"Stack the timber tighter on the western flank."Doran issued the command to the building crew in the snow. He pointed toward a gap in the rising perimeter wall.The Vanguard soldiers hauled thick trunks of crystalline ice oak across the frozen yard. Their mutated muscles strained under the immense weight of the timber. They wedged the heavy logs into the frozen soil and packed the gaps with crushed ice.Logan supervised the rapid construction from the staging garage. He stood near the open tungsten gates and watched his commanders execute their new orders.The Cold Blooded Army operated with brutal efficiency. Ashton led the logging crews deep into the southern ruins to harvest the dense timber. Doran directed the builders to stack those logs into a formidable barricade around the Hawthorne estate. Marcus patrolled the neutral zone border to ensure the Hogul Dah cannibals remained in the south.Logan nodded in approval. He turned away from the exterior floodlights and walked back int

"Keep your heads below the masonry."Ashton whispered the command to his squad. He crouched behind a pulverized brick wall and peered through the swirling snow.The soldiers knelt in the freezing slush behind him. They watched the distant southern ruins with wide eyes. A sprawling siege camp was taking shape right on the edge of the neutral zone. Hundreds of pale giants dragged thick steel girders across the shattered asphalt. The clanking of iron chains echoed through the dead city."They are building a fortress on our doorstep," Sarah noted. She gripped her iron axe."They are preparing to march on the bunker," Mill added. His breath plumed in the frigid air. "We need to return and warn the warlord.""Logan knows they are out there," Ashton replied. He kept his gaze fixed on the asphalt divide. "Our objective is the timber harvest. We do not retreat without a full payload."A harsh grating sound interrupted the howling wind. The noise did not come from the distant siege camp. It ech

"Leave the logs."Ashton issued the command in a ragged whisper. He crouched behind the pulverized brick wall and stared across the neutral asphalt. The Hogul Dah siege camp crawled with hundreds of pale giants preparing for an imminent assault."We need the timber to build the barricade," Mill argued. He hoisted his heavy iron axe. "We cannot stop working.""We are out of time," Ashton replied. He turned away from the terrifying sight.He pointed at five members of the Vanguard squad. "You five hold this position. Guard the timber we already cut. Hide in the ruins and do not engage the enemy under any circumstance."He turned to Mill, Sarah, and the remaining three soldiers. "Drop your tools. Take only your weapons. We are sprinting back to the bunker.""Logan ordered us to harvest," Sarah reminded him."I am giving you a new order," Ashton commanded with absolute authority. "We must warn the camp before that horde crosses the border line. Move."Ashton sprinted north through the sha

"Get the reserve militia to the roof access hatch right now."Eric barked the command over the secure radio channel as he sprinted from the main control room. He pushed his legs hard up the concrete stairwell, taking the cold steps two at a time. His lungs burned from the exertion, yet he ignored the fatigue to reach the top landing. He found Marcus and Ashton waiting near the door."We need the sealed cardboard crates from the secondary storage locker," Eric told the commanders between ragged gasps for air. "Bring them out onto the ice."Ashton grabbed the handle of the metal storage unit and ripped the lock off with his bare hands. He dragged a crate onto the freezing concrete roof. The teenage commander tore the top open to reveal thick cylindrical tubes packed with commercial grade paper."These are standard fireworks," Ashton said. He looked at the colorful explosives in pure confusion. "You want to fight an army of monsters with bottle rockets?"A sharp laugh escaped Eric's thro

"Evade the target right now!"Eric screamed the frantic command over the secure radio frequency. The digital audio hissed violently against the howling mountain wind."The seismic sensors are peaking off the scale," the engineer continued from the bunker control room. "You have a massive biological entity rising directly beneath your boots. Jump off the glacial shelf before it breaches.""I am not moving," Logan replied.The colossal Glacial Serpent reared its head above the shattered ice. Pale translucent scales reflected the blinding blizzard. The monolithic beast blotted out the gray storm clouds above the frozen peak. It opened a jaw wide enough to swallow a commercial vehicle and bared its crystalline fangs."The telemetry shows a surface temperature of absolute zero on those scales," Eric begged over the comms. "If that creature touches you, your cells will flash freeze on impact. You cannot survive that level of thermal drain.""I must test the internal furnace," Logan stated.