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hadn’t opened yet, and the gunshots in the background likely meant that the seythra weren’t aware of them.
    There were only two shells remaining in Seraph’s shotgun. He had one full magazine for his pistol, and a half a magazine on backup.
    Seraph eyed his comrade. “How much ammo you got?”
    Ret popped the chamber of his revolver open. “Six shots loaded, three spare bullets. That’s it.”
    “Anything for the rifle?”
    “Nothing of use. Only have a couple shots, and in these close quarters? Won’t work. Didn’t know we were this low.”
    “Stay close,” Seraph said, moving toward the door.
    The power died for a moment. Both Seraph and Ret froze in front of the door. As the power came back on, the door opened in front of them, revealing a narrow hallway with three doors on the right side and one door on the left. The floor split off into a T at the end of the hallway. On the far side, large windows had been shot out and broken glass decorated the ground. The walls were covered in bullet holes.
    Seraph and Ret planted their backs against the wall and moved toward the first door on the right. The gunshots echoed louder and louder. As they came to the door, Seraph tightened his grip on the shotgun and charged into the room.
    Seraph immediately dropped to one knee and raised the shotgun. On the other side of the room were three seythra manning machine guns mounted to the windows.
    Seraph fired a shot into the back of a seythra. Ret followed up by shooting the two remaining seythra in the head at point blank range. One of the seythra fell backward through the window he’d been shooting from. Suddenly, a door to Seraph’s left snapped open with a loud ‘bang.’
    Seraph turned and expelled the final shell of his shotgun, blowing the seythra in the doorway in half. Ret pushed the door closed. Bullet holes pounded the door and Ret dove to the ground. He grabbed one of the dead seythra’s shotguns and tossed it to Seraph. The counter on this one read seven shots, which Seraph hoped was more than he’d need.
    Ret inched away from the door. The gunfire ceased all at once. Seraph brought his shotgun up and locked it to the door. The wall right next to the door exploded, sending dust and drywall everywhere. Neither Seraph nor Ret could see anything through the cloud of debris. Seraph fell back to take cover behind an extending portion of the wall. It was minimal cover at best, but it would have to do.
    Two revolver shots rang out. Seraph guessed they were Ret's. A burst of what sounded like assault rifle followed. The cloud of dust had disappeared and Seraph darted back into the action charging forward with his shotgun aimed at the hole in the wall.
    A seythra soldier had Ret by the throat and had pinned Ret’s hand pinned so that he couldn’t aim the revolver. Seraph snuck up to the seythra and slammed the butt of his shotgun into the back of the seythra’s skull. The seythra howled and loosened his grip on Ret. Ret kicked the seythra and raised his revolver to the stunned seythra’s skull. He pulled the trigger without hesitation.
    In their moment of refuge, Ret used his free hand to rub his raw neck. Seraph pinned himself against the wall and cocked his shotgun, glancing around the corner and through the hole in the wall. The seythra chatter was faint.
    “Where the fuck were you?” Ret coughed.
    “Took cover, just like you should’ve.”
    “The fuck I should-” Ret was cut short by several gunshots that sounded like they were coming from the floor above.
    Seraph raised the shotgun again. “We need to move.”,
    Ret reluctantly followed him.
    Seraph and Ret moved into the next room. Seraph swept the whole room but found nothing besides a bunch of scattered tables and debris.
    Seraph motioned for Ret to move out.
    They stepped into the hallway and immediately heard gunfire. Ret and Seraph retreated back into the room and dove to the floor for cover. From what Seraph had seen, there was a small group of