Six on Sunday - Six paragraphs from X MY HEART, a dark sci-fi romance novel.
1. “Now!” she shouted, and jumped to her feet. She began pumping rounds into the alien’s upper torso, delighting in the way the thing exploded into fist-sized chunks. Behind her, Tuft went for the creature’s midsection, spraying its inner workings until the thing collapsed to its knees. At the same time, Cobbie and Barnes took aim at the second mech. The sound of their pulse rifles reverberated within the narrow confines of the alley, nearly deafening them as smoke and grit filled the air. The mechs never had a chance to raise their own weapons before they were cut down.
2. They kissed hungrily, tasting and devouring each other’s lips and faces in their madness. Leif pressed her up against the wall to feel her body pulsing against his. She whimpered softly, her tears mingling with his on their cheeks, when common sense suddenly landed on him, reminding him with painful reality of their current situation and location. Reluctantly, he disengaged her arms from around his neck and pulled himself away.
3. McNutt walked up to her with a helmet in his hand, and held it out to her. She saw her husband’s name stenciled across the back. “We found this, his backpack, and his rifle,” the man told her. He pointed in three different locations, each one far away from the others, as if they’d been randomly tossed. “The helmet was over there, his backpack was there, and his rifle was there. But we haven’t found his body.”
4. Leaning over, Gretchen pressed her lips to her husband’s bulbous head. He gave her a stunned look. “Thank you for saving my life.” She stared into those beautiful eyes. The only human part of him still visible. Yet, she no longer saw the abhorrent creature he’d become. Her mind and her heart had adjusted somewhat, until she could almost imagine he was wearing some sort of bizarre Halloween costume. A costume he wasn’t able to shed.
5. Something struck the craft dead center. The ship flipped over twice, emitting a squeal like metal on metal, and began falling. It struck the top of the building in front of the squad, skimming across the roof and sending brick and concrete flying like shrapnel in its wake. When it eventually hit the road, it slid down the tarmac, digging a huge furrow into the two-lane blacktop, until it slammed into the side of a tire discount store.
6. “I know you do,” she admitted, fighting the tears rising in her eyes. “But there’s something you need to know. My husband was a prisoner aboard one of those fucking ships. They turned him into a mog, but he survived. He got away from them. It’s only because of his experience that we were able to board the spacecraft and take it out.” She blinked, and silently damned herself when two tears slid down her cheeks. Their salt content stung her burned skin, but she didn’t make any move to wipe them away.
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