***

--- Galo Highway ---

Date: June 10th, 2026

“Fuck! These roads never end,” Scott complained as he drove, watching the same trees pass by the Vanguard-7 convoy while on their way to Rondel. Currently they are on the Galo Highway, the most direct path to Rondel; however, Sharpe wants the unit to stop at the town of Crety, a major farming town that specializes in herb cultivation for supplying Rondel. From there, he will decide whether to continue on the Galo highway or take smaller roads.

“Yup, the sights start to get boring after a while,” Frost agreed.

“I was hoping to see something out here in the wild,” Scott said. “Something, anything besides Imperialists. The problem with our occupied zone is that we ended the frontier culture. I would have liked to see how things were.”

Sofia laughed as she operated the vehicle M2 .50 caliber turret. “How do you think we are paying for this war? Freedom isn’t cheap.” She then leans into the turret hole. “How is your kitty girl Scotty? I bet you enjoy getting scratched when you two are banging.”

After hearing that Frost laughs hard, annoying Scott. Quickly, he realizes that it was simply light-hearted teasing, and decides to play along with the joke. “A claw mark here and there is nothing. It is the teeth you have to worry about. But it is definitely different when compared with human women.”

“I know what you mean,” Frost said. “You would have thought dating a human woman is complicated but having a woman from another species adds a whole new dimension to it. For example, I caught Mentiv sleeping upside down. And when we have sex, she likes to bite my neck - softly, but still. Apparently, that is normal among her people.”

“Yup,” Scott said. “I walked into Persia while she was licking herself. It looks sexy but honestly it was a strange sight. It is something you don’t see everyday. I do find her purring relaxing though.”

“Yup, there is a lot you have to get used to,” Frost added. “One day I caught Mentiv picking bugs from her little brother Jasif's head. She then ate it like it was normal.”

“Why do boys only think about a woman vagina?” Sofia asked. “You guys realize we are a package deal. If you love them then you have to accept everything else that comes with them. In your case that includes the claws and teeth.”

Hearing that coming from Sofia baffled Scott. “I thought you hated non-humans?”

“Hate is a strong word,” Sofia replied. “I grew up in the inner city so I dated a lot of jerks, which are all Human by the way. Not saying I fully approve but I know how it feels getting tugged along. Either accept what you got or move on.”

“Well, I guess what happened in Val-,” Scott said.

Before Scott finished Frost yelled to stop. He looks forward and sees someone. “Shit!”

“Holy shit!” Scotts panicked as the Oshkosh Joint Light Tactical Vehicle hit a man in the middle of the highway who ran in front of the vehicle.

After getting hit, the man begins getting up. The radio lights up as people are wondering what just happened.

“Oh god! Are you ok? Somebody get the Doc!” Scott said as he got out and rushed towards the man. Surprisingly, the man stands back up. He glares at Scott and the others, saliva overflowing from his mouth like a rabid beast, and Visible dark veins throughout his entire body.

Frost stops Scott and readies his M5 SIG rifle. “Something is wrong with him.”

“Stay here while I get our medi-.” Scott suddenly stopped when the man lunged at him. Hand and teeth out like a mad dog wanting to tear its prey apart . Instinctively, Frost shot at the man.

The new 6.8mm round hit the man in the chest but remained unfazed. The bigger bullet had an impact but the man seemed to ignore it. Black blood starts pouring out of the bullet hole but the man starts sprinting forward instead. Frost fires two more gunshots in the chest and one to the head as he rushes at Scott.

Sharpe and his team rushed to the scene. “What is going on?” He then sees the dead body on the ground.

“I don’t fucking know!” Scott said, shocked. “This guy just rushed in front of my vehicle and started acting like a mad dog. He tried to kill me!”

“He was completely unfazed by two shots in the chest,” Frost reported. “I had to put a bullet in his head, only then did he fall.”

“Is this guy some kind of zombie or ghoul or something?” Alicia asked.

Scott watched as Jerry checked the corpse and the recording of the encounter through the team NETT Warrior network. He cannot believe that Jerry just walked up to the corpse like it was nothing, a zombie corpse. Jerry has always been the quiet one in the group as he minds his business however, he has balls of steel. Scott aimed his SIG M19 machine gun at the corpse. “Be careful Doc.”

“This guy seems to exhibit a lot of rabies symptoms,” Jerry said as he took some tests. “Such as excessive salivation and animal-like aggression. I also do not see any sign of decay, so he is not a zombie or ghoul. Or none that we know of at least.”

“And what does that supposed to mean?” Scott asked nervously. “I know Zombies like to eat people and their brains.”

“It is far more complex than that. I don’t know where you people get the brain part,” Lelei said as she studied the corpse. “Ghouls, Skeletons, and Zombies are brought back by Dark Magic; however, unlike the other two, Zombies can increase their numbers through spreading a curse which is transmitted by biting or scratching their victims. The curse will kill you and transform you, only leaving your most primal urges to remain functioning, like eating and using tools. But I never heard of them acting this complex before. The only way to cure zombification is to administer specialized healing spells or potions before the curse takes hold on the body.”

“We call it a virus Lelei,” Jerry pointed out.

“I am sorry Jerry but my people call it a curse,” Lelei counters. “We don’t know about Germ Theory and I only learned it recently after using the microscope in the DARPA lab.”

Hearing that terrifies Scott. All he can think about is getting bitten and turning into one of those things. He could not help but think about his girlfriend Persia as he looked for comfort, “I noticed you said heard. I assume you have never fought zombies before today?”

Lelei looks at Scott. “No. I never had a chance to encounter one. I only heard about them in class.”

“I think something has gone really wrong with the convoy ahead. We must hurry,” Sharpe urged.

Everyone loaded back up into their JLTV’s and rolled out.

---

Vanguard-7 reached the location and saw three British Army Land Rover Wolf and three French Army Panhards stranded vehicles. After Lelei sensed that there was trouble with a NATO patrol, Sharpe called it in. Alnus Command admitted of a lost patrol in the area and thermal detection from UAV only picked up the vehicles, no body heat.

From a distance, the group sees a group of British and French troops wandering around the vehicles with their weapons dangling around their waist. Sharpe orders the combatant to disembark and slowly approach the convoy. Seeing all of them confused him as Actual said they didn’t see anything on thermal. He wonders if it was a hardware failure or they just missed these soldiers.

“Lieutenant Colonel, we should take them down,” Soredin proposed. “I sense killing intent from them, like predators waiting to ambush their prey. They will certainly attack us on the spot.”

“Negative, I am not ordering us to kill NATO soldiers without knowing what is going on first,” Sharpe replied. He noticed Pina ordered her Knight Jalin to guard him. “We are not going to kill our own without visuals.”

Soredin completely disagreed with this and began to protest. Lelei stands back as ordered, staff at ready. She can see Sharpe and Soredin still butting heads. While she is happy that Sharpe has tried to be nice to her new teacher, she assumes that Sharpe has not forgiven Soredin for what happened in Washington D.C.

As Sharpe approaches, he speaks, “Check your fire. I don’t want us to blindly shoot our fellow comrades. Confirm they are the undead before killing them.”

Sharpe walks to the British and French soldiers, accompanied by Knight Jalin Tu Fendro and Private Second-Class Graysen Owen for protection. “I am Lieutenant Colonel Sharpe, US Army Rangers. Are you all ok?”

Lelei hears Soredin’s warning her to be ready. Tuka quickly aims her composite bow and Rory readies her Halberd.

As they hear Sharpe's loud voice, they all turn their eyes towards Vanguard-7. A blood-curdling scream soon follows as one of them points their rifle at Vanguard 7 with one hand and fires wildly at the group. The rest of the crazed soldiers follow suit and fire at them as well.

“Shit!” Sharpe shouts as the bullets fly towards his group.

Seeing them in danger Lelei casts a kinetic barrier, blocking the bullets. Witnessing these zombies using rifles like this baffles her. It is known for zombies to use basic tools however she did not expect them to be able to use these complex weapons like rifles. It is safe to say they are not normal zombies.

As Randy orders everyone to provide cover fire Lelei watches as Jalin and Owen escort Sharpe back. “Colonel, it is safe to assume they are infected and no longer our comrades.”

After the zombie soldiers run out of bullets, the crazed soldiers do not cease their attacks and instead rush at them, using their rifles as clubs. Their attack forces Lelei to drop the barrier and the group charges them.

This causes Vanguard-7 to open fire and kill them before they get close. Rory manages to decapitate a few who happen to close the distance.

“What the hell happened to these soldiers? What kind of virus affected them?” Andrew asked.

“That was not normal.” Rory removed guts from her weapon. “I have fought zombies hundreds of times, but these ones seem strange.”

Randy approached the sound of weapons fire and begins to direct his Rangers. “Those are not friendly shots boys and girls, stay close and don’t wander off.”

Sharpe walked up, taking control of the situation with his usual, calm voice. “Ok Rangers, create a defense perimeter around the convoy, there might be more of them out there.

“You can say that again, Colonel, because we are about to be swarmed,” Soredin gestured as she sensed massive killing intent from both areas.

Massive swarms of hundreds of infected, which consisted of various races including Humans, Volradens, Neko, goblins, Orcs as well as Trolls and Werewolves began making their way toward Vanguard-7’s position. While many are disfigured from their original form, they all share two common features, which are insane looking eyes and foaming mouths. Some of them carried weapons or were ready to maul anyone who is not one of them.

“The sound of the gunshot must have attracted them here,” Tuka said as she prepared her bows.

Lelei watched as Sharpe gave orders, mainly organizing everyone to maintain the perimeter and protect the vehicles. She rushed in formation with Soredin to be the main defense. He ranged the defense in two formations. Pina’s Rose Knights, one in each direction to hack anything that gets close while behind them are the mages and Rangers. Tuka and Yao prioritize enemies of importance while the rest deal with the horde. Rory, using her speed, moves to the side that needs the most help at the time.

“Colonel, the sounds of your weapons will attract more of them,” Lelei said. “It is best that you use your silencers to quiet your weapons.”

“Silencers don’t silence our weapons Lelei,” Sharpe corrected. “It is more of a muffle than a silencer. The sound is reduced but it is still loud as fuck but I see your point. Pina, get your knights around and prepare to fight close quarters.”

Frost killed an approaching Zombie, a tall female human with long nail claws that was charging at him. “There is no way I am fucking fighting these in hand-to-hand combat. I don’t want to become one of them.”

“Calm down Specialist,” Randy said. “Focus on the task at hand. Prioritize your shots and maintain your field of fire.”

The incoming zombies are being gunned down as everyone aims for their heads. While this is the Rangers first time facing such an enemy, they have seen enough training videos classes on fictional enemies to know what to do. The major issue is that these zombies are very abnormal and large.

After using a firestorm spell to create a firewall on the east side Lelei looks up and sees the tree branches shaking. Neko and Goblin types hoping from branch-to-branch towards them. She forms a large explosive fireball and flings it at the tree - which is engulfed in flames.

“Rangers, sky high,” Randy ordered, redirecting the one Mk 47 Striker grenade launcher into the trees. Airburst rounds explode nearby within the trees.

“Lelei, I hear more footsteps and moaning,” Tuka said. She pulls out a special crafted arrow and fires it into the forest. It explodes creating a bright flare.

Lelei sees body shadows scattered throughout the forest. All approaching them.

“Good call Tuka,” Sharpe said. “Rangers, be ready to pull out.”

“I would wait, Jackson,” Rory said. “Throughout my centuries I have faced dozens of zombie hordes and what I learned is that they usually cluster in packs , since these infected act somewhat like zombies so I think they are no different. I assume the British and French soldiers got surrounded somehow. If the infestation has this many of them then the horde isn’t far away. We are probably surrounded and if we just drive off, there’s a good chance we will run into the horde.”

“What?” Sharpe asked, shocked. He then turns to Lelei. “Lelei, why didn’t you tell me this was a zombie forest?”

Lelei looks out and sees a few more soldier zombies. She also sees a neko zombie along with a few villager zombies too, far more than she expected. “There were never zombies around here.”

“Hey kid,” Frost said. “The Air Force has been pounding trade networks in this region for months. Any movement of armed men are targets for the A-10s.”

“He is right, we try to separate just a normal trader vs military logistics but it is hard to tell,” Sharpe said. “Rondel probably decided it was too much of a risk to send armed men down here to keep the forest clear. We would just blow them up.”

Hearing that frustrates Lelei, more that she did not think of that. She gripped her staff and prepared for battle.

Looking around Lelei saw that Rory was correct as more zombies appeared. Some of the trees shake as something big bushes through.

“Be advised, IFF registered a new threat as a Hobgoblin, I see two of them” Alicia said over NW.

Sofia quickly rushed over to Lelei and Andrew's position. “On it.”

Seeing Sofia and Andrew fire their M5 at the Hobgoblins, inflicting damage but the beast seemed to ignore it. Both try to aim for their heads but the Hobgoblins were holding up boulders, blocking the shots.

The Hobgoblins then tossed the boulder at the Rangers causing Andrew and Frost to dodge. The boulder hit the side of the second JLTV and nearly flipped it over. Around them are dozens of all different kinds of zombies.

Rory landed next to Lelei with a smirk. “He is mine.” She then spirits forward, her Helbert ready to slice the beast in half.

As Rory approached, the belly of the Hobgoblin opens up and a long tongue shoots out from its new mouth, wrapping around Rory tightly. She struggles to break free as the tongue tightens and begins to pull her in until it’s jaws enclose her, the beast swallowing her whole.

Watching that infected Hobgoblin create a second mouth from its belly proved to Lelei that they are not Zombies, or the ones she learned from class. Something else must be happening as she never heard the Rondel Grand Mages ever mention this before. “Rory!”

Soredin appeared next to Lelei, seeing the danger. “Interesting. That must be a powerful form for it to overcome an Apostle like this.” She then grabs her water bottle. “I will handle this Lelei.”

Soredin magically opens her water bottle and levitates its contents out. Then she manipulates the water and freezes it, before turning it into two ultrasharp oval shaped ice sheets. She then controls the ice sheets and hurls them at fast speed towards the swarm, decapitating dozens of infected regardless of the differences in their physique due to the varying races.

Soredin manages to clear out a huge wave of infecteds all by herself, which not even firearms and Rory can do, as the ice sheets are able to chop off their heads very quickly and continuously. Suddenly, three trolls start to charge at the convoy in which Soredin responds by combining the two ice sheets into a large rectangle shape, then enlarges and expands its length directly at the three trolls, bifurcating them into two pieces.

Lelei is deeply impressed by Soredin’s magical performance as this is the first time she sees her arcane teacher from Earth in action.

“That is incredible! How did you do that?” Lelei asked with great enthusiasm.

“That is an elemental manipulation technique, I will divulge into more details later. Now is not the time,” Soredin said.

After being freed from the infected Hobgoblin, Rory rushed back. She stops by Lelei, but marks are visible all over her body, black and red blood all over with strange slimes from the Hobgoblin. “That was so gross. I have slime everywhere. Even in places I don’t want to talk about. What is going on in Hardy pit? I have never faced a zombie like this before.”

“They are not zombies!” Lelei said. “Rondel has no record of this. We are witnessing something new here.”

“We will have to figure this out later. Right now we should deal with the task at hand and survive,” Soredin said.

Lelei looks out and sees more of the corrupted zombies. While most are Human, she sees other races in the group. All mutated into strange forms. They seem like zombies but they have been acting vastly differently. Over her personal radio she is hearing Owen and Frost stating that they are low on ammo and others confirming they have nearly run out too.

This engagement makes no sense and defies everything Lelei learned at the academy. She knows Dark Mages use necromancy to turn people into Ghouls and Zombies but she has never heard of their creations turning into these beasts or being able to create this many in such a short time. Even a small infection takes time to build up.

“Lelei,” Sharpe said. “You said Zombies are attracted to sound correct? And Rory said we are facing a horde?”

Confused by the two questions Lelei replied, “yes and yes. But I don’t understand.”

“Don’t worry, I have a plan,” Sharpe said. “Vanguard-Command, this is Vanguard-7 Lead, requesting two separate fire support over.”

“Vanguard-7, this is Actual,” Green said. “You said two separate fire support missions?”

“Correct,” Sharpe replied. “I need a bombardment southeast and southwest from my position, five and ten kilometers out.”

As Lelei listens to the radio conversation she is confused why Sharpe is making that request. She then realizes what the plan is. Mass artillery is loud and can be continuous. The two bombardment zones will create alternative noises to draw the horde away.

Noticing that her mana is depleting as she works with Soredin in preventing the Rangers from being swarmed, Lelei catches her breath as she prepares her next attack. However, in the midst of her spell preparation, she feels an intense pain on her left leg. She looks down and sees blood on her lower leg, right above her boot. A half of a dead man’s hand is on her boot as its teeth are in her leg.

Lelei sees a trail from which the upper half part of the zombie dragged itself. No one saw it coming under all those NATO vehicles and towards her.

From a strong pull by the strange strength coming from the zombie’s hands, Lelei falls to the ground. The pain shoots through her body. “Get off me!” Now panicked, she fully understands what was happening. She tries to move her other leg to pick it off but to no avail.

“What?” Sofia said and saw what happened. She pulled out her combat knife and jumped on top of the half corpse zombie. “Get off her you bastard!” She rams her knife deep into the zombie’s head as she yells, twisting the knife in all directions until the zombie stops biting Lelei and dies.

Sofia reached into her bag to get bandages. Seeing how bad Lelei's leg is she screams, “Doc! Get over here, Lelei has been bitten!”

“Lelei, what is wrong?” Soredin asked as she takes care of the ever-growing number of zombies. Then she noticed what just happened. “Lelei!”

All Lelei can do is look at her bleeding leg. The realization of what just happened and what it means is flooding her mind - fogging out the battle. As she focuses on her leg, Sofia is desperately patching her leg. What is more confusing to her is how hard Sofia is trying to save her.

Without any hesitation Sharpe replied, “On my way Lelei!” Everyone could hear the protective father switch flip in his voice.

“Negative sir,” Randy interjects. “You have a unit to command. If you go down or get distracted then we all go down. Doc!”

“Already on it,” Jerry responded.

Soredin rushed over and helps hold Lelei up. “Are you ok?”

“Yeah, it just hurts,” Lelei said, standing on one leg with Soredin’s help. Out of all the possible ways to get injured she cannot believe this was how it would happen. She heard Sharpe’s panic tone in his voice, but glad Randy made sure he remembered his priorities.

Suddenly Jerry appeared. He slides onto his knee and looks at the wound. Without hesitation he grabs an injection that is designed to help against virus infections. “I have no idea if this will work. It is designed to stop common environmental viruses like and flus, not whatever this is. But I will patch you up.”

As Lelei watches Jerry wrap her leg up, she feels impressed by his skill and speed, she thinks about everything she remembers from her textbooks. From what she understands about Earth medicine, while advanced they have no experience against this kind of virus. The closest comparable virus on Earth is the Rabies virus and they haven’t found a cure for that yet. Her only hope is her people's medicine and healing magic.

“Alright kid, let's go.” Jerry picked Lelei up and rushed her over to the Fire Support Stryker.

As Jerry helped Lelei, Soredin goes back in providing magic support as more zombies swarm the unit from all directions. What Rory said proved to be correct, the horde is coming. When they get into the Stryker, she sees the Ambassador, Selina with her pistol and Alicia on the radio counsel.

“Lelei!” Selina yells as she rushes over.

“Stay back Selina!” Lelei said. “I was bitten.” She then sees Alicia keeping Selina by her.

“Hold on kid,” Jerry said. “While I don’t know much about zombies, I don’t think you will turn in the next thirty seconds. But Selina, it might be best to stay away. Get her some water and blankets ok.”

Sharpe rushed into the Stryker. “Alicia, call MEDEVAC now. We need to get Lelei to Alnus Hospital for immediate medical treatment!”

“That won’t work Jackson,” Lelei said as she tears up from the pain. “Your people don’t have the medical knowledge or medicine to treat the infection. My only hope is to get to Crety. They should have a potion that should stop the infection before it gets to my brain. If it does then no potion can stop it.”

As Jerry begins treating Lelei, she watches Selina go through the supplies, getting whatever Jerry asked for. She then watches Alicia tell Sharpe the radio was for him. While Sharpe talked on the radio with Vanguard-Command she could hear the battle rage outside.

“Vanguard-7, this is Actual, standby,” Green said. “I’ve uploaded two possible routes on your Blue Force Tracker for you. I recommend you take the northern route. Two towed 155 artillery batteries from the Italians and Americans are commencing bombardment at the southeast and southwest positions as requested. They will be in fifteen-minute bursts, then ten-minute delay with a follow up ten-minute burst. Hopefully the sounds will distract them long enough for you to pull out.”

“Roger that, Lelei, are you sure we should go to Crety?” Sharpe asked. “Once we head that direction there is no going back.”

Lelei looks at Sharpe. She takes a deep breath, calming herself down to focus. One thing she has learned with her time with Sharpe is that panicking is the worst thing someone can do in a bad situation. “I am sure Jackson. Crety supplies Rondel with many ingredients for their spells and potions. They farm a fruit that we use to counter a plague like this one. Going to Alnus will result in my death because you don’t have a cure.”

Lelei can tell that was a hard pill for Sharpe to swallow.

“Roger that.” Sharpe gets on TEAMCOM. “Everyone load up and roll out. Hurry before we get swarmed a second time. Rory, get up front. I want you to escort us out and take down anything that gets in our way. I don’t want us to use our weapons otherwise it will just make them follow us. Soredin, get the elves and form a barrier so we can retreat unmolested.”

Lelei watches as Sharpe leaves to lead the retreat. Watching him not giving up gives her encouragement to fight this infection for as long as she can, giving hope.

***

--- Galo Highway, Crety ---

Forty-three minutes later

The mood is dead within the unit. After what felt like hours the unit managed to reach Crety. While on the drive Jerry did everything he could think of like giving Lelei antibiotics, VetiGel Biogel to clog up the wounds, and even a tight tourniquet around the leg to help slow down the spread of the virus. As the infection progresses throughout her leg, Lelei starts experiencing high fever, dizziness and extreme fatigue, but the most worrisome is that the bite has started to blacken, showing clear black veins. She laid on the Stryker seat breathing heavily as she felt her body burning up.

An airstrike blew up the European vehicles, denying the enemy from taking them as it was deemed too risky to recover them and the brass did not want to surrender them to the enemy.

Lelei explained that Crety was supposed to be a beautiful small town, like the ones in America midwest. But all Sharpe sees is a ghost town with signs of attacks. The worst of all are burnt piles of bodies, leading to the grim revelation that the infection has reached the town and the infected have ravaged the place.

Upon noticing their arrival, the inhabitants come out from their hiding, many of them look hungry, but all of them are noticeably scared of the convoy.

Once they stop and disembark, Frost and Chapman rush into a tavern and force everyone out. Once cleared, Sharpe carries Lelei inside as she is barely able to walk due to the infection. As he carries her, her dress moves out of the way so he can see the infection starting to move past the large gauze bandage.

“Randy.” As Sharpe begins to give orders. He points to Selina, demanding that she get back into the Stryker. She did not dare protest as Yao took her back inside. Last thing he needs is Selina running around. “Pina, take two and search this place and find the doctor, healer, or whatever. Lelei said this place has a post for the Adventurers and that there should be skilled healers here. Find them and drag them over here. Let's hope they can do something about Lelei’s situation.”

“If they resist?” Pina asked.

“They can deal with you or me.” Sharpe glares, making his point clear. Randy begins his search as Pina approaches. “Pina, take over security. Make sure no one bothers us.”

As Randy gathers the team and begins searching the town, Sharpe feels angry that he has to rely on medieval era medicine. Having advanced medical technology and yet right now it is worthless. If there is one thing he has learned about himself is that he does not do well when a problem is outside his control or solution.

“Soredin, go help Jerry.” Sharpe askd.

“I can but I need to make sure this place has the ingredients I need to make potions for Lelei,” Soredin stated.

“Ok Tuka, Alicia and Frost, go with Soredin to find some ingredients around the town to make the potion,” Sharpe points at Tuka and Yao.

As the next group leaves Sharpe calls for Sofia. He watches as she rushes over, her uniform and arms covered in dried blood. “You are not bitten, correct?”

“No sir,” Sofia said. “I was checked out while on the way here. Frost and Scott can confirm.”

“Good,” Sharpe said. He knows it was because of Sofia's swift reaction that Lelei's leg was not bitten off. “Good job with the assist. Once you are done helping out you are protecting Doc. I want no one to bother him.”

Sharpe, Rory and Scott and Andrew approach the town hall of Crety to search for help.

Sharpe violently knocks on the door of the town hall and notices a man walk up. The man looks pissed and scared along with tons of people behind him, who are taking shelters. Behind Sharpe is Chapman who has his rifle at the ready, protecting Sharpe.

“What is the meaning of this?” the man asked. “Why are your men threatening my people?”

Now Sharpe sees how forceful his orders are. His intention was to come here peacefully to lay the bedrock for positive relations. In his rush, what he is doing now looks like a military invasion. Right now, he doesn't care.

“Sorry about our aggressive actions,” Sharpe said. “One of my people was bitten by one of the creatures that has ravaged your town and we need to get her help. She is one of Rondel mages who works with us. There should be healers in this town right?”

“We have healers but it is no use, the best thing you can do right now is to give her a merciful death. The only mean to save her is no longer available”

“What do you mean, old man?” Sharpe angrily asked.

“First of all, I am Mayor Shahram of Crety and the infection has ravaged our town for nearly a week now. At first, we had access to the Rokude Pears to cure the afflicted before they turn rabid but for some unknown reasons all of our Rokude crops have been destroyed. Here and at the other two villages were set aflame. All of our stockpiles have also vanished. Normally we have our Adventurers clear out the ruins and fields to search for more Rokude, but your kind keeps attacking them with your flying machines.”

That last part bothered Sharpe. The crops that could stop this infection were destroyed and now the disease is spreading out of control. None of this adds up.

“Lieutenant Colonel,” Randy said.

Sharpe looks and sees Randy's team dragging a man in stylized armor. It is not Imperial armor, that means he is either a Knight or an Adventurer. As the man is dragged, he is struggling to get free.

“Damn you Other Worlders, how dare you treat a Silver Rank like this,” Adventurer Ferhad protested.

“We found him at the Post sir,” Randy said. “We also found two lower ranked Adventurers at the Post. It looked like they saw combat recently sir.”

“All of this is your damn fault,” Ferhad said. “We were trying to clear out these infected and figure out what turned them mad, but we couldn't figure it out because if we venture too far your flying machines would kill us. So far three villages have been ravaged because of what you’ve done.”

Sharpe walks over, ignoring the Adventurer. He knows what the Adventurer is referring to, NATO airstrikes anyone who looks like soldiers. And now this town and his team are facing the consequences of the bombing campaign. “Look, I didn’t want this situation to happen. My orders were to come here and give the ‘we come in peace’ platform but right now I am on a timetable and I refuse to let my friend die because I am wasting time.”

“Lieutenant Colonel,” Ambassador Henson said as he approached. “I think it is time for me to pull my weight.”

Sharpe takes a step back and watches the Ambassador talk with the town leadership and some other people, explaining the situation, what they want and what they can offer.

Rory walks up and places her hand on Sharpe's arm. “Calm down big boy. Getting all heated up won’t get what you want. None of us want Lelei to turn. Stay objective.”

Taking a deep breath he relaxes himself. “Thanks Rory.” He then walks away to wait.

Soon enough Henson approaches. "Colonel. I struck a deal with the mayor. If we agree to provide security and deal with these infected, then they will help us find those pears in the area. However, security must be granted regardless if Lelei is to makes it"

The first thought Sharpe had was if this Ambassador was incompetent after hearing that. "That will take weeks. This is not a small forest, Lelei will turn by then and I will be damned if I have to put her down!"

"They better give us something useful! I won’t let my nerdy sister suffer like those infected because we are too late to save her," Rory added with an enraged voice.

"Hold on, I know," Henson said. "That is why there is a healer who agreed to help us find the fruit as he knows what it is. And besides, I think you have contacts in SOCOM that are willing to come here.”

Sharpe thinks and nods. “I have some old Green Beret buddies who would enjoy the challenge. At least until help arrives.”

The healer walked up. “Thank you Colonel. I understand your desire to save your friend, so now I can comprehend the situation. I am glad you understand the urgency in matters like these. We all first thought you Other Worlders were savages who kill everything indiscriminately, but I am starting to see that those remarks were untrue. I am Lodas Kaven.”

“Savages?” Sharpe asked. “That is just Imperial bullshit. Our airstrikes are for taking out enemy logistics. Sorry to say it, but we’re at war and Rondel is a major supplier for our enemy. If we were savages we would have razed this town long ago.”

"I know," Kaven said. "Your Ambassador explained the situation. Because our town is not a military settlement, you spared us from your wrath, but this situation is still partly your people's fault. If you promise to protect us, all will be forgiven, and we will help save your friend."

"Just like that?" Sharpe asked, struggling to believe the quick turnaround.

"Well, your blue-haired friend Lelei is a citizen of Rondel, so we are bound to help," Kaven said. "It is in our interest to maintain good relations with Rondel, so it only makes sense if we’re helping one of their people."

"Ok, so where are the Rokude Pears?" Sharpe asked.

"As you know, all the sources of the Rokude Pears have been destroyed”, Kaven said. “Searching further might not be a viable solution judging from the time your friend has remaining. Anyone afflicted with the plague will turn within five to six hour after getting infected. The only place we can get the Pears is from the Arrun Ruins, but that place is too dangerous, so no one dares to go there anymore."

"Why?" Sharpe asked.

"After we lost all our Pears, me and some villagers went to Arrun Ruin to get the Pears for restarting our crops, but the place is full of infecteds. We try our best to evade and fight off the infecteds and reach the Rokude Tree, but it is guarded by a Basilisk. Only I managed to make it back alive. Later on, we hired some adventurers to go there, but we never saw them again,” Kaven stated.

"However, with your tremendous firepower and Rory the Reaper with you, we might be able to defeat the Basilisk and get the Pears," Kaven stated.

"Does this Basilisk kill people by using their gaze or poisoning them with its fang?" Sharpe asked.

"You are only half correct, Sharpe. Basilisk's special means of attack is spitting corrosive venom out of the glands in its mouth, which can cause quick death as the venom can eat a victim to the bones within seconds. They are not like in Harry Potter, in which they can kill people by looking directly at them. However, Basilisk is dangerous enough to be placed as the threat secondary to the Ancient Dragons," Rory rectifies.

“I am coming too,” Ferhad said. "I know the best route there while Kaven knows where the tree is."

"I thought you hated us?" Sharpe asked.

"I still have a duty to fulfill this town as an adventurer. I will prove that we, Adventurers, still have worths to the people of Falmart. Don't think you can get rid of us easily," Ferhad pridefully said.

Getting what he wants, he looks to Randy. "Get Pina, Andrew, Jalin, Chapman, Alicia, and Soredin. They will come with Rory and me. We will leave in five minutes." He then leaves to request the Green Berets to come to this town and protect them from the infected.

"I thought Soredin was supposed to stay with Lelei to take care of her?" Randy said.

"Belay that order. We are dealing with a big and very dangerous monster here. So we’ll need her help. Back when we dealt with the Baby Flame Dragons, we needed someone like Lelei to help us, so right now we need her teacher," Sharpe stated.