Location: FOB Echo Point – Sector 4A, Romanian-Ukrainian Border
Time: Day 3 to Day 5 of Infection Collapse | 10:00 AM, July 22 → 04:00 AM, July 24
The silence felt heavier than the gunfire.
For the first time since the collapse began, Logan Hale found himself standing still, unburdened by the weight of incoming threats. He stood atop Echo Point's main watchtower—once a rusted relic from NATO's retreat, now repurposed as the command spire of a growing fortress.
The breeze carried the scent of fuel, heated steel, and old blood, but there were no shrieks on the wind. No sprinting silhouettes in the fog. Just the groan of distant forests and the soft mechanical hum of life below.
> [WAR CREDITS: 408.2]
[Passive Income: +4.0 WAR CREDITS/hour]
[Last Hostile Contact: 38 hours ago]
[Current Threat Level: Minimal | Sporadic]
[Perimeter Status: Stable]
[Outpost Classification: Tier I – Semi-Autonomous Military Node]
The battle had been won. For now.
---
BASE UPGRADE INITIATED
Logan activated the System, bringing up the base management panel—a new feature unlocked after passing the 150-credit threshold. Rows of options now shimmered across his HUD.
He didn't hesitate.
> [COMMAND ACTIONS:]
– Tier I Barracks (4 Personnel Capacity): –60 WAR CREDITS
– Tier I Communications Center (Encrypted Comms Uplink): –75 WAR CREDITS
– Observation Drone (Extended Recon): –25 WAR CREDITS
– Ammo Depot Expansion (3 Additional Storage Bunkers): –30 WAR CREDITS
– Automated Defense Tower (x2): –120 WAR CREDITS
– Tier I Medbay (Basic Surgery & Trauma Station): –55 WAR CREDITS
> Total Spent: –365 WAR CREDITS
Remaining Balance: 43.2 WAR CREDITS
> Construction Time: 2–6 Hours
Power Draw Increase: +38%
Construction Commencing...
Hammer was already barking orders, directing summoned engineers to the west sector where the barracks and medbay would rise. Reaper One stood guard beside the crane unit, watching the treeline in silent vigilance. The two new automated defense towers deployed on hydraulic legs, one near the collapsed vehicle barrier, the other above the old fuel depot. Dual-barrel autocannons, motion-reactive.
Sofia watched the drone launch overhead, its small rotors whirring quietly as it disappeared into the clouds. Her face had changed. Less fear, more resolve.
"That thing can spot infected?" she asked.
"Out to twenty kilometers, weather permitting," Logan replied. "And if it sees a horde again, we'll be ready before they cross the ridgeline."
Wraith passed them, heading toward the new Comm Center. He'd volunteered to coordinate long-range scanning. "We might even catch civilian broadcasts. If anyone's still transmitting out there."
---
TROOP STRENGTH UPDATE
Back at the central plaza, Logan called for a muster.
The summoned forces lined up with quiet precision, their names now logged into the System's new Unit Roster feature.
> FOB Echo Point – Current Garrison
– Logan Hale (Commander)
– Wraith (Recon Specialist)
– Alexandru Petrescu (Infantry – Rifleman)
– Sofia M. (Civilian – In Training)
– Reaper One (Heavy Infantry – Tier II)
– Hammer (Combat Engineer)
– Blaze (Light Gunner – Summoned Tier I)
– Stitch (Combat Medic – Summoned Tier I)
– Nomad (Sniper – Summoned Tier I)
– Two Auto-Turrets – East & South Approach
Each had gear from scavenged stockpiles or System supply drops. They'd formed an odd battalion—half spectral digital summons, half real and breathing. But they were cohesive now. Familiar. Echo Point had bled together, and that counted.
Sofia joined drills. Blaze taught her how to clear jams and sweep corners. Stitch showed her how to use pressure dressings and field antiseptics. She was still scared—but no longer just a survivor.
She was becoming one of them.
---
BASE LAYOUT OVERHAUL
By the morning of Day 5, FOB Echo Point had transformed.
Main Plaza: The central square now housed the command table, drone bay, and power station.
Barracks: A rectangular prefab module with bunk frames, lockers, and a decontamination chamber at the entrance.
Watchtowers: Four sentry positions rebuilt from rusted scaffolding, each equipped with rotating lights and scoped rifles.
Ammo Depot: Reinforced bunkers with biometric locks, positioned underground for blast protection.
Medbay: Clean enough to conduct surgery, stocked with AI-driven med scanners and real trauma beds.
Comms Center: Still limited by power, but the new uplink could transmit wideband radio signals. Just needed the right booster.
Outer Defenses: Trip-wire mines, scavenged barbed wire, reinforced sandbag trenches, and the two auto-turrets humming on standby.
It was a fortress now. Crude, but functional.
Logan stood at the overlook again that night, watching the flickering lights reflect against the hills. His radio clicked.
Wraith's voice came through. "System just pinged a partial virus log from the bunker files. Might wanna see it."
---
DATA LOG – VIRUS REPORT: CRIMSON-27 [DECRYPTED, PARTIAL]
> Source: Romanian Army Medical Command – Base Echo
Entry Date: 4 Days Before Global Collapse
"Crimson-27 appears to spread via aerosolized blood vapor and direct saliva-to-blood transmission.
Symptoms in first-stage infection include tremors, high fever, aggression, and audio hallucinations.
Subject retention of neurological data recorded in 14% of observed cases.
Notably, in military personnel, reflex behavior and tactical memory were observed to linger post-mortem.
Total population estimate in Zone Echo pre-collapse: 23,000
Estimated infected after first 48 hours: 16,000
Survivors confirmed: 347
Status of upper command: Unknown."
---
Logan stared at the last line for a long while.
Sixteen thousand infected. Three hundred forty-seven survivors.
They were sitting atop the bones of a massacre.
"I thought we had time," he muttered.
Wraith leaned over his shoulder. "The virus didn't just kill. It rewrote."
---
TIME SKIP — NIGHTFALL APPROACHING
By 21:00 on Day 5, no new attacks had surfaced. The drone confirmed only minor infected movement far to the north. Most had been wiped out or redirected toward other cities. But Logan wasn't celebrating.
"You see the report?" Hammer asked him as he finished repairing the barracks water line.
"Yeah."
"We've got power, ammo, medkits, intel. It's the first time we're not starving, freezing, or bleeding."
"Which means it's the last time we'll get to breathe," Logan answered. "Something worse is coming. Always is."
Still, for now, they could breathe.
Sofia shared coffee—real, scrounged from an old armored vehicle galley—while Blaze joked about how quiet it was getting. Reaper One simply stood motionless at the edge of the base, glowing eyes watching the hills.
The calm had come.
And with it, the storm would have to wait.
---
> [WAR CREDITS: 43.2 | Accruing at +4.0/hour]
[System Milestone: 500 WAR CREDITS – Tier II Summons + Advanced Research Tree Access]
[Next Objective: Scout Supply Route Toward Suceava]
[Optional: Investigate Drone Signal Drop in Sector 4B]