The flickering gas lamps cast long, dancing shadows across the faces of the scavenging team as they prepared to venture into the Tiergarten. It had been a week since the Citadel had officially expanded its radius of exploration, prompted by the dwindling supplies of scrap metal closer to their Berlin refuge. The Tiergarten, once Berlin's green lung, was now a blighted zone, a testament to the GCE's destructive power. Stories whispered among the Citadel's residents spoke of grotesque creatures lurking within its overgrown paths, beings twisted and warped by the contamination.