he took for thick, made a hollow clunking sound as he stepped over the uneven ground, but he was unaware of it. "What are you waiting for?" said Vizh, who was now on the frontline, the rest of the team following behind him. Quiggly peered into the darkness and then held his hand forward. He was about to say something when there was a soft buzzing sound. "What was that?" someone shouted. "I'm not sure," said Quiggly, sounding shaken, his words trailing off. "Was that..." He was now certain that he had heard some strange sound in the darkness and quickly stood to investigate. "What was that?!" "It's time to move, move, move!" Vizh was shouting, but his warning was drowned out by the ominous sound that Quiggly had heard. Vizh turned back to them. "It's a signal! They're in place! Go, go, go! Don't let me down!" As the enemy advanced in close formation, Vizh quickly darted to the other side of the room. He looked towards them with an almost imperceptible smile, as though he were saying to them, I know, I know. I could have stopped you, too. But you were too late. The team made their way to the other side of the house, away from the enemy and then ran to the end of the hallway. Vizh took a deep breath, braced himself, and fired off his last round from his revolver. They all screamed. The shot rang out, but nothing happened. All of the lights went out in the residence, but they were too scared to move. Vizh shook his head, cursing under his breath. "I have to get to the basement. I have to get to the basement." Vizh said urgently, looking towards the room at the end of the hallway. "It's where the bombs are set to go off." His words shook them out of their daze. "Oh, crap. There's no time to lose." "What are we going to do?" Quiggly asked. Vizh looked around them. The enemy was almost within striking distance of them. "The basement, quick, get to the basement." They bolted into the basement, and Vizh kept his eyes glued on the enemy. Just as the enemy made it to the basement doorway, a booming explosion erupted, throwing a blanket of dust into the air. The enemy was blown away, and the ground rumbled. "Oh, crap!" said Quiggly as he saw the wave of red and black mist and heard the loud and insistent noise. "Run!" shouted Vizh. They ran for their lives as more booms and explosions continued to shake the earth. The sky was a blanket of red as an endless stream of people and military vehicles descended upon the city. A low rumble and the screams of those fleeing the city drowned out the fire. A wave of debris, smoke, and ash swept the city, carrying away everything in its path. With another deafening blast, everything disappeared, including the enemy. But just as quickly as it all happened, it disappeared as well. As they lay amongst the dust and debris, their screams echoing in the aftermath, a deafening boom shattered the air. A giant bird like creature appeared from a black cloud, a huge green beak and the longest set of wings they had ever seen. The creature let out a screech and the sky darkened with black tendrils as it fell to the ground, its body emitting a massive explosion that cracked the earth and filled the atmosphere with haze. "What in the heck was that?" screamed Vizh. No sooner had the words left his mouth, but the dust began to clear, leaving the air dry and silent, the sun beginning to rise on what once was just an abandoned city. The group slowly rose to their feet, dust covering their exposed skin, trying to cover themselves, trying to figure out if it had been real. Quiggly was the first to speak. "My God! Did you see that thing? It was crazy!" "There was a giant bird creature that went through a hole in the sky and wiped out those things from the sky and the ground, and it disappeared!" Vizh said, looking about as though it were all a dream. "I'm not going to question it." As they sat there staring at one another, the sun began to rise, as if nothing had happened, as if no bombs had exploded or as if they had never been gone, all of them remembering only what they had experienced. They dusted off their uniforms, and Quiggly smiled, staring blankly. "We made it. We made it, didn't we?" he said. "Yes, we made it. We made it!" Vizh yelled, pumping his fists in the air. "That's it? Just like that? There was no bomb blast. There was no bomb blast, was there?" said Quiggly, shaking his head, now as surprised as Vizh. "I know we made it. I know we made it," Vizh repeated, as if he were having an out of body experience. "We made it." "We made it," Quiggly echoed, smiling as if he too had a memory. "What else could it be?" Vizh said to no one, as though he was now dreaming about something he didn't understand. Suddenly, all of them began to laugh as if they were on a vacation, not stuck in this hellish place, not stuck in an unending war. "Let's go take a look around, check to see if we killed those guys," Vizh said, grabbing Quiggly's elbow and pulling him along. They ran back into the street, and before they realized it, they were being greeted by their fellow soldiers. The next day, they marched over to the frontline, their uniforms stained with dirt and dust. All that had happened, just moments earlier, was a distant memory. They hadn't even had a chance to ask one another if they had seen it. "Are we going to go back?" Quiggly asked as they made their way to the frontline. Vizh gave him a quick glare. "We never went." Vizh and Quiggly made their way over to the frontline with the rest of the team, the sound of gunfire and bombs in the background. Everyone was anxious to get back to the frontline. They waited in line, taking cover behind the wall and peeked their heads out. It had been a while since they had faced any enemy activity, and the air was filled with a rumble that shook the ground. "What was that?" Quiggly whispered, holding his fist up to his ear and peeking around the corner. "What was what?" asked a soldier to his right. Quiggly looked at him as though he were mad. "What was that?" "They were just some large bombs." "We need to get to the frontline." "Well, just give me a moment." "Are you listening? Look at that, just look." Another one of the soldiers raised his head as though he too had just had an epiphany. "What are we looking for?" Vizh asked, pointing to the sky. As the soldier looked at the sky, a smile could be seen on his face. "There's nothing there. What are you talking about?" "Just look at the skies." He looked at the sky. "I see nothing." "Oh, my gosh, look at it!" Quiggly gasped, pointing above them to the deep black clouds and his wide eyes opened as though he had just seen God himself. The soldier turned to look, having no idea what to do with what had just happened. "Oh, my gosh, look at the clouds," Quiggly said, pointing to the black clouds, and his voice was drowned out as a bomb fell nearby, and everything happened so fast that Vizh and Quiggly weren't sure what was happening. "I can't hear you!" shouted Vizh, "It's the bombs!" They were both running towards the frontline, and the other soldiers were following behind them. "We were just about to fall into the sky," Quiggly mumbled. "What are we going to do? What are we going to do?" asked Vizh, panicked, as he ran to the frontline, Quiggly racing behind him. As soon as they made it to the frontline, they heard gunshots ringing out in the distance. The sight of the gunfire was frightening. The bombs continued to fall on the city, killing those who they fell upon and creating chaos among those who were on the frontline, but the enemy had yet