Schmidt blinked.

Strangely, he felt as though everything he was experiencing was just a dream. He wasn’t actually trapped in Dijon about to be killed by bean monsters, he was back in Rohrdorf with Sofia. This was all a dream; he would be waking up any minute now, Sofia would wake him up any minute now…

The commotion around him pulled him from his thoughts. Mere meters away, he could hear the Beans banging against the gate, the soldiers shouting commands to each other as they shot their weapons, his own heartbeat in his ears as though it were about to burst. All the noise blended into one terrifying drone.

The drone was broken by the blast of a cannon, and, for an instant, he thought his heart really had burst in his chest. Then, slowly, the other sounds returned, and he knew that he was not dreaming.

He looked towards the eastern gate, the empty cobblestone road the only thing between them. There were some soldiers on that wall, too, firing upon the Beans underneath, though not nearly as many as were on the western wall.

He looked back towards the western gate, and somehow, it felt more distant. The incessant banging on the gates, the beating of his heart, the firing of the guns, the blasts of the cannons… It was giving him a headache.

When he woke up that morning, he was happy that something was finally happening, fully prepared to sacrifice himself for the greater good. He had been planning his sacrifice for as long as he could remember. He had thought about it for so long that he couldn’t remember the reason he wanted to in the first place.

But as the morning went on, he had felt like a prisoner within his own body, his arms and legs moving on their own, fear and despair he had never truly known clouding his mind.

Something had changed inside of him. When he had made the deal with Rob and Jakob he wasn’t seriously considering honoring it. If a good enough chance had come, he thought that he would have taken it. Now, he wasn’t so sure. Even if his enemies were normal soldiers armed with muskets and bayonets, he wasn’t sure that he would sacrifice himself then, either.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he had been a fool. He should have listened to Sofia; everything would have been so much easier. But he didn’t listen to her, and things weren’t easy.

It was obvious that they would die in Dijon.

Despite himself, a thought occurred to him.

Maybe it would be easier to just give up then and there, instead of fighting against the Beans. There were muskets everywhere, and Sofia would never find out how he had died.

Rob chuckled. “We’re in danger.”

“Wow Rob, thanks, I didn’t realize until you said so,” Jakob replied. “Great help as usual.”

“This is not the time,” Gladisch said.

“Plan,” Sauer said. “We need a plan. Now.”

“What’s the point?” Schmidt asked. “We’re out of time. We have what, an hour before they get in? We should’ve been making a plan from the beginning, not choosing a name!”

Sauer shook his head. “We are not out of time just yet. We can come up with a plan before the Bean reinforcements arrive. They might not even be able to breach the gates once they do. There are still many unknowns, we—”

“We’re going to die here,” Schmidt said, his hands shaking, his voice defeated. “We’re going to die in some godforsaken field in the middle of nowhere after all.”

Rob put his own shaking hand on Schmidt’s shoulder. “Why the long face, Barry? This is exactly what you wanted, wasn’t it?” He glanced at the others. “Hey, Jakob. Gabi’s gonna be just fine, you know? Mr. Thomas, Ms. Gladisch, don’t look so gloomy. Everything’s gonna be just fine! All we gotta do is get out of Dijon, and everything’ll be fine!”

“This isn’t the time, Rob,” Schmidt said.

“Oh, God, don’t give me that! That’s not something the Barry I know would say. What happened to wanting to make a tide turning sacrifice of the ages, to becoming a hero? Are you just gonna let yourself die here, sad and forgotten?”

“I’m not the same person as before.”

“Like hell you aren’t! Are you really gonna let some brain dead monsters get the better of you, the handsome and legendary Barnabas Schmidt? Wait, they’re called Beans now.” Rob’s laugh was forced. “Letting Beans get the better of you is even worse than letting brain dead monsters get the better of you! Come on, man! At least go down fighting!”

“We can barely hurt them. What makes you think we can go down fighting?”

“I have no idea! But we won’t know unless we try, right?”

“We’re going to die—”

“Shut the hell up Barry! Let’s go shoot the cannons a few times before we die, at least!”

Schmidt paused. “I have always wanted to shoot a cannon.”

“Jakob! You’re comin’ too, man!”

Jakob glanced at Sauer and Gladisch. “Sure… there’s not much else to talk about right now...”

Rob turned to Sauer and smiled. “Mr. Thomas, Ms. Gladisch. I’m sure you two can think of a way to get us out of here, right?”

“Why are you so sure? You barely know us,” Sauer replied.

“You know, I’m not really sure why. I guess… I just need to put my trust in someone right now, and I’m choosin’ to put my trust in you. Don’t let me down, sir, ma’am. My life’s on the line, and I’m kinda fond of it.”

With that, the three soldiers made their way towards the western wall.