"Beware how you take away hope from another human being."
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Everyone shielded their eyes from the fiery explosion on the north side of the wall. For a second, the fighting stopped as the loud blast of sound caused everyone to turn towards the wall. Then there were triumphant shouts from half the fighters, and shouts of fear and despair from the others; a good ten feet of the wall was now nothing but rubble. Thousands of recruits from both sides rushed towards the collasped wall, some intent on defending it, others planning to go straight through.
Recruits lined the fallen portion of the wall, fighting desperately to keep the enemy out of the fort. Amongst them were a dark-skinned burly man and a petite, pale girl, both fighting valiantly and a touch more skillfully than the rest. Yuffie jumped from fallen rock to fallen rock, her small size and agility proving useful. She used her shruikein to cut down a man trying to climb over the rocks into the now vunerable fort. Behind her, Barret stood on a large pile of rubble, firing rounds skillfully into the chaos.
"Ya doin' awright Yuffie?" he shouted over the sounds of intense fighting.
"Yup!" Yuffie called, ducking nimbly behind a rock. "Piece of cake!"
The fighting continued on. Those protecting the fort were fighting vigorously, fierce determinism showing on their faces. But even so, the battle was slowly progressing backwards, and into the fort. Again and again, they tried to push forward, but the other side was relentless. Yuffie downed another man with a powerful cut of her shrukein. She grimaced and wiped her own, sticky blood out her eyes. She ducked behind a rock for a minute and looked out on the fighting. We're losing...she thought despairingly. But she gripped her weapons and fierce pride showed in her gray eyes. They won't take down the great Yuffie that easily! she thought cockily, before leaping up on the rock and jumping back into the fight.
Barret seemed to realize the situation they were in too. Marlene...he thought angrily, shooting several more rounds. If they git through...He shook his head, and took three men down. Not happenin'...not as long as I'm still in the running...He guffawed loudly as he saw Yuffie give a battle cry and jump off a rock and onto an approaching enemy.
"Tha's the spirit!" he shouted at her, firing with renewed vigor. "Takes more than that to beat us!"
Inside the broken wall, Reeve was having troubles of his own.
"Don't panic!" he shouted into the crowd of civilians. "Everyone has to stay calm! We're doing all we can to protect you!"
The crowd was still filled with frightened cries, as they looked at the large broken portion of the wall and the approaching battle. Reeve felt himself squashing panic of his own. He looked out on the crowd, speaking loudly and clearly.
"I'm going to organize you all into the barracks." he told the crowd. "I want you to use the beds inside to barricade the doors. But don't move until I say so! This will all go much quicker if we cooperate with one another."
A hush fell over the civilians. Feeling a rush of relief, Reeve gave quiet orders to the small group of recruits with him and they began herding the civilians into shelters. The job was surprisingly efficient; in no time at all, all the frighten civilians were barricaded into the barracks.
"What now?" Reeve muttered to himself, looking over the fort. "The hospital..."
He ran towards the vunerable building, keeping one eye on the battle at the north end of the wall. When he reached the large double doors, he shoved them open, not bothering to ask permission for entrance. A nurse looked up as he opened the door, looking scandalized.
"Sir!" she said. "You can't come in here! The hospital is for patients only! We don't have room for anyone else right now..."
Reeve let the doors swing shut behind him and didn't respond. At his feet were over fifty poisoned young men squeezed into the waiting room...pale and unmoving. He felt his heart catch in his throat.
"Are they..." he said hoarsely. "Are they still alive?"
The nurse looked away painfully.
"They're still barely hanging on." she said quietly. "They all fell still about an hour ago."
Reeve didn't respond. The nurse seemed to regain her senses.
"But you can't be in here sir." she said firmly. "I'm afraid I have to ask you to leave."
He shook his head.
"There's a battle going on outside." he told her.
She paled slightly but nodded.
"We know." she said. "It's so quiet in here now...we could hear the fighting."
Reeve shook his head.
"You don't understand." he told her lowly. "Part of the wall has collasped. I don't know how long the recruits can keep them out. We have to barricade the hospital, in case the enemy breaks through."
The nurse nodded.
"We have bed frames we can use." she said shakily. "We'll have to lift the matresses and patients off them first."
"That will work." Reeve said, but paused as a thought occurred to him. "Is Red doing okay?"
She sighed. "His wounds don't seem to be life threatening but...I don't know how long he can hold out without a potion."
Reeve nodded somberly. He hesitated for a moment before asking his next question.
"Are Cloud and Tifa in here?" he asked, a bit fearfully.
The nurse looked confused for a second, but slowly recognition came to her face.
"Mr. and Mrs. Strife?" she asked. "They're in the third cubicle to the left."
Her face was filled with sadness. Reeve thanked her quietly and turned away, walking into the other room. Hesitantly, he pulled the curtain away from the said cubicle. He stood back from the bed for a moment, pain clenching at his heart. It looked as though both and Cloud and Tifa were poisoned, curled around each other on the small hosptial bed, not moving. Reeve took a step forward.
"Cloud." he whispered.
At first, Reeve thought perhaps Cloud was still asleep, but his noticed his hand moving. It moved down to Tifa's wrist, pressed two fingers to it for a moment and then let the hand fall limply down. Only then did he open his eyes.
"Reeve." Cloud said raspily.
Reeve tried not to notice Cloud's red-rimmed eyes.
"Is she-" he began quietly, motioning to Tifa.
Cloud cut him off, looking away to hide the pain in his face.
"She's still holding on..." he whispered. "But the doctors don't know if she's...if she's..."
He broke off, voice breaking. Reeve lowered his eyes and clenched his jaw, trying to hold back tears of his own.
"If she's going to make it." Cloud finished, voice trembling.
This isn't fair...Reeve thought with anguish as Cloud ducked his head onto Tifa's hair. He could remember that sunny morning at Cosmo Canyon, when Cloud and Tifa came walking through the gate together hand in hand...how they had met everyone's accusing yet amused stares blushing deeply...Everyone was so happy for them when they announced their news. And their wedding day...Cloud had been so nervous and excited he could barely tie his shoes. Reeve swallowed hard, trying not to break down in front of Cloud.
"Cloud..." he said lowly. "There's a fight going on outside."
Cloud's head popped up. Reeve could tell by the look on his face that he was unware of this. Cloud just shook his head, cradling Tifa's seemingly lifeless head against him.
"I have to stay here with Tifa." he told Reeve. "I can't leave her here alone...I want to be here when the antidotes come...I want to be here when she wakes up again."
The hope in Cloud's eyes was almost as painful to see as the tears.
"Okay Cloud." Reeve said gently. "You stay here, we'll take care of the rest."
Cloud nodded.
"Oh, and one more thing Cloud." Reeve said, remembering at the last minute."Part of the wall crumbled...we need to barricade the hospital. I need the bed frame."
Cloud gave another breif nod. He bent over Tifa's head and whispered something in her ear. Reeve turned away. Whatever Cloud was saying, it wasn't meant for him to hear. When Reeve looked back to them, Cloud had Tifa lifted off the bed, holding her frail body as if one disturbance would shatter it. Reeve quickly removed the matress and replaced it on the floor. Cloud laid Tifa back on the bed, rearranging the covers around her before laying next to her. Reeve gave them a long last look before leaving the curtained off area with the bed frame. Only then did he allow a few tears to trail down his face.
By the broken wall, the fight was taking a turn for the worse. Bodies lied haphazardly in the rubble, and the ones still alive stumbled over them, too caught up in the fight to avoid the fallen. Barret scowled fiercly as a few of the enemy broke through the recruits protecting the fort and began running inside. He turned around to shoot at them and smiled with grim triumph as they fell to the dusty ground.
"Three down...thousand more to go..." he muttered bitterly.
We're losing...he thought remorsefully as he was forced to take another step backwards. He whipped his head left and right looking for his much smaller comrade. He spotted her several feet to his left, her dark bob of hair and bony shoulders a blur amongst all the others fighting. She caught his eye for a moment, a ghost of her spunky smile appearing on her bloodied and sweat-covered face. She knows what I know...he thought dishearteningly as she turned away from him to ward off another attack. All around them, recruits were pulling back.
"Don't give up!" Yuffie shouted, young voice barely audible over the shouts of pain and anger. "C'mon! Push forward!"
Barret began shouting also, his deep booming voice adding to Yuffie's peppy one.
"Hold your ground!" he shouted. "It's over if they get into the fort!"
But fear and exhaustion were more convincing than Barret and Yuffie's words of encouragement. The recruits were retreating. They ran with blind desperation, not taking care or notice of those they knocked down and trampled. Barret watched in horror as Yuffie was knocked down and disappeared under the desperate feet of those running back into the fort. Using his burly form as an advantage, he pushed through the panicking recruits and advancing enemy. He grabbed Yuffie's limp, battered form and threw it over one broad shoulder. Is this the end? he wondered. Several men bumped into him roughly, nearly causing Yuffie to fall off his shoulder. Marlene...he thought desperately.
Just when it seemed as though all hope was gone, and Barret was ready to admit defeat, a loud sound came from overhead. The panic-induced retreat stopped for a minute as everyone looked to the sky to find the source of the noises. But Barret didn't need to look to the sky; he'd recognize that sound anywhere.
"Cid..." he muttered, nearly dropping to his knees with relief and exhaustion.