"We need to go and find them," Bonnds said, looking worriedly at Micah and Coroules.
"Bonnds is right," Coroules agreed. "We need to find them by all means."
Micah scoffed. "So what, we just walk into the den and start calling their names? That's not a plan it's a death wish."
He exhaled slowly and added, "We need to handle this calmly. The plan was: after securing the Lansing, we'd contact them and regroup at our last camp spot."
Coroules nodded. "Then that's what we do."
"Wait so we're just going to leave the first unit behind like it's fine?" someone asked, frustration rising.
Coroules turned to them. "No. We're going back for them. But first, we need to secure the Lansing. We haven't been attacked yet, which likely means the first unit is still holding off the corrupted wolves. We have to hope they can keep it up... just a little longer."
As everyone prepared to move out, the sound of pounding footsteps and a sharp scream broke the tense silence.
"There… There they're coming!"
All heads turned toward the sound. From the shadows, a single figure emerged staggering, soaked in blood.
"What is that?" one of the scavengers asked, eyes narrowing.
"A monster?" another guessed, not fully sure.
"Whatever it is, it's not going to make it," the first growled, cocking his gatling gun.
But just as he aimed
"STOP!" Coroules shouted, leaping off the metabus. His eyes went wide as the figure stepped into the light.
"It's Naran! That's Naran!"
Gasps spread through the camp as Naran collapsed. The weight of his injuries had finally caught up to him. Scavengers rushed to lift him seeing the unconscious boy wrapped around him they lifted him off ground and began tending to his wounds.
As Naran regained consciousness, his eyes flickered open to see them treating him.
Micah stepped forward, his voice heavy with unease.
"Where are the others?"
Naran sat up slowly. His body trembled. Tears began to fall.
"They… They're..."
"They're what?" Bonnds asked, his voice sharp and eager.
Naran looked down. "They're all dead."
He choked back a sob. "They died fighting."
A stunned silence spread across the camp.
"What? How?" Micah muttered, disbelief etched on his face.
"Even Ji Ung...?"
Naran nodded. "Yes. He died protecting me."
Coroules dropping the little boy in his arms stepped away from the others and walked to the edge of the camp. He looked up at the crimson sky, the clouds dark and swirling. Memories flashed in his mind Ji Ung saving him from a Roar ambush, Ji Ung's wedding day, the way he smiled, the way they drank together afterward. All of it.
And now gone.
Tears fell from his eyes. He didn't try to stop them.
A single drop of rain landed on his cheek. Then another. The sky opened up, and the rain came pouring down.
"Sir Coroules!"
A voice snapped him from his thoughts. He turned to see Micah, standing tall with his broad sword in hand.
"We need to leave. Now."
Coroules wiped the rain and tears from his face and stepped toward him.
"What's the situation?"
Before Micah could answer, the ground rumbled violently beneath their feet.
"It's a stampede..." Micah muttered. His voice shifted into panic. "Fuck they're here!"
"Who?" Coroules demanded.
"The corrupted beasts," Naran said. "They're right behind me."
Though they couldn't see the creatures yet, they could feel it the earth shaking, the air growing heavier, the death creeping closer.
Coroules snapped into command.
"Everyone, move! Get on the metabus!"
They rushed toward the vehicle. Engines roared to life.
But then a heavy thud.
Screams tore through the storm.
They turned and saw it.
One of the scavengers was being ripped apart by a corrupted wolf. The beast paid no attention to the rest of them. It just kept feasting devouring the poor man piece by screaming piece.
"You bastard!" another scavenger roared, unloading his gatling gun into the monster.
The bullets had little effect.
The wolf turned toward him, snarling and pounced.
But Micah was faster.
His blade flashed in the rain, slicing the creature clean in half. Blood sprayed the wet earth.
Then Micah looked up and froze.
From the edge of the woods, more shapes appeared. Dozens. No hundreds
The rain poured relentlessly, a cold, unending deluge that turned the ground to mud and blurred the line between earth and blood. Before them, an entire army of corrupted wolves charged, their twisted forms surging forward like a living tide. The scavengers still outside the Metabus stood no chance the beasts tore into them, ripping limbs from bodies, their howls lost beneath the storm's roar.
"Get in! NOW!" Bonnds bellowed, urging the stragglers toward the Metabus. But it was too late. Those who hadn't made it inside were dragged down, their screams cut short as the wolves devoured them piece by piece.
Micah fought desperately, his blade flashing in the dim light as he slashed at the corrupted beasts. He knew he couldn't hold them off forever there were too many. As he turned to sprint for the Metabus, one of the wolves lunged, jaws gaping. He barely blocked its bite with his sword, steel grinding against fangs.
Then pain.
Another beast crashed onto his back, sinking its teeth into his neck. Micah roared, wrenching the first wolf off his blade before twisting violently to dislodge the one on him. But the movement only made it worse the creature's claws raked down from his neck to his back, tearing flesh before finally breaking free.
Gritting his teeth against the agony, Micah stumbled, but the wolves gave him no reprieve. One clamped onto his leg, yanking him to the ground. The others swarmed, piling onto him
BOOM.
A mana-infused arrow struck the pack, scattering them. Coroules stood firm, firing shot after shot, buying time for the remaining scavengers to reach the Metabus. Micah forced himself up, blood streaming from his wounds, and staggered inside just as the vehicle roared to life, speeding away.
But the wolves didn't stop.
They chased the Metabus, slamming against its sides, their claws screeching against metal. The entire vehicle shuddered under the assault, yet Bonnds maneuvered with brutal precision crushing, smashing, and flinging wolves aside with every sharp turn.
Inside, the scavengers groaned in pain. Naran, wounded himself, tried to tend to the others. "Where's the Senctus ointment?!" he shouted over the chaos.
The Metabus plunged deeper into the den, the wolves' relentless pursuit only growing fiercer. Some hurled themselves at the windows, cracking the glass. Others climbed onto the roof, clawing at the metal. Bonnds responded by swerving violently, grinding them against the tunnel walls reducing them to mangled flesh.
Yet still, they clung.
Then pressure.
A suffocating, primal force filled the air. The scavengers turned, their breath catching as they saw it through the fractured glass.
The giant mutated lycan.
It moved with terrifying speed, crushing its own kind beneath its massive paws as it charged straight for them.
"IT'S COMING!" someone screamed.
A deafening CRACK split the air as the beast tore the roof clean off the Metabus. Rain poured into the exposed interior, mixing with blood. The lycan loomed above, its crimson eyes burning with hunger.
Then IMPACT.
A monstrous paw slammed into the vehicle, flipping it end over end before it exploded in a fireball of twisted metal and screams.