2025-11-16 22:21:44Major Kaelen managed to climb the biggest tree in the forest, checking if he could see any sign of life or a town afar, but he was sorely disappointed. All he saw was an unending sea of green—forest everywhere, despite the immense height he had gained.
Instead, he spotted a thin column of smoke rising in the distance. He couldn't decipher what caused it, but he was convinced it marked some sort of location—a plain, perhaps, or a dwelling. He immediately started climbing down.
Even if he wouldn't find his family alive, he desperately needed to lay eyes on his beloved wife and son one last time. He started walking toward the general direction, but the exact path was instantly lost. Down on the dark forest floor, the thick canopy and dense leaves swallowed the distant landmark, and he couldn't trace the place.
Major Kaelen pushed on. One thing was painfully certain: he must locate that place and pay his last respects.
The memory of his wife's final words at the barracks flashed through his mind. She had pleaded with him not to let them send him to Pakistan, begging him to resign from the military so they could live in peace in the US. But Kaelen had rejected her plea, arguing that doing his duty, even if it meant temporary exile, was necessary for stability and national peace. Now, he was lost and broken in the forest with no escape route, and his family was gone. The pain was too immense for Major Kaelen to bear.
He kept walking, driven only by pain and agonizing regret, until the sight of the smoke became clearer again.
He pushed himself onward, a relentless will driving him, until he spotted the mangled wreck of the plane in the distance. A surge of desperate hope propelled him forward, but as he neared, the inferno and intense heat became overwhelming. He knew, with a chilling certainty, that his family was inside.
He fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face. "Anna, please forgive me," he choked out, his voice raw with grief. "I should have listened. I failed you. You and our son died as heroes. Accept my last respects, and soon I will join you in peace." Kaelen wept, the loss of his family a gaping wound.
The light was fading fast. As a well-trained soldier, Kaelen knew the dangers of lingering near a large fire in this wild forest. The flames would draw every predator tonight. He'd barely managed to fight off a wolf just two hours ago, and he couldn't risk another encounter, especially in his current weakened state. Hunger gnawed at him, but even that faded in comparison to the overwhelming despair. He knew his own end was likely near.
He stumbled away from the wreckage, finding a patch of shade beneath a large tree. He gathered fallen branches, breaking them into smaller pieces, and laid them around himself. He covered himself with some of the leaves, a futile attempt to find comfort, or perhaps just to rest. Sleep just did justice to his pain and claimed him.
Hours later, a distant commotion jolted him awake. A tiger was locked in a fierce battle with a massive python. Kaelen watched from a safe distance, his heart pounding. The sounds of their struggle were deafening, but his only prayer was to remain unnoticed. The fight ended as suddenly as it began, leaving an eerie calm in its wake.
Cautiously, Kaelen approached. Both the tiger and the python lay weakened, their energy was spent in the fight. With a renewed, albeit faint, surge of adrenaline, Kaelen grabbed the python by its tail. It was still alive, but its strength was gone; any attempt to fight him would be impossible. He dragged the heavy reptile towards the still-burning embers of the plane, positioning it carefully. The python began to writhe as the heat intensified, battling its inevitable fate. Kaelen watched, a grim determination settling over him. He needed sustenance to survive, and the fire, a symbol of his loss, was now his means of survival.
He found a large, sturdy branch and began to pry at the python, turning it slowly, ensuring it cooked evenly over the flames. The aroma, though primal, was a stark contrast to the metallic tang of blood and the acrid smell of smoke that had filled the air. He knew it would be a grim meal, a testament to the brutal reality of his new existence. The thought of Anna and their son, their heroism, gave him a fleeting moment of strength.
As the python cooked, Kaelen scavenged what he could from the edges of the wreckage. Twisted metal, charred remnants of luggage nothing truly useful.
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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
ECHOES OF ALPHA_09 FOREST
Commander 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.
NO ESCAPE: ONLY WAR
The sound of a helicopter sliced through the desolate quiet of the forest night, jolting Major Kealen instantly awake. He looked up through the skeletal remains of the camp he had recently incinerated, realizing the metallic behemoth wasn't merely passing; it was descending, rapidly. The throbbing bass of the rotors hammered against the dense canopy, signaling the arrival of the enemy he had hoped to welcome since last year.Kealen scrambled to his feet. He knew the stakes were mortally high. Those men, miners and accompanying security, would be consumed by rage upon seeing the devastation he had caused. They wouldn't bother with questions. If they landed and spotted him, the saboteur who had reduced their operations base, their equipment, and their supplies to ash, they would not waste a single second before delivering a hail of bullets on his head.He ran, swift and low, toward the wreckage of the main supply hut. He needed a weapon, anything that wasn't splintered wood or blackened
PRICE OF SURVIVAL
Two weeks had passed, yet there was no sign of human presence, not even the distant sound of machinery or voices echoed in the Alpha-09 forest. Major Kealen was deeply confused, constantly wondering what could be delaying their arrival. He had lived in the crude shelter for the weeks without incident. Not even a single wild animal had attacked him.The tiger seems now more like a massive, powerful dog than a predator. They slept comfortably together, and every morning, the tiger would venture out and reliably return with a kill. Kealen made full use of the supplies the miners had stocked in the hut, operating under the fatalistic belief that his life was forfeit regardless; there was no need to reserve anything for men that would eventually determined to kill him. He knew that one day they must surely land, and he was prepared to face them, anytime, any day.For the rest of the year, the Alpha-09 forest was peaceful and strangely calm for Major Kealen. He had mastered its subtleties,
THE SOLDIER'S LAST STAND
Major Kealen stooped, picking up a sharp piece of quartz from the jungle floor. He used it to chip away deliberately at the exposed vein of raw gold. He raised the resultant nuggets, turning them over in the dappled light, his gaze devoid of awe, tainted only by profound despair."What is the essence of this wealth?" he muttered, his voice echoing through the dense canopy. "Riches given to a man trapped in a forest that has no end, a man who knows no freedom. The universe decides to bless me with this prosperity when it is no longer useful to me. The forest is now my territory, my new home. I don't need this. Let the universe grant me freedom instead."The tiger, his watched him as he poure out his anger, still bleeding heavily from the deep wound.Kealen instantly recognized his duty. He began his familiar search for the specific medicinal herbs he routinely used to treat his wild ally. He located the serrated leaves of the Rattlesnake Plantain, quickly harvesting a handful. He crush
