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Stacy, then Boss Creed, helpless. I wasn’t an officer. The only time I carried a weapon was when I was going outside the wall.

“What’s happening?” Arun joined us, brandishing the hand-blaster she always wore on her belt.

“It’s infected.” I grimaced.

The creature was seconds away from ramming head first into our newly constructed wall. We were about to see how sturdy our defenses really were as each of us braced for the impact. At the last second, the creature pulled a hard right, hugging the wall.

Stacy looked up at us, confused.

That was when I realized what was going on. “The gate!” I shouted, already shoving my way back down the stairs. “Reinforce the gate!”

I couldn’t say how I knew for sure, but I remembered my run-in with the infected earlier. I remembered how they’d exhibited intelligence instead of just attacking wildly.

The gate, although locked, would be an easier entry point than a solid steel wall.

I broke into a sprint when I reached the ground, and adrenaline coursed through me, making my heart pound in my chest. Everyone was shouting, making it impossible to hear any distinct voice. Weapons’ fire added to the chaos on the wall along with the roars of the creature as it wailed a garbled battle cry.

The alien beast hit the gates to the west so hard that the entire wall shuddered. An officer too close to the point of impact on the catwalk screamed as she fell, landing hard on the ground inside.

Her left leg crumpled underneath her weight, sticking out at an odd angle. Part of me wanted to stop and help the fallen woman, but the cold truth was if the beast got past the wall, we were all screwed. Other survivors raced to her side to offer aid, solving the dilemma for me.

I finally reached the gates, assessing the damage and figuring out how we could secure the point of entry. The wall had absorbed the impact well, but how many hits like that it could take was anyone’s guess.

I couldn’t see the beast, but I could sure hear it. Another mad roar echoed into the air.

“I need you and Boss Creed to make sure it doesn’t get through,” Stacy shouted from her position on the catwalk. “We’ll keep firing at it from up here!”

I nodded, racking my mind for an effective way to brace the gate.

SHADOOM!

The creature slammed itself into the gates again. This time, those on the catwalk held on when the creature battered the wall, causing a steel-rending tear as the gate on the right groaned. An indention a foot long and roughly the size of the creature’s head penetrated the outside of the wall. A single horn poked through before it was forced back, leaving a hole the size of my head.

I took the opportunity to see what was happening on the other side of the wall. The creature’s hide was tougher than I first thought. Yes, some blaster rounds had gotten through and wounded the beast, but far too few. From what I could see, two spots on the creature’s back and left shoulder were bleeding.

“Aim for the eyes!” Arun shouted from above.

“Those steel beams we were using before,” I shouted over to Boss Creed and anyone who would listen.

A handful of the bravest survivors, Ricky and Elon among them, joined us at the gates to see if there was anything they could do to help.

“Here!” Boss Creed shouted as we ran with him to the pile of heavy steel beams meant for the watch towers.

I grabbed one, as did Elon and Ricky. We hefted one of the pieces that had to be three meters long and weigh at least four hundred pounds and moved toward the gates.

“Hurry, before he hits us again!” Elon bellowed.

We stuck one end of the beam into the dirt ground a few meters from the gates. The other end wedged against the gate itself.

“We need anchors on top of the beams!” Ricky yelled.

“Too late, here it comes again!” Stacy shouted from the wall.

I looked through the hole in the gate. She was right; we had seconds.

“Brace the beams!” I yelled, throwing the weight of my own body on top of the beam we’d just erected. It was better than nothing. Everyone who was working to secure the gate did the same. Some hung off the beams; others pressed their bodies onto it, while the rest pushed with all their weight against the gate itself.

“No!” I screamed as well-intentioned survivors pressed against the steel frame.

SHADOOM!

My entire frame rattled, from the bones in my spine to my teeth. The beam in my arms bounced despite the pressure of me, Elon, and Ricky all pushing it down, and those who forced their bodies against the gate itself were thrown back violently.

The bottom of the gate groaned before shaking loose from the rest of the wall. It hung more than stood now, supported on one end by the corner anchor against the wall. The other end of the gate was secured to its left counterpart with a heavy chain.

“This isn’t going to work,” Ricky said, wheezing.

“One more blow and it’ll be through,” Elon agreed.

“No.” I was surprised to hear the ferocity in my own voice. “No, not today. We’ve worked too hard. We’ve come too far.”

A reckless idea entered my mind. Instead of talking myself off the ledge, I decided to go with it.

“Get everyone away from the gates,” I said as I took off at a sprint. “Get back from the gates.”

I heard them yelling after me, asking questions, but there wasn’t time to explain. The alien battering ram was going to be back in seconds and the gate would fall if it took another hit. I ran like the hounds of hell were at my heels. The encampment was in pandemonium. People were yelling and crying and more than a few walked in a daze.

During the madness, Mutt had found me, adding his own bark to the chaos around us. When he saw me take off