The team leader raised his voice.
"Everybody back to the vehicles."
The soldiers began moving.
Slowly.
Covering one another.
The first soldier took three steps backward.
Then stopped.
Because in the reflection of a shattered storefront window...
Something stood behind him.
Tall.
Thin.
Motionless.
His eyes widened.
He spun around.
Empty street.
But the reflection—
Gone.
His voice dropped.
"Sir..."
Hanson's grip tightened on the operations table.
"What?"
The soldier swallowed.
"I don't think we're alone."
For half a second...
Nothing answered him.
Then—
THUNK!
The sound exploded through the empty town square.
Heavy.
Metallic.
Close.
Every soldier spun.
"What the hell was that?!"
"Vehicle!"
The team leader's rifle snapped toward the convoy.
The others followed.
For one heartbeat...
Nobody understood what they were looking at.
Then the helmet camera tilted upward.
Something was standing on top of the lead vehicle.
A figure.
Human-shaped.
But unmistakably not human.
It stood hunched slightly beneath the darkness, one skeletal foot planted against the armored roof.
Its body looked dried.
Blackened.
Dead.
Tattered remains of clothing hung from its thin frame.
Pieces of exposed bone pushed through rotting flesh.
Its arms were unnaturally long.
Fingers curled into jagged claws against its sides.
And its face...
There was barely a face left.
Only stretched remnants of flesh clinging to a skull.
Its jaw hung slightly open.
Empty eye sockets stared down at the soldiers below.
For several seconds...
Nobody moved.
The soldiers didn't know what it was.
They had no name for it.
No classification.
No intelligence report.
No warning.
The creature slowly straightened.
Its joints clicked.
Crk...
Crk...
Its head tilted.
Studying them.
One of the soldiers whispered—
"Jesus Christ..."
Another raised his rifle directly at it.
"What the hell is that?"
No answer came.
Inside the command center...
General Hanson stared at the screen.
The creature was clearly visible now.
No distortion.
No bad angle.
No radio story.
No frightened civilian trying to explain something impossible.
There it was.
Standing on top of a United States military vehicle.
Hanson's face hardened.
"Beta Actual."
The team leader answered without taking his weapon off the creature.
"I see it."
"Identify."
"Can't."
"What do you mean, can't?"
"I mean I have no goddamn idea what I'm looking at."
The creature's head twitched.
The soldiers tightened their grips.
"Don't move."
One of them almost laughed from sheer disbelief.
"You think it understands English?"
"I don't care."
His rifle remained centered on its chest.
"Don't. Move."
The creature did.
One foot shifted.
SCRAAAAAPE.
Its claws dragged across the vehicle roof.
The sound made several soldiers flinch.
Then—
Another noise came from somewhere above them.
THUMP.
The soldier nearest the ruined pharmacy looked up.
His flashlight followed.
The beam climbed the brick wall.
Second floor.
Third floor.
Roofline.
Then stopped.
His face went pale.
"Uh... Sarge?"
The team leader didn't look away from the creature on the vehicle.
"What?"
The soldier slowly raised his rifle.
"We've got another one."
Everyone looked up.
A second figure stood along the edge of the pharmacy roof.
Motionless.
Watching them.
Another Soulbound Revenant.
Its silhouette was outlined against the night sky.
Long arms hung at its sides.
Its head leaned slightly forward.
Then—
THUNK.
Something landed on the building across the street.
A soldier spun.
Another figure.
"Contact right!"
"Roof!"
Weapons swung upward.
Then—
THUMP.
Another.
Farther down Main Street.
A dark shape climbed onto the roof of the old bank.
Not quickly.
Slowly.
Its skeletal hands curled over the ledge.
Then its head appeared.
Then its shoulders.
It pulled itself onto the rooftop.
And stood.
Watching.
The team leader's breathing changed.
"Command..."
Hanson didn't answer immediately.
His eyes were moving across the feeds.
Counting.
One on the vehicle.
One on the pharmacy.
One on the bank.
Another silhouette appeared atop the collapsed diner.
Then another.
And another.
They weren't running.
They weren't charging.
They were simply appearing.
One by one.
From the darkness.
The soldiers slowly turned in place.
Rifles tracking the rooftops.
"Two o'clock."
"I've got it."
"Another at eleven."
"Seen."
"Roof behind us."
"Contact rear!"
The rear gunner swung his weapon around.
A Soulbound Revenant crouched atop a three-story apartment building behind the convoy.
Its fingers wrapped around the roof ledge.
Its hollow eyes fixed directly upon the soldiers below.
Then another stepped from behind an air-conditioning unit beside it.
"Two rear!"
A soldier turned toward the opposite side.
"Three on the west roof!"
Another voice—
"Got movement east!"
The command room became increasingly tense.
Technicians switched between feeds.
Helmet cameras.
Vehicle cameras.
Thermal.
Optical.
Every angle revealed more.
And the thermal feed...
Showed almost nothing.
The major stared at it.
"Where are their heat signatures?"
A technician shook his head.
"They don't have any."
Hanson looked toward him.
"What?"
"I'm getting ambient temperature from them."
The technician enlarged one of the thermal images.
The creature standing on the military vehicle appeared almost indistinguishable from the cold metal beneath its feet.
"No meaningful body heat."
Silence.
The major slowly looked back toward the main display.
"That's impossible."
Hanson's eyes remained fixed on the creature.
"I'm getting tired of hearing that word tonight."
Onscreen...
Another Revenant appeared.
Then another.
The rooftops surrounding Main Street were no longer empty.
Dark figures stood along ledges.
On balconies.
Behind broken signs.
Atop fire escapes.
Some crouched.
Some stood.
Others crawled slowly into view.
All of them...
Watching.
The soldier in the center of the street slowly turned.
His flashlight passed across one rooftop.
Three creatures.
Another.
Five.
Another.
Two.
Then—
His beam caught something closer.
A second-story window.
A skeletal face stared back at him from behind shattered glass.
The soldier recoiled.
"Window!"
The creature disappeared backward into the darkness.
"Shit!"
The team leader finally raised his voice.
"Everybody back!"
The soldiers began retreating toward the convoy.
"Maintain sectors!"
"Don't turn your backs!"
"Move!"
Boots crunched across glass.
The Revenant standing on the lead vehicle remained motionless.
Watching them regroup.
The team leader kept his rifle trained directly on it.
"Command, permission to engage?"
Hanson stared at the screen.
Dozens of unknown hostiles.
Elevated positions.
Unknown capabilities.
Unknown numbers.
No understanding of what small-arms fire would even do to them.
His soldiers were standing in the center of an obvious kill zone.
Hanson grabbed the microphone.
"Negative."
The team leader blinked.
"Sir?"
"Do not initiate."
Hanson's voice became firm.
"They haven't attacked."
"Yet."
"I know."
The General's eyes swept across the rooftops.
"But you're surrounded by unknown numbers with no intelligence on their capabilities."
Hanson leaned toward the microphone.
"Get your people inside those vehicles."
A beat.
"And then get your men the hell out of there."
The team leader didn't argue.
"Copy that."
He immediately switched channels.
"Beta, we're pulling out!"
"Mount up!"
"Move! Move!"
The soldiers began retreating faster.
One by one, they backed toward their vehicles.
Rifles remained raised.
Muzzles tracked the rooftops.
The creature standing atop the lead vehicle still hadn't moved.
It simply watched.
The team leader reached his door.
"Two, you're with me!"
"Three, get that rear vehicle turned around!"
"Already moving!"
Engines roared.
The rear vehicle lurched backward.
Tires rolled across shattered glass.
The driver cranked the wheel hard, beginning a three-point turn in the narrow street.
Inside the command center...
Hanson watched every feed.
"Keep the channel open."
"Yes, sir."
"Beta Actual."
"Listening."
"Don't stop for anything."
"Understood."
"Retrace your entry route."
"Copy."
"And once you're clear of the town limits, report immediately."
"Roger."
The team leader reached for the door handle.
Then—
The creature standing on the lead vehicle moved.
Not slowly.
Not awkwardly.
Instantly.
Its head snapped toward the team leader.
CRACK!
The soldier froze.
The Revenant's jaw opened.
And a scream tore from its throat.
SKKKKKKRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!
The sound blasted through every microphone.
Several people in the command center instinctively recoiled.
The audio meters slammed into red.
Hanson's eyes widened.
Then—
Every creature surrounding Main Street moved.
At once.
"CONTACT!"
The Revenant on the lead vehicle launched itself downward.
"SHIT!"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The team leader fired.
Muzzle flashes illuminated the street.
Rounds struck the creature's chest.
Bone shattered.
Black fragments exploded from its torso.
But momentum carried it forward.
WHAM!
It slammed into one of the soldiers.
Both disappeared from the helmet camera.
"MAN DOWN!"
The rooftops erupted.
Revenants leapt from the buildings.
Not one.
Not two.
Dozens.
Dark bodies dropped through the beams of the headlights.
THUD!
THUMP!
CRASH!
One landed on the hood of the second vehicle.
Another smashed into the windshield.
Glass exploded inward.
The driver screamed.
"GET IT OFF!"
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Gunfire erupted everywhere.
The command room exploded into voices.
"Beta Actual!"
"Status!"
"Get me Camera Three!"
"Track those hostiles!"
"Where's the rear vehicle?!"
Hanson grabbed the microphone.
"Beta! Withdraw!"
Onscreen...
Chaos.
Helmet cameras whipped violently in every direction.
Muzzle flashes.
Black skeletal figures.
Broken buildings.
Headlights.
Blood.
"LEFT!"
BANG!
"DOWN!"
BANG! BANG!
"THERE'S MORE!"
A Revenant dropped directly in front of one soldier.
His camera captured its face for a fraction of a second.
Empty sockets.
Exposed teeth.
Blackened bone.
Then it lunged.
The image spun.
Sky.
Building.
Street.
CRACK!
The camera hit the pavement.
The soldier screamed.
"GET IT OFF ME!"
Another rifle opened fire.
BRRRRRT!
The Revenant jerked violently.
Pieces of its body tore away.
But it kept clawing.
"IT'S NOT STOPPING!"
"HEAD!"
"WHAT?!"
"SHOOT IT IN THE FUCKING HEAD!"
BANG!
The creature's skull snapped backward.
Its body collapsed.
The soldier scrambled away.
"Command!"
Hanson answered instantly.
"Go!"
"HEADSHOTS!"
The team leader's breathing thundered through the radio.
"Center mass isn't stopping them!"
Hanson turned toward the communications officers.
"You heard him!"
The major shouted toward the analysts.
"Log it!"
"Possible cranial vulnerability!"
On the screen—
Another creature slammed into a soldier.
The helmet camera spun sideways.
Then—
STATIC.
One section of the display went black.
SIGNAL LOST — BETA 7
The technician stared.
"Lost Camera Seven!"
Hanson's head snapped toward him.
"Recover it!"
"Trying!"
Another camera showed a soldier firing toward the rooftops.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
A Revenant fell from above.
Another immediately replaced it.
Then another.
"There's too many!"
"Back to the vehicles!"
"MOVE!"
The soldier turned.
Something struck him from behind.
His camera jolted.
A skeletal hand appeared across the lens.
Then—
STATIC.
Black.
SIGNAL LOST — BETA 4
"Lost Four!"
Hanson's expression hardened.
"Beta Actual, get out of there!"
No answer.
"Beta Actual!"
Gunfire answered instead.
One of the vehicle feeds showed the lead truck accelerating.
A Revenant clung to the roof.
Another held onto the passenger side.
The driver swerved violently.
"GET THEM OFF!"
A soldier leaned through the window.
BANG!
The creature on the passenger side lost half its face.
It fell beneath the tires.
The vehicle bounced violently over it.
Then another Revenant dropped from a streetlight.
BOOM!
It struck the hood.
The windshield cracked.
The creature drove one arm through the glass.
The driver screamed.
The camera shook violently.
"DRIVER!"
The vehicle swerved.
Hit the curb.
Then—
CRASH!
The feed spun sideways.
The camera showed nothing but shattered pavement.
"Lead vehicle down!"
The communications officer shouted.
Hanson's eyes moved rapidly across the remaining feeds.
"Where's Beta Actual?"
"Camera Two!"
The technician enlarged it.
The team leader was still alive.
He stood behind the second vehicle.
Firing controlled bursts.
"Fall back!"
BANG! BANG!
"Keep moving!"
A soldier ran past him.
Another followed.
"Where's Collins?!"
"Gone!"
"What do you mean gone?!"
"I DON'T KNOW!"
A Revenant charged from an alley.
The team leader fired.
BANG! BANG!
Two rounds hit its chest.
It staggered.
The third struck its skull.
BANG!
The creature dropped instantly.
The team leader didn't even watch it fall.
"HEADSHOTS!"
He turned.
"ONLY HEADSHOTS!"
The remaining soldiers adjusted.
Gunfire became more controlled.
BANG!
One Revenant fell.
BANG!
Another.
BANG!
A third tumbled from a rooftop.
For several seconds...
The soldiers began pushing them back.
Hanson saw it.
"That's it."
His grip tightened around the microphone.
"Keep moving, Beta."
"Don't let them pin you down."
But then...
Something changed.
The team leader's camera turned toward Main Street.
And stopped.
Beyond the headlights...
More shapes were emerging.
Dozens.
From alleys.
Storefronts.
Side streets.
Broken windows.
Everywhere.
The team leader stared.
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me."
The major's face went pale.
"They're converging."
Hanson's jaw tightened.
"Beta Actual, break contact!"
"Trying!"
A soldier reached the third vehicle.
"I'm in!"
"GO!"
The engine roared.
The vehicle accelerated.
Two soldiers ran beside it.
One grabbed the rear door.
Then—
A Revenant dropped from above.
It landed directly on him.
Both disappeared beneath the camera frame.
"NO!"
Another soldier turned.
"Leave him!"
"He's still alive!"
"LEAVE HIM!"
The vehicle accelerated.
The soldier hesitated.
Only for a second.
That second was enough.
Something struck him from the darkness.
The camera flew from his helmet.
It hit the pavement.
The image remained.
Sideways.
Boots ran past.
Gunfire flashed in the distance.
Then a skeletal foot stepped directly in front of the lens.
The creature crouched.
Its dead face filled the camera.
For one horrifying second...
It seemed to stare directly through the feed.
Directly into the command room.
Then—
CRUNCH.
Black.
SIGNAL LOST — BETA 9
The communications officer flinched.
"Lost Nine!"
Another screen flickered.
"Camera Five is unstable!"
"Stabilize it!"
"I can't!"
The image showed a soldier running.
Breathing hard.
Buildings streaked past.
Something screamed behind him.
He turned.
A Revenant was almost on top of him.
"SHIT!"
BANG!
The image flashed.
Then twisted violently.
STATIC.
Black.
SIGNAL LOST — BETA 5
"Lost Five!"
Hanson stared at the shrinking number of feeds.
Seven.
Six.
Five.
One after another...
They were disappearing.
The command room had become terrifyingly quiet despite the chaos coming through the speakers.
Everyone understood what each black screen meant.
A camera hadn't simply failed.
There was a soldier attached to each one.
Another feed vanished.
SIGNAL LOST — BETA 11
Then another.
SIGNAL LOST — BETA 3
"General..."
The communications officer looked toward Hanson.
His face had gone pale.
"We're losing them."
Hanson said nothing.
He couldn't.
His eyes remained locked on the screens.
Four feeds remained.
One vehicle camera.
Two helmet cameras.
Beta Actual.
The vehicle feed showed the third truck racing down Main Street.
Revenants pursued it.
Not stumbling.
Not shambling.
Running.
Fast.
Far too fast.
They moved on all fours at times.
Leapt across abandoned cars.
Climbed walls.
One bounded onto the roof of a parked sedan and launched itself toward the military vehicle.
THUD!
The camera shook.
"WE'VE GOT ONE ON THE ROOF!"
Gunfire erupted inside.
The feed flickered.
Then—
Black.
SIGNAL LOST — VEHICLE BETA-3
Three feeds.
Hanson stepped closer.
"Beta Actual!"
Static.
"Beta Actual, respond!"
For several seconds...
Nothing.
Then the team leader's voice returned.
Breathing hard.
Gunfire behind him.
"Command..."
Hanson grabbed the microphone.
"I'm here."
The helmet camera showed the team leader backing toward the final operational vehicle.
Only a handful of soldiers remained visible.
"Get your men out!"
"We're trying!"
A Revenant rushed them.
BANG!
It dropped.
Another followed.
BANG!
Down.
Then two more.
"MOVE!"
The soldiers climbed inside.
The team leader remained outside.
Covering them.
"Go!"
A soldier shouted from inside.
"Sarge!"
"GO!"
The team leader fired again.
Then his camera jerked upward.
A rooftop.
Several Revenants stood along the edge.
Watching.
For one strange moment...
They didn't move.
Then every one of them jumped.
The team leader's eyes widened.
"Oh shi—"
STATIC.
The screen went black.
SIGNAL LOST — BETA ACTUAL
Nobody in the command center moved.
Two feeds remained.
One flickered violently.
Then disappeared.
SIGNAL LOST — BETA 2
One.
A single helmet camera.
The image shook violently inside the final vehicle.
Someone was screaming at the driver.
"GO! GO! GO!"
The engine roared.
Gunfire erupted through an open window.
Something slammed against the side.
BANG!
Another impact.
THUD!
The soldier wearing the camera looked backward.
Through the shattered rear window...
Main Street was filled with them.
Dozens of creatures raced through the darkness after the vehicle.
The soldier whispered—
"Jesus..."
The feed distorted.
Lines of static crossed the image.
"Command, do you copy?!"
Hanson answered instantly.
"We copy!"
"We're pulling out!"
"Keep moving!"
The video distorted again.
"Don't stop!"
Static intensified.
"Do you hear me?!"
The soldier shouted—
"YES, SIR!"
The image froze.
For half a second...
The final frame remained on the screen.
A dark FairHaven street.
A shattered rear window.
And dozens of skeletal creatures chasing the vehicle through the night.
Then—
STATIC.
Black.
SIGNAL LOST — BETA 6
The entire main display went dark.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
No gunfire.
No screaming.
No radio traffic.
Nothing.
The communications officer frantically adjusted channels.
"Beta Actual, Garddale Command."
Static.
"Beta Actual, respond."
Nothing.
"Any Beta element, this is Garddale Command."
Silence.
The officer tried again.
"Beta Team, respond."
Nothing.
Hanson stood motionless.
His hand remained wrapped around the microphone.
Around him...
Nobody spoke.
Twelve soldiers had entered FairHaven.
Minutes later...
Every camera was gone.
Every transmission was silent.
The major slowly looked toward the General.
"Sir..."
Hanson didn't respond.
His eyes remained fixed on the black screen.
Richard Whitmore had told him monsters had overrun FairHaven.
Hanson had doubted him.
Now...
For the first time...
He understood.
Richard hadn't exaggerated.
If anything...
He hadn't warned them enough.