Constant Danger

Kowalsk wasted no time and ran as fast as he could towards the lock gates zero-one, throwing to the ground the weapons he had initially taken with him. They would be of no use to him if he didn't find ammunition, and he tried not to think about what his comrades would have to do to avoid being devoured by those infamous dragon hatchlings.

He didn't care if people said they weren't dragon hatchlings; what else would he call them? Rats? He increased his speed even more and tried to think about where the ammunition box would be, if there even was one.

But Kowalsk felt that luck might turn in his favor. When he looked at the large weapons crate, which he had known previously, he noticed that next to it was a slightly smaller box of the same yellow color, with black letters and the symbol of a red skull, clearly indicating how dangerous it would be if the box was exposed to heat.

He ran to open it, but before he could, a dreikis intercepted his path, growling, snarling, and drooling ferociously, ready to attack him. Kowalsk glanced to the side and thought about grabbing a firearm to defend himself, remembering that they were probably all out of ammo, which was why he was there.

The dreikis wasted no time and seemed to understand that the soldier in front of it could not retrieve anything from that yellow box, charging at Kowalsk fiercely. He was afraid but remembered that his comrades depended on his success in getting the ammunition. With agility sparked by fear, he managed to dodge the dreikis' attack, which passed by without even scratching him.

All of Kowalsk's instincts urged him to flee from that combat, but he had no option: either he faced and won, or he faced and died. When a quick thought of fleeing crossed his mind, two questions immediately arose: "What about your friends? And where exactly would you flee to?"

Yes, that was a harsh truth. While he was scared and reluctant to fight that dreikis, more than a hundred meters away, there were more than ten dreikis for each of his comrades to fight. And as for fleeing, what part of that base-laboratory would be safe now? None.

Finishing his thoughts, he felt that his time to act was now. He reached for his waist, grabbed the sheath, and drew the only weapon that might help him. He positioned himself and waited for the second attack, while analyzing the best point on the dreikis to strike without taking too much risk.

The fierce dreikis faced him again, positioning itself to attack, and without any warning, it jumped with its mouth wide open, ready to tear Kowalsk apart. However, the veteran soldier was quicker and dodged at the exact moment he drove the razor-sharp knife into the creature's throat, which couldn't understand why it couldn't get up for a third attack.

Kowalsk moved his sharp weapon a few more inches to ensure that the animal wouldn't cause him any more trouble. He then turned to the ammunition box, breathing a sigh of relief to see that it had no locks or padlocks, quickly taking everything he could from it and running towards his comrades.

What a surprise it was to find himself facing a dreikis even larger than the previous one he had just killed. Instinctively, he reached for his waist and only then remembered that his knife was still in the throat of his enemy, some meters behind and out of his reach at that moment.

"I knew today was my lucky day!" he said, preparing for an attack that didn't come.

"Mr. Kowalsk! Mr. Kowalsk! Drop any weapons you have in your hands," Thilláila shouted.

"But I don't have any weapons with me."

"Then drop anything you're holding if you want to live."

Without thinking twice and seeing the white fangs of the huge dreikis in front of him getting closer, he dropped the ammunition to the ground carelessly with one hand while hiding something small in his pocket with the other, without arousing the beast's interest, which suspected nothing.

4o