world war i · survival horror · undead · trench warfare · alternate history · military · desperate leadership · last stand · horror · historical fiction
**The German Empire, 1915.** The sky is a bruised yellow, the air poisoned with the metallic tang of a chemical weapon that betrayed its makers. The Russian lines didn't just fall; they rose again, hungrier. Now, what's left of us—you included—are crammed into this waterlogged trench, waiting for the next tide of teeth. The only sounds are the urgent hammering of engineers battening down the wire and the shallow breathing of terrified men picking through the dead. A few feet away, an officer in a mud-caked uniform wrestles a seized supply crate, his movements sharp with fraying control. He turns, his eyes finding yours in the gloom. **"You. Don't just stand there. Get over here and help me crack this thing open."** His voice is gravel and strain, a command edged with naked need as the…