"Can I ask you a question, Coogler?" Azoff asked.
"What is it?" Coogler added.
"If this.. War for our Survival against those fucking monsters hadn't started today. Right now, what would you be doing? No war, no monsters, just the scenario after Mayor Alden's speech had ended."
Coogler finally turned his head, his gaze meeting Azoff's. A slow, terrible smile stretched across his face, not one of amusement, but of a profound, aching despair.
He let out a short, rattling sound—a laugh, but one heavy with the pain of an obliterated future.
"I'd be... I'd be on a trip to the coast," Coogler rasped, clearing his throat. "I put in for leave three months ago. Planned for two weeks. Just two weeks to sit on the sand, stare at the ocean, and not hear a single military command, or a gunshot, or a roar. I was supposed to be gone by noon today."
He let out another, deeper, more guttural laugh. "Instead, I'm here, covered in blood, talking about beheading things that shouldn't exist, and planning how to hold a five-lane street against a new plague. I was going to send postcards. 'Wish you weren't here,' you know?"
Azoff looked at the wall, then back at Coogler, his own expression hardening into resolve. "Well. The coast will still be there when we're done."
"Do you really think that?" Coogler's voice was barely a whisper now, the laughter gone.
"Yes," Azoff insisted, his eyes suddenly piercing. "Because we are going to finish this. We have to. Now, what's our next move?"
The air in the Northern Military Base—now the primary rally point—was a frantic, controlled scream.
Outside the main hangar, two hundred and fifty of the nation's best combat-ready soldiers were ready, waiting to be joined by the remaining one hundred and fifty police officers and other soldiers in Elyria.
Sergeant Major Reiss' words echoed through a set of loudspeakers mounted high on the floodlights: "You have your orders! You know the objective! South-East Perimeter of Elyria! Move! Move! Move!"
Sergeant Major Karras Norway, a massive blonde haired man with a scar on his left eyes, and with a voice like tearing canvas, stood at the ramp of the lead truck, his face streaked with sweat and grime, ignoring the field medics trying to patch a wound on his arm.
"First Platoon! Get to your designated vehicles! Now! I want steel and adrenaline, not hesitation!" he roared.
The soldiers, swords sheathed to their backs, M-16s gripped tight, clambered into the open-backed military trucks.
The trucks were not designed for comfort; they were designed for speed. The metallic clanging of boots, weapons, and armor against the steel beds of the trucks merged with the furious roar of diesel engines.
Captain Pavlov Gal, pale but moving with grim efficiency, grabbed the shoulder of a fellow soldier who hesitated, his eyes glued to the dark silhouettes of the approaching forest line.
"Hey! Let's go! You want to see what those things do to you slowly, or are you ready to behead a monster?" Gal shouted, pushing him forward.
The soldier blinked, the terror in his eyes replaced by a cold, sharp resolve. He leaped into the truck, and the engines revved, spewing black smoke.
Within three minutes, the staging area had been emptied of soldiers, leaving only the wounded and the command teams.
The only sound was the screech of heavy tires peeling out onto the highway, racing south.
Inside the safe house control room, Azoff and Coogler stood before a very massive tactical map of Elyria Town, lying on a big table.
General Adam and Minister Tyrell Thorn were standing near the table, with one of them on the left side and the other on the right side, joining the two majors to look at the map.
The map showed the South-Eastern perimeter—the Ratigion Residential Colony—as the new, glowing red front line.
"This is it, Majors," General Adam said, his voice a low, steady rumble that cut through the remaining tension in the room.
He pointed at the map. "The main horde is converging here. We seal this perimeter, or the entire Northern half of the town is compromised."
Major Coogler, his posture still rigid, pointed to a bottleneck where the five-lane road narrowed into an old factory district. "Sir, the monsters' regeneration ability is the main issue. We need coordinated fire to blind them, followed by immediate beheading strikes. It's a butcher's game, but it's the only way."
Major Azoff hit the map lightly with his fist. "The main goal is to keep our defensive line strong. The new soldiers are unaware of the real threat, but they have a massive advantage in numbers. Coogler and I will attack the enemy from the sides, cut straight through their main group, and break their center. We will turn the battle line into a place where the enemy is continuously destroyed, and Coogler and I will stop their forward momentum."
"You'll be buying the Mayor time to establish communications with the capital for reinforcement. Alden is mobilizing. Do not, under any circumstances, allow them to breach your defensive line. Lose that line, and we lose the town." Tyrell Thorn, who had been listening silently, finally spoke, his sharp eyes gleaming.
General Adam nodded, his gaze locking on the Majors. "You will be facing a new wave—larger and faster than the last. Do not expect backup, and do not expect a quarter. Go now. Hold the line."
A few hours later, the lead military truck of Sergeant Major Karras skidded to a halt, the squeal of the brakes echoing across the silent Ratigion Residential Colony.
As the soldiers spilled out, setting up their armored shield wall as per the orders from the General, the massive destruction of the South-Eastern perimeter hit them with the force of a physical blow.
The area was a vision of Hell. The roads had turned red with blood, not just human, but the black, viscous and sticky blood of the monsters.
Half-eaten bodies, internal organs and even some body parts lay scattered among the overturned cars and shattered glass.
The air was filled with a sickeningly intense odor that smelled like a terrible mix of rotten, decaying flesh and fresh or dried blood.
Coogler and Azoff had finally arrived there. They jumped out of a black armored truck behind the military trucks, swords already drawn.