Night fell completely.
Gale-force winds screamed through the forest, and heavy snow sealed off the mountains.
Inside the cabin, only the firelight from the hearth remained, casting flickering shadows across the men's faces. It was quiet—but the atmosphere was no longer the same as it had been half an hour ago.
No one wanted to wait for death.
Every pair of eyes looked like those of cornered beasts, ready to fight to the end.
"Falsworth."
Steve Rogers' voice broke the silence.
"Here, Captain!" The demolition expert James Falsworth snapped to attention.
Levi squinted from the corner, thinking to himself—this guy perks up the moment explosives are involved.
"Give me all the C4," Steve ordered. "Combine it into a single high-yield charge. Use HYDRA's communicator as the detonator. Can you do it?"
"No problem, Captain!" Falsworth's eyes lit up. "Give me ten minutes! Do you want directional blasting or a wide-area shockwave?"
"As long as it's powerful enough," Steve said flatly. He didn't have time for a lecture on explosive aesthetics.
Levi nearly laughed. Directional blasting? Why not install guidance while you're at it.
Steve turned to the other two.
"Dugan. Logan. You're with me."
"You got it!" Dugan rubbed his hands together, tugging his bowler hat down a notch.
Logan said nothing. A low, predatory growl rumbled in his throat as he drew the hunting knife from his boot and ran his thumb lightly along the blade.
He could smell blood.
"The rest of you—stay here," Steve said, sweeping his gaze across the room. "Check your gear. Eat everything you can. Conserve your strength. When you hear the explosion, that's your signal. We only get one shot."
Finally, his eyes fell on Levi in the corner—the pale, "fragile" Levi.
"Levi, stay here. Don't go anywhere," Steve said solemnly. "You're our last line of insurance."
Levi struggled to open his eyes and nodded weakly, looking like he might keel over at any second.
Steve's trust in him deepened by another notch.
Man, this is way too easy, Levi thought.
Steve gave him one last look, grabbed his shield, and pushed open the door into the storm.
Logan and Dugan followed.
The three figures vanished into the darkness almost instantly.
The door closed.
Only the crackle of burning wood and heavy breathing remained.
Levi closed his eyes.
He wasn't resting.
The instant the door shut, his hearing expanded outward, blanketing five kilometers of snow-covered mountains.
Wind speed: force seven.
Temperature: minus twenty-eight degrees Celsius.
Steve's heartbeat. His footsteps. His breathing.
Logan's movements.
Dugan's labored exhales.
All of it formed a real-time, three-dimensional map inside Levi's mind.
Outside, the conditions were even worse than they sounded.
The wind hurled ice shards like blades, snow reached past their knees, and every step required effort.
But for Steve and Logan, it was nothing.
One had super-soldier serum and near-infinite stamina.
The other had a healing factor and knew no fatigue.
Dugan had it the worst. He was just a normal man.
Before long, he was gasping for air, his breath billowing like wandering ghosts.
"Damn it… this godforsaken weather…" His foot slipped, and he nearly fell.
A large hand caught his arm—it was Steve.
"Stay close," the Captain said steadily, his voice firm even against the wind.
Dugan clenched his teeth, swallowed his curses, and pushed on.
Logan led the way.
His steps were light, almost feline. He barely needed a flashlight. His nose twitched as he filtered information from the wind and snow.
"Stop."
Logan suddenly raised a hand and dropped low, merging with a snow-covered rock.
Steve and Dugan immediately crouched.
"Something?" Steve asked quietly.
Logan didn't answer. He pressed an ear to the snow.
After a moment, he looked up.
"Patrol. Three men. Ten o'clock. Three hundred meters out."
Steve and Dugan were stunned. Three hundred meters? In this weather?
"Captain, don't panic," Levi's voice sounded directly inside Steve's mind.
"Logan's instincts are right. Three-man patrol, approaching your position. They'll pass by in one minute and forty-seven seconds."
This was Levi's newly developed ability—Mind Whisper.
Only those with strong mental fortitude and complete trust in him could receive it.
For now, only Steve qualified.
"They don't have thermal imaging. The storm is perfect cover. Don't move—let them pass," Levi added.
Steve's heart settled. He signaled the others to stay hidden.
The three men lay flat in the snow, motionless, slowing even their breathing.
Soon enough, three HYDRA soldiers in white camouflage trudged past, cursing under their breath.
"Fuck this place—no human should be stationed here!"
"The general sits by the fire while we freeze our asses off!"
"Keep your voice down! You want to get sent off as test material?"
They never realized death had just watched them from arm's length away.
Once the footsteps faded, the trio stood back up.
Dugan and Steve looked at Logan with renewed respect.
They had no idea the real monster was back in the cabin, watching everything like a live broadcast.
With Levi's full-map warning and Logan's wilderness instincts, they slipped past two patrols and a hidden sentry without incident.
Half an hour later, they reached the target ridgeline.
Bare rock. Howling wind. Impossible footing.
"This is it," Steve said, checking his compass.
"Levi, where's the 'eye'?" he asked silently.
"Copy that, Captain," Levi replied.
"Target approaching from the east. It'll pass overhead in ninety seconds. Altitude: one hundred forty-eight meters. I'll call the timing."
"Move!"
Steve gave the order.
Dugan immediately secured the C4 bundle to a crooked pine tree.
Logan fixed a grappling hook—one end tied to the explosive, the other looped around a frozen boulder, clenched tightly in his hand.
A crude but effective trap. Levi's idea.
"Levi, countdown," Steve said, kneeling with his shield raised, eyes locked on the black sky.
"Thirty seconds…"
"Twenty…"
"Ten… nine… eight…"
Logan's arm muscles bulged, veins standing out.
Dugan's finger hovered over the detonator, sweat pouring down his face.
"Five… four… three… two…"
"One!"
"Now!" Levi and Steve shouted together.
"Up you go!"
Logan roared like a beast and yanked the rope with all his strength!
Craaaack!
The bent pine snapped upright, hurling the black C4 package into the night sky like a catapult.
The charge traced a perfect arc—straight toward the coordinates Levi had marked.
"Detonate!" Steve bellowed.
Dugan slammed the button.
For an instant, the world turned white.
Dead silence.
Then the explosion arrived.
The entire ridgeline shook violently as a massive shockwave rained down searing heat and metal fragments.
Steve raised his shield instantly, covering the others. Red-hot shrapnel smashed into the vibranium, spraying sparks without leaving a single mark.
Then—darkness again.
In Levi's perception, that irritating hum vanished completely.
Success.
Main quest "Desperate Survival", Phase One—completed.
Below, the HYDRA camp erupted into chaos.
Sirens screamed through the valley. Searchlights swept wildly across the mountains.
"What happened?! Odin's Eye signal is down!"
"Report! Western cliff sector has lost all surveillance!"
"Damn it! It's those rats! They're trying to break through the cliff route! All units—converge on the western cliff! Seal it off!"
On the ridgeline—
"We… we did it!" Dugan shouted, his voice shaking with excitement and tears.
"Don't celebrate yet," Logan spat out snow, staring downhill. "We kicked a hornet's nest."
In the forest below, hundreds—no, thousands—of lights surged toward them.
They were exposed.
But they'd also bought themselves the only chance they were going to get.
"Levi! Tell everyone—prepare to break out!" Steve shouted into the wind, then grabbed Dugan and Logan.
"Move! To the cliff! Now!"
Back at the cabin—
The moment the explosion echoed through the mountains, every man rushed outside.
"That's the Captain's signal!"
"They succeeded!"
"Get ready to fight!"
Then Levi's "weak" but unmistakably clear voice rang in everyone's ears.
"Captain's orders: All personnel—break out toward the western cliff!"
"Now! Immediately!"
As the words fell, Levi was the first to grab his rifle and stagger out of the cabin.
He looked like he might be blown over by the storm at any second—but his eyes burned with terrifying brightness.
The Howling Commandos didn't hesitate.
With furious roars, they followed that "unsteady" figure straight into the boundless snowy night.
The hunt was over.
The counterattack had officially begun.
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