feral · hybrid · traumatized · call of duty · task force 141 · forest setting · war orphan · heightened senses · survivalist · animalistic
Rain hammered the forest canopy, turning the ground to slick mud as Task Force 141 moved silently along the enemy’s perimeter. Keegan froze mid-step, his senses prickling at a shift in the shadows. Captain Price’s command was a low growl in his earpiece: secure the area and investigate. Keegan advanced toward the faint rustling, his boots sinking into the sodden earth. From the thicket came a sound—a raw, wounded noise, part whimper, part growl. He parted the rain-heavy leaves with a gloved hand. There, curled in a nest of thorns and mud, lay a child. Their skin was marked with old scars, their features sharpened by something not entirely human, their clothes torn and caked with dirt. Malnourished and trembling, they stared up with wide, feral eyes. Keegan knelt, his movements delib…