The crowbar crashed into the monster's skull with a wet, bone-cracking thud. The creature, mid-lunge toward Ren and Kazik, didn’t even have time to scream—its shattered head exploded in a spray of dark blood. Ren stood with his feet pnted, hands clenched around the metal bar, chest heaving. His heart pounded like a war drum. Just seconds ago, he’d been filing in panic. Now fury burned like ice in his veins. A hoarse, primal roar tore from his throat—raw, wild, ced with grief and rage.

  The second monster—the one that had just torn apart the older man—snapped its head toward the scream. Snarling, it lunged at Ren, cws outstretched. In a fsh, Kazik intercepted it. Whssht! A kitchen cleaver sliced through the air. The bde gnced off the beast’s hardened scales, doing little damage, but enough to knock it off course. The creature tumbled to the ground, nding near Karolina’s frozen form. She knelt there, paralyzed by fear, eyes wide with terror.

  "No!" Ren bellowed, charging toward her and the attacker. He raised the crowbar high. The monster was already scrambling up, ready to pounce again. Wham! The metal bar smmed down onto its spine with brutal force. There was a sickening crunch, and the beast let out a pained howl, colpsing onto its side. It shed out blindly—a cw sliced through the air inches from Ren’s face—but he didn’t back off. With a scream, he drove the crowbar straight down into its open maw. Resistance. A crunch. A nauseating squelch of tissue giving way. The creature convulsed violently, choking on its own blood.

  Ren gasped for breath, warm liquid oozing over his fingers—the monster’s blood ran down the bar, slicking his hands. He yanked the weapon free, flinging gore across the grass.

  No time to rest. Kazik’s panicked shout rang out from behind.

  "Ren, look out!"

  Ren turned just in time. The third monster—the first one that had attacked Dominik—had abandoned its prey and was charging toward them, drawn by the screams and scent of blood. It sprinted on all fours, its bck eyes bzing with murderous intent.

  Ren stepped back, raising his weapon—but it was too te. Bang! A gunshot split the forest’s silence like a thundercp. The monster roared in fury—the bullet grazed its side. Near a fallen soldier’s corpse, Karolina stood trembling. She had seized the rifle from the dead man and pulled the trigger.

  The beast faltered, caught off guard by an attack from its would-be prey.

  "Keep shooting!" Kazik shouted, running toward her.

  Karolina tried to reload, but her fingers slipped on the mechanism. Tears streamed down her cheeks. The monster recovered, preparing to leap.

  Then Kazik reached her. He grabbed the weapon from her hands and fired—tat-tat-tat! Short bursts lit up the darkness. Bullets tore through the creature’s chest. Three dark holes bloomed across its torso. It shrieked, stumbled, and colpsed heavily at Ren’s feet.

  Ren instinctively stepped back, crowbar still raised in case it moved—but there was no need. The beast twitched once, its yellow eyes dimmed, and then it went still.

  A heavy silence fell. Only the gasps of the three survivors broke the air. Ren looked around, wild-eyed, still poised to fight. Was it over? Were they all—?

  "Is... is that it?" Kazik panted, leaning against a nearby tree, the rifle shaking in his hands.

  Ren slowly lowered his bloodstained crowbar. All three monsters were dead. One with its skull caved in. One with its jaw obliterated. One riddled with bullets. Their bck, wolfish shapes loomed between the trees like nightmares finally exorcised.

  "I think so..." he whispered, his voice hoarse and foreign.

  Then he remembered—Dominik! He spun toward where the first monster had attacked the young boy. A vague shape y still in the underbrush.

  Ren staggered forward, tripping over roots. "Dominik..." he rasped, dropping to his knees.

  It was a gruesome sight. The teen y sprawled in a pool of blood, neck and colrbone savaged—his throat nearly torn out. White strands of trachea glistened beneath torn flesh. Ren gagged but pressed his hands to the gaping wound, desperate to stop the bleeding. Warm blood coated his fingers.

  "No... no..." he whispered feverishly—not sure if he was talking to Dominik, to himself, or to some cruel fate.

  Footsteps behind him—Kazik and Karolina approached. The woman, pale as a ghost, opened her mouth to speak but choked on the sight. She turned away and vomited into the bushes.

  "Is he alive?" Kazik asked, crouching beside Ren.

  Ren pressed trembling fingers to Dominik’s neck, searching. There—a faint flutter beneath the skin.

  "Yes…" he breathed. "He’s still alive."

  Dominik groaned faintly, unconscious. His breathing was shallow but steady. Ren kept pressure on the wounds, but blood still seeped through.

  "We need bandages—anything!" Ren shouted.

  Kazik scanned the clearing, then sprinted to one of the dead soldiers—the one whose weapon had saved them. The soldier’s uniform was shredded, torso torn apart—but his backpack was intact. Kazik ripped it open.

  "Got it!" he yelled, pulling out a metal box marked with a red cross.

  He ran back as Ren spped Dominik’s cheek gently. "Come on, Dominik, stay with me. You hear me? Hang on."

  Dominik didn’t respond.

  Karolina wiped her mouth and stumbled over. Tears streamed down her dirt-smeared face. Without hesitation, she knelt beside them.

  "Let me—move your hands," she said, voice trembling. She pressed a thick pad of gauze to Dominik’s neck. Ren’s hands withdrew, sticky with blood.

  Kazik tore open a packet and pulled out a small jar. "Antiseptic, I think..." he muttered, recognizing the military markings.

  "Doesn’t matter, give it here," Karolina snapped. She grabbed it and began spreading the salve around the wound. Dominik flinched even in his unconscious state.

  "Good, good..." she murmured, more to herself than to anyone.

  Working together, they wrapped the boy’s neck and shoulder tightly. Karolina kept the gauze pressed down while Kazik secured it with estic bandages. Ren cradled Dominik’s head. After several tense minutes, the bleeding slowed. The white fabric turned red, but the dressing held.

  "That’s all we can do," Karolina finally whispered, pulling back and wiping sweat from her brow. She looked like she might colpse.

  Ren knelt, breathing hard, trying to steady his heart. He looked at the others. Karolina stared at Dominik’s still face—so young, so pale, he looked like a corpse.

  "He’s only eighteen," she whispered. Her voice caught in her throat.

  "He’s alive," Ren said firmly, pcing a hand on her shoulder. "And he’s going to stay that way. He has to."

  Karolina met his eyes, desperate to believe. She couldn’t speak—just nodded and looked away.

  Kazik stood, wiping blood off his hands onto his pants. He scanned the battlefield. The fight had been short, but devastating. Stanis?aw’s body y near the beasts.

  "Stanis?aw..." Kazik muttered, kneeling beside the old man. The wind rustled the leaves around the corpse. His face was frozen in terror, eyes wide in an eternal, pained stare.

  "He’s gone?" Ren asked quietly, though he already knew.

  "Gone," Kazik whispered. He touched the old man’s cold hand, still clutching a wooden rosary. Dirt beneath his nails showed his struggle. Kazik looked away, biting his lip. Swallowed hard. "He was right next to me when—" He choked, unable to finish.

  Ren stood, gently propping Dominik against a tree. The boy groaned faintly but didn’t wake. Karolina stayed close, holding his hand, stroking it with trembling fingers.

  Ren walked to Kazik and pced a hand on his shoulder. "We did what we could..." he murmured, though the words felt hollow.

  Kazik flinched. "What the hell are we doing here, Ren..." he whispered, fists clenched. He stood suddenly, shaking off Ren’s hand. His face twisted in anguish. "This is madness. They sent us here to die!"