2157 hours
Inside the Compound – Bataan
Phillip stood on the top level of the garage, the muzzle of his rifle smoking from the last shot. The wind howled across the skeletal remains of what used to be a fortified military hub. Fires still burned along the outer walls. The smell of diesel, charred flesh, and blood hung heavy.
Below, Shadow 3 signaled from the barricade line they had erected out of broken sandbags and flipped Humvees. "Sector 6 corridor clear. Final sweep complete."
Phillip keyed his comms. "Copy. Shadow 2, status?"
"Holding northern perimeter. Sporadic contacts. Nothing we can't handle."
Phillip was about to respond when another voice crackled through the command net.
"Reaper One-One to Shadow Actual. We have eyes on a new contact. Thermal scan detects approximately 60+ hostiles. Clustered. Moving fast. Vector indicates approach from the west forest line. ETA: seven minutes."
Phillip tensed.
"Reaper One-One, confirm classification. Infected or unknowns?"
