The Sound Of Duty

The silence wrapped around us tightly, even as we fought against it. There we tears, the quiet kind, and anguished expressions. More than one person collapsed to the ground.

I'd been through this before. We all had, so there was little to be gained with words.

We dropped our weapons and left them where they lay. Without any order, we gradually made our way back to the city. We refused to look each other in the eye.

The sacrifices were necessary. The welfare of our entire civilization depended on them. But we each vowed this would be the last time.