The monstrous creature suddenly catapulted back into the river, leaving Henry in a state of utter disbelief. What he thought was a figment of his imagination turned out to be a bone-chilling reality. Miller's stern voice jolted Henry out of his trance, urging him to snap out of it and assist in rescuing their dying comrade, Hamilton, and hauling him back to their Humvee. As they made their way back, the fog grew denser, and the temperature plummeted, setting an eerie ambiance. In the distance, they could hear a cacophony of drums and chanting, and strange flickers of light danced on both sides of the river.
Willams tried to call for backup on the radio, but all he could hear was a deafening buzz. Meanwhile, Miller noticed Hamilton fumbling for his sidearm, and he tried to restrain him. But Hamilton, in his death throes, broke free from their grasp and unleashed a volley of bullets on his team, causing mayhem. Willams got hit in the leg, but they all managed to find cover. Walker leaned over to inspect Hamilton's wounds and was astounded to see his throat completely healed, and his eyes turned white. A ghastly figure stood beside Hamilton and addressed him as "High Priest," leaving the team utterly flabbergasted.
As Hamilton shed his helmet, body armor, and gloves and donned his robe, the figure presented him with a staff. Henry, still reeling in disbelief, rushed out and began protesting, insisting that this couldn't be Hamilton. The figure, with an expression of pure malevolence, turned towards Henry and erupted into a burst of unnerving laughter, taunting him if he ever thought they were friends.
Seizing the opportunity while Hamilton and the mysterious figure were preoccupied with Henry's protest, Miller crept towards the Humvee, unnoticed. Meanwhile, Willams, still hunkered down behind cover, questioned Hamilton about the source of his transformation. Hamilton merely retorted, "Ask Lee Yu; he's over there by the crash, that is, if he's still alive."
The figure's laughter trailed off into a cold, calculating silence. "I doubt it. I took his heart, after all," he added with a smug grin. As the team's sharpshooter, Walker had his sights set on Hamilton and the figure, watching their every move. But at the mention of Lee Yu's name, he turned his gaze toward the crash site and peered through the scope of his rifle.
To his horror, he saw the lifeless bodies of Lee Yu and his men strewn about the wreckage.
The scene was nothing short of chaos as the remaining squad members were left to fight for their lives against these monstrous beings. The air was thick with fog, the sounds of chanting and drumming were getting louder, and the temperature dropped even further. The river was now swarming with fish-like creatures, armed with deadly spears.
Miller, in a desperate attempt to take down the rimaid, fired relentlessly with the 50 cal, but it seemed to have no effect. The creature's skin was impenetrable. Walker, on the other hand, was determined to take down as many of them as he could with his rifle. He aimed for the head, but his aim wasn't perfect. The bullet hit the rimaid in the eye, and it fell to the ground. It was a brief moment of relief, but it didn't last long.
The gunfire suddenly stopped, and the team looked around to see what had happened. That's when they saw it. One of the rimaid's had managed to pin Miller's torso to the wall with a spear. Williams, who was already wounded, looked at his friend with a sense of loss in his eyes. He knew it was the end. He ordered Walker to run, but he refused to leave his friend behind. Williams, in a final act of bravery, shot at the rimaid's, taking down ten of them before he was brutally electrocuted by the electric arc of a rimaid.
Walker, now alone and injured, was facing one of the rimaid's, ready to fight with nothing but his knife. He had no choice but to rely on his hand-to-hand combat training. He rushed towards the creature, trying to slash it with his knife, but it grabbed his hand and head-butted him with incredible force. With the other hand, the rimaid placed its thumb against Walker's left eye and electrocuted him. The pain was excruciating as Walker was slammed into the ground, leaving him helpless and defeated.
The situation was severe, and the squad's numbers were swiftly dwindling. The beasts appeared to be unbeatable, and the prospects of survival were poor. The squad was left wondering if they will ever survive this.