After the distress call was brought out to the main camp, a convoy had already been dispatched with an armored fist of Sherman tanks of a great variety. Five Shermans were equipped with better high velocity guns, two others were better armored, and there were three Sherman tanks which were equipped with howitzer cannons. The rest of the Shermans were seven standard versions while the rest of the armored force consisted of four Stuarts and three Chaffee light tanks. In the rear there was an ambulance followed by a three 'heavy' trucks. It was a small force to work with, but Durante knew that Captain Edwards had worked with less.

As for the rest of the convoy, it consisted of halftracks occupied by mechanized infantry and Rangers. However, there was a small majority of people who were rear echelons of their respective companies. Although their specialty in repairing equipment and vehicles, they were easily welcomed since they were veterans of Elsenhorn Ridge.

Within their command jeep, Monte Durante was sitting in the back as he looked over the shoulder of Edwards while the moving vehicle was occasionally met with a bump on the road. He preferred that the vehicle pressed on it, but he could understand his caution. The roads were not as paved well and the vehicle had to suffer through the inches of snow which the unit suffered in. However, he was grateful that the convoy was moving at all since the snow was never suitable for him.

As he scanned the surrounding environment, he was easily reminded by the memories of the Ardennes Offensive. This time; however, there was no German unit to face, no artillery fire screaming down on him, no snipers to worry about. What mattered was that he had to worry about the damn creatures Doctor Sauer 'fathered' on this world. Sadly, he grew board of the ocean of white and began to pester Bill in the passenger seat. "Bill, are you writing to your dad... again?"

That was the habit he knew about his peer. Edwards had liked to write about the events he had during the German offensive, but Monte knew the brass wouldn't allow him to actually give military information to his father. In this case, Monte knew that the OSS were the sort that didn't let anyone get away in leaking information, even if it was to tell a GI's father he was still alright.

Bill turned his shoulder as he removed his small journal and left the pen where he last left off. "Monte, mind if you don't get into someone's business?"

"Edwards, you know better. The Army doesn't like it when you are writing about active military operations." The captain of Fox Company stated. "I prefer if you didn't get court marshaled."

"Well, I wasn't writing a letter to my dad this time." Bill replied as he reopened his booklet. "I'm just writing a story... they wouldn't throw me in the brig for trying to kill the time."

Monte raised his eyebrows. "You're writing a story, what's it about?"

"I'm going to be honest, I don't actually have a clear idea about it." The younger officer answered as he passed the journal to the veteran.

When he spread the pages open, he was surprised to see that his friend had been writing shorts about fantasy creatures. He would make fun of him, but not here-there was no reason to embarrass him in front of his own unit. There was no decency in that kind of behavior. "Say, do you plan to become an author?"

Bill smirked after Monte handed the book back to him. "Yeah, I've been used to writing so much that I grew a liking to it." He answered. "I'm just writing short stories just to - you know - practice."

"Have fun with that, I might read it if I ever see what you publish back home." Monte replied.

"Monte, what are you going to do when you get back home?"

The Ranger's expression changed. "My dad probably thinks I made one of the greatest mistakes in my life. The fact that I would volunteer once those drafters came around over sitting in an office should be enough to give him those reasons to hate me."

"Ever decided to talk to him."

"Definitely no," Monte added. "My dad thinks I should've stayed home while everyone thinks that I'm a damn coward in serving my country. I wanted to prove them wrong."

The conversation ended as the officers took notice of the commotion at the front of the convoy.

At the front, the commander's hatch of a Sherman had been opened as he turned around to face the preoccupied officers. "Captain Edwards!" He shouted. "We got a civilian here!"

Immediately, the Edwards hid his journal away as he began to look to the driver. "Private, take us closer."

The private nodded his head to comply. "Got it."

Then the jeep moved out of formation as Bill looked forward to the front and pass the orderly convoy as he was met with the expressions of the men in their halftracks. He did his best to keep his eyes on the road until the jeep arrived besides the Sherman tank. "Stefano, where's the civilian?"

The Italian tank commander pointed to the front as the Sherman slowed down behind the jeep in the front. There were three GIs stepping out of their jeep see a little girl who seemed to be no more than eight years old. However, she was dressed for the weather in a red scarf and a green coat. She stood there, frozen at the sight of the soldiers who tried to step closer, but at each attempt the girl looked at them. "Hey kid, don't worry we're here to help out." One of the GIs commented.

The girl shook her head. "My mom said not to trust any strangers!" She cried out. "You're not Atlas soldiers."

Captain Durante was worried for the girl in his own way, but his attention was not fully concentrated on the girl at all. Instead, it just so happened that he could see buildings roughly five miles away behind the girl. She must have came from there. He stepped forward as she turned her head on him. "Where are you're parents?" He asked, but this was not the commanding voice of an officer. It was a gentle person who was concerned about her safety. "Are you lost?"

She shook her head. "No, mommy and daddy are at the big house!" She answered. "They said look for the Atlas soldiers! You don't look like them!"

"You're right." Monte replied. "We're not Atlas soldiers, but we're soldiers still." The officer stated as he came over. "Stick with us, we'll find your parents-"

On of the GIs called out the threat that was running towards them. "Oh shit, contact!"

There was a single beowolf snarling in hatred as it accelerated itself towards its victim. Filled with adrenaline, the captain jumped forward and turn the girl away from the danger with his back vulnerable to the creature. Monte closed his eyes as he heard the blast of a cannon before his ears were wringing from the screaming shell over them. A distant explosion sounded close as he opened his eyes and turned to see the beowolf filled with a giant hole through its chest. Suddenly, he heard the cries of its brothers who were easily alerted in the distance. From what he could guess, the monsters were coming from the town in force.

Returning back to his senses, his eyes shot out for his friend. "Edwards, get the girl out of here and stay with the rest of the convoy!" He shouted as he picked the girl up and ran to the jeep.

Edwards placed his hand on his helmet as the child was placed in the back of the jeep. "Monte, what the hell are you doing?!"

"Bill, they're coming from the town. We got to help them." His attention grew to the pack of eight coming their way. "Shit, give a few Shermans and a couple of Stuarts."

The captain of Baker Company nodded his head. "Stefano, you're with Durante and you follow his order!"

The tank commander complied with a nod before he tossed his cigar into the snow. "Cut the smoke and load HE!" The lieutenant ordered to his crew as he sunk into the depths of the tank.

Monte grabbed Edwards by the shoulder. "Bill, get to the back of the convoy. I'll take things from here." Then he snatched his Thompson in the back of the jeep and joined the GIs at the front. "Fox Company, engage!" He ordered before he accompanied the three riflemen firing their Garands at the hostile creatures coming their way.

It was a sight to behold as the Sherman behind their backs unleashed a hellfire of .30 Cal tracers into the general direction of the pack. Another shell screamed out of the Stefano's tank, but the shell deviated from the target and splashed into the snow behind the monsters closing the distance.

Suddenly, a volley of shells peppered the entire snow-covered ground with craters as four of the monsters were killed in the process. However, the next four monsters were less than fifty meters away.

At this range, Monte took his chances when he pulled the trigger. His Thompson complied to his order as bullets flew into the four monsters who begun to disperse from their formation and spread themselves out to the battle line of tanks off-road.

A second volley of high explosives flew into the remaining four as Captain Durante felt relieved as a beowolf landed in front of him; however, the monster opened its jaws and attempted to snap at his leg. Luckily, he stepped back and escaped its teeth as he focused his sub-machine gun on the creature's head. "Go to hell..." He pulled the trigger, emptying his entire mag into the beast making one last act of defiance. Then he heard his weapon click.

Turning to the Sherman tank behind him, he saw Stefano rise from his hatch and look down at him. "Sir, what are your orders?" He asked.

"Stefano, lead the charge. We're going to rescue a town."

Most commanding officers would have stayed in the safety of a halftrack or in their jeep, but Captain Durante was not a normal officer. His feet felt the engines within the German as he manned the .50 Cal on the Sherman's turret while there were two Rangers beside him. The Ranger on his left was equipped with a BAR and the Ranger on his right was holding the German-made assault rifle, the Sturmgewehr they called it. Now that they were not fighting the German Army anymore, using their weapons was no longer the issue since the Allies learned that half of the things out to kill them didn't use guns.

The leading Sherman tank entered the town, unopposed as the street was quiet aside from the friction of tracks grinding into the road. No one spoke while Durante kept his head behind the sights of the heavy machine gun. It was quiet, too quiet for him. "Eyes up!" He whispered to his two Rangers standing beside him as they scanned the surrounding buildings.

As they continued to pass through the town, Monte took notice of the damage on the buildings. Some of the doors were busted while the windows were smashed open, leaving nothing more than shattered glass on the ground.

Then the Sherman tank shifted to the left as they swung around the corner building. Monte's hands were gripped onto the handles of the machine gun as he scanned from left to right for any signs of life and movement; however, he was struck with horror when he was met with the sight of a bear-like monster tearing through flesh as blood flooded into the sewer. The monster stopped feeding off of the victim before it turned to the infantry mounted behind the tank. The bear growled as it slowly moved towards the Sherman.

Durante cocked his machine gun. "Get some lead on him!" He ordered as the officer was met with the heavy recoil of the mounted machine gun. A trail of tracer fire peppered into the monster's plated front as the Rangers immediately joined in. While they were at it, the coaxial machine guns had begun to open up, unleashing a trail of fire into the hostile creature with a dark intent.

Suddenly, the bear-like monster sprinted towards the soldiers as it began to shrug off the rounds.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Monte swore to himself. The .50 Cals would have torn most German light vehicles and the fact that it was being met with resistance had truly terrified him.

Then he heard a shout through the armor of the Sherman. "Put that fucker down!" He ordered.

The tank shook with recoil as the trio on top of the Sherman held onto the tank.

Monte stumbled behind the turret of the American-made tank before he recovered from his firing of the tank's gun; however, his ears were ringing as he looked over to see the damage down. The beast that could have killed him was disintegrating before his very eyes.

There were no words to describe this feeling of dread inside of his heart. This was too much, fighting monsters was not part of the reason he volunteered, there was just no incentive to get mauled like the poor soul the bear was feeding on. With this sense of dread, he was met with a terrifying noise he thought he would see at the zoo. Captain Durante looked back as the hissing grew louder while the rest of the men in their halftracks had raised their weapons at the street they had passed.

There were four halftracks that were present in this little detachment of his, but it would seem that something was coming and it was hunting them.

Monte watched the third halftrack from atop of the Sherman as the men occupying the seats had stood up and readied their weapons. He observed as they were aimed at the street intersecting through them, but they began to open fire and cry out in terror. "Kill it, kill it!" A sergeant screamed to the top of his lungs while being drowned out by machine gun fire. "We got to start movi-"

A great serpentine smashed hissed and smashed its head into the side of the halftrack, knocking the transport onto the side while the occupants stumbled out. Shocked at the sight, Durante did not expect to see a giant black snake rise up above the vulnerable soldiers below its great length. It hissed at them, but those who were able and ready had already fired their automatic weapons at the creature who struck them. However, it was a futile effort when the snake came down on one of his men and swallowed him hole.

There was a great feeling of anger inside him, the same feeling Monte had known ever since the previous predecessor died to a Tiger Ace. This very same feeling he had known whenever he glanced over the casualties. Rage and the desire for vengeance... "You guys, hop onto another halftrack and clear out!" Monte shouted as the fallen occupants of the halftrack recovered and mounted onto the next halftrack. "Spread out and stay with your vehicles, we need to leave!" Then he tapped the commander's hatch of the tank. "Stefano, drive this damn thing wherever you feel like it!"

The hatch opened with Stefano seeing the captain. "What the hell is going on?!"

"We're being hunted and we're stuck here like fish in a barrel." The tank commander's expression changed when he looked at the beast behind Durante.

"Got it!" He immediately sunk back into the tank. "Driver, step on it!" He screamed as the Sherman had begun to advance the convoy forward while leaving the knocked out halftrack behind. Then Stefano kept himself close to the radio inside of the turret. "Captain, I'm getting calls from the rest of the guys behind us that the damn snake is blocking the way. They're going to find another route."

"Tell them that I'm going to find a good defensive position within the town. Once we do, I'll fire flares to come to us."

"So what the hell are we going to do after we do that? My boys are not meant to be fighting in these damn streets."

"I'll think of something along the way." Monte replied to the officer of the tank. "One step at a time."

Returning to his position on the tank, Captain Durante saw that there were three more beowolves getting in their way. However, the tank fired off another HE shell into the one in the center as he pulled the trigger and felt the recoil shake his hand. He admired the tracers flying into the Grimm as they were being finished by the mounted machine gun fire.

Once they started disintegrating, the captain lifted his thumbs off of the trigger and watch the treads of the Sherman crush the last survivor under the sheer weight of the American armor.

Ten minutes, ten minutes of did the job as Monte was met with a building which could have been considered the town hall. It was large as a mansion, but he didn't mind it because it was very suitable for a defensive position. "Stefano, see that building!" After getting the tank commander's attention, he aimed his finger at the building he desired. "I want you to protect the front entrance and occupy the building." He ordered. "Once the last guy gets in, you're going to drive around and hunt the damn reptile!"

"I only have this tank and two Stuarts backing me up." He said.

"Don't worry, I'll horn Edwards about it. Now get moving."

"Aye aye, driver push it forward!"

Once the tank had reached the front entrance, Monte had tapped the commander's hatch. "I'll be here if you need me."

"You boys be safe!" He stated before he locked the hatch shut.

"You too..." Durante mumbled to himself as he dismounted the Sherman and slung his Thompson off of his shoulder. His aim was at the door as he ran through the sidewalk. "Miller, David, hike up, hike up!"

The two Rangers who accompanied him on the tank had followed his lead as they reached the door with their weapons aimed on what would have been the other side. Miller, the Ranger with the German assault rifle tried to unlock the door, but struggled with it. "Cap'n, doors locked."

"Okay, I guess someone is in here..." He commented. "Alright, anyone who is on the other side of the door I will count to three before I break the door down! One! Two!-" Before the captain could even finish, the door swung open as the three Rangers were met with the sight of three young males who had swords in their hands. To his surprise, one of them had antler ears. However, he saw in their eyes that they were scared.

Once their weapons were lowered, the young man in front of him had spoke up. "You're not Atlas."

"Nope, we are not whoever you guys called for, but we happened to be close by to help out." The company commander began as he gave out his hand. "Captain Durante of Fox Company, how are you guys?"

The teen in front of him shook his hand and nodded. "Just call me Jack." He began. "We tried to get enough people inside of the town hall to be protected, but there were too many of them. I think some of them are... d-d-" He was just full of shock as Jack placed his hand on his head.

"Hey, I need you to have a clear head and finish up." Durante interrupted him.

"Yeah... I think there were some people we couldn't save."

A grimacing thought for the captain. "Well, we did find some girl running away before we entered the town. Don't worry kid, you did a good job trying to get enough people alive."

An old man stormed to find the three young men standing at the entrance as he shouted. "Close the damn doors-oh my." It was clear to Monte, the old man was surprised to see him and his company arrive in force. "You're not Atlas, none of you are."

"Do you want out help or not?" Monte questioned.

Then Miller spoke up. "Sir, halftracks are here." He said.

Turning around, Monte looked to see the halftracks arrive behind the Sherman as the cavalry riflemen and the Rangers immediately began to gather up around the building. "Okay, hand the orders down that we're going to garrison on the building here and defend the place until reinforcements arrive." The captain stated.

"Yes sir." Then Miller walked off.

Captain Durante looked to the old man standing in front of him. "Who's the head of the town?"

"I am." The old man began. "I'm the elder here, but we should close those doors before the Grimm break through."

"Is there anyone else here?" He asked. "It seems like there is too few of you guys to begin with."

"Follow me." He said before walking deeply into the giant building through various networks of hallways. "I'm Bones by the way." He began as Monte followed him through. "This place was built as a shelter for everyone living in the town, but with the help of technology we were able to build a safe place through the basement if the Grimm every start to break through the main doors."

The officer and the old man had arrived at a set of stairs as Durante looked behind his shoulder to see he was being followed by the blonde teen with antlers. "So what's with the people with the animal things on their heads?"

"They're the faunus." Bones began. "We don't know why they have that in the first place, but they do and the Grimm also target them as well so we're in the same shit as them."

Then they walked down the staircase and through the door. Here, Captain Durante was met with the sight of dozens of people gathering around at the doorway. Most of them were families that consisted of children, women, parents, men, those faunus people. However, all of them were afraid and scared as Captain Durante was confronted by Bones. "So tell me captain, if you're not Atlas soldiers who are you guys?"

"Sir, you would not believe me if we told you." The officer answered before looking up to the stairs. "Look, we're here to help you people out and since those damn things ate my men I want to do a number on them before we evacuate this town."

"Evacuate? Why would we do that this is our home? We're just waiting until the Grimm leave or the huntsmen or huntresses kill them."

Captain Durante watched the old man, surprised by his response. "Sir, you called for help and you're getting it like or not. Until then, we're going to keep those things off of your back until we get you back to base camp."

"Captain, you all are complete strangers. Why should I trust you? At least Atlas can protect us, you and your men don't even look like you're ready to fight the Grimm."

"And that is why we have to get you out here immediately." He replied before going back up the stairs he came from. Now I just have to hold out for Edwards if I'm going to get out of this place.