"A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week."

George S. Patton Jr.

Location: Unknown. Date: Unknown. 12:00am.

First, I cried. Constantly, nonstop. I couldn’t control my emotions. I tried to do something, get myself together. But I couldn’t do that. I was terrified, felt defeated. I couldn’t comprehend how it all happened. So fast, so drastically, so… unpredictably.

I lied there, in the pool of my own tears for hours. My mind shut. I was beginning to think how suicide would be a solution to everything. The easy, yet cowardly way to end this life. I didn’t care anymore. Why should I? There wasn’t anything for me to live anymore. Even revenge was out of question now. And EVEN IF there was any way for me to come back, who was to blame? Soldiers? They thought we were the intruders. Hijacker? He died first…

Lost in my thoughts, a loud howl threw me back into the living world. Wolves? I don’t know. Pretty much everyone had heard a howl in documentaries or movies. But how many heard it in real life? I wasn’t one of them. When I heard it I knew there is something dangerous out there, something hunting me. My heart started to beat faster and faster.

I heard the howl once more. I got up quickly and started running to the hangar. While closing the distance to it, I tried to spot these animals. And I saw them. In the distance, 3 wolf like creatures emerged from the tree line. Wargs? Direwolves? Whatever these things were, they were enormous and fast. When I reached the first APC’s (Armored Personnel Carrier) hid in the hangar, these wolves were at most 80 m from me. I knew that I won’t reach the stairs in time and trying to hide in vehicles was also a futile effort. I didn’t know how to open their hatches, and before I would figure it out, these jaws would rip me apart.

It was pure luck that I found a rifle lying near a APC tire. It looked like one of those held by soldiers, whose remains laid all around. In a rush I picked up the gun and nearly dropped it because my left arm was aching as hell. I crawled on the APC. I aimed at the hangar entrance, then I saw them. They were right next to me! I pressed the trigger when my iron sight lined up with the nearest beast.

My eardrums rang. First round hit its leg, next two followed the first one making clean holes in the beast head. By the time I heard the shells bounce off the floor, first wolf was lying on the ground. Others scattered around, hiding behind vehicles. I double tapped the lying one, just to be sure. For a few seconds there was nothing but silence. I knew they were somewhere there, sneaking up on me. I could hear they growl.

For a second I saw a black fur behind the nearest APC, but it was enough for me to prepare for their attack. Two of them leaped at me simultaneously, one from the front, other one from my left. I started shooting at the front one, whilst leaning forward. My rounds penetrated his abdomen killing him instantly. Its corpse pushed me off the APC. I landed on my back, wolf’s body near me.

I prayed that I still have some bullets left in the magazine, not having time to check it. The last beast wasted no time, jumping from behind the corpse. I tried to roll forward, and thanks to that, it missed me. Giving no time to the beast I fired until I heard the click, indicating that the magazine is empty.

I survived… I survived once again. Hah… Looks like something wants me to live. Few minutes ago I wanted to kill myself. No! How could I even think about such a thing. My parents for sure would want me to live. They despised those who committed suicide.

I need to get myself together. I have to find food and shelter, only then maybe explore this land. So the best thing I can do right now is to search the facility.

Two days had passed. I can say two things about this facility. Firstly: It's big. Like really BIG. Freaking huge! 4 big hangars full of aircraft. 5 smaller hangars with APC’s, IFV’s (Infantry Fighting Vehicle) and tanks in them. 6 garage like structures with MRAP’s (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) and IMV’s (Infantry Mobility Vehicles). 2 runways and dozens of helipads. It's a whole military base! And there also is the main building. You could compare it to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Center. But that's not the whole truth. I don't think NASA has ever had any need to build underground. But those who had commissioned the construction of this facility wanted to make it big. I think the underground part of it is 3, maybe 4 times bigger than what’s on the surface. You could arm a whole army in here!

Secondly: It is highly advanced, nearly sci-fi. Floors of those hangars and garage like structures were only lifts, elevators for vehicles. Near the entrance, there was a console allowing you to do almost everything, from ordering a vehicle to hiding the whole hangar.  I still don’t quite get how does it all work. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was an AI hidden somewhere in the lower layers of this facility.

But that's not all. Those things didn’t even surprise me that much. No… Something else was more surprising. Why there was NATO and Warsaw pact armaments in the same place?! In last years there wasn’t any major accidents but also any mutual understandings were futile. Yea, the cold war is over but I wouldn’t call those international relationships friendly. Either they want to end this conflict, or there is something bigger going in the world, at a scale larger than I can think of. Either way I stepped in a big pile of  shit. I’m nearly happy that I’m not in my world anymore. I would be a criminal, chased by all countries in the world. Now at least my family, or more likely what remains from it, will be safe.

There’s kitchen and canteen, containing enough food and water for me to live at least 300 years here. Electricity comes from the solar panels and the wind turbines placed around the whole base, or at least I think it comes from them. Hell, maybe there’s hidden nuclear reactor somewhere under my feet. For now it’s enough for me to know that everything works.

I thought that I should map what’s around my base, find water, maybe civilization if there’s any. I went to one of those console’s and ordered an MRAP, the Oshkosh M-ATV to be precise. I thought about something heavier, maybe I would have more firepower but: 1. I wanted to be fast. 2. I didn’t know how to drive and operate them.  So no tank’s and IFV’s for now.

I drove near the main building and started to pack things that I prepared before. I put box of MRE (Meal Ready to Eat) and 45 liters of water in three 15 L tanks first. Then my weapons. M110 with Leupold mark 4 6.5-20x50mm scope and suppressor, 10 mags, 20 bullets per mag. M249 Para with ACOG and 3 belts, 200 bullets per belt. M136 launcher for small, packed explosion and SMAW if things turned really bad. I carry M-21A with mounted picatinny rail for Su 230 scope and 8 mags on me, 7 left in car. I wear m10 ttsko uniform, 6B23 vest, 6B7-M1 headgear and USMC Molle backpack. All of them have forest camouflage.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

When I packed everything, I got into the MRAP. Tossing my rifle in front of the front passenger seat, I closed the door. I started the engine, and slowly drove to east, where mountain chain surrounding my base ended.

3 hours later

I drove mostly through flat terrain with gentle slopes covered in light rumble and occasionally grass. I encountered some animals, but they looked pretty much like on earth. If anything in them was different, then it was too small change to notice from a car. Nothing, that would be like those monsters that attacked me. I’m not a biologist but flora also looked decently enough, like my old world. I was driving near the edge of a cliff. The view was breathtaking. I especially stopped here to admire the scenery. I could see what was 20 km from here, thanks to clear sky. And I confirmed something. There are humans here! Or at least sentient creatures. There are few small settlements, and a single big one, far from the base. You also could see some type of roads, winding through forests and fields. One of those roads was ending at the base of the cliff. I thought I would make my next stop there but something caught my eye. Around 4 km away from me, to the south a big cloud of dust was ascending to the sky. I couldn’t see exactly what was going out there, forest between this place and me was blocking the view. I packed myself and drove there.

When I finally reached the path, it surprised me how it looked like. It was a road, a stone road, pretty much like Roman roads, but it was a little more random, it resembled a Swiss cheese. It looked like this due to its degradation perhaps? I’ll have to check other roads to make an opinion. Thanks to that my ride was full of ups and downs. Not a pleasant experience if you ask me. I parked the car near the end of a forest and camouflaged it as best as I could. I could hear shouting in the distance. Leaving behind few leads for myself, in case I forgot where I left my vehicle, I once more ensured that I have everything that I need. Switching the safety off, I started to go in the direction of the noise.

When I got closer, I finally understood why the dust cloud appeared and why I heard those shouts. Looks like I stumbled upon a battle. Trying to stay hidden, I observed the battlefield. Thanks to that I can confirm two things. Firstly, they are humans, or at least resemble humans. Secondly, I could be wrong but I think their level of technology is around our late medieval era, maybe slightly renaissance, but for sure there are none gunpowder based weapons used here. Mostly swords and halberds.

Then I saw something disturbing. For a moment I saw two people tied to a pole, like some type of sacrifice. Man and women in their early 20’s at best. I saw them struggling to get out of there, their effort was futile. What did they do? What was the purpose of this? Some type of religious ritual? I don’t know. I tried to find any clues in my proximity. But not finding anything, I looked at them once again. They were gone, or to be exact, the pole was nowhere to be found. Someone destroyed it or what?

I spotted them a moment after. They were running away from the battlefield, the girl supporting the man. Was he injured? But was a problem. They were headed in my direction. I need to hide myself, I mean no harm to them but how can they know that? So I started to look for a good hiding place. By the time I found a suitable place, they were at the line of the forest. Leaning down I waited for them to pass me and followed after them secretly.

10 minutes later she finally got tired and put him near a stone. I have to give her that she really gave all she got. She nearly collapsed when she stopped. I was waiting, trying to find a good time to approach them. I wanted to help them, and in exchange they could provide me with information.

Now I could perfectly see how they looked like. She was tall, and had dirt mixed in her blonde hair. Her tanned skin and muscles pointed out that she worked as a soldier or a mercenary. On the other side the guy was short, even shorter than me. His short black hair and pale skin enhanced how pathetic his look was compared to her. He doesn’t look like a soldier to me. Is he someone else? Then why is he here? Are recruiters here more desperate?

“Commou du is?” She said. I have never heard a language like that before. It sounds like English with a something from French? I can’t exactly say. Her breath started to calm down.

“... Zis.” He replied with a struggle.

Why didn’t I think about a language barrier? It’s not like people would speak polish or English in another universe … But it doesn’t change what I wanted to do, it just makes it more difficult. So with that in mind I started to get up. However, I saw someone approaching them at a fast pace. It was a huge, bald soldier, armed with a big war hammer. He looked like he escaped from a psychiatric wing. Their friend or their foe? I waited, whilst in hiding, to see how things will play out. When he reached them the girl wanted to get up, but he just pushed her back. The soldier started to grin when he watched how the boy wanted to get away from him crawling. I think it's enough to know where this is going.

Calming my breath I aimed at the soldier’s head, when he started to rise his weapon over his head. Loud sound of my gun echoed in the forest. The soldier, now with a hole in the back of his head, started to lean forward and collapsed without any emotions in front of his prey. Next person murdered by me, huh? I can’t say I’m good with this, but I feel like it was a necessity. I can’t change what I just did. Trying get myself out of this way of thinking I glanced at people whom I had just saved. They don’t know what happened. They just lie there, looking at the corpse of their would-be killer. Their pupils dilated, mouths wide open. I started to walk, slowly and calmly. My M-21 on the back, was hanging on a sling. I was 10 meters from them when they finally noticed me. The girl got up immediately and reached for the war hammer. She tried to pick it up but she couldn’t, either because she was too weak or just the weapon was too heavy. I raised my hands in the air and stopped, praying it will mean for them the same thing it means for me. They looked at me, their faces showing how weak and tired were they.

“Voule vad? Vous är?” She said, her lips were dry from dehydration and her voice was tense.

“I don’t understand what you said, but I don’t want to hurt you” I said, still standing there, not willing to move.

“Du talar de notre?” She replied to me, this time calmly.

“Look, I don’t know what you are saying but I want to help.” I said to her, while reaching for my backpack.

I put my backpack on the grass, searching for my water bottle. I could see she was worried but she remained there, watching everything I did. I finally found it. I opened it and drank from it a little. I held the water bottle and handed it to her. She stood there, glancing at me. I wanted to say something, maybe it would help ease the tension. But she moved before I could say anything. She approached me slowly. She stopped 3 meters from me, our eyes met each other.

“Souhai je at jag.” She said while taking my canteen.

She took a step back and took a small gulp from it, likely to confirm if it was water. When she was sure of it, she assisted the man with drinking. While they were busy with each other, I took out two MRE’s from my backpack. I heated them, following the instructions. Luckily, I carried another water bottle with me.

When they were done drinking, my MRE’s were ready to eat. I slowly walked up to them and handed them  MRE’s and spoon to eat with. I opened them beforehand. This time it was easier for them to take something from me. I started to eat my MRE to encourage them to do the same, to convince them I didn't give them anything poisonous. They didn’t hesitate to dig in. MRE doesn’t taste good, but it’s not that bad as you could imagine. And considering how easy it is to prepare and how compact it is, it’s definitely a good thing to carry along.

When we had finished our meal, we just rested there. I could see they were curious about MRE’s, but language barrier prevented them from asking. They just took a closer look on they own. I thought about what I should do now. The guy needs medical attention, and the girl isn’t in better condition either. I could take them to my base, I saw a medical center there, but I know nothing about medicine. And I don’t want to try my luck on a living being. So my only choice was to escort them to a village or a city, to a place where someone will take care of them. Gathering information can wait for now, saving theirs lives take the priority. And there’s no way I can gather any knowledge without at least a superficial understanding of their language. Wondering about this I saw the girl getting up and approaching me.

“Vous remerci av hjärt. Ir deman beau, myk hiälp!” She said, bowing before me. I was slightly confused but guessed she thanks me for help. And then she started to gesture. She pointed at me and then at the young man, moving the hand like she wanted to lift something. She wants me to help him walk? She pointed at the forest. I looked at my compass, she wants us to move north.

“Ok, I think I get.” I got up and walked up to him. “Hey, grab my hand. I will help you get up.” I said stretching my hand to him. He grabbed it and with struggle got up. He wrapped his hand around my neck, and used me as his support, he was a lame after all.

We started to move through the forest, slowly but steadily. It wasn’t long until we stumbled upon a road. It was fairly similar to the road that I drove on before, but this one was in much better condition. We didn’t talk much, they just exchanged some words with each other. I was quiet, trying to understand what they were saying by listening their tone and modulation. I hope they know where they are going.

“Onstans!” She said pointing ahead.

I raised my head to look where she pointed. And then I saw it. A majestic temple built-in the cliff, like a tomb. Its white color contrasted with grayish color of the stone. I slowly moved forward whilst gazing at it.