LOGINThe briefing room emptied in uneasy silence. No one lingered. No one joked. The report of three missing observation towers had erased what little relief the hunters felt after returning alive. Sera walked beside Jonas through Zelios' concrete corridors, boots echoing against polished steel floors. Neither spoke for several moments. Zelios was turning into a message day by day, something big was happening and no one had the answers. Finally Jonas broke the silence. "You're thinking about him." Sera didn't bother pretending otherwise. "I'm thinking about everything." "Liar." She glanced sideways. Husen.Yes she was definitely thinking about him, there was not a single minute he left her mind. The mission already clouded her mind with so many questions and his unnatural behaviour, no vampire had ever behaved like him. And today the way he barged in in her room made him a permanent resident of her mind. Everything happened so quickly, she didn't get time to contemplate and put her t
The archives of Zelios were unlike any other place within the fortress. Hidden several levels beneath the command center, they were protected not by armed guards but by thick steel vault doors and mechanical locks that had survived the apocalypse. The walls were lined with shelves of weathered books, handwritten journals, laboratory records, and faded photographs. Digital databases had failed decades ago, but paper endured. Every recruit heard whispers about the archives.Very few were ever allowed inside.Nearly two centuries earlier, Zelios had not been an army. It had been a research institute. Founded by physicians, geneticists, biochemists, and epidemiologists from several nations, Helios was established to study diseases that medicine could not explain.At first, their work was ordinary. Rare blood disorders. Genetic abnormalities. Unusual regenerative conditions. Patients arrived from every corner of the world carrying illnesses modern science struggled to understand. Many were
The briefing alarm echoed through Helios exactly one hour after sunrise. A low metallic chime rolled through every residential corridor before a calm mechanical voice followed."Squad Seven. Debriefing begins in fifteen minutes. Attendance mandatory."The Helios command chamber occupied the deepest level of the fortress. Unlike the military simplicity of the residential floors, the chamber resembled an old war room. A massive holographic map dominated the center. Screens lined every wall, displaying patrol routes, infected zones, supply levels and casualty reports.The atmosphere was heavy. Nearly every senior officer was present. Commander Aldren stood beside the central table with his hands clasped behind his back.Tall. Gray-haired. Sharp-eyed. His reputation throughout Helios was simple. He rarely raised his voice. He never needed to. Captain Mira stood to his right. Jonas noticed Sera entering and quietly slid a chair away from the others."You look terrible."Sera sat beside him
Her eyes widened on seeing him, and she quickly submerged herself completely in the water, from head to toe.Husen tilted his head to the side. "You will die, you know.""Out!" She said from underwater, which made her voice muffled."If you excuse me." He said while trying to make his way into the bathroom through the window. She pulled her head out from the water, water dripping from her hair onto her bare shoulder. Randomly, she picked a soap from her side and threw it at him. The soap hit him on the head, and he abruptly stopped his intruding.Sera wrapped her arms around her upper torso and looked around for something else to throw at him."Looking for your dagger?" Husen asked."How dare you try to sneak in?!" Sera hissed, making sure no one heard her."I told you, I am not done with you," Husen said nonchalantly.Sera looked at him in disbelief. How could he bring something up here to talk about? Can't he just read the atmosphere? He continues to barge in, receiving no respons
The massive steel gates of Zelios emerged from the darkness just as the eastern horizon began to pale. Hidden beneath the ruins of what had once been a sprawling underground transit terminal, the fortress remained invisible to anyone who didn't know where to look. Layers of reinforced steel, blast doors, and concrete swallowed the entire facility beneath the city. Above it, the apocalypse raged unchecked.Below... Humanity endured.Floodlights swept across the returning convoy as armored guards stepped from elevated watchtowers."Squad Seven returning," Captain Mira announced through the checkpoint intercom."State casualties.""Four injured. Two deceased."A heavy silence followed.The massive gates slowly groaned open. The convoy entered. The doors sealed immediately behind them with a thunderous clang. Only then did Sera finally allow herself to breathe. Home or at least. The closest thing the apocalypse still had.No one was allowed inside the living quarters immediately. The prot
The rooftop erupted into chaos. The first creature crossed the distance in a single leap. "Contact!" Captain Mira shouted. Ultraviolet rounds shattered the silence. Brilliant violet flashes illuminated the rooftop as Helios hunters opened fire in disciplined bursts. One creature tumbled backward off the building, disappearing into the darkness below. Three more landed immediately behind it. "They're everywhere!" one hunter yelled. Sera didn't wait. She met the nearest creature head-on. It swung a jagged claw toward her face. She ducked beneath it, silver dagger carving across its ribs before driving upward beneath its jaw. Black blood sprayed across the snow. The creature shrieked. Instead of falling, it slammed its shoulder into Sera's injured side. Pain exploded through her cracked ribs. She stumbled backward. The monster lunged again. Before it reached her, A blur of black crashed into it. Husen. He caught the creature by its throat and threw it across the rooftop. It smashe







