Burning Bright

"Holy shit."

"I don't think God defecates."

"What?"

"Well, you said 'holy shit.' So I can assume that therefore the shit is holy, and that the only way one can attribute divinity to shit is if it comes out of the arse of-"

"Hey Del?"

"Yeah?

"Shut up."

The conversation ended. JD knew that it was only a matter of time until Del found something else to talk about, whether it be the birds, the bees, or the feeling of letting a Lancer loose on the Swarm. But for now, silence dwelled over the two former Gears – former members of the COG, now members of the Outsiders, caught in the uneasy position of having burnt all the bridges to their old life, but yet to fully cross over into the next one. It was why they were put on patrol, JD reflected. Why only the two of them operated, and why they were sent so far from the fort. A trial by fire, concocted by arseholes who wanted to get them killed. Or maybe they wanted them to see this. To have some kind of insight as to why even now, people wanted to remain separate from the COG. Or maybe there was no meaning to the sight before them.

"JD, we should-"

"Del, I said shut up."

"Oh. Okay then."

And silence returned once more. Broken only by the sound of the fire. And JD's silent curse.

Locust. Drones, mainly, but in the pile of bodies before him JD could make out larger breeds. Boomers, Kantus, even a Berserker or two. He was reminded of a tire fire, something that was made back in distant days when humanity could afford to be so blasé with its resources. He'd never seen a tire fire, but he could imagine it reaching this height. But not the smell.

"Hell," his friend said. "How many do you think are in there?"

"Del, I told you to…" JD trailed off, before murmuring, "no idea."

"Guess."

"Hundreds. Thousands. You know the stories. You think anyone really gave a shit about tallying how many Locust were killed?"

Del didn't answer, leaving JD alone with the sound of the flames. He'd never seen a living Locust. Dead ones, sure, described in all manner of ways by dad and his old squad, usually accompanied by various expletives. He'd heard how no matter what the COG did, they just kept coming, right up until they were wiped out by his grandfather's imulsion counter-weapon, taking the Lambent along with them. After that, he'd heard that the COG had disposed of their bodies, but this…this was…

"This is wrong," Del murmured.

JD silently agreed, but still murmured, "you going to mourn them?"

"No, I mean…all these bodies. Still burning." He took a sip of water from his flask. "Bloody hell man, it's like the Hammer strikes all over again."

Right. The Hammer of Dawn. A now useless weapon, made famous for scorching the face of Sera as a method of asset denial. Another story, barely mentioned by the COG, brought up by Outsiders who justified their independence. But JD could imagine. The smell of flesh being burnt. Bodies everywhere. Maybe not piled up like this, but…

Del gagged and he couldn't blame him. He'd killed before. Plenty of times. But seeing this…He began walking, making a silent gesture for Del to follow him. Silently, his friend obliged.

"Y'know, they say that there's mountains of Locust bodies everywhere. Across the whole planet."

So much for silence.

"Like, it's a crime against nature or some shit. That it's why the windflares have come. That the planet's angry, that all the fires are changing the climate, and-"

"Del, are you really going to lecture me on that bullshit?"

"Think about it man. Windflares didn't exist two decades ago. Why now? Why like this?"

Del kept walking. Windlfares. Imulsion. Locust. There was always something out to kill humanity, and that included humanity itself. That gave him enough to worry about without mumbo jumbo theories of the planet itself becoming homicidal.

"And then there's the Swarm. They-"

"Die," JD said. "That's all we need to know. All we need to care about."

Del smirked, and JD noticed. "What?"

"Sounds like talk from your old man. Just replace 'Swarm' with 'Locust,' make it the past tense, and-"

"Del, shut up," JD said. His gaze narrowed. "And make it a long one."

"Alright man. But it's a long walk."

JD winced. A long walk. Right. No doubt the Outsiders wanted a 'bonding session' or some crap in addition to the 'holy shit look at that pile of bodies' moment.

But he kept walking. Walking forward, even as the wind rose. As the planet rumbled. As one catastrophe after another walked up to try and knock the human race off its feet. Keep walking, and keep facing forward.

It was all he could do.

All anyone could do.

A/N

So, according to Game Informer, Locust bodies were cremated en masse after Gears of War 3, to the extent that by the time of Gears of War 4, it affected Sera's climate. Um. Okay. Forgive me for being a bit skeptical that mass cremation can alter a planet's atmosphere in the space of a few decades.

Anyway, drabbled up this as a result.