A lightning bolt streaked across the black sky as radioactive rain battered Baron’s helmet, it was a dreary day even for this broken world.

“Lighting keeps washing out my night vision, can’t see shit.” Rook complained as he switched his helmet back and forth between the viewing modes.

“Use thermal, better for this kinda recon anyway.” Mouse replied over the radio from his position, too far away to see.

Baron had spread his team out surrounding the bunker that was their target. Giving the entrance a few hundred yards clearance they all laid or sat back behind rocks and debris that gave them adequate concealment. They didn’t have to work hard for concealment given the rainstorm that rolled in the valley shortly after they got in position. Baron guessed he could stand up waive and scream and the surface dwellers would be none the wiser.

“Hey Rose, what flavor you got?” Mouse whispered over the radio as if it mattered given the helmets sealed in any words they spoke.

“Cherry, you?”

“Fuckers gave me orange, they know I hate orange. They do this shit on purpose.” Mouse complained as he drank the nutrient slush from the spout in his helmet. The mixture wasn’t awful and the flavor made it where you could almost fool yourself that it wasn’t a drink whose sole purpose was to keep you alive. Poor Moses was never allowed to pick a flavor since he was constantly on restrictions which meant a bland sand textured mix that Mouse hadn’t been able to swallow when he tried it once. A consequence Moses’ earned for insubordination on a daily basis.

Grinch broke into the conversation. “Kill the chatter. I got something over on the Northwest side of the target.”

Everyone hugged the ground a little tighter despite their confidence in being concealed. No one wanted to screw this mission up. Command had made it very clear in briefing they wanted prisoners, a lot of prisoners. The thought of what the Director had planned for the prisoners made a chill crawl up Baron’s spine.

“Multiple signatures over thermals, definitely vehicles.” Grinch added after a few seconds of silence with nothing but the rain to occupy everyone’s mind.

They likely knew they’d be going into a Gray nest and would come prepared. They normally steered clear of the nests but were desperate for a power source from what command had said.

“Just observe, let them do the dirty work for once.” Baron replied over the radio as he pulled his hand out of the muck that was starting to cover him from the heavy rain.

Just cleaned this shit, he thought to himself.

The bunker was situated perfectly for an ambush like this. It was at the bottom of a valley with rocky hills on either side that had protected it from the bomb’s years ago in the war. Most of the Wyoming and Idaho area was intact since the rocky terrain shielded them and few bombs made it this far in the central US. That was the reasoning at least for the high survivor presence here and the relatively intact cities. Baron heard stories that several survivor cities existed before he was put into service, that all changed once the Gray showed up and started feeding on them. Now the one survivor stronghold remaining was mostly isolationists who dared not venture out for fear of the monsters that would follow them home.

Gray didn’t bother the teams much as they hunted mainly by smell and the suits the teams wore protected them from being tracked. BDF used specialized sound waves that irritated the Gray to keep them from attacking any outposts or research stations. It was truly an accomplishment of the Bastion scientists who developed the countermeasures to the Gray and likely saved countless BDF lives. They came up with the technology in just a few weeks after the Gray showed up from whatever irradiated hole they came from, an unusually rapid research and development timeframe to be certain.

It didn’t take long for the four sets of headlights to make there way to the bunker in the dark. It wasn’t easy to miss even with the rainstorm as what was left of the pavement road lead right into the hanger that must have been able to fit 12 vehicles across and tall enough for a cargo jet. The metal doors had long since rusted and fallen off the massive hinges which they now blocked the doorway from vehicle access. The surface dwellers would likely have to enter by foot unless they knew of another entrance not covered by rocks, Baron guessed.

As predicted the vehicles parked a few yards away from the entrance. The team watched and waited as the red figures in the thermal image moved about. It took them several minutes before they headed inside while leaving three figures with the vehicles, most likely a rear security detail. They’d need to be silenced quickly before they got an alarm off. If their radios would even reach through the thick concrete and steel bunker walls.

“I got a count on 28 total, including the 3 by the trucks.” Moses casually reported in a bored voice.

“Same” Rose replied.

Baron stood up from the mud that now covered his suit, thankfully the rain was rinsing most of it off. He switched the thermals off and looked down the valley at the small convoy of vehicles. He couldn’t see any lights which indicated the sentries probably had night-vision goggles, they’d need to approach carefully.

Time to be the monster, Baron said to himself as he prepared to slaughter yet more innocent lives.

Rachel was terrified, she had been on short distance expeditions but never something of this size and absolutely not to a Gray nest. She had been kicking herself for barging in on the meeting back at the HQ, they had sent her here as punishment.

“We’re here.” Mark the driver yelled over the rain hammering the windshield which tried to drown out his voice.

Rachel opened her door and was met with freezing cold rain and mud that was difficult to stand in. She wasn’t a stranger to poor circumstances and had grown up in the slums of the Peak. Her mother died when she was very young and most of her childhood was spent in the orphanages. She had largely been on her own until the Militia recruited her like so many other orphans.

She grabbed her M4 rifle from the truck and sent the bolt home placing a round in battery and ready for firing. It had been a few months since she trained with the weapon but she was steady under pressure. While nervous she was excited at the prospect of discovering what the bunker hid.

Tanner and Ash jogged past Rachel which drew her attention to the huge metal plates lying in the mud a few yards off from where they parked.

“At least we don’t have to knock the doors down.” A soldier that Rachel didn’t recognize said through his gas mask as he offloaded a crate from the truck she had been riding in. He was one of the few in the squad that needed a mask. Rachel like so many others had been born resistant to the radiation. It wasn’t a rare occurrence anymore for someone to be born resistant. Which was good for the Militia who recruited most of them into their ranks. They, like the rest of the world, were evolving to survive or at least attempting to if the Gray didn’t eat everyone first.

Major David Mischoff the Expedition leader, walked over to Rachel while issuing orders to a Private that followed at his side and was trying to listen to what he was saying over the loud rain. The Private nodded and jogged over to one of the other trucks while the Major looked at Rachel who tried to avoid meeting his eyes.

“Ready to meet your first Gray, Captain?” He slapped her on the shoulder while smiling like what was about to happen was totally normal.

“You seem awfully chipper, the statistics show every encounter with the Gray ends in at least a few deaths.” She remarked negatively while picking up a few grenades and flares from the open crates that were offloaded. She was already soaking wet despite her raincoat doing it’s best to keep her dry. She’d surely get sick even if she lived through all this.

“Part of the job Captain, we all die someday. Might as well be today as any other day, right?” He chuckled still upbeat despite her best efforts to rein him in. She assumed it was a hollow facade given the very near future would be bleak. It was a dreary day and only going to get worse once they got inside the bunker. Mischoff had always been in and out of Rachel’s office when not out on an expedition and obviously tried to flirt even though she stonewalled him at every attempt. He was persistent, she’d give him that at the very least. She told herself if this went smoothly and they both made it back to the Peak she’d let him buy her a drink, eventually...if she remembered.

Once everyone was ready they headed for the Bunker where Tanner and Ash were holding security on the door in case anything came out before they were ready. Tanner and Ash had been riding in the truck with Rachel and she had gotten to know them over the two hour long drive. They were good kids but just that, kids. The Militia was recruiting younger and younger as the population dwindled. An unfortunate necessity in the harshness of this new world that offered little in the way of childhood.

Mischoff ordered everyone into two teams. The first would go in ahead of the second and clear out the Gray. The second was Rachel’s and it was tasked with locating and analyzing what could be salvaged of the power generator in the bunker. They were hoping it was something that could be transported but if it came down to it they’d find a way to get the power to the Peak no matter what.

Rachel watched anxiously as Mischoff and his forward team went into the bunker. They had to clamber over the fallen metal doors which were largely covered in a blanket of moss that was slippery from the rain. Once inside the hanger, she could see their lights turn on. It must have been too dark for even the night vision to pick up enough ambient light to see. The lights from the team’s rifles and helmets danced along the tall walls around the hanger. It was mostly empty except for shipping containers and rusted metal construction equipment. Water had corroded the ceiling and created a large pool in the middle of the room that mirrored any light that touched it.

Eventually, the team reached the far end of the hanger and all she could see was the faint glimpse of the lights disappearing into a doorway. Everyone’s mood in Rachel’s team turned sour as soon as the first team disappeared inside. It suddenly got very real for the young men and women in her squad. Which was comprised of two Militia soldiers and the rest were technicians she had recruited to help with the generator. It hadn’t been easy convincing them to come with her and several times she considered just ordering them. She tried not to be that kind of Officer though and only recruited volunteers she guilt-tripped.

She scanned the mountains around them. Her team was small compared to the first one and she quickly felt vulnerable from the imposing valley walls that dwarfed them. The Bastion had known about the thermal generator so she suspected they could know about this one too. The bastards knew the Peak was short on power and couldn’t last much longer. As soon as the reserves ran dry the Peak would be vulnerable to everything from drone attack to the Gray. The entire defense grid that had taken years to piece together from stolen Bastion equipment and salvaged military hardware, it would all fall apart in an instant without power. This had to work or a lot of people would end up dead.

She felt around her neck for her mother’s necklace to make sure it was safe. She never took it off and whenever she was nervous she’d play with it just to make sure it was still there. The pendant on the necklace held the only photograph she had of her mother. She carefully made sure the latch was tight on it before shoving it back down her shirt underneath her raincoat. She mustered up the courage to move forward and into the bunker. If her mother overcame all the obstacles she faced, Rachel could too.

“Let’s go.” She ordered in a stern voice to hide her anxiety. Her small team marched into the breach and left behind the sentries for the vehicles. Part of her wasn’t sure what job was worse. Being out here with all the hills was just plain creepy. Then again going into the haunted underground maze filled with monsters wasn’t going to be great either she reasoned. She followed in the first team’s trail with one soldier in front of her and another to the rear of her team. They were all armed but the soldiers had done this before while the technicians hadn’t.

As they neared the double doors on the far side of the wall that had swallowed up the first team she pulled off her night vision goggles. She had been right and the darkness was so thick they’d need to use lights instead. The silence was growing as they left the rainstorm behind and the only sound left was boots crunching the concrete floor.

The soldier taking point kept his rifle shouldered and moved carefully using heel to toe to keep himself stable should he need to fire. The double doors led into steps going down about 3 feet where water with a rusted tint had accumulated. There was a foul smell that made her wish she had a gas mask regardless of her immunity. Bits of white material floated in the water they moved through, she was sure it was bone. Too white to be that old, must have been an animal the Gray drug down here she told herself. As they continued down the dark passageway they came to a set of elevators that had long since stopped working.

She stepped around the soldier who was moving down another passageway looking for a chem light the forward team would have left wherever the stairs were. She reached up with her hand and brushed the concrete wall around the elevator. There were deep gouges showing the fresh white concrete underneath the aged surface.

“Gray must be using the elevator shaft for getting in and out.” Sarah, one of the other Techs whispered as she noticed Rachel examining the wall. Rachel brushed her hands on her pants and shouldered her rifle at the low ready. There was no doubting it now, the Gray were here.

After several minutes of following a trail of chem lights down a stairwell, they all stopped. She heard shouting, then the echoing of gunfire. Her gut tensed and she wanted to puke. Not that she had eaten anything on the ride here anyway but that didn’t stop the wrenching feeling inside her.

After a moment they started moving again. Everyone triple-checked their rifles even though they knew they were already loaded. Something about toying with the forward assist on the old rifle eased the mind as they reassured themselves the weapon would fire when needed. A nervous tick brought on by nothing more than genuine human fear of the unknown and the unknown is exactly where they needed to go.

The chem lights stopped going down the stairwell and instead lead through a door that was propped open with a chair, most likely from the other team. They moved through it and into a wide hallway big enough for three people to stand shoulder to shoulder and had to be at least 9ft tall. It was impressive given how far underground they were. Rachel wondered if the Bastion looked anything like this. Minus the pitch-black darkness and smell of decomposing bodies.

They hadn’t made it far down the hallway before more gunfire sounded. This time they didn’t stop but continued moving. As they reached an intersection in the hall a loud banging sounded behind them and they all turned around. As they did Mitchell one of her Techs fired his rifle into the concrete at his feet. Barely missing his own foot and sending bits of concrete flying.

“What the fuck was that!?” The solider to the front of the column walked past Sarah and grabbed the back of Mitchell’s radiation suit and spun him around to face him. The banging sound must have been the chair slipping out of the doorway and it slamming shut. The Tech got spooked and accidentally fired or so Rachel assumed. She had already started moving back to the confrontation, they didn’t have time for this.

As she neared Mitchell she saw something behind Sarah who was at the rear of the group since the soldier who was supposed to be behind her was accosting Mitchel. She thought it was another Tech for a half-second before someone’s flashlight moved and revealed it. A distorted face with eyes as black as the darkness surrounding it, it moved towards Sarah with an open maw filled with razors. Rachel didn’t have time to register what it was but thankfully her instincts kicked in and she moved into action. She shouldered her rifle at the soldier still grabbing onto Mitchell, he must have thought she was going to shoot him. She didn’t have time to explain.

Rachel fired into the monster as her light revealed the rest of its body. A long thin arm wrapped around Sarah’s torso before retreating into the darkness it came from, taking her with it.

As Rachel fired the rest of the Team turned and went to fire as well but before anyone else could get a shot off it was gone. Rachel fired several more rounds into the darkness where it ran, the whole incident only took a split second.

“Let’s go!” She yelled and the rest of the Team followed her, too shook up to argue.

“Sarah!” She yelled into the hallway in front of her. Several doors were on either side of the hallway and she regretted not clearing them as they moved forward. She had just assumed the forward team would have cleared the rooms but they must have missed one.

Rachel used one hand to push open a door while shouldering her rifle with the other, her adrenaline made her forget how heavy the rifle was to shoulder with one hand. Her Team cleared one room after another looking for her friend but after a few minutes that felt like hours one of the soldiers spoke up.

“She’s gone we gotta keep moving. Forward Teams gonna need help at some point.”

One of the Techs let her rifle droop by the sling and exhaled while leaning forward onto her knees, obviously, she wasn’t thrilled with the situation.

“We need the help, that thing took her like she weighed nothing!” The tech exclaimed.

“You didn’t expect some of us to die?” The soldier coldly replied, obviously this wasn’t his first time to lose someone.

“If we don’t get out now those things will take the rest of us.” The tech continued to plead but had at least lowered her voice. Rachel exchanged her magazine out for a fresh one and started getting control of her squad.

“You wanna try to run back the way we came, go ahead, but you’ll end up like Sarah. We gotta clear this place and those things aren’t invincible, are they Soldier?” She gestured to the one that had been talking earlier.

“No ma’am, like anything else you put enough bullets in it and it’ll die.” He sternly answered.

“So, let’s go put some bullets in it.” Rachel tried to sound the part of a badass but she was just as scared as the others. The only difference was she understood what was at stake. After getting control of her squad they moved onwards down the hallway, leaving Sarah to whatever fate she had succumbed to. Rachel’s mind kept wandering back to the creature that took Sarah. She didn’t get a good look at it which was driving her crazy.

She had seen videos and photographs of the Gray but each species was a little different than the others. Some had six limbs and moved like spiders up walls while some had four limbs and ran like wild dogs, it really depended on the environment they were in. The Gray adapted at remarkable speeds and no matter the area they would evolve to thrive in it. The one common trait was that they all had the same gray moist skin that looked like leather pulled too tight over a wireframe. As if God was listening to her they came upon a dead Gray that the forward team must have killed. At first, they stopped since they didn’t know it was dead. When they saw the holes oozing a puss like fluid they decided it had already been taken care of.

It was big and looked like a bear but moist gray skin instead of fur. It had dagger-like claws on the ends of its arms and legs. The arms were skinny and stretched thin while the legs looked shorter and thicker. The beast had to be fast on open ground and was definitely fast enough down here to catch them. The teeth looked like rows of broken white glass from their uneven but sharp surface and bits of flesh were stuck in between them. They were the reason the hunters had such terrible luck finding food. Gray like this were a predator to everything that had been fortunate enough to survive the radiation and bombs.

“That’s something that will horrify me forever.” Rachel said in a sarcastic tone trying to make a mild joke despite the situation. No one else cared to reply. Moving on again they listened to the occasional gunfire and yelling that echoed down the halls, the forward team was getting busy by the sound of it. Rachel silently prayed to whatever God was listening that nothing happened to them. It’s true she cared about all of them but if they got killed then the same Gray would be coming for her squad, which was far less prepared.

The soldier in front of Rachel was stepping around rusted pipes that had broken apart from the ceiling and spilled over the floor. While he was preoccupied trying not to trip over them a face emerged from the black hallway in front of them. It was terrifying but she had been ready and opened fire into the beast that let out a loud shriek which reverberated down the halls and into her skull. She kept shooting and dropped to a knee, Mitchell who had been behind her stepped up and fired over her head, thankfully not shooting the ground this time. Between the two of them, the Gray collapsed before it got close to the soldier who was still trying to shoulder his rifle which had gotten caught on one of the pipes in his haste.

“Remind me to buy you fellas something nice if we make it out of here.” He jested back to Rachel and Mitchell who had to be grinning behind his gas mask as he shook with adrenaline and excitement. Just as the soldier turned around to finish stepping over the pipes a Gray arm came down from the hole in the ceiling and grabbed him. Rachel hadn’t lowered her rifle yet so she was able to quickly start firing into the metal grates above the soldier. As she did the arm kept pulling the solider up into the ceiling.

Finally, Rachel’s bullets must have hit something sensitive because the arm went limp and dropped the soldier who fell in a heap on the pipes.

“Cover me!” Rachel yelled behind her as she stepped over the pipes to get to the soldier who lay motionless.

“Hey!” She yelled as she shook his body before turning him over and seeing that the Gray’s claws had ripped his throat open, causing blood to gush out. She went to grab her first aid kit but stopped, his eyes didn’t have any life left in them. She grabbed his hand to check his pulse and was right, he was gone.

“Damn it” She hissed, as her squad grew even smaller. She took the soldier’s magazines from his vest and stuffed them in hers before rolling his body out of the way. They had to finish this and it was her turn to take point now. Once over the pipes she shouldered her rifle again and steeled herself, she wasn’t going to end up like the soldier. She was a true survivor no matter the horror that came at her.