Founding a Nation

Ron stood before the temporary tent, holding a thick register in his hands.

It was the list of the fallen.

Every page was densely packed with names. Some of the ink had yet to dry, clearly only just added.

"So far..." Miller's voice came from beside him.

"Four thousand seven hundred and forty-two confirmed dead, over ten thousand severely wounded, and countless lightly injured."

"Roughly thirty percent of the buildings inside the city were damaged. The harbor district was almost razed to the ground."

"The eastern wall... collapsed along its entire length."

Ron said nothing. He only turned to the next page of the register.

Some names had positions marked beside them. Others bore only the simple word "civilian."

Some were Vampires, some were humans, and there were even refugees who had only just arrived from elsewhere.

"John Muller—construction worker. Struck by falling debris from the floating fortress while voluntarily evacuating civilians."

That name made Ron's movements pause slightly.

He was the owner of those hands in the thirty-seventh spot on the plaza statue, already over seventy this year, long past the age when he should have retired.

He had once saved three fellow workers from a collapsing building, but lost a leg himself.

Now, he no longer needed even a prosthetic.

"What about his family?"

"His wife survived the evacuation. His son and grandson are safe too."

Miller also sounded somewhat moved.

"They say Muller stayed behind of his own accord, saying he wanted to help direct the evacuation and refused to leave first."

"The final record shows that he pushed several civilians near him into the protective barrier.

But because he was too old and his legs were bad, he tripped and fell, and never had the chance to get back up."

Ron remembered what the man had