The once-lush forests of Northern Oregon had taken on a sinister, twisted beauty in wake of the apocalypse. It has been a few years since the initial fall of society along with the Russian soldier appearing in America. He had been to a handful of states and did not realize it. Did he care? Everything was land, less or more so, and insignificant in his eyes.

Towering pines and firs were standing as if they were silent sentinels, their needles glistened with memories of christmas, if you grew up with christmas, and some showed signs of disease where their needles blackened in color. The ones with disease seemed to gnarl and claw at the ash-laden sky. There was a constant smell of decay and dampness in the area, carrying a faint, nauseating scent of rot that never seemed to fully dissipate. The individual stepping around seemed unbothered by the stench.

Mist was clinging to the ground in the early hours, a ghostly veil that shrouded the horrors lurking just beyond sight. Nestled amidst this foreboding wilderness, Camp Hope Light stood as a bastion of survival, a flickering beacon in the world that had gone dark. The camp was fortified with towering walls made from salvaged steel and timber, reinforced with barbed wire and metal spikes, a stark contrast to the desolation beyond. These walls rose high, casting long shadows that stretched on whichever way the sun demanded, and was a constant reminder of the dangers that lurk on the outside of them. Of predators and harm.

Watchtowers punctuate the perimeter at regular intervals, manned by people who were appointed to guard the camp, they were armed with rifles and crossbows, their watchful eyes scanned the outer perimeters for movement and danger. Everyone was hardened by years of survival at this point, and he watched from afar, taking note that the majority of them wore a mixture of military gear and scavenged clothing, their faces lined with exhaustion and determination. Floodlights, powered by what one could only assume to be a jerry-rigged generator, casts harsh beams of light into the surrounding forest, illuminating the twisted undergrowth were possible threats of infected prowl.

From the other day while high up in one of the bigger trees, he noticed that the internals of the camp were a patchwork of makeshift structures — tents, lean-tos, and a few studier buildings crafted from scavenged materials. The ground seemed to be worn and middy, crisscrossed with footpaths trampled by the population of survivors who call this place home. A sense of uneasy calm pervades the camp, a fragile peace that could be shattered at any moment by echoing moans of the undead or other dangers —A project result of Genesis.

The dense forests surrounding Camp Hope Light were eerily silent for the most part except the background sounds of animals, the wind blowing through the leaves, and other miscellaneous noises of the forest. Deciding to make himself known, his figure emerged from the shadows, and he was a towering figure himself — seeming almost more monster than human by his height. He was wearing the Soviet Union grade colors and military outfit that he had since his escape during the fall. They were tattered and overused though still viable for the most part. He was a product of Genesis, an individual designed for war, and now a predator in a world devoid of civilization. His eyes, a cold and almost unnatural looking shade of blue focused on the fortified walls of the camp with a predatory calm.

In one hand, SU 2775 held the severed arm of a human, its flesh torn and bloodied, hanging limp as he methodically tore strips of muscle with his teeth. His jaw working with precision, chewing the raw meat as if it were nothing more than a piece of dried jerky. Blood slowly dribbled down his chin, staining the front of his face and beard, along with the ragged, military-style inform, but the experiment paid no mind to the gore. His focus was solely on the structure ahead, a bastion of human life, and a spot that caused him crippling curiosity for the past week.

The guard at the front gate seemed to stiffen upon spotting him as he approached, the beam of a fleshlight sweeping across the abomination before him. The guard’s face is a mask of barely-contained terror, his hands gripping his rifle so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. The imagery in front of him was enough to freeze the blood in his veins.

“Stop right there!” the guard shouted, his voice cracking slightly, betraying himself and exposing fear. He raised his rifle, aiming it at the individual’s chest who was eating off from a severed arm, though he was gripping at the idea that the individual in front of him might be more similar to Eden or Freya than a regular human.

SU 2775 decided to stop a few paces from the gate, his head tilting slightly to the side as he regarded the guard with a cold, calculating gaze. His lips curl into a grotesque smile, revealing bloodstained teeth. He takes another bite from the severed arm, chewing slowly, deliberately, before finally speaking in a voice that is disgustingly calm and measured with a thick accent from his motherland — Russia.

“Vhat if I do not,” his words are more similar to a statement than a question, muffled slightly by the mouthful of flesh. “Do yourrrself favorrrr and let me in.”

The guard swallows hard, sweat beading on his brow despite the chill in the air. He glances up at the watchtower, hoping for backup, but none is immediately forthcoming. The decision falls to him.

“We will not be letting you in. What do you want?” the guard demands, trying to keep his voice steady, though it’s clear he’s out of his depth with this individual.

SU 2775 takes another slow, deliberate bite, savoring the last of the arm before going to toss the remains to the side like garbage. His eyes never leave the guard’s, a predatory clean in them. “I vant to surrrrvive,” he replies, the words heavily with a grim finality. “Same as you. But I’m not like otherrrs out zerrre. I don’t need to tearrr down yourrr valls to get what I vant.”

A pause, a tense silence that stretches out like a blade’s edge. The guard hesitates, weighing his options, knowing that whatever choice he makes could seal the fate of himself or possibly everyone inside of the camp's fate.

Keeping the rifle aimed at SU 2775, he didn’t know if he wanted to call this in or not, and using one hand to shakily grab for the walkie-talkie, he decided to try and intimidate the individual outside of the camp, “I am calling this in but you will not be able to get into this camp without approval,” he unlatched the walkie-talkie from his belt. “Do not move.” His voice was tight and attempting authority.

Su 2775’s eyes seemed to be intense with a sharpness of debate — to kill or not to kill this person. With how they were reacting to him, he felt like they at least should be punished, but he was debating if he should do anything at all. It was hard to ignore a challenge. You will not be able to get into this vamp without approval. Those words burned into his mind and provoked an aggressive excitement in his chest. He was triggered at the challenge.

With a swing back of his arm, he held onto the severed arm of an unknown victim, and threw it up in the air. The guard decided to drop his walkie-talkie before taking his eyes off from the individual in front of him for mere seconds. His eyes watching as the bloodied and severed arm which was eaten off began to fall towards him. That was when he noticed movement, barely any noise, and the unknown man was up on the same level as him. Scaling the wall without issues as he landed right beside him.

The guards movements were delayed compared to the super soldier, his rifle spinning around to aim at the possible threat, and before he could get a position, a good shot, or process another thing — SU 2775 caught the severed arm in his hand and smacked the guard so hard over the head with it the guard’s body heavily and lifelessly smashed against the protective railing of the wall before he fell into the path way. “Do not challenge me you pathetic animal,” he hummed a growl that was followed by a grin of pleasure. Crouching over the man’s body and watching his unmoving face and limbs. SU 2775 began to eat from the severed arm again, tearing flesh off with his teeth, and determining if he should eat the individual in front of him. It was tempting.

Someone was trying to get his attention with a quick — oi — and it worked. His intense blue eyes looked up to the strange woman that was heading towards them. She seemed to be on a mission and in a rush to get over to where he was at. It instantly put him on edge. Why wasn’t she scared? Humans usually were terrified of him. They were prey yet she was acting nothing like how she looked — was she like him? No. All the individuals in his group ended up dying and there were no females. There had to be other facilities lying out the same experiments that were being done to him.

The man quickly moved a few paces backwards to keep his distance with the woman. He was not taking any chances with her. Keep ahold of the severed arm in his right hand as he met her eyes and did not waver. This caused an instant headache to kick in. A throbbing one. Something that brought pain to him — pain wasn’t something he experienced for a while.

“Da,” his voice was evenly toned when he replied to her and his eyes glanced her up and down. He was unsure about her. Taking another step back in case she decided to do anything.

Standing tall as he looked at the woman, he glanced at the body of the man who was knocked out, and glared at her. “Ve arrre not siblings…” It was a very long time ago that he was on the streets but he could have sworn that he didn’t have siblings. He barely knew who his father was but he could remember his mother a little bit before she froze up on the winter streets of Russia one year. Anyone from his time would have been dead by now. If he had siblings, they would have been put into the grave years ago.

Looking at the arm when she spoke, he shook his head, “He should not have challenged me,” His accent was thick as he spoke and looked back at the unconscious man. The man told him that he couldn’t get in without permission — he should not have done that. It was a challenge accepted.

“People vould bekome upset bekause I feeding myself?” A quick look of confusion appeared in his brows before it faded away and his expression neutralized. The man decided to throw it to the side, over the wall, and it smacked the ground with a light thud.

Eden straightened her body as she listened to the man, her head tilting in a manner not unlike a curious canine. Perhaps her meaning was lost in translation, given the accent that came from his mouth. Despite the fact that she was tall for a woman, he was even larger as most men in Genesis were, and yet there was no intimidation about it. They both had their strengths and weaknesses, as was part of the Project.

“Would Russian be easier for you?” Eden inquired, though she did not shift languages yet. Instead, she stood with him quietly despite the tenseness in the air and the scent of blood floating in the wind from both the limb that was soon tossed away and the gore inside of this strange experiment's mouth. “Humans become upset when you eat other humans. Cannibalism… It's frowned upon. They do not understand that we appear human, but are… not. Not anymore.” She tried to explain.

Briefly looking over the wall, and then at Gomez as the man laid unconscious, a sharp whistle almost made her ears ring - and likely this man's, too - to get the attention of a passing survivor. “Get the sawbone!” Eden commanded, and the young woman quickly nodded and ran to find and gather Doctor Taylor from her shop.

Listening to the other individual made him process that she was similar to what he was. That meant she was more of a threat than the regular human running around and he would have to keep a sharper eye on her.

His brows furrowed in focus when she shouted at someone to get what was referred to as ‘sawbone’ — was that a weapon? He was unsure but he would be on his guard. “Humans arrre skarrred of anything zat konsiderrred prrredatorrr. Be zat if zey eat zeirrr flesh orrr not,” He had no preference in speaking when it came down to it. English, Russian, or another language that he knew — he would understand the vague ideas of what others said.

“Zey arrre veaker speshies, unlike you and I,” SU 2775 spoke softly for his size and the semi-violent aggression that he showed to the individual who fell out.

Eden remained still, listening to his words and stumbling through some of the accent, while enhanced hearing could pick up humans scrambling below. The survivor who had gone to find Doctor Taylor was one thing, but others were mulling about and even livestock seemed uneasy. It made Eden remain in place, keeping herself as a barrier between this strange man and the camp. Instincts demand that she guard it, despite the fact that she also wanted to form the Link of Genesis between them.

“We do not eat humans, not here. Especially not after The Fall, when they are becoming rarer and rarer. We eat deer, cattle, chickens… Livestock and wildlife. Humans are not livestock.” She said. Looking down at herself, the woman twisted her left forearm in order to show one thing Genesis members had universally - their identifiers.

UK3080
Gen XXVI
1973

“We protect them, particularly those that are working to rebuild the world. Those are my orders. Protect Doctor Taylor and keep her safe. By extension, she has asked that I guard her stronghold as well.” Eden clarified, making sure to remain fairly still and speak calmly despite the gore smeared across this man's face from eating someone outside of the walls.

Below them, quick footsteps could be heard - two steps. One set belonged to the survivor sent along while the other, trying to keep up with the larger woman, was owned by a small redhead. Without her leather work apron, auburn strands had been caught up in a bun that was half-undone; worn skinny jeans ended at white and purple checkered Vans with a thin maroon long-sleeve shirt covering her top half.

“Who is down!?” The doctor called, only to stop in her tracks as Eden held up a hand to indicate the woman should stop running and stay in place.

“Will you allow her up here to tend the guard? She’s harmless.” Eden inquired, wanting to be sure.

SU 2775 was staring at the forearm that was extended out to him — UK 3080 Gen XXVI 1973 — and he listened to what she had to say. “Zey trrreated ourrr kind like livestock. I vas niet morrre zan animal to zem. How kan you defend zeirrr actions by rrrespectfully guarrrding zem?” In his mind, all humans treated him that way, because they did. Every human that he interacted with was a scientist, government official, or a handler. None of them were respectful and he could see how they looked at him. They looked at him like a tool to be used. At times, their eyes looked like they were staring at a filthy or deranged mutt while they were on him. He did not understand why Eden was listening to orders now that there was no one to control them.

Hearing about Doctor Taylor seemed to put him on edge, his body straightened up from how it was relaxing while talking to the woman, but his body language spoke a defensiveness that only awful memories could trigger. As there was a shout from below, his eyes almost looked empty while he was staring at the redheaded woman, and he barely heard what Eden said. “,Niet,” he shook his head in the negative as his eyes never left Doctor Taylor. It was hard to read his intentions but his breathing shifted.

“Niet, Doktorrrs. Niet, Doktorrr Teylorrr,” the man demanded as his eyes sharpened in a predatory way towards the small human below them. His body was showing self control over his impulsive thoughts. He wanted to hurt the doctor. He wanted to hurt every doctor — they were the ones that fucked him up.

Eden remained firmly fixed in place, unmoving as she watched SU 2775. Her violet eyes seemed to almost lose their luster as she shifted, her body naturally adjusting for a fight, as the other experiment regarded the small redhead. She would die defending the doctor if she had to, and there would be no hesitation to do it.

Doctor Taylor, on the other hand, shifted on her feet. Shoes scuffed on grass and sand, adjusting how she was standing as her thin neck craned to look up at the newcomer. The blood smearing his face disturbed her, making her heart begin to pound in her chest, and there was very little comfort in seeing Eden as a living barrier. He was massive comparably, which would make it quite the fight between them. Slowly, her small, worn hands lifted in front of her in a sign of surrender and lack of aggression. “I just need to make sure the man doesn’t have any major injuries.” The redhead said, softening her voice. After all, it was no secret to her that they had heightened senses and he would be able to hear her just fine. “Eden?”

Eden didn’t turn her back to SU 2775 as she stood there. “Yes, he is.” She answered first. “She isn’t that kind of doctor, she isn’t a handler. She’s a geneticist, but she doesn’t use us. Not like them.”

SU 2775’s eyes glanced over to Eden with sometype of humanity in them, it almost resembled fear, but it seemed like he wanted to trust her. He wanted to believe her words. Staring back down at the Doctor, he thought about it more, and he took another step back. Making sure there was more space between him and the other Genesis product.

That was when a sharp pain flashed through his mind and his eyes closed. A hand rose to touch his temple as if he was trying to sooth something. It hurts. It hurts so badly… The thoughts roamed around his mind as he could feel tears beginning to swell in his shut eyes. It was overpowering and indescribable.

Stepping back again, and another step, and another. SU 2775 was trying to create distance between him and Eden because he felt like her or the doctor was the cause of his pain. His breathing shifted to show how much pain he was in. Sharpening each breath as it started becoming shallow. His eyes opened with an intensity and locked right onto Edens, that was when everything went blurry.

This hurts… was the thought that got through to the link.

SU 2775’s body seemed to go limp without a moment's notice and he tumbled down the fortified wall quickly. His mass hitting the earth beneath him hard. There were uncomfortable sounding pops and cracks that came from him hitting the ground so hard and lifelessly. Except, he wasn’t still when he landed. There was something that sounded like a whine or groan when he hit the ground. His body was convulsing and he was beginning to foam at the mouth. Everything looked painful.

Eden’s brows furrowed at the man, trying to understand what was happening with the man. The instant the Link formed between them, a whirlwind of agony and mental fog hit the woman like a brick, making her stumble painfully against the railing. Dropping her face into her hands with a groan, the woman still managed to find enough strength to remain upright.

The thud on the other side of the fence, however, concerned Taylor more. Everything had changed so quickly and had happened all at once, making her look back and forth between Gomez, Eden, and the nearby gate. Huffing to herself, the woman had to think quickly about what to do - Gomez was likely fine and whatever was afflicting the strange man was also hurting Eden.

Stranger it was.

“Open the door!” Doctor Taylor’s voice boomed, issuing a command as she so rarely did, as long legs began to run for the entrance she needed open. It was akin to a cell door, allowing her to slip out of it far easier than if she had been needing to go out a proper gate. Feet pounded against the ground as she took off around the edge without her medical bag in hand. Thankfully, it didn’t take long to find the man, though her eyes were wide at his current state.

Practically slamming her knees into the earth, small hands reached out and quickly grasped the man’s clothing to haul him onto his side. Without thinking twice, his head was tucked onto her thigh for support. There was the possibility of him biting her or his hands scratching her, but that didn’t matter at the moment. Instead, reaching into her pocket, a bandana was pulled free and his face wiped free of foam and blood. Keen eyes were looking for further damages as best she could while he seized, using the strength she could in her significantly smaller body to have him stay in place.

“Easy. You’re not alone.” The doctor soothed, the hand holding the bandana dropping it to smooth through the man’s dark curls that honestly needed about three washes to get clean. It was strange, this moment - and dangerous.

By the time he was coming from the seizure, his whole body felt like it was in shock, and he was still trembling from the exhaustion that the convulsions caused his muscles. SU 2775 quickly sat up and jerked away from the doctor to create distance. “Vhat did you do to me!?” His voice was raised as his body began to hunch over in pain. He was trying to fight the pain as much as he could. A hand came up to cover his eyes from the prominent headache that was behind his blue orbs.

A painful whine was let out as he tried to not focus on any of it. It continued to hurt so much. Su 2775 attempted to get up and fell right onto his knees. His face in his hands as his forehead was brought to the ground. “Get avay frrrom me!” His tone was threatening and on edge. An extreme amount of pain echoed not only when he spoke but through his breathing and body language as well.

Brown eyes watched as the experiment wrenched away from her, though his body language spoke of extreme pain. He was crying out and curling around himself, and with their size difference combined with his Genesis… well, the next thing the doctor did could prove more than risky. It could cost the woman her life, but it was done anyway.

“Stop, you’re making it worse. You had a seizure, this is the aftermath of it. Just… let me. Don’t break my damn hands, I need them.” The woman said softly, taking the bandana and folding it so that the neatest fabric was on the outside. Rocking up to her knees, it was pressed ever so gently over his eyes as he was eased back to the ground, locking out the light of the world to ease some of the pain that came from the waves that came after human seizures. “You’re what we call postictal. You’re going to hurt and be confused even if you were a human, okay? I need you to be as still as you can.” She explained, trying to give the man information.

“I have some hydromorphone stored in my lab. That can help you, or I know that there was CBD being made too. Both will ease your pain some.”

His confusion was leading him to let his guard down as he was trying to make sense of the blurry shapes in his vision, the gloss over everything, and how noises were still meshing together after the seizure. He could not fully process anything. Thinking he had his face in his hands, the realization of fabric over his eyes hit him, and he tensed up. His one hand grabbing out and attaching to Doctor Taylor’s wrist, quite hard, as he was trying to find out where she and everything else around him was. What was his immediate environment? Was there danger? All these processes were being jumbled up in his mind and nothing was making sense.

‘Niet,” was what he got out of his thoughts. The individual was telling him that they had drugs that he could use. He did not want drugs. Shallow breathing was something that appeared to be constant with him. SU 2775 was trying to calm down and absorb his environment before a painful electricity ran up and down his spine which caused him to exhale and struggle to breath. Pain wanted to vocally come out but the gasps of air leaving his lungs were the only thing that came to fruition.

That was when he lost his hearing, he couldn’t hear anything, and his vision began to darken before agony came over his body again. He assumed that he was going back into what caused him to fall off from the wall protecting the camp.

No. It was not. SU 2775’s body shut down and he lost consciousness when all his nerves began to feel like he was on fire and extreme pain flooded his whole system from Genesis trying to heal the broken parts of his body.

A gasp of pain escaped the doctor when fingers wrapped tightly around her wrist, making agony blossom in the joints and flesh. He could have hurt her so much worse, she knew - but he held back enough to keep from breaking her. His body displayed anger as much as fear, and it was honestly kinder when consciousness fled him and the big man went limp on the ground.

Above, Eden finally was able to take a full, shuddering breath as the pain in her own head eased from something resembling the worst migraine imaginable to a bare headache. Bringing herself to the edge and looking down, the sight of Taylor with the Russian man made her twist, jumping over the razor wire to land next to the doctor with a roll to absorb the impact without injury. “What would you have me do?”

Taylor slipped the experiment’s fingers from her wrist slowly, her head shaking a little bit. “Help me get him inside. He needs medical attention and… frankly, a bath.” She said.

Eden nodded, grabbing onto SU 2775’s top to begin dragging the man inside without decorum. It was by her strength that the man was brought to the Workshop - stripped of his clothes, bathed with good soap and water, and tucked into the bed in the back of the doctor’s living and working space in a pair of clean boxers with her blankets over him. The space was too small for him to stretch out, but at least it would be comfortable and he was in a place where it was safe.