Endless drums of thunder and explosions.
Bodies making small mountains of humans and ants alike.
Black and red covering everything.
Craters singing out across the ground.
A soldier slowly stood up.
Ringing in his ears.
Vision blurry.
Then clearing.
Drones hovering above him.
Small ants moving below them.
Not toward him.
Past him.
He looked down.
Another soldier on the ground.
The ants anticipating.
Internal organs like noodles spilling outward.
The soldier barely conscious.
Looking at one another.
Black spilling across the floor.
Organs trailing outward.
Weakness moving through everything.
---
Tension pulled back.
Far from the battlefield.
A thin man in a white shirt.
Sweat everywhere.
Rushing to a table filled with other men.
Suits and ties soaked through.
Voices bouncing off one another.
He cut through them all.
"Sir. You have to see this."
A pause.
"The drones have been picking up a smarter unit of ants. They've been eating and gathering the dead body parts of our soldiers and the other ants. We believe these are scavenger ants. Their goal is inside the mountain. To feed the Queen."
He pressed forward.
"We suspect there will be more inside the dungeon. More and more pouring out. We don't know the full number of these creatures. The sub bosses weren't supposed to be this many. We're dealing with something we don't fully understand."
More voices cutting in immediately.
"What are you saying exactly?"
"What are you seeing?"
"Should we retreat?"
"No. We continue."
The volume of the tent continued rising.
---
Back on the battlefield.
The soldier weakening.
Carnage all around him.
His eyes opening wider.
Liquid falling between his legs.
Past the fabric.
Making itself visible.
Voices from somewhere speaking.
"What should we do?"
"We're outnumbered."
"We have no choice."
---
An ominous sound came from overhead.
The soldier looked up.
A green flare.
He recognized it immediately.
A voice called out across everything.
All directions at once.
"Attention all remaining forces. This is mission control. We have been given the green light for retreat. These are your orders. Retreat."
---
Soldiers rushed back.
Running down the mountain at high speed.
Explosions at different corners.
Soldiers covering soldiers.
Body parts flying all around as many started going down the mountain.
The ants pressing on behind them.
A huge explosion tore through the air.
The voice in the tent looked at one another.
"We'll give you an opening to retreat."
The last of the rockets and missiles fired off simultaneously.
Creating large powerful mushrooms of explosion that rose upward.
Consuming everything in their immediate path.
Buying seconds.
Buying distance.
Buying lives.
The mountain shook with all of it.
And the soldiers ran.
Down.
Away.
Into whatever waited below.