Prologue (2)

In the darkness of the night, three jeeps moved along the muddy ground and the large potholes in the road. Inside, armed individuals silently rode in each Jeep, moving along the desolate paths. All of them, except the driver, had their eyes closed, as if they were somehow sleeping or meditating.

They all wore tactical gear, with night vision goggles on their helmets, open communication equipment, and various weapons strapped to their bodies. They were ready to engage in any type of operation one could imagine, but this time they were heading into the depths of Siberia, where a Russian company studying medicine was located.

"Zz... This is your coordinator, Jessica, speaking. Intelligence has just received crucial information that a group of private guards went in search of the targets. They all stopped communicating half an hour ago, and it is estimated that they are already dead."

"They should have waited for us." A soldier shook his head as he listened to this news, which was commonplace in their line of work.

A man named Carlos pressed the button on his radio and communicated, "Zz... How many targets will we face once we enter the battlefield?"

"Zz... Targets are undefined, but you must eliminate anything that moves and is attracted to you. Whether it's a rat, a cat, a wolf, or a bear, you are authorized to use lethal force against the targets." Jessica's response came without delay, to which the others simply nodded upon hearing the minimum details.

"Zz... Yes, well, that will be difficult. We are trained to eliminate people, not to go after animals. If that's the main job, it would be better to call expert hunters, not trained soldiers with little knowledge of animal behavior."

"Zz... Make sure to be cautious; we are not in our jurisdiction, so we have no aerial support. Once we reach the affected area, you will all be on your own."

"Well, that doesn't sound very convenient." Captain Sergei from the special response group sent to this area did not seem very convinced of this last-minute operation.

"Is there something bothering you about all of this, Captain?" One of the soldiers, with closed eyes, asked. Knowing that it was unusual to see Sergei in this manner, many had doubts, but not everyone dared to ask him openly.

"This mission is not usual; we are not going to face terrorists or stop a coup; we are on a mission to kill bears that possibly have some kind of contagious infection on their bodies. Maybe those bears were not accidentally released, but there was an intention behind it, and now we are their guinea pigs to test whatever they are doing."

"Regardless, remember to prepare the equipment to protect us from being infected." Sergei shared his thoughts with his comrades who had his back, and they all nodded as they put on gas masks with filters; they were the only ones they had.

"Zz... Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking; I need you to put on your gas masks as soon as possible. Things seem more complicated than they appear; keep your eyes open."

Sergei's order was heard on all radios, but just as the responses were being given, the front Jeep was hit by a shadow, and it rolled several times to the left. Boom! Boom!

"Enemy contact is at three o'clock!"

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Support the fallen, the rest of you; fire at that thing!" Sergei got out of the car and started firing at the shadows moving in the distance in his direction. Blood stained the bushes, but what was most striking was that there were no signs of heat in the thermal images on their night vision goggles.

Rroooaaarrr!

Fierce roars echoed around, but no matter how many figures emerged from the darkness, they were all killed by the group of elite soldiers hired specifically for the elimination of these creatures.

The sounds of blood, gunpowder, and heavy breathing could be heard around for a few brief minutes. After the last figure fell to the ground, Sergei raised his hand for all the soldiers under his command to stop firing.

After the shots stopped, there were several sounds of reloading and heavy breaths that were influenced by what had just happened. Sergei took a step forward while tightly holding his weapon, constantly looking at the targets around him.

"Sir, we have one casualty and two are injured!" Shouted was one of the soldiers who went to assist the soldiers in the first Jeep that was hit.

"Andrew, take the car in front of us and get everyone out, including our fallen comrades!" Sergei advanced with some soldiers towards the bushes while continuing to fire at those ferocious beasts still running forward from a much farther distance.

Andrew, who was firing with a sniper rifle, followed the orders, sat in the driver's seat of the last Jeep, and moved ahead of the group. Having traveled in three Jeeps, there were twelve soldiers in total, so they would be fine as long as one was in the rear.

"We have to reach the facilities; we'll give first aid to the injured there!" Sergei covered the soldiers' backs as they hurried back with years of driving Jeeps.

Bang! Bang!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

"Get us out of this place, now." Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Yes, sir!" The soldier in the driver's seat wiped the sweat from his forehead as he started the engine and followed the Jeep ahead.

"What the hell was that?"

"It's clear they were bears, Salinas."

Salinas ejected the magazine from his rifle and reaffirmed, "You know what I mean? What the hell are those bears? Obviously, they're not normal; I mean, I emptied a whole magazine into a damn bear's back, and it kept coming as if nothing happened."

"You have to shoot them in the head; at least that kills them." Sergei, as he said this, was making contact with General Captain Jessica, who was in the operations room.

"Could they be drugged? I recently watched a movie about a bear going crazy after eating drugs, but it wasn't immortal like these damn bears."

"Zz... sir, they weren't just bears. I shot at wolves, and Randall was bitten by a creature similar to a squirrel. I mean, I don't know the name of that rat or squirrel. But the animals in this forest are going crazy trying to kill us; maybe the medicine company we're heading to knows something about it."

"Zz... Keep your eyes open, don't forget to go at maximum speed, and be prepared to shoot at anything that moves."

"Zz. Yes, sir."

Sergei was extremely uneasy; not only had he lost a comrade, but they were also facing something they couldn't control. Without aerial support, the chance of them coming out alive if they enter the jungle is minimal.

"Zz... Jessica speaking, what's the situation?"

Sergei took the radio and said, "Zz... We have one soldier dead and two injured; we were attacked on the road by a hundred isos; do you know what the hell you've gotten us into?"

"Zz... Captain, as a friend, my duty is to keep you informed, but this situation has gone beyond my power. Your job is to keep the company's premises safe from the beasts until a plan is devised to stop them. As long as there is activity near the area, the infected beasts with a military-use virus have no chance of spreading."

"Zz... They're expert hunters; are you saying those beasts are infected with a military-use virus and it wasn't a containment breach? You know perfectly well that with that data, they are using us to test their biological crap; how the hell did you come up with sending us a mission of that magnitude?"

"Zz... Sergei, make a decision when the time comes and get out of there alive. But the mission is simple, from start to finish: eliminate anything that moves outside the company's premises. There are only 24 hours until the company's data is transferred and packaged; there's a plan to blow up the whole place without any risk factor."

"Zz... Screw you; you'll explain it to me later."

Sergei knew long before that they had to eliminate a ferocious beast that had gone out of control outside the secure facilities of the medicine company. Everything was quite straightforward, so he didn't think much about it. This job came after protecting an American businessman who had come to Russia for business.

This mission paid double what the previous one did, which would help him pay off many outstanding private expenses. But when he found out the location of the mission, although it seemed strange, he went ahead, and as he learned more and more hidden information, things became more sinister.

"Zz... There are no records of anything that can help you on this mission; you just need to make contact and stay on guard. Your job is simple; I'm sorry, but I shouldn't have offered you this job without more information about it."

Sergei shook his head and said, "Zz... Alright, Jessica, we'll handle this."

"Zz... Check the symptoms of everyone injured by those beasts; we need to know who they are to try to keep their safety intact as they may contract rabies or some other disease. When we reach the facilities we need to protect, the injured will receive medical attention immediately."

"Zz... Yes, sir, I have two soldiers injured from the accident and another from a rodent bite. It doesn't seem serious, but it would be good to have them checked."

Sergei just furrowed his brows and said, "Zz. Then that's it. Stay alert until we reach the facilities."

"Sir, is it serious?"

"No, we were just hired as hunters and nothing more. No more questions; focus."

He couldn't scare his team, but if that virus passes from animal to animal, what will happen is that it may possibly be intended to eliminate humans. The question would be if that virus could be passed from animal to human. Things would change drastically if that assumption were correct.

"We need to get information from that company." Sergei muttered in a serious tone and thought, "No one plays with the lives of my men!" 

Simply put, he knew that whoever was behind all this was using them to test their weapons. This had happened to a comrade, so he knew exactly what he was talking about. That's why he needed to find some kind of cure, but not before knowing if that virus could be transmitted to people.