Death's Abandonment

I saw the heavy material as it was donned, the shoes as they were tied, the gun as it was strapped.
Utterly mundane.
Trudging through the norm, groaning about the typicality of the day.
Footsteps sounding and clattering.
Then terror. Utter terror descending as the announcement crackled across the fortress.
The hands of the crashing quickly and rapidly thrust the inhabitants down onto the solid dirt. No warning but the bell. No sound but the screams.
The clattering stopped.
The groaning was not heard.
The gun, the shoes, the material lay in shreds.

I was-
I am here.
Terrified. Lost.
They are not.

I should've died.