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Last Paradise
by A.F. Stewart

It was the perfect place to die.

Tropical beach, warm sand, palm fronds swaying in a sunset breeze off the gentle ocean that lapped the world’s edge. The water was clear blue with a hint of the cherry red sunlight and splashed a taste of salt spray in the air. No reminders of what waited outside the perimeter, no uncertainty or pain. The last corner of paradise left in this world.

I could almost convince myself it was real.

“Commander. The enemy troops are past the Bravo gate. Should we send out a squad to hold them off?”
Almost. The simulation flickered with the comm signal and the beach faded away into the steel walls of the bunker.

“No,” I replied to my lieutenant, “Let the automated defences deal with them. Continue the evacuation. Get our troops to the jump ships.”

I clicked off the comm. I could do nothing more. We should have never come to this planet. In arrogance, we tried to manage the wildlife but made a serious mistake. Instead of dumb beasts to be domesticated or eradicated, we found intelligent and bloodthirsty monsters who wanted us dead. After the first wave of attacks, I attempted to get as many of my men off-planet as possible, but with the defences breached, not everyone would escape our stronghold. I looked back at the simulation equipment.

As I said, the perfect place to die.

.

Fiction © Copyright A.F. Stewart
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

 

More from A.F. Stewart:

Visions and Nightmares

Tragedy spares no one… and takes no prisoners.
In the twilight shadows, secrets are revealed past the whispers of madness.

Wander into the realm of the old gods with Elenora, where humanity and marriage are a prison.
Step through a looking glass of dark horrors with an Alice you never knew.
Join with Zenna to seek the truth as her death by magic grows closer.
Journey with Olivia as she crosses paths with a monster of the forest and runs for her life.
Watch Isobel summon the faerie to solve her problem of an unwanted husband.
Shiver as Doctor Killbride experiments with corpses to create life from death.
All that and more await within the pages.

Ten stories. Ten women.
Who will survive? Who will fall? And who will succumb to their inner evil?
Find out in Visions and Nightmares.

Warning: This book contains disturbing scenes that may be upsetting to some readers.

Available on Amazon!