Thompson Anderson lit a cigarette and took a puff, lifting his face to the sky lit up by the crescent moon. He exhaled slowly, smoke wafting upward into the darkness.
"Ahh… now that's the feeling."
Around him, soldiers sat over campfires, making jokes and playing games over the crackling of flames. Some were already drunk, holding bottles of liquor while their eyes carefully undressed nearby female soldiers, who regarded their lewd gazes with disgust.
But this was just another day at the Bonvorian Barracks, located in one of the small regions at the very edge of the Borderlands. After a tiring day of fighting against swarms of Corrupted Echoforms without rest, nighttime was the only time they got to be on vacation… sometimes.
Thompson took slow steps toward a certain campfire where three of his colleagues were talking, his eyes hovering over Fiona, who looked like she hadn't slept in ages.
Even then, as an Awakened, that didn't do anything to diminish her beauty. In fact, it only made her look a little more vulnerable, and Thompson found it a little cute.
Sitting down, his eyes brushed over Fiona, who sat silently, before settling on Damien and Asher, who were babbling nonsense, not failing to notice that one of them was missing.
Didn't a new recruit named Eric join them yesterday?
"Hey," he called, addressing Damien, who barely turned to look at him, his mouth hanging partially open like someone drunk straight out of his senses.
"Where's that Eric guy? Is he curled up in a tent somewhere having first-time jitters?" Thompson asked. After all, anyone who entered that battlefield for the first time always left with a broken mind.
It was almost impossible to remain sane over the screams of dying humans and the vile, horrid songs of Echoforms. There was a simple reason why every soldier here relished alcohol like their lives depended on it.
It was Asher who answered, his face twisted.
"He's dead."
Thompson turned to him, silently assimilating the news with the same ease he had done for countless others. He sighed, remembering the jovial guy who loved cooking, although his food was something not even pigs would put in their mouths.
"That's unfortunate. How did he die, then?"
Asher clicked his tongue.
"He met the Graukus on his way to the West Zone. Heard from the scouts who watched that the creature gutted him and pulled out his innards, singing the entire time just to keep him alive so he wouldn't die while getting cut into mincemeat."
He continued like he was reciting a bedtime tale.
"He screamed till his voice turned hoarse and kept screaming till he broke his windpipe. Even when the creature pulled off his head, he still kept screaming. And—"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Thompson cut him off, his voice irritated.
The Graukus was a particularly insidious Echoform that had only recently appeared in this region, and a very scary one too.
It was a boss monster, one that had escaped from a Violet-Graded Mirrorth along with its vile kind.
The Graukus had a hobby of collecting numerous heads, somehow keeping them alive and screaming, adding them to the thousands of heads that formed its monstrous visage.
Anyone who ran into the monster without sufficient preparation… well, their screaming head was enough warning of how that would end.
Thompson took another puff of his cigarette, turning his head to look at Fiona.
"What the hell is getting you so worked up, huh?"
She turned her hazy eyes to look at him, blowing a strand of messy orange hair away from her face.
"Nightmares."
He clicked his tongue.
"Well, fair enough."
Damien suddenly hollered, his drunken voice rising loudly.
"Why is everyone feeling so messed up, huh? Listen up, fuckers. Although I may not see some of your faces tomorrow, or you might not see mine, let's just have a really good drink tonight, okay?!"
He raised the bottle of liquor in his hands, pushing it toward Thompson.
"Drink up, Wolfsong."
Thompson took a look at the bottle, then took a large gulp, feeling the slightly metallic taste slide down his throat. Then he passed it to Asher.
Asher drank too, coughing lightly before he began to laugh, passing the bottle to Fiona.
Fiona only hesitated for a moment before chugging the remaining liquor, taking in a deep, hurried breath as she coughed.
Thompson began to laugh. Then Fiona followed, and soon all four of them were laughing like idiots, their voices ringing over the crackling fire.
Fiona giggled.
"You know, maybe this isn't all bad—"
Alarm bells shook the camp like blaring horns.
Then an urgent voice began to resound from the speakers, making Thompson feel like his heart was suffocating.
"CODE BLACK! CODE BLACK! ALL UNITS ARE REQUIRED TO HEAD TO VERION, NOW!"
"Shit! What the hell is happening?!" Damien's distraught voice resounded through the chaos.
The other two were just the same, their faces tense and apprehensive as they tried to stand their ground against the rush of soldiers.
Thompson looked around, watching as armored vehicles sped out of the barracks, leaving behind large columns of dust that swallowed everything like mushroom clouds. His eyes lingered on the Command Center, a large building that stood at the very middle of the barracks, his face confused.
"I don't know—"
Thompson didn't finish, because right then a tall, bulky man dragged him by the collar of his shirt, his uniform adorned with the decorations of numerous medallions.
"What are you four doing standing around like idiots? Get in the damn car now!"
They didn't wait for the captain to finish, already rushing forward toward their armored van while pushing against the tide of soldiers.
Thompson turned to the captain, watching his snarling face as they both advanced toward their vehicle.
"Cap, what's happening? Did a new swarm push through the defense lines toward the camp—"
The captain shook his head, his face dark.
"We are not the ones in danger, Thompson. It's… it's Agrod, the Singing Plague. The monster has infiltrated Verion and is now carrying out a massacre."
Thompson shuddered.
Then the captain added, his voice grim.
"If we don't kill the infected in that city before morning rises, then the millions in that city are doomed to die."