BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM

"Ah… ah… ah… ah… ah…" A panting man was running in the snow, fleeing from the forest's deadly creatures. Gunshots and explosions could be heard from behind him, but he was so tired that he could hear only his heartbeat.

He ran and ran, and after half an hour, he had to stop to catch his breath. Fear was visible in his eyes, and a question haunted his mind.

<What the hell is happening inside the forest?>

Hordes of monsters were marching west, making them bound to end up at New Alexandria's doors. The problem, though, was that multiple species could be seen marching through the forest, but strangely they were docile among each other.

There was no way to provide an explanation. Therefore, the only thing that could be done was for him to run as quickly as he could to New Alexandria and give a full report about the strange behavior of the woodland thaids to the higher-ups.

"Damn! Fuck this shit!" The man swore. He started crying, and in his fit, he punched a rock. The man's sadness was understandable since he lost all his teammates to the thaids. They were like family to him, and losing them was like losing part of himself.

Everything started peacefully for the group. His squad had been sent by the higher ups to investigate a recent thaid attack on the city's borders which apparently came from the east.

The militaries were not alarmed by the situation, but as much as the soldier understood, the attack was bigger than usual, and the higher-ups suspected something was happening in the far east. So they sent them to investigate.

The group started the mission a week prior and spent a lot of time searching for thaids activities around the city, initially without finding anything suspicious. However, on the seventh day, they spotted a massive horde of monsters traveling west.

As soon as they saw them, they contacted the higher-ups and decided to retreat. Still, when they were almost at the city's borders, a pack of Leylarhads, wolf-like thaids with two tails and two big vampiric tusks, attacked and chased them throughout the forest. Never did the soldier see such a relentless chase made by thaids.

The pack was massive and used its numerical advantage to hunt the squad down. Initially, the soldiers could shake them off, but thanks to their superhuman senses, they could find them again; apparently, the squad ended up inside their territory.

This time It was impossible to run away, and it was only thanks to his comrade's sacrifice that he could do so. The squad members were killed and eaten alive by the foul creatures. Each attempt to save them was useless.

His task now was to survive and inform the city that their mission was a failure. After all, his team couldn't find out the cause for this migration since they ended up meeting the horde.

The soldier barely had enough time to catch his breath. As he stopped to rest, he heard multiple howls from afar, the Leylarhad pack was close to his position, and he could not afford to be found out.

"I hope they do not catch my scent," the soldier said to himself. As he had no time to lose, the soldier started running toward the west, where New Alexandria stood.

He also had to carefully avoid the beasts as these creatures were not only big as bulls but also highly intelligent. They showed incredible levels of cooperation and were also seen using hunting tactics to catch their prey.

Before arriving near the city's border, the soldier had to do a lot of climbing; only a kilometer was between him and safety. During this time, though, the Leylarhads didn't stop chasing him. It was weird; why hunt a small human when there was clearly better prey outside?

AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A Sinister howl echoed through the forest; it was so powerful that it could be heard from kilometers. Though, the howl was too close for the soldier's taste, so he turned back and saw that the pack was approximately three hundred meters behind him.

"FUCK! I'M ALMOST THERE!" The soldier cursed; he was in front of the barrier, only five hundred meters from the entrance. He didn't know if he could outrun the creatures or reach safety before they got him.

Though left with no choice, the soldier took his flare gun and sent a signal to the sky, hoping his comrades would see him back at home.

"AH…AH…AH…" the soldier panted while running, and he activated his brain crystal power, giving him superior physical attributes. This was basically what allowed him to stay alive up to that point since he had to climb, run, swim and hide inside that forest.

"HEY! HEY!" the soldier shouted "HELP ME!" he said, when he was only a hundred meters away from the barrier.

The soldier thought he had made it, but thruth was that was not the case, as he was suddenly pushed to the ground by a ton of weight.

One of the wolf creatures was on him, ready to take a bite and separate his head from his torso, he tried to resist the creature, but he was not strong enough despite his brain crystal power in full gear.

The Leylarhad raised his head to observe his prey better and started salivating. Then, it thrust its giant head at the soldier to finally savor his tender meat.

Blood splattered on the snow that day, but it wasn't the soldier's one. No. It was thaid's blood, the one staining the ground.

Something resembling an arrow accurately shot from a distance caught the creature in the eye, killing it on the spot. The soldier did his best to take the body off him, and after struggling for a bit, he succeeded. Though an arrow appearing when there should have been laser rifles was bizarre to him.

He stood up and then started running with all his might, bringing out what strength remained in him. The remaining Leylarhads, after having seen their member die, decided that the human wasn't worth hunting anymore. They retreated toward the forest, never to be seen again.

After running for another two minutes, the soldier arrived at the barrier. He was so tired and scared to not even notice that there was no howl or growl anymore.

The door suddenly opened, and multiple soldiers rushed to help their comrade.

The man fell to the ground and was put on a stretcher. A woman with a syringe showed up; she was probably a healer. The woman took a blood sample from the man and then started using her power to heal his injuries.

Fortunately, besides the high fatigue and wound on his right shoulder, he was okay. Still, he was rushed to the hospital due to exhaustion because he passed out on the field.

…

…

…

Three hours passed since the soldier was rescued by the army. A man was walking through the hospital aisle, headed to room 719, where the survivor was resting.

The man had a short buzz cut and was dressed in military attire. His steps were steady and exuded a confident aura. He arrived at room 719 and, after knocking at the door, entered.

"Hello, Ranger Lakowsky. I hope your rest has gone smoothly," Major James Fischer said.

On his chest and shoulders were stitched countless insignias showing his rank and achievements, which were not few. He was a man not to trifle with.

"Yes, Sir Sergeant, I'm more or less okay now, sir." Answered the Ranger.

"Now, why don't you tell me exactly what did happen to your squad? The report said that you were sent on a reconnaissance mission."

"Indeed, we were sent to perform a mission to the east… We were told at the base that, aside from the usual thaid activities, we could have found thaid hordes. Indeed, the higher-ups were right, but what they were wrong about was its dimension," Lakwosky said while looking at the Major.

"As we retreated to the city, we were tracked and attacked by a large group of Leylarhads. Sir, they were too many, at least 300. The attack started a kilometer from here, and after three days, we spotted the horde."

"So, what happened once you got attacked?" the sergeant asked.

"We ran away; we had no chances against so many thaids. We were also able to make them lose our tracks, but today they found us again and exterminated my team. It was a bloodbath…" The ranger paused, thinking about what happened and having an empty look.

He then turned to Fischer and said, "My fallen comrades managed to kill a few dozen creatures, but it was impossible to kill them all."

Then the ranger looked at the wall, reminiscing the whole ordeal. Then he looked at the Major again, and with a bitter tone, Lakwosky said, "I'm the only survivor, as you can see."

He recalled the faces of his comrades telling him to run away or when they were bitten to death by the thaids. The memories were still vivid inside of him. Sergeant Fischer looked at the man with a pensive look.

"Okay, you have done your job, ranger, and fortunately, you are alive. This must have been a heaven-sent opportunity, don't waste it. Now, I want your written report once you get out of here. For now, have a nice rest, soldier."

The sergeant stood up and went out of the room while walking down the hospital corridors; he repeatedly thought about the situation. A thaid horde three days from the city was a problem in itself. Still, according to the report the squad made three days ago, the number of monsters inside of it was unnaturally high. Something had to be done about it.

The major was sure that something ominous was happening in the forest, and it was his task to find out what. Then the man quickly left the hospital building and went to his car. He then drove toward the military district.