He was looking paler and paler as more sweat poured from him to wash away the old, staining clothes that felt heavier and heavier on his body as the minutes passed by.
The footsteps were getting louder now and Luke knew that they must be close. Then the sounds stopped, replaced instead by stealthy shuffling as the intruders sought to catch him unawares.
Luke forced clarity through his throbbing head as he prepared to face this next, and possibly last, wave of attackers.
They were right outside the room now, no doubt looking in at the corpses of the comrades that had failed before them.
Luke focused on their excited breathing in an attempt to steady himself, trying to convince his failing body that it was ready for anything.
“Luke!” One of them men called out
He smiled silently, apparently even after seeing their dead friends these men still had time for courtesies.
They called his name again and this time he obliged them, swinging through the doorway to stare into the face of death.