The red shot composed of Beast goo and shards of metal shot towards me and my commander Kurd. As the air around me started to vibrate, I jumped out of the way just in time.

The earth shook as I looked over at my leader and friend. He hasn’t been quite as lucky. His face was pale and drawn and his fingers shook as he reached down to where, seconds ago, his legs were attached. Now covered in mud made of dust, red shot, and his own blood, he looked to me and mouthed two words.

Do it.

Horror gripped me as I realized what he was talking about. The fight against the Beasts could be won only one way. They were so genetically mutated and so far from human, that the only thing that could kill them was the fresh heart of a human combined with the blast from our laser rifles. We had started retrofitting our rifles with a chamber that a human heart would fit in and be absorbed into the beam of our laser gun.

The problem was, to be effective, the heart can only have been dead for 7 minutes. Which brings us to the question; do we kill our own people to stop the Beasts? Or do we wait for them to kill us first?

A quick look into Kurd’s pained eyes showed me that we’re both knew what had to be done. He knew it, and I knew it, that he wasn’t going to make it with injuries that severe.

I try to think of what we’re about to gain by what I’m about to do to my dying friend. I try to rationalize that he’s dying anyway. As I walk over to him, I think of all the people I’m about to save. By killing him myself.