The underground bunker was dimly lit, the air thick with the scent of damp concrete and blood. General Viktor 'Bloodfang' Kruger stood motionless, his combat knife gleaming under the flickering lights. His crimson beret sat firmly on his head, and his cold, calculating gaze was locked onto the bound prisoner before him.
Lieutenant Grace Holloway was on her knees, wrists shackled behind her back. Bruises covered her face, but her spirit remained unbroken. She spat a mixture of blood and defiance onto the floor.
Kruger smirked. "You're tougher than I expected. That's good—only the strong deserve to exist in my new world." He ran his gloved fingers along the razor-sharp edge of his knife, watching as a thin trickle of blood dripped from the tip.
Holloway clenched her jaw. "You're a monster."
Kruger chuckled. "I've been called worse."
Behind him, Sergeant Darius 'Hellhound' Rook leaned against the bunker wall, arms crossed. "Sir, we've secured the rest of the Crimson Dawn survivors. What do we do with them?"
Kruger didn't look away from Holloway. "Turn them."
Holloway's eyes widened. "No… You can't—"
"Can't?" Kruger interrupted, crouching in front of her. He lifted her chin with the tip of his knife. "I can do anything I want."
With a snap of his fingers, the bunker doors slid open, revealing a swarm of undead soldiers—his creations. Their uniforms were tattered, their bodies enhanced by a grotesque mix of viral mutations and cybernetic enhancements. Their glowing eyes locked onto the prisoners as they were dragged into the chamber.
One by one, Kruger's scientists injected the Necrostrain Virus into their veins. The screams were deafening at first. Then, silence.
The bodies twitched. Then convulsed. Then, with an unholy growl, they rose.
Kruger sheathed his knife and stood. "You see, Lieutenant, death is no longer the end. It's just the beginning."
Holloway struggled against her restraints, horror creeping into her eyes as she watched her comrades turn into mindless, obedient soldiers under Kruger's command.
The general stepped forward and whispered in her ear, "And now, you have a choice: serve me... or join them."
The room was silent, save for the sound of the undead breathing in unison, awaiting their master's next order.
Kruger smiled, placing his knife in her palm, her hands still bound.