Location: Command Core, Echo Point FOB – Sector 4A, Romanian-Ukrainian Border
Time: 06:45 | Day 7 of Infection Collapse
The command bunker buzzed with quiet life.
Soft fluorescent lighting illuminated the long steel table in the center, now overlaid with tactical maps, scavenged medical records, printed satellite imagery, and scribbled logs. The air smelled of coffee, gun oil, and ash—a strange cocktail that had become the scent of survival.
Logan Hale leaned against the reinforced wall, steaming mug in hand. The screens behind him flickered with static and blue-tinged overlays from the Military Command System. He had barely slept in the past two days. But the outpost had held. And now, finally, there was time to breathe. To evaluate. To plan.
"Bring up all current combat logs and threat analyses," he said to the console.
> [COMPILING DATA...]
---
ENEMY CLASSIFICATION DATABASE
Class Alpha – Standard Infected
Behavior: Mindless, erratic, fast in bursts.
Common in early waves.
Reward: +5 WAR CREDITS per kill.
Class Bravo – Tactical Remnants
Behavior: Retains limited military or civilian skills. Can flank, use cover.
Identified from former police, border patrol, and soldiers.
Reward: +10 WAR CREDITS per kill.
Class Charlie – Adaptive Shufflers
Behavior: Appears slow but reacts to stimuli (light, sound, heat). Often mutated.
Often detected in dense environments or low-light zones.
Reward: +12 WAR CREDITS per kill.
Class Delta – Berserkers
Behavior: Aggressive, heavily mutated, high endurance. Often have partial armor fused into body.
Requires high firepower to bring down.
Reward: +50 WAR CREDITS per kill.
Class Echo – Coordinators [RARE]
Behavior: Observes and directs other infected. Strategic awareness suspected.
Not confirmed eliminated.
Reward: Unknown (Est. 100+ WAR CREDITS)
> [Last Combat Engagement: 103 Infected Eliminated]
[WAR CREDITS EARNED: +760]
[Current WAR CREDITS: 912.4]
[Passive Income Rate: +6.0 WAR CREDITS/hour]
---
PERSONNEL LOG: ECHO POINT
Logan Hale
Rank: Commander
Role: Command & Tactical Oversight
Status: Active
Notes: Still recovering from initial collapse trauma. Leadership efficiency high. Maintains direct combat and command integration.
Wraith
Unit Type: Tier II Recon Specialist (Cold War)
Equipment: Suppressed M21 Sniper System, NV Scope, Survival Kit
Personality: Quiet, tactical, deeply loyal. Uses dark humor sparingly.
Alexandru Petrescu
Role: Local Resistance Fighter / Rifleman
Equipment: Custom AK-74, smuggled NATO plate vest, flare kit
Personality: Patriotic, disciplined, older brother figure to the younger survivors. Former mountain unit veteran.
Reaper One
Unit Type: Tier II Heavy Infantry
Equipment: M134 Gatling Cannon, Reinforced Armor Plating, Internal Ammo Feeder
Notes: Autonomous but semi-sentient. Uses combat phrases, minimal speech. Combat-effective against high-threat targets.
Hammer
Unit Type: Tier I Combat Engineer
Equipment: Welding torch, toolkit, motion sensors, trap materials
Personality: Gruff, dry humor, obsessive with machinery. Repaired the Humvee. Sleeps with a wrench.
Sofia Andreescu
Role: Survivor (Trainee)
Equipment: MP5 Submachine Gun, Sidearm, Lightweight Vest
Notes: Quick learner. Currently 42% completed Basic Rifle Tactics under Petrescu.
Dr. Alina Moraru
Role: Medical Officer
Equipment: Salvaged trauma gear, field medical scanner, antibiotics
Personality: Focused, no-nonsense, protective. Has taken charge of Echo's new medical bay.
Elena & Mihai
Role: Civilian Survivors (Untrained)
Notes: Siblings. Not combat-ready. Currently assigned to logistics support and base maintenance.
Dragan
Role: Civilian Trainee (Scout/Logistics)
Notes: Observant, highly literate. Currently assisting Wraith with map marking, signal triangulation.
Marcel
Role: Ex-National Guard (Communications)
Notes: Rebuilding long-range communications. Has begun limited encryption protocols and field antenna placement.
---
Logan scrolled through the files, absorbing the big picture. Echo Point wasn't just surviving anymore. It was organizing. Adapting.
Hammer entered with a mug of black coffee. "New relay tower's stabilized. Got the northern sector floodlights back online too. I even rewired the M2 mount's optics."
"Remind me to promote you," Logan said dryly.
Hammer grinned and left.
From the southern gate, Reaper One paced the fence like a machine possessed. But Logan had seen it stop, once, and pick up a discarded teddy bear with quiet hands before placing it beside a ruined cot.
Petrescu sat in the range yard now, guiding Sofia through recoil control drills. She was smiling. Rare.
Dr. Moraru tended to Elena's arm, while Marcel and Mihai installed wiring near the ammo dump. Wraith knelt on top of the west watchtower, spotting movement through a pair of binoculars but reporting no threats. Dragan climbed the tower slowly behind him, sketchbook in hand.
Echo Point was alive.
> [Next Objective: Tier II Vehicle Depot Construction | Cost: 350 WAR CREDITS]
[Next Unlock: Tier III Tactical Operations (Requires Satellite Node)]
Logan sipped his coffee and looked at the wall. On it was written a phrase Hammer had carved into a steel plate:
"The dead remember nothing. That's why we fight for the living."
Logan smiled faintly. Then walked outside into the light.