2025-11-16 22:27:54Commander Zain urgently waved the remaining few miners toward the transport plane. "Get to the shuttle! We'll handle this!"
He didn't wait for confirmation. Zain sprinted toward the source of the recent, brutal exchange of gunfire, his rifle held high. He reached the clearing and found some of his men already gathered, grimly staring down at a figure on the forest floor. The scene was immediate and final.
"Report! What in God's name is happening?" Zain demanded, his voice tight with controlled fury.
"It's Officer Mack, Commander," Jarvis reported, his expression hardened. "We heard the shot and converged immediately. He was already gone. Looks like a close-range ambush."
Zain stared down at Mack's lifeless body, a cold fury rising in his chest. They were here for a simple extraction, yet the resistance had escalated into murder.
"Sweep the perimeter," Zain commanded, his voice dangerous. "Search everywhere. Move in pairs. Kill anything that moves, and double-tap anything that doesn't. They have just signed their own death warrant."
The squad fanned out instantly. Mack was one of their most reliable men, and his death fueled a brutal, focused determination in the unit. They moved with the silent efficiency of trained hunters, checking every thicket, every elevated root system, looking for any sign of human presence. The vastness of alpha_09 forest felt suddenly hostile, closing in around them.
For the next hour, the search yielded nothing but oppressive silence. Then, a sharp crack ripped through the stillness. PFC Miller had spotted a flicker of movement, the hostile target, concealed behind a dense cluster of ferns fifty yards out. Miller fired one shot.
Kealen lean and quick, dodged the incoming round, but the bullet carved a deep furrow across his forearm before he vanished again into the undergrowth.
"Contact! He's wounded and moving west!" Miller yelled over the comms.
The entire patrol converged on the position, Commander Zain leading the charge, determination set firm on his face. They formed a tight, relentless pursuit formation, determined not to let him slip away.
Kealen was running low, ignoring the searing pain in his arm. Fear was a luxury he couldn't afford; his only focus was escape and retaliation. He had known this day was inevitable, a final, violent confrontation for his freedom. There was no retreating; he would either succeed in his desperate struggle or die trying. But if he fell, he was determined to take as many of them with him as possible. He needed cover, an elevated position, a place where he could turn the hunters into the hunted.
The soldiers pushed their physical limits, following the scrape of boots and the scent of blood. Then, just as suddenly, all noise ceased.
They stopped short, their lungs burning, straining to hear anything over their labored breathing. The deep forest had swallowed Kealen. The oppressive, absolute silence was more chilling than any gunfire.
Zain motioned his men into a tight defensive formation. "He's close. Too close to be running. He's dug in," Zain whispered fiercely into the comms. "Eyes up, men. Stay alert. He's waiting for us to make a mistake."
As their focus tightened on the surrounding foliage, scanning for the hiding enemy, the true, ancient danger of the Alpha-09 forest asserted itself.
Without warning, a massive, thick-bodied serpent, coiled and iridescent, dropped silently from a tree directly behind the squad. It struck Officer Ethan's neck with brutal speed.
Ethan managed only a strangled, agonizing cry before he collapsed, clutching the venomous bite site. The squad instantly broke formation, scrambling to save their comrade. Kealen's potential escape was momentarily forgotten; the immediate crisis dominated their attention.
Tactical priority shifted instantly. Four rifles roared almost simultaneously, shredding the massive snake. It convulsed, thrashing violently on the forest floor, before Jack emptied his entire sidearm magazine into its head, ensuring it was dead.
They spun back to Ethan, who was already convulsing, the venom working with devastating speed through his system.
Jack dropped to his knees, pulling Ethan onto his lap. "Ethan, stay with me! Fight it! Think of Sarah—think of your wife!" Jack pleaded desperately, shaking his friend gently.
The rest of the squad stood paralyzed, watching the terrible, quick work of the poison. Ethan's breathing hitched, his eyes, moments ago wide with panic, began to glaze over. He didn't fight. He simply went slack, his last breath shuddering out as his body slumped lifelessly against Jack.
Silence fell again, heavier than before, broken only by Jack's harsh, choked sobs. It wasn't just the death; it was the cruel, pointless irony of it. They were hardened soldiers, armed with high-powered rifles intended to vaporize enemies targets, yet they were defeated by the forest itself.
The images flooded their minds: Ethan's wife, Sarah. Only yesterday she had come to the base, tears streaming, begging Zain not to dispatch Ethan to Alpha-09.
"It's a myth, ma'am," they had assured her. "Lions and wolves can't stand up to our armor, let alone will anything in the forest withstand our pump-action."
They had promised her safety, trusting in their superior firepower and training. Now, the cold body of the newlywed lay there, killed not by enemy fire, but by the primal wilderness they had so carelessly discounted.
Jack couldn't stem the flow of grief. They had come to Canada years ago, two friends chasing opportunity, finding stability in the structure of the military. Just same yesterday morning, Ethan had been buzzing with plans, talking about submitting his resignation papers, planning the future for his unborn child.
"I need to be home, Jack," he had insisted.
Jack had agreed it was the right decision. Now, all those future plans were reduced to a lifeless weight in his arms, proving that in Alpha-09, the most dangerous enemy was often the one you failed to see.
"Let's get back and focus on our mission. I don't want to lose any more of my men. We can't afford to be distracted by those enemies," Commander Zain urged, his voice firm.
Jack lifted Ethan's lifeless body onto his shoulder, grief heavy in his heart. The men silently dressed their scratched wounds and moved toward the spot where Mack had been killed just an hour earlier. They intended to retrieve their body, to give them a proper soldier's burial back at the barracks.
But when they arrived, they froze in horror. Mack's body had already been devoured by wild animals. Only pieces of his skull remained, scattered in the dirt. A sickening feeling twisted in their stomachs, no one dared step closer.
"What kind of cursed place is this?" one soldier muttered. "An hour ago, an enemy killed Mack. Then Ethan died from a snakebite. And now… this."
"Commander," another soldier spoke up, his voice shaking. "If the forest is this dangerous, we're not safe here."
Zain's eyes burned with fury. "One more word from anyone, and I'll waste two bullets on your head," he snapped. "We all signed up for death the day we chose to serve this nation. If we turn back now, what will you tell the president? That some trees and wild animals stopped us from mining his gold?" He took a deep breath, scanning their frightened faces. "If those enemies can survive here, so can we. We're finishing this mission, no matter the danger."
With that, they left Mack's remains behind and retreated to their camp. Tonight, they would rest. Tomorrow, they would rebuild their huts again. And soon, the pilot would return to the city to bring back the tools they needed.
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THE UNSEEN PATH TO ESCAPE
Kealen turned and ran into the forest, his body bleeding freely through the wounds he had sustained in the water and the torn flesh where bullets had riddled him earlier. This time, the injuries did not fade or heal like they had before. Instead, blood soaked his clothes, pooling beneath him in crimson rivulets. Weakness clawed at his limbs, and his breath came in ragged gasps. He hadn’t eaten in days since the soldiers had descended into the forest, their weapons and orders stripping him of the normal life he had once known. Survival had become a grim, daily battle.With sheer willpower, he forced himself forward, collapsing onto the forest floor at the riverbank. His body trembled as he struggled to rise again, but the searing pain and hollow ache of hunger pinned him to the earth. His vision blurred as he let his head loll back, the rustling canopy overhead casting fractured light over his face.Closing his eyes, he surrendered to the dark. For a moment, his wife’s voice echoed i
BEYOND THE EGDE OF SANITY
The soldiers fired their rifles, the sharp cracks echoing through the dense trees as they tried to hit the wolf. But it was too fast, too strong. It moved like a shadow with fangs, lunging at Garcia again and again. Its tusks, twisted and yellowed, tore into his face with brutal force. Blood sprayed across the leaves, and Garcia screamed, a raw, guttural sound that cut through the silence of the forest.Zain stepped forward, his rifle steady in his hands. He aimed carefully, ignoring the chaos around him. He fired once. The heavy bullet struck the beast square in the side. The wolf let out a loud, pained yelp and collapsed to the ground, its body twitching, it's legs kicking weakly at the dirt.For a moment, the soldiers breathed_deep, shaky breaths. Relief washed over them. But it didn’t last.Garcia lay on his back, his face a mess of blood and torn flesh. His breath came in short, wet gasps. Zain rushed to him, dropping to his knees. He pressed his hands against the wounds, tryin
ZAIN'S UNFINISHED VENGEANCE
Kealen's eyes snapped open. He lay perfectly still for a moment, his breath catching in his throat, before he instinctively shook his body, like a dog shedding water, then pushed himself into a sitting position on the soft, damp forest floor. The harsh reality of his situation hit him with the force of a physical blow. Frantically, he ran his hands over his chest, his stomach, his limbs, searching for any sign of injury. There was nothing. Not a single wound, not even a scratch marred his skin.The last thing he remembered was Commander Zain pulling the trigger, the sharp crack of three bullets being fired directly into him at their camp. He was certain, absolutely positive, that he had fallen, lifeless. He could recall the cold, metallic taste of blood, the searing pain, and then… nothing. Yet here he was, in the heart of a deep forest, waking from what felt like a nightmare, completely unharmed."This is far from ordinary," Kealen muttered to himself, his voice a hoarse whisper. His
THE NIGHTMARE OF ZAIN HAS JUST BEGAN
Major Kealen fell backward, his eyes still wide open, his breath catching as he battled for his life. Commander Zain laughed like a devil before firing another bullet into his chest. The mighty Kealen drew his last breath on earth."Take his body deep into the forest, where the wild animals will feast on him," he commanded three of his men. The others concentrated on building their camp.Both the miners and the guides were happy. At least they wouldn't face any more trouble until they were done with the business that brought them into the Alpha_09 forest. Commander Zain, especially, couldn't hide his happiness. At last, nature had brought his supposed enemy to his doorstep, and he had delivered justice.The only challenges they would face now were the dangerous creatures living in the forest. But that was minor for them; their weapons would handle it.A few hours passed, and the sun began to go down. Commander Zain and his men hadn't seen the three soldiers he sent to dump Kealen's bod
BEYOND BEAST OR MAN
As he reached the damp, shadowed spot where he had gunned down a soldier just hours earlier, he was met with a sight that stole the air from his lungs. Instead of the lifeless body, or even the possibility that the soldier's colleagues had retrieved it, something far more sinister awaited him. Only a bloodless, skeletal skull lay on the dark earth. Just hours ago, he had watched the man fall; now, only this macabre relic remained. He reached out with a trembling hand, tracing the clean, unmarred bone. A cold dread, unlike anything he'd ever known, seized him. For the first time in an age, true, primal fear took root in his heart.This wasn't the work of wild animals. There were no gnawed bones, no scattered flesh, no torn uniform scraps. If a beast had devoured him, there would have been an acrid scent of blood, a gory trail leading into the dense undergrowth. But what lay before him was pristine, chillingly clean. Only a freshly picked skull, stripped bare with impossible efficiency.
THE RETURN OF THE TIGER
The moment Kealen realized the sound of pursuit had faded into the vast, indifferent silence of the rainforest, he stopped. He didn't just slow down; he staggered to a halt, leaning heavily against the trunk of an ancient oak, the adrenaline that had fueled his flight now quickly abandoning him.The immediate problem wasn't the enemies he had narrowly escaped, but the searing pain anchoring him to the spot. Blood pulsed quickly from the two gunshot wounds in his left hand, dripping scarlet onto the emerald moss below. The loss of blood was profound, and a cold tide of weakness was washing over him, threatening to pull him under. He knew he had minutes, maybe less, before the shock overwhelmed him.Survival demanded immediate surgery. Gritting his teeth, Kealen pulled the heavy combat knife that was attached to the gun. He found a broken branch nearby, strong enough to serve as a makeshift tool, and quickly sharpened the end into a crude probe. Using the stick, he began the agonizing p
