Chương 1: Prologue (1).

At night, in an uninhabited forest in France, to be more specific, in the Compiègne Forest.

Three men in large coats leaned against a massive wooden tree, panting violently, while some others had their faces covered in blood. Although it was nighttime, thanks to the moonlight and the clear sky, a sinister amount of blood could be seen slowly flowing from countless gruesome wounds on their bodies.

Their white jackets had been stained with blood. The dark red color loomed over their bodies, but this seemed to matter little to them as they only checked the ammunition of their firearms without any expression on their faces.

"How many bullets do you have left?" Among the three, a middle-aged man with a round face took out the magazine from the rifle in his hand as he asked his companion. After checking it, he discarded the empty magazine. He took out the single bullet in the chamber and held it in his hand, looking at it in the moonlight before inserting it back into his rifle.

"No more than one magazine, but if we shoot again, they'll find us again before we can come up with a plan!" The person who responded was a young Russian with black hair. After responding in a subdued tone, he tossed the rifle he had in his hand with some disappointment, then drew a hunting knife from his waist.

The elder turned his head and asked the man with a deep wound on his cheek, "Dmitri, how are you?"

The blue-eyed man threw the rifle in his hand against some rocks not far away, as if trying to vent his frustration. The force wasn't great, but it was enough for the weapon to bounce once among the stones. Then he spat blood-mixed saliva and muttered, "We should have waited for the mercenaries; we would have resisted if we had stayed in safe places. Why did we have to come to this hell to die?"

The round-faced elder named Pavel smiled and said indifferently, "Reports said it was just a damn beast, a thing gone out of control from the research facilities. But we can all agree that those things were more than just a simple bear. Am I wrong in saying this? Still... This is over now; we can't cry or lament over the past; damn it, I won't die in such a pitiful way."

"Should we report this to the French army through an embassy?" Dmitri asked a question that left the other two in silence; none could give a definite answer to this.

"They would kill us one way or another; besides, we're carriers of the virus that a private medical company is studying. And if we leak this, our families would die, and I'd rather die killing that damn bear hunting us." Pavel refused, not wanting to involve anyone, especially not his family.

"I have a family too... But the best I have right now is a grenade and several pistol magazines. If we all had a magazine, we could at least have a painless death in the end. Even if that means we'll be eaten by that huge bear one way or another, Dmitri handed a pistol to each of them, but no matter how he thought about it, he would die today, and the way only depended on each one.

Pavel held the pistol and murmured with some regret, "Even if I shoot myself now, those damn bears will still devour us. According to the records, they're designed to hunt humans, and what they carry in their bodies makes them uncontrollable beasts who don't feel fear or perceive pain."

Dmitri cursed indiscriminately, but the others were lost in their own thoughts, so they said nothing. After cursing all he wanted, he took out a couple of grenades from his large coat and held them in his left hand. He would do what everyone else was thinking; at least his death would give his family a sum large enough for them not to keep working.

Roooaaaarrrr!

Suddenly, a roar similar to that of a bear came directly from in front of them, rustling the bushes and making the ground tremble. When the three heard it, their hearts tightened in fear. Enduring the pain in their bodies through the adrenaline that still persisted in them, the trio of men gathered together in a state of alertness.

"Does anyone of you know how the hell that thing found us? Why am I thinking right now that the virus they're researching here is giving them superpowers? Pavel, tell me, What damn virus does something like that?"

"Stop whining; why do you want to know that if we're going to die anyway? Let's just try to send the information we know to the private security group coming from a company of ex-military; they'll take care of it, and hopefully our bodies will remain intact." Pavel released the safety of his pistol and aimed forward.

"You're always right, you old senile; I hope your aim doesn't fail." Dmitri also prepared himself with trembling hands, unsure if it was from the cold or fear.

"I know, no need to remind me!" Pavel smiled as he looked ahead. Although there was a smile on his old face, he, like the others, was afraid.

"I never expected one single bear to end up infecting the other animals of its kind nearby; their movements are coordinated as if they're talking to each other. If we're going to die anyway, we should kill one of those bastards." The man with the wound on his face raised his pistol, ready to open fire.

"When I was a kid, I always wanted to be in the special forces, but I was rejected long before starting because of certain limitations that others with more special interests didn't care about. I've worked on things others would be ashamed of, and my younger self would have been disappointed to know I didn't end up being a real soldier, didn't earn a single medal, and didn't die defending my country." Dmitri saw all the blood dripping from his chest and sighed as if a part of him had already died.

Rrrr!

The massive body of the bear roared fiercely, cutting through the bushes. It was obvious to all of them that they would die one way or another, so they would do whatever it took to eliminate this first threat before it reached the research fields.

Pavel regretted coming recklessly into the forest knowing there was a loose test subject, but now, thinking more coldly, he knew this was most likely orchestrated by the medicine company he worked for.

"They've used us quite well..." Before Pavel could finish speaking, the huge body of a bear emerged right in front of them, and the three who were waiting for the enemy opened fire immediately.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bullets penetrated deep into the bear's skin, destroying the tissue and flesh of its body. But none of the bullets penetrated deep enough into its head to kill it; this initial failure was enough for the bear to lunge towards the first man with a deep wound on his cheek.

"Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!" The death cry echoed from Pavel's companion, who had saved bullets for the bear's next attack on them.

"Fall back; use those trees for cover." Pavel was the first to move towards the group of interconnected trees.

Crack!

The sound of the beast snorting and devouring human flesh resonated in the silent surroundings; the screams of the man, who had been almost eaten, stopped being heard a while ago.

When the bear finished eating, it turned to its other two prey, looking at them with those crimson eyes shining in the darkness. Parts of the bear's fur hung loose, showing that the wounds it had were enough to kill it, but it didn't die.

"I've got you, you damn monster!" Pavel roared and shot the bear in the face. His shots this time successfully hit the eye socket of the bear.

Roooarrrr!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Shot after shot, the bullets kept impacting the bear's body, making it stagger back, but at some point, this huge enemy, who was about to charge forward, sensed a black ball right beneath its body.

"Die already!"

Boom!

Dmitri, who was waiting in the dark, had thrown a grenade, and he personally saw how that bear was completely eliminated, killing it and tearing its body into several large pieces.

The big explosion had burst Dmitri's eardrums, but he didn't care when he saw that huge bear in pieces. He raised his hands and celebrated his great throw, looking at Pavel, who was a few meters away.

But just as he expected a good celebration, he saw horror on Pavel's face, who was shouting and making strange signals.

"What's wrong?" Dmitri turned his head towards the dead bear; it was indeed dead, so what was Pavel referring to?

But right at that moment, when he looked just behind him, he noticed a pack of figures running directly towards him like rabid dogs. Their huge bodies shook the ground, and Dmitri, who could do nothing but remove the pin from the remaining grenade in his hand, was crushed by that group of bears.

"Die! Bastards..." Pavel roared loudly as he advanced towards the bears devouring his companion.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Shot after shot, Pavel roared with anger, feeling helplessness coursing through his old body. At this moment, he didn't care about his life; he only cared about continuing to kill the enemy.

The bear that had already noticed Pavel's presence was about to move when, at that moment, an expression was heard from the center of the bear pack.

Boom!

The explosion sent Pavel flying and crashing into a tree. His body at this point had collapsed completely. Touching his abdomen, he felt how a branch had pierced through his internal organs, and he could only curse his bad luck at this point.

Rooooaarrrrr!

As the bears headed towards Pavel, he simply closed his eyes while a crystal tear streamed down his cheek.

In this instant, within the battlefield, more than one guard squadron died, managing to eliminate more than five huge bears and severely injuring over twelve.

These bears, unlike any others, were aggressive, lethal, and moved in packs as if they were some kind of hungry wolf pack. But most interestingly, as time passed, the number of bears increased, and they slowly moved towards the forest's edge.