The rifle bucked against my shoulder in steady rhythm, each shot finding its mark in the chaos below. My world had narrowed to breath and trigger pull, to the smooth mechanical action of ejecting spent casings and chambering new rounds. Emily and Gabriel flanked me, their weapons speaking in lethal harmony as we picked off the smaller horrors swarming our people.
"Two o'clock," Emily called out, voice steady. "Pack of those spider-things heading for the medical tent."
I swung my rifle right, found the creatures in my scope—eight-legged nightmares the size of German Shepherds, moving with disturbing coordination toward where Velma, Dr. Chen, and Dr. Michaels worked frantically to save the wounded. The lead spider-thing had too many eyes, all focused on a wounded beta being carried into th
