[Part V Finale]
The village smoldered. Bodies of both friendlies and hostiles littered the place, and the collective release of their loosened bowels created a massive stink of death. Everyone had something to bury, whether cattle, fowl, children, or parents.
Peter had lost his wife. He couldn't really get angry at the machine for killing her; her death was unfortunate, but she went down fighting. He never got a chance to make it up to her for his actions yesterday, and now he never will. After interring her body, he surveyed the destruction. People not only got to work repairing or rebuilding their homes, they stripped metal away from the destroyed facilities to fashion new tools and weapons.
One thing, however, would never be repaired: their belief in human unity against the machines. The death toll was bad enough; the psychic toll even greater. The grim determination that would characterize the rebuilding efforts just wasn't there anymore; the innocence had been stripped away from all Beagle.
Peter laid flowers on his wife's grave. He came to peace with what he had seen in the battle. He would protect his remaining family, and he would protect Beagle from any enemy that would destroy it, machine or man.
He would be more than just "Matarobos."
Machine Crusher Matarobos
Part IV
Above image from the National Library of Scotland.
All my stories can be found here.
I'm Rawle Nyanzi, a professional author who seeks only to entertain. My blog is a convenient place where you can find all my writings and some of my opinions on various topics relating to politics, pop culture, and even gender.
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