POW Camp

Yolmir was happily sleeping inside one of the abandoned houses that got renovated by short ears called humans who called themselves engineers or how the one who blew up his golems leg called them engies.

That was located inside their prisoner of war camp where all the 900 surviving dwarves from the 12000 that left the isles which was basically every able-bodied dwarf leaving the isles practically defenseless with only the old and young who couldn't do a thing if someone attacked them.

Only for the POW camp's sirens to start blaring at six o'clock sharply causing him to jump out from his bunk bed's warm blanket exposing his now already showing muscle upper body.

From the whole month of heavy labor of demolishing the city's original buildings together with the sluggish zombies who also helped out in constructing the human's new buildings which were like nothing he has seen before.

But tried to bite them from time to time only to get mercilessly beaten by the MPs and lifting weights in his free time which was another marvelous invention of humans that all the dwarves including himself fell in love with.

Apart from their weapons, airships, and the electric heather inside his room that kept him and his roommates warm during the cold nights to the morning cold which immediately washed away all the remaining drowsiness he had left.

Without waisting, a second Yomil quickly put on his orange pants, short-sleeved white shirt, and jacket with the number 367 written in black on his chest and back and tied his black leather boots that he had waxed and polished to perfection before sleep as humans liked to say lights out.

"Hey, stinky brat pick up your pace, or do you want us all to get punished because of you for being late for the morning checkup?!"

Grumpy as always Hammerfall roared as he stormed out from their barracks with Ragnar dressed the same way as he, Hammerfall, and everyone else the only difference being the numbers followed after him.

Seeing this Yolmir didn't waste any time and started sprinting after them.

"Line up! Line up!"

The scarred MP officer who ran the whole POW camp with a black beret with the bloodred reapers insignia and a pistol inside its holster around his right black space uniforms thigh roared at them while the fully geared up MP soldiers with their helmets on in front of them.

And their rifles loaded with safety off in their hands watched them diligently for any signs of disobedience or someone wanting to cause trouble with the barbed wire fence behind them and machine gunners in their watchtowers turning their machineguns left and right ready to turn the quickly gathering dwarves into 3 neat rows of lines into sieves.

But the truth was that none dared to cause trouble, especially after some hotblooded youths still high on adrenaline from battling zombies decided to break out from the POW camp and hijack a destroyer.

They actually succeeded in doing it since the dwarf's airships were still sitting in the open with a lack of security because humans had other priorities at the time.

Yet their adventure ended in a total fiasco after an MP soldier noticed the rising into the air destroyer that got turned into a ball of fire exactly 3 minutes later after the soldier reported about it to higher-ups who sent out a single VAMPIRE that just flew to it, stopped and while hovering gave a few short burst of 20×102 mm APHE bullets.

From its Vulcan Gatling guns that shredded everyone onboard into pieces and those that survived got burned to death together with the destroyer.

After that, the humans launched a thorough cleaning of the PWA camp which resulted in dozens of dwarves getting executed on the spot for breaking the camp's regulations.

So since then no one even dares to think about causing trouble and if someone does the dwarves themselves deal with the troublemakers before the humans get to them of course since killing is prohibited they just beat them into a pulp.

And once the soldiers ask them what happened to them they have no other choice but to say that they slipped on the soap since they know full well that if they admitted to getting beaten they would also suffer the consequences just like everyone else because humans had a really sick fetish for collective punishments.

"First row three steps forward! Second row two steps forward!"

The scarred officer roared at top of his lungs making the dwarves do exactly as they were told.

Thud!Thud!Thud!

Thud!Thud!

The dwarves stepped forward in unison as they kept almost perfect lines.

Seeing this the officer nodded with approval and as he did he made a 180-degree turn while keeping his fists pressed against his thighs.

"Salute the flag!"

The officer gave the command causing one of the soldiers dressed the same way as him who was standing at attention facing them while holding a pitch black flags ends with a bloodred REAPER insignia to release it and start saluting with his right hand while the other same way dressed soldier.

Started slowly pulling the flags poles rope causing the flag to slowly raise into the air as music that sounded like gibberish to dwarves but for some reason made their blood boil and made them try singing it together with the officer who was giving them commands started playing through the camp's loudspeakers.

"Forward march! Forward march! Reapers Angels of Death!"

The officer started singing as he too raised his right hand and performed a modern UN military salute while the fully geared-up soldiers started walking through the dwarf's ranks inspecting their attire if it was clean and ironed out and if their boots were shining to the point they could see their helmets reflections on them.

"If storms attack us they will collapse!"

"They will collapse! Into our steel!"

"The Reaper's crew will remain the first!"

"In heat! In cold!"

What are storms and rain to us?!"

Saw us! Saw us Earth and New Earth!"

"Strong as steel!"

"We're not afraid of frost and mud! Excellently march our soldiers!"

"Then bullets whiz over their heads! Then blood clouds the sky!"

Our land will be free!"

"We will fight and die for our fathers, mothers, wives, husbands, and children!"

"We will always fight to our last breath! We swear it!..."

By the time the song ended the flag finally rose to the top and started proudly fluttering in the cloudless sky with the blue sun already up.

After the soldier raising the flag tied the ropes securely around the pole he pressed his fists to his thighs and made a half-right turn with his legs without moving out from his place causing him to face the officer and once he saluted the officer gave the command making the two soldiers lover down their hands.

"Honored!"

He roared as he lowered his hand and turned around.

"First, and second rows around!"

Thud!

"To your places forward march!!"

Thud!Thud!Thud!

Thud!Thud!

"Third row right!"

Thud!

"First, and second rows left!"

Thud!

"From the left to the cafeteria march!"

Thud!Thud!Thud!...

"Have a nice breakfast gentlemen!"

The officer said causing smiles to appear on the dwarf's faces of which some were busy wiping away their tears because the song had resonated too deeply with them even though they still didn't understand it completely just a few words like forward march which they already knew by heart.

...

"So stinky old man what do you think about these humans?"

Yolmir asked Hammerfall as he sat down opposite him and placed down his aluminum tray with his breakfast on the aluminum table which could accommodate 12 people at once which included two boiled eggs, sausages, and a good dose of porridge with a cup of beer that the dwarves have become absolutely addicted to since it was nothing like they have ever tasted before it was simply heavenly for them.

"Hmph! Stinky brat dare call me stinky old man!"

Hammerfall snorted as he showed the whole fried sausage with tomato paste into his mouth with the help of an aluminum fork while Ragnar did the same only that he didn't talk while eating especially after he almost choked to death once but thankfully one of the MP soldiers performed the Heimlich maneuver on him so he lived and after that, he never talks again while eating.

"But speaking of humans they are really weird although they have no qualms about executing us on the spot if we brake their rules they still treat us like we are their own people which is bloody bizarre!"

"I mean we don't have to sleep in the cold, they gave us such expensive clothes and excellent boots and they even wash them for us, we get fed 3 times a day and they even give us a beer to drink!

Hammerfall said excitedly as he grabbed his aluminum cup and drank its contents in one go causing a smile of total bliss to appear on his face after he swallowed it.

"True when they first brought me for questioning I thought that they were going to torture me but apart from giving me a weird shot that made me talk on my own and putting a strange device on my temple thanks to which I could understand what the human Beowolf was saying they didn't do anything else to me which is very weird.

Yolmir said his thoughts as he started eating his breakfast.