Marsil's Courage, a Rescue at the Limit

"Mona, hang on! He'll be here any second! Please, hang on!"

Inside the basement of the house at 7 Canchino Avenue.

Marsil wept as she frantically bandaged Mona.

But Mona was completely unconscious and could not respond.

Blood had soaked her from head to toe. Though Marsil had done her best to bandage her, blood still seeped through.

Marsil looked up at the surveillance feed. A king cobra dozens of meters long had coiled around the house and was slowly tightening its grip. Cracks had already spread across the outer walls.

The king cobra held its head high, its tongue flicking in and out.

It was the Mutant King Cobra from the Aurora Animal Assistance Society, and it was attacking Mona.

Marsil stared at the crumbling walls. Though terror gripped her, she forced herself to stay calm.

The defensive machines she had once been so proud of looked like children's toys before the giant snake.

Crossbow bolts struck its scales, leaving only a few white scratches. They did no real damage.

As the outer walls cracked and collapsed under the snake's crushing coils, the house's defenses fell apart completely.

The surveillance feeds went dark one by one. Only a camera set up farther away continued transmitting.

Marsil grabbed a Fully Automatic Rifle, gritted her teeth, and dragged Mona toward the room at the back.

More blood seeped from Mona's wounds as she was dragged, but Marsil could not stop.

She had no choice.

"Mona, hang on. You have to hang on!"

Marsil murmured the words to Mona, but they sounded more like something she needed to hear herself.

Bang!

The metal security door between the basement and the ground floor began to buckle under the snake's attacks.

Marsil shuddered and looked up.

On the one remaining surveillance feed, she saw