" You speak the language?" " Better than most of the people in here." "The locals all said you were the go-to guy on this." " You work with a regular team?" " Just the redneck." "Tell me about this area." "Hundred and fifty Ks northwest of here." "Every couple of months it switches between government and insurgency hands." "My advice, don't go there." "I have to." "When the war is over, this place will be a free market." " It's mineral rich." " Are you some kind of geologist?" "An engineer." "I'm on a retainer to a company that acquired some real estate here." "I go in, survey it." "You ensure my safety." " I'll operate a six-man fire team." " How much?" " Six thousand US per man, cash." " Four." "Payable only on my safe return." " You've worked with mercenaries before." " Where the guidebooks recommend." "But where you've been has nothing to do with where you are." "Five." "Equipment will run to another five, up front." "Be here tomorrow night." "I'll have a squad by then." "Fucking ride, eh?" "This big fancy company can't pay for a bird, huh?" "And let those RPGs blow us out the sky" "like the Red Cross a couple of months back?" "Smart moves." "How am I supposed to work with this shit?" "So don't get hit." "So what do you think this place is?" " Fucked if I know." "Same if I care." " Right." "Man pays the money, he picks the tune." "He's kurac, anyway." "There's nothing built out here for sure." "Yeah, whatever." "Take a good look at secrets man up here." "Now, why does a prick like that hire seven swords in a bar?" "For the same reason he doesn't go with private security, either." "Secrets, man." "So what is real story, huh, Top?" "Yeah, this is it." " What do you think?" " Think we're gonna get wet." "All right, roll it out." "There's a lot of traffic." "Regular Army has positions to the south." "Insurgents to the north." "UN safe area is southwest." "Right, lads, places to be." "Jesus Christ!" "Why have we gone dark?" "'Cause this thing was built before they invented fucking trees." "Well, we're not going anywhere with it down, so get it done." "Fifty says that company of his lost some new flyer out here." "Serious?" " An airplane?" " Sure." "Some high-tech shit on board, too." "Got to test those bad boys in live conditions, man." "And what, you a ClA operator?" "No." "But 100 says he could be." "Well, it's not a plane." "Cotter, give me a base of fire from here in case we have to double-time it back out." "The rest of you give me a perimeter." "Four, okay." "Five, good." " One, okay." " six, okay." "Two, all good." "He's underground, huh?" "You'd be smart if you weren't so fucking stupid, do you know that?" "You're with him." "Okay, everyone on me." "Hunt." " This is it?" " Yeah." "Minerals, huh?" "Right." "Cotter, Tak, doors." "Jordan and Tak, hold." "Everyone else on me." "Down here." "Right." "Hunt, on me." "Prior, Voyteche, left." "Cotter, McKay, right." "Clear." "What the fucking hell does a guy like him want with a shithole like this?" " What?" " Quarter right." "On the tree line." "How many?" "In the tree line!" "You, stay." "Rounds received?" " Come on." "Rounds received." " None." "What?" "Someone confirm me a fucking target!" "Cease fire." "Mac, shut that off." "Man down!" "Jordan, get the fuck over here!" " Cease fire, everyone, cease fire." " Cease fire." "We're fucking bleeding here!" " Shut the fuck up!" "Mac!" " I said cease fucking firing!" "Tak!" "Hey!" "Take it easy." " Where's the shooter?" " Right. 60 meters." "I don't know!" "See?" "I got him." "Lucky if you hit that tree out there." "That's one nervous little bitch finger you got on your trigger there, teardrop." "When I say, "Hold fire," you hold fire." "I got him." "You sure of that?" "Fine." "Sweep and clean that area." " Oh, fuck, Sputnik, I'll do it." " No!" "I do it." "The rest of you, cover him." " It's nothing." " Bodies?" "Blood?" "Not even shell casings." "Are we good?" "Yeah." "It was probably some passing patrol or someone out for a jolly." "But this place is a tactical nightmare." "I've got an elevated tree line bordering open ground, and I need to deal with that." "How long will it take?" "I need any available power on-line down here, in case we have to hole up." "Can you help me with that?" "Right." "Voyteche, Tak, hold here until we square it away down below." " We're gonna be bottled up down there." " Beats getting ventilated up here." "Jordan, Mac, need you mobile." "I need a fortnight in Tijuana." "You know, what you're doing here is your business, and I respect that." "But when we start taking fire, your business can quickly become my business." "Could there be others, like you, out here?" "No, there's no one else looking." "Why so sure?" "My backers are wealthy enough to ensure silence." "From anybody." "War has been played out around here for years." "Anybody could have stumbled across it." "That entry was easy enough." "Sure, the odd patrol could have come down here from time to time, maybe." "But they don't know what to look for." "And that would be?" "Minerals?" "Who does he think he's kidding?" "This place is wrong, very wrong." "Is it just me, or does that not belong here?" "Generator." " Can you get it going?" " Let's see." "What the fuck is this guy looking for?" "What is that?" "Motherfuck!" "Fuck!" " I think we're good if..." " Medic!" " Jordan!" " Stay here." "Jordan!" "Clear." "Over here." "Principal's back that way, keep an eye on him." "Jordan." "We need a fucking medic!" "Medic!" "Jordan!" "We've got a fucking breather down there!" "Jesus!" "Don't just fucking stand there!" "Help me!" " Shit!" " Jesus fuck!" "Look at him." "Name?" "Poor bastard." "His brain is totally minced." "Name?" "Back off!" "He's fucking gone, guys." "Pluto." "I'm shot." "What part of me looks like I give a fuck?" "Wait a sec." "He could just be a fucking farmer." "Farmer?" "Yeah, right." " Talk, fuckmeat!" " That's enough." "Top, I reckon the locals used this place for a little bit of ethnic cleansing" " then moved on." " It's possible." "It's like a slaughterhouse down there." " He's the only one we found breathing." " Christ." "Your guess is as good as mine." "So what does that make you?" "Some kind of fucking tourist?" " I could ask you the same." " I'm a soldier." "No, you're an employee." "Speaking of which, aren't you supposed to be protecting someone?" "How do you think I got that?" " And how does beating him up help?" " lt made me feel better, all right?" "Running a little low on causes, though, wouldn't you say?" "Walk away." "You know, getting punchy isn't the smartest play with these guys." "Which is why I hired you to hold their leash." "You seem pretty concerned for his welfare." "It's just a little thing called compassion." " So he's nothing to do with you?" " Nothing." "And finding all those dead bodies and him in the middle has got nothing to do with your assignment?" "I don't think he looked like he was in my line of business, do you?" "Now, am I dismissed?" "That being the case, I think you might all want to see this." "You can say what you like about the Nazis, but they had style." "What the fuck are we doing standing in a German bunker?" "SS." " But not since about 1945." " Aye, right." "Wait a minute." "You're looking for gold out here, right?" "I know about all this shit." "Lost Nazi gold." "Right." "Fuck gold." "I want three primaries up there in the tree line, 30 meters spread" " and lay some wire beyond that." " Whoa, stop the fucking bus." "I thought this was strictly a 48, in and out." "And now we've got an unknown number of hostiles sending down fire." "So we, meaning you, dig in." "Bodies." "Dead men this high." "Why dump them here?" "Because they more than just killed these men." "Burying someone already, eh?" "Set in for the night." " Mr. Cunt thinks he's onto some Nazi gold." " Gold?" "Those bushwhackers out there think they're following a money train." "They'll be back." "So you better watch your arses." "All right?" "Forty-eight hour job." "You have better places to be?" "Nice." "You play?" "All this shit is why I left the Marines." " Strike gold yet?" " Can't even find a match to strike." "You got?" "Sure." "I hate that feeling you get in the field." "You know, always like someone is watching you." "Apparently someone is." "Didn't take you for a religious girl." "Yeah." "My old boy was a priest." "Said it was just like being a soldier." "Both do a lot of things on faith." "Yeah." "We both get to burn twice, too." "Once here, then in Hell." "Why don't you police up any med supplies we got downstairs?" "Any time now is just fine, nurse." "Go on." "Your move, by the way." "Nice." "You're gonna have me in trouble pretty quick by this rate." "Bet you'd talk to her if she bent down and touched her toes, eh, big lad?" "Checkmate?" "Just slipped on some loose gold, eh?" " How is our comm situation?" " Not good, Tops." "Not since you ripped the battery out backwards." "There's a radio room back there you can cut into." "Detail Prior on him and see if you can scare us up enough to get back online." "Whoever shot you is still out there and I don't want to be deaf." "Your men need to grow up." "That's a nine mil hollow-point." "Now, a shell like this is gonna push your lungs clean through your spine." "Leave an exit wound big enough to jump through." "You're gonna talk sooner or later, Gunst." "And it's gonna be to me." "So, this is what all the fuss is about?" "What is it?" " The last 18 years of my life." " This?" "It may not look like much right now, but this could be the Holy Grail of physics." "I never really trusted science." "Well, there are four forces that control matter." "The key has been trying to find how those forces interact." "If we can do that, then we can explain the behavior of all the substance in the universe." "Einstein coined a phrase, unified field theory." "Many people thought he was close to finding a solution." "But when he saw the atomic bomb tests at Trinity, he abandoned the research and destroyed his notes." "Nobody has even come close to finding a solution since." "So you came all the way out here because you think that the Nazis..." "Were working on the same thing." "I think this machine was designed to manipulate a unified field." "And that chamber above it where you found the bodies, was built to control the resultant energy, contain it." " Why?" " The Germans were trying to win a war." "But with this technology, its application and impact in the modern world would be" "Iimitless." "And probably priceless." "Mr. Hunt, is that you, sir?" "You okay?" "What's the matter?" "You look like I fucked your sister." "You ain't gonna get an answer, you know." "Shut up!" "Killed a man once, asked for two things." "When he was done crying for his mama, he begged for his God." "And you know what the answer was?" "A bullet." "See..." "That bright light..." "It ain't Heaven, son." "It's just a muzzle flare." "Hey." "Listen." "Fucking love culture." "Mac, turn that shit off!" "Incoming!" "Contact!" " How many?" " Fuck knows!" "You, hold fast." "Stay down." "Pick your targets." "Mac, quarter left." "Cotter, quarter right." "Jesus!" "God damn it!" "Sound off." " One, okay." " Two, okay." " Three, okay." " Four, okay." " Six, okay." " Seven, okay." "Five." "Sound off." "Five?" " He's gone." " What the..." " Tak?" "Taktarov?" " No, stay down." "Voyteche." "What happened?" " I don't know." "The wind..." " Tak!" " Where the fuck is he?" " Maybe he done a runner down the bunker." " Maybe they took him." " Tak!" "How close did they get in?" "Prior, check the perimeter." "No way they got that close." "Too much open ground." "What, the wind and light show didn't distract you?" "Wire ain't touched." "The Claymores are intact." " They didn't even get close." " So he ran." "No." "He didn't run." "Fuckers must really want a piece of that gold." "There is no gold." "All right, hold fast." " Top?" " Later, Jordan." "Sir." "I've been holding this." "The round I dug out of Mac's arm." "An old 7.62, huh?" "Yeah, except look at it." "There's no way it could have been fired, it's totally wasted." "You sure?" "Trust me, that could never have cleared a barrel's end." "This, Tak, that cross, and before..." "Jesus, 18 hours ago this was an easy ride." "Aye, and 36 hours ago you could handle anything." "Now wind your bloody neck in!" "Sir." "Fuck with me." "Please." " Which one?" " Tak." "Whoever took him left that." "This was a Nazi bunker, DC." "There are plenty of relics here." "See where that's decayed?" "That should have killed the man firing it." "Instead we pulled it out of Mac's arm." "Your team can function with a man down, right?" "Oh, sure." "Maybe you'd like to shoulder arms and come and sample the fucked up weather and light show we've been having as well, eh?" " Weather and lights?" " Yeah, fireworks and a wind." "Well, like nothing I've ever experienced before." "Things happen in the field, but..." "Ludicrous." "Well, trust me, after what I've just seen, nothing is ludicrous." "Maybe he took it himself." "Or whoever took him left it." "Right." "So whoever they are, wear the lron Cross and are fucking invisible to you, eh?" "Mac, think about it." "Behind the wire." "Oh, come on, you've seen that complex." "They could be right beneath us." " We cleared it." " Did we?" "We're in charge." "The Third Reich was renowned for dabbling with the occult." "Fantasy blending with scientific research." "Field theory would have been perfect for them." "An equation that could bend space and time." "Potentially alter reality." "They were running some kind of trials on these soldiers." "Exposing them to the energy harnessed in that chamber above." "Why?" "Honestly, I think they were trying to enhance the men." "Enhance them?" "Theoretically, the human body could become fused, disappear." "Interwoven with the magnetic fields themselves." "The Americans tried something similar in '43." "An attempt was made to render a warship, the USS Eldridge, invisible, using Einstein's theories." "The Philadelphia Experiment." "Urban myth has it they were partially successful." "I think the Nazis were attempting something similar." "Maybe even more ambitious." "A soldier that was invulnerable, unstoppable." "You're not serious?" "They were." "An Army that could travel thousands of miles, and nobody would be any the wiser until it materialized at the gates of the White House." "Well, that's great." "But as far as I remember, the Germans lost the war." "And I don't think we're fighting a bunch of pensioners, do you?" "In theory, the men could still be trapped within the fields." "They would only resurface when the fields are disrupted, like, by us." "In English." "All existence is nothing more than vibration." "For years, those who believe have claimed that apparitions are merely ripples in electro-magnetic fields." " Echoes of a previous vibration." " Apparitions, you mean ghosts?" "You need help, really." "Fucking ghosts?" "Ten minutes ago you were talking about magic bullets and men who vanished into thin air." "So, fuck your Nobel Prize!" "I'm pulling the plug right now." "Start packing." " You can't do that." " Oh, you watch me." "No, you really can't do that." "Sometimes it's not the bullets that kill you." "It's the orders." "I was surprised some of your men had loved ones." "You ran us through." "There was no exaggeration in what I said before." "This machine could be worth billions." "The backers have assets in lnterpol." "They'll go after the families first, yours and mine!" "I've told the financiers." " Another team's been dispatched." " How long?" "They're moving as fast as they can." "Please, I have a little child." "Fucking hell are they doing to him?" "They're playing with some black dice now." "They say you can feel them." "The bad ones, you know?" "How you know that?" " Been talking to the dead?" " I've seen some things, I'll tell you that." "But this, this shit is just fucking weird, eh?" "I wouldn't know." "Never lived another way." "Yeah?" "Well, where I come from, a lad doesn't join the British Army." "Not a good son, anyway." "I held my first AK-47 when I was five." "Fired it at nine." "I make my first clean kill when I was 15." "Families forgive." "But one thing I know, there's no motherfucker care less about us right now." "Fuck!" "No way." "No fucking way did someone get past us to do this." " He's right." "Wire is intact." " Because they did it." " Who the fuck are "they"?" " Oh, come on Mac." " You've seen something, I know you have." " No such thing." "No such what?" " They put an empty in Tak's fucking skull!" " Jordan." "To fuck with reason!" "These are no ordinary guys." "Think!" " That Nazi shit." "The bullet in his arm!" " Shut it." "Oh, come on, Christ!" "They've punched his head into a fucking canoe here!" "Brass knuckles." "Savages have got skills, I'll give you that." " Put them in their ponchos." " It's a message." "They own this place." "That's enough." "We pull out." " We can't leave." " We can and we are." "We'll never make it through those trees alive." "And even if we could, then the financiers would..." " You know what happens if we leave." " I'll take my chances." "You won't have any chance unless you start listening!" " I think that..." "If we could only get..." " Enough!" "...the machine online, then maybe..." "We've been compromised by a superior force and we are pulling out." "You think a normal enemy would do that?" "I've seen worse." "You certainly will unless you start to listen." "Fine." "You want to stay?" "Go ahead." "Didn't think so." "...For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory for ever and ever." "Amen." "What, you really believe that shite?" "Like there's, you know, after?" "I know a man's soul deserves to rest in peace." "We gave up that right when we started killing men who believed in things for money." "Boy has got it." "Yeah, right, well, meantime..." "I've got bills to pay in the real world, eh?" "Cotter." "Hunt's busy playing fuckwit down there." "Go and police him up, will you?" "The rest of you, I want out of here within the hour." "You prick." "Mr. Hunt, I've been ordered to get you mobile, sir." "You wouldn't be in such a hurry if you knew what was out there." "And what is that?" " We're all going to die." " Right." "Of boredom." "Listening to you whine and complain." "Run!" " Are we good?" " What about Tak and Voyteche?" " It's too much weight to carry." " And him?" "Fuck him!" "Shots fired!" "Clear!" " Where's the contact?" " Engine room, now!" "Christ, come on, this way!" "Shit." "Fuck!" "Oh, Jesus." "All right." "All right." "Someone want to tell me what the fuck he's talking about?" " Thinks we're being stalked by dead Nazis." " Ghosts?" "I didn't get shot by some fucking spectral entity, here." "These things are solid." "But the one that killed Cotter vanished right in front of us." "So why don't they swoop down here like God's own wrath and take us out right here and now, then, eh?" "I don't know." "Maybe God's not in on this miracle." "What difference does it make?" "We're fucked." "You said that, that machine of yours was made to control them." "Not control, contain." "But they obviously got the maths wrong." "You know, for a smart man, you don't say much of anything useful, do you?" "Now, the last time you found yourself dealing with the undead, what did you do?" "Fuck this bullshit." "There ain't nothing but men out there." "Jesus, Prior, why don't you just admit it?" "It's real simple." "I can't see it, I don't believe in it." "You don't believe in the dark?" "How much you want to believe, right now?" "You take a life, you take it for good." "There ain't nothing waiting on you." "Got it?" "Okay, okay." "Fuck." "Okay." "Bring it on." "By early 1945, the party was over." "The war was essentially lost, and the German military machine was falling apart." "All the files show that the SS sent in a unit to shut this place down." "And as far as I can see, nobody walked out alive." "So does your instruction manual say what the fuck these things want?" "Want?" "They don't want anything." "They just do what they were trained to do." "They kill." "Those bodies we found..." "Those were their bodies?" "That might explain why they stayed with the machine." "Any consciousness that remains might believe that their only chance" " to live again is through it." " Guys." "Yeah, that or they're just the last poor fuckers to walk through this bone-yard." "Guys!" "Motherfuck!" " Prior!" " Where the hell is he..." " Well, that worked." " So we can kill them, right?" "His brains are all over the wall." "That's good enough for me." "Oh, you're humming my balls!" "Oh, shit!" " What was that?" " Jesus." " Fuck!" " Mac?" "Mac!" "Oh, Christ." "You fucks!" "You fucking animals." "Fuck you all!" "Why us, huh?" " Why us?" " Why not?" "Always the same answer, isn't it?" "Take a look, all of you." "You're no different to them out there." "Men who once had a purpose, and now have nothing but death." " Except we're not dead." " Give it up." "They're gonna tear us to pieces here." "All of us." "They can try." "When it's operating fully, it emits a high-pitch frequency that within a certain radius might act as a counterbalance, neutralizing..." "Blah-fucking-blah." "Can we use it to stop these things?" "Do you mind?" "Those of us with brain cells are trying to think." " I'll do you..." " Listen to the man." "If it was designed to contain them, then, theoretically, if I can get it going, and you can get them in close, we could trap them, and leave ourselves an exit out of this mess, maybe." " How close?" " I'd say 20, 30 meters." " ls he having a fucking laugh?" " You have a better idea?" "But I don't know if I've got enough power." "Maybe if I can hard-wire the current from that generator..." "But we're gonna need some time to get the sort of levels we're gonna need." "Also, the machine was designed to be operated by three men." " I'm gonna have to work it on my own." " I'll buy you time." "And how exactly are we supposed to get them in here?" "They want soldiers," "let's give them soldiers." "We've got to lure them in." "So, we use ourselves as bait, and then run a controlled retreat and bring them with us." "I want fall-back positions every 50 feet." "We need wire out there, funnel them in." "Double up on the anti-personnel mines all along the tree line." "When they come, we need to draw them in, close as possible." "Then, fall back in stages on me." "We need to shore up all the corridors." "Take them only where we want them to go." "Hold your positions for as long as possible." "Keep them interested." "But don't overeXtend your positions and get yourselves caught." "I want your eyes open, your movements clean and your fire accurate." "Now, we're not gonna get them to that cell, so, take them to the engine." " The closer, the better." " What if Hunt can't get it done?" "What if they spring out of thin air right behind us?" "Then we're fucked." "Use what you can, whatever way you can." "Keep your focus." "Balance is everything." "Don't fall back too late, don't fall back too soon." " We need to draw them in." " But they're fucking unstoppable." "Right." "So were we, once." "Never did care much for the great outdoors." "Yeah." "Ain't like we were gonna do good things for the rest of our lives." "Fuck, we killed most everybody else." "I figure it's about time we touched gloves with some Nazis, huh?" "You know the one thing they don't teach you in basic?" "No matter how bad things get, there's always time for another joint." "So, what do you do when you're not being a soldier of fortune?" "Drink." "You know, in every culture, they believe all the souls of the men you killed" "haunt you for eternity." "Guess that's us fucked, eh?" "Okay." "I think she's ready." "I really don't know how long it'll take to generate enough power." "Well, keep the door locked until I come back and knock it down." "You do know how to use this?" "Hail Mary, full of Grace..." "Weapons free." "Fall back on my command." "Hold your fire." "Hold." "Easy." "Hold." "Hold." "Firing!" "Fall back!" "Moving!" "They're coming!" "Contact!" " Sarge!" " Jordan!" "Moving!" "Top, set." "Moving!" " Bring it on!" " Prior, set." "Moving!" "Holding." "Holding." "Holding." " Fall back!" " Moving!" "Set!" "Prior." "Prior!" "Fall back!" "Move!" "Move it, move it!" " Hunt, come on!" " Hunt?" "Hunt?" "Move!" "Set?" "Last stop!" "Do it now, for fuck's sake!" "Right!" "Come on!" "We fucking did it!" "Hunt?" "It's time to leave, Mr. Hunt." "Smart moves." "No." "Shift it!" " Moving!" " Shit!" "Sarge." "It's not gonna work." "We're gonna have to find another way out." "Where?" "There." "Get me up." "Well, go on, then." "Clear." "Fuck." "Check this out." "I think I might have got one breathing here!" " Unit two reporting one survivor." " Copy that." "What the fuck is that?"