---
Location: Forward Listening Post Echo-Five | 3km SE of Echo Point
Time: 05:46 | Day 12 of Infection Collapse
A pale mist blanketed the dense treeline as dawn crept across the ridgeline. From atop the reinforced tower at Listening Post Echo-Five, Wraith adjusted his optics and leaned forward, scanning the horizon. The humidity made everything shimmer, but what he saw chilled him more than the cold.
Movement. Coordinated. Precise.
He toggled the encrypted channel. "Command, this is Echo-Five. We have movement in Grid 6D. At least a platoon-sized element. Infected. Armed. Formed up like a fireteam."
A pause.
Logan's voice came through, low and grave. "Copy that, Wraith. Keep eyes on. Do not engage."
---
Location: Echo Point FOB – Command Bunker
Time: 06:01
Inside the war room, Logan paced in front of the central holomap. Red markers blinked to life as the drone feeds and Listening Post relays synchronized. He felt his jaw tighten.
"We knew they were learning," Dumitrescu muttered. "But fireteam formation? That's doctrine."
"Or memory," Petrescu added, arms folded. "If the virus is mimicking neural pathways... they might remember their training."
Reaper One stepped forward. "They're not a mob anymore. We're looking at a force."
Logan checked the WAR CREDIT log and summoned the system interface.
> [WAR CREDITS AVAILABLE: 1,102.4]
[Vehicle Repairs: Stryker (90%), BTR-70 x2 (Operational), T-72B Tank (Under Maintenance)]
[Suggested Action: Active Recon & Flanking Ambush Deployment]
"They're headed for Echo Point. We can't let them reach us in that formation. We intercept. Petrescu, I want you and Wraith with Hunter-1 on recon. Reaper One will lead a flanking unit. Light armor support only. No tank until it's combat-tested."
Sofia raised a hand. "What about civilian evac prep?"
Logan nodded. "Marcel and Mihai will stay behind. If we fail, they fall back with Dumitrescu to Rally Site Charlie."
Orders were issued, gear loaded.
---
Location: Eastern Ridge Trail, 2km from Echo-Five
Time: 07:12
The recon unit moved silently through the undergrowth. Birds stayed silent. Even the wind seemed cautious. Petrescu signaled a halt.
Wraith lifted a fist.
Down below, in a ruined orchard, they saw them.
Infected. But not feral.
Uniforms in tatters, weapons slung correctly, staggered column formation. A scout knelt and scanned the path ahead with what looked like binoculars.
"That's no accident," Wraith whispered. "That's retained training. Possibly Spetsnaz."
Petrescu tagged the location. "Reaper team, do you read? Target located. Ready for envelopment."
> "Confirmed," came Reaper's calm voice. "Line of fire established. Waiting on your mark."
Petrescu exhaled.
"Engage."
---
Location: Orchard Killzone
Time: 07:16
The trap was brutal.
Two flares burst overhead, followed by the thunder of the BTR's autocannon tearing into the orchard from the east. Wraith dropped two infected mid-dash. Petrescu and Sofia flanked left, lobbing frags into the tree line.
The infected responded.
One lobbed a smoke grenade and repositioned. Another fired a burst from a captured AK. The rest moved to cover.
It was a gunfight. Not a massacre.
Reaper One moved through the treeline like a juggernaut, firing in short, calculated bursts.
> [Combat Log: 34 Hostiles Eliminated | WAR CREDITS +122]
[Injuries: Minor | Team Integrity: Green]
As the smoke settled, Wraith retrieved a notebook from the corpse of one infected officer.
Inside: rough sketches of Echo Point's layout.
Logan's voice came through again. "Status?"
"Engagement complete. Tactical infected neutralized. But they're scouting us now," Petrescu reported.
"Understood," Logan replied. "Time to accelerate our timeline. Echo Point is no longer a hidden sanctuary. It's a target."
> [CHAPTER END]