Time: 01:16 HoursLocation: Stützpunkt Eisen – Forward Defensive Line, Northern PerimeterStatus: Under Siege – Holding
The screams hadn't stopped. Neither had the blood.
The jungle writhed with motion. Shadows between trees. Muzzles flashing. Men shouting. Metal clanging against claw and flesh and bone.
Leon dropped behind a barricade, rifle steaming, fingers shaking as he slammed another clip in. Mud soaked up blood under his knees. He was deaf to everything except the pounding in his chest. The beast that lunged at him a second ago was still twitching beside the barrier—Half its skull gone. Ribs split open like firewood.
"LEFT FLANK IS FALLING!" someone screamed."WE NEED COVER LEFT—!"
Ochs fired across the line, his face pale, rifle tucked into his shoulder like he was born with it. He fired again. Then again. Until the chamber snapped open dry.
"They're pushing harder!" he shouted. "They know backup's not here yet!"
Leon grabbed his repeater, stood tall against the barricade. His voice cracked but it still cut through the chaos.
"STAND YOUR GROUND! YOU HEAR ME? STAND! YOUR! GROUND!"
More wolves came out of the dark. Smaller ones. Faster. Darting between trees like smoke. Flashes of white eyes. Razor teeth. They were testing the wall again—Snapping at ankles. Diving for weak points. Trying to break the shape of the formation.
A scream to the right. Then another. A pair of soldiers went down. One pulled back with a broken leg. The other was dragged screaming into the dark. His voice vanished before the gunfire could reach him.
"MEDIC!" Ritter shouted. "MEDIC TO NORTH BARRICADE!"
The medics didn't come. Not yet. They were dragging another man off the line—His arm torn open. Face unrecognizable.
Leon slid across the barrier, grabbed the fallen man's repeater, checked the belt. Half full. Better than nothing.
He rose. Shot two wolves mid-leap. One fell into the spikes. The other crashed into the wall and twitched before catching a bayonet to the throat.
A soldier—barely seventeen—screamed behind him."My rifle's jammed! It's jammed—!"
Leon spun, kicked the bolt free, shoved the boy's shaking arms back toward the line.
"Then use your bayonet! It's not hard!"
The kid nodded. Swallowed tears. Stabbed at a creature clawing over the top.
Another soldier next to them got knocked flat—A beast landed on him. Snarling, biting. The thing was only five feet tall but fast. Too fast.
Ochs tackled it from the side. Jammed his rifle barrel under its neck. Fired. The shot burst up through its skull. Black blood sprayed. It slumped, silent.
Leon grabbed Ochs by the shoulder. "You good—?"
"Fine!" Ochs panted. "Fuckin' heavy though!"
The flare above flickered out. The camp went dark again. Torches only lit the near barricade—Nothing beyond.
The jungle swallowed everything past ten meters.
And then—Crunching. Twigs snapping.
They were circling again.
Leon knew it. He could feel it. The way predators stalked prey when the fun began to die.
The pale ones were smarter. Not just wild. Not just fast. They had memory.
He felt them watching.
"Reload and hold positions!" he shouted. "Rotate men if they're low, but no one steps back!"
Ritter limped toward him—Arm bandaged. Covered in sweat and blood.
"We're not gonna last another wave like that," he muttered. "I don't care what Bruno said—seven minutes is suicide."
Leon didn't answer right away. He scanned the treeline. Counted shadows. Movement. Breathing.
"I know," he said.
Another flare went up—this one from the south. It lit the trees in ghost white.
And in that moment—They saw them again.
Dozens of eyes.Reflections in the dark.Not blinking.Just watching.
Ritter gripped his rifle tighter."Is it me or are they waiting?"
"They're thinking," Leon replied."Planning another breach."
Then—like a signal—The brush exploded.
Twelve. Fifteen. Maybe more.
They came from all directions.
One leapt the wall. Met a soldier's bayonet—But didn't stop. It tackled the man with the blade still inside, Bit through his neck, Kept going.
The line buckled.
Gunfire erupted. Repeaters stuttered. Rifles cracked. Screams filled the air.
"LEFT WALL! LEFT WALL!" Ritter shouted. "PUSH THEM BACK—!"
Two soldiers dragged a torch to the barricade, Set fire to the oil line—A wave of flame burst up between the wall and the forest.
Some wolves caught fire. Howled. Ran blindly through the mud before collapsing.
But more kept coming.
One lunged at Leon from the side. He didn't see it in time.
Ochs did.
He threw himself between them. Fired up into the wolf's throat. It crashed into both of them.
Leon went down. Mud in his mouth. Something heavy crushing his leg.
He pushed the corpse off. Scrambled to his feet. Ochs was already up—Bloody, but breathing.
"Thanks," Leon gasped.
"Don't thank me yet," Ochs replied. "Still got sixty more to go."
A wolf tore through the side barrier. Caught a rifleman mid-shout. Ripped him backward and vanished into the trees.
The man's rifle clattered to the ground. Leon picked it up. Handed it to Ritter.
"Keep shooting," he said.
Then came the worst sound yet.
The horn.
Short. Flat. Mournful.
It meant full encirclement. An officer somewhere had just called the code. Wolves on all sides. No more safe flanks.
They were trapped.
And yet—They didn't break.
Men screamed. Men cried. Men pissed themselves.
But they held.
Some even laughed. Mad, broken laughs. Like they knew they wouldn't see the sun again—But wanted to take something with them.
A soldier near the repeater roared at the beasts.
"COME ON THEN—COME FUCKING DIE WITH ME!"
The repeater tore through four wolves before the fifth tackled him over the gun.
Leon grabbed the repeater's handle. Swung it. The barrel smacked the creature in the mouth. Ochs fired again. Then again. Until it dropped.
A medic team showed up from the rear. Dragging stretchers. Trying to pull wounded from the front.
A wolf snapped at them—One medic lost a leg—Still, he kept dragging a boy with no arm.
Leon couldn't feel his hands anymore. They were raw. Numb. His ears rang. His boots were filled with blood and water.
He didn't care.
He turned. Saw the faces behind the line.
Some still firing. Some crying. One man was praying.
"WE HOLD!" Leon shouted. "NO MATTER WHAT—WE HOLD!"
The forest shook again.
The beasts weren't done.
They wanted everything.
And Leon would give them hell.