Werewolf: A World at War Novel (World at War Online Book 4) Read Free Page A

was going to be difficult. Enemy troops pushing into the forest from the north would probably run right into Barghest or Bravo Wolf.
    Selene leaned out from behind her tree and fired off a burst at the advancing enemy. She didn't see if she hit anything, because the deluge of return fired force her to take cover again.
    “Little hairy,” Selene commented to Miko, who was right beside her.
    Miko seemed to be ignoring her. Then she spoke. “Yeah, that works. Hold one one second.”
    “Huh?”
    Miko leaned out from her side of the tree and looked down her scope. Then she pulled back and spoke a set of coordinates. It suddenly dawned on Selene that she was calling in an artillery strike.
    “Is-”
    “It's the 75s,” Miko said. “Unless they really screw up, we should be fine.”
    “Hopefully.”
    “Well don't jinx us!”
    “Knock on wood,” Selene said with a smile. She tapped the tree.
    Miko leaned around the tree, aimed and took a shot. “OK, I hope that's enough. Knocking on a fake piece of wood.”
    “Technically my words are fake too, so they should equal out.”
    Miko shrugged. “The fun of being in a virtual reality.” She stopped as if she was listening to something. “Alpha Wolf, brace for impact!”
    Selene ducked down. Just in time, too, because the shells started to rain down.
     
     
     
    “Not good,” Zach said, looking over the map with Anna.
    “We've stopped them, at least,” she offered.
    “At what cost?”
    “We can replace our losses. And we've managed to completely rout the Valkyries,” she pointed out. “They're falling back now, along with the rest of the force.”
    “Smart move.”
    “I'm guessing that they don't want to run the risk of being hit from the flank,” Anna agreed.
    “So we've won. Wonderful, it's a Pyrrhic victory. We can't replace our losses fast enough.”
    Anna looked at him. “Machines, no. But machines aren't what makes us great.”
    “So we're going to have to take the lead up here again,” Zach deduced.
    “Probably.”
    Zach grimaced. Black Wolf had been forced into hard situations before, but this might top them all.

CHAPTER 2
    Aftermath
     
    Eight. Far later than he had thought. Zach stood up out of his chair, stretched and then put his neuro-helmet back on the shelf. The battle had lasted for over four hours, and yet it seemed to have gone by so quickly.
    His phone vibrated on the end table, and he reached over to grab it. Nora had sent him a text message.
    Off yet? it asked.
    I just logged off , he replied.
    His stomach growled, and Zach decided to head into the kitchen to get something for dinner. That was one drawback to World at War that was rarely discussed. The world was so absorbing that some players spent hours upon hours inside, neglecting to eat, drink or sleep. He had heard reports that some players had stayed logged in for over two days.
    Zach couldn't imagine doing, that, mostly because he would have to forgo eating. Right now he felt like he was starving, and it was little more than an hour past when he would normally have dinner. He probably couldn't stand going eight hours without eating, let alone forty-eight.
    Zach opened up the refrigerator and thought for a moment, then decided on grabbing some bacon and eggs. He was in the process of warming up a griddle when his phone started buzzing. Nora was calling him. He answered and put her on speaker so he could continue cooking.
    “What's up?”
    “How much longer did you stay on?” Nora asked him.
    “About an hour and a half,” he told her.
    “Any flareups?”
    Zach tested the griddle, then laid several strips of bacon across it. “No, Ragnarok fell back without any real problems.”
    “So why the extra time?”
    Zach hesitated for a moment. “We may have a problem.”
    “Virtual or real world?” Nora asked.
    “Virtual,” Zach said with a slight smile. He still hadn't gotten quite used to the fact that he needed to clarify which world he was talking about.
    “OK, so what