"Revive? Hell no. This is straight-up murder. Sobody killed the coroner and stole the body."
"We can't stay here. We need to move. Now."
The coroner's mutilated corpse had clearly shattered whatever was left of Holden's nerve.
He ignored Luke's sarcasm completely. All he wanted was to get his people out of this graveyard.
"Warden Holden, if I were you, I wouldn't do that."
Holden spun on him like he'd been slapped.
"Are you out of your fucking mind? There's been a murder! We have to get out of here right now!"
Luke grabbed him by both shoulders and locked eyes.
"Warden, turn around and count how many people we actually have."
Holden flinched, then the words finally sank in.
He looked back at the fifty-plus inmates and twenty-plus guards standing behind them.
In his panic he'd completely lost his head.
He wiped the sweat off his face, forced a laugh, and tried to sound like a warden again.
"Shit. I forgot we got this many. Fuck it—even if every psycho from the supermax is loose, we can still round them up."
Luke's reminder snapped him back into command mode.
He started barking orders, sending n to strip the morgue of every usable supply they could carry back to the temporary base.
While everyone scrambled, Luke caught another faint whisper of that eerie chanting.
Bad sign.
The thought barely ford before a raw, bloodcurdling scream ripped through the dig site.
Everyone rushed over—and froze.
At the bottom of the deepest pit, a rail-thin inmate had his teeth buried in another man's neck. Blood sprayed in thick arcs across the rubble.
The crowd surged in, grabbing and pulling, but the madman had impossible strength. No one could tear him loose.
"Everybody back! Now!"
Luke's voice cut through the panic. He shoved forward, yanked the Glock from his waistband, and pressed the barrel flush against the biter's skull.
Bang!
The panel flashed.
[Police Marksmanship: 1 XP]
[Police Marksmanship: 10 XP]
One point for the shot. Ten for the kill.
Luke understood imdiately—this specialty leveled fast.
Arica never ran short on guns or bullets.
He looked down at the two bodies.
The biter was gone. The man he'd attacked had bled out in seconds.
Luke had just killed a man and felt nothing. No nausea. No guilt.
That thing hadn't been human anymore. Just a rabid animal in skin. Putting it down felt like stepping on a roach.
"Luke, what the fuck happened?"
Holden arrived with more guards, face tight.
A nearby guard explained fast.
"Warden, we were digging when that freak crawled out of the hole and went straight for the nearest throat. Luke dropped him."
Holden frowned at the pit, about to speak—
"Wait."
Luke raised a hand for silence.
From deep in the tunnel ca the sound of frantic digging… and low, broken muttering.
"That sound…"
Luke's face went cold.
Holden heard it too. His expression drained of color.
"He broke through to the supermax wing. Those psychos are still alive down there."
Luke grabbed a flashlight and shone it into the darkness.
"The underground cells were built like tanks. Almost no damage. That glass wall took most of the blast."
Holden listened, growing paler by the second.
"So every serial killer and twisted fuck we had locked away is still breathing."
Even with their numbers, the news hit hard.
The inmates who'd been digging lost it instantly.
"Warden, you saying the whole underground is crawling with crazies now?"
"Maybe we should just get the hell out while we can."
"Yeah! Smart man knows when to fold. Let's bury the hole and call it a day. Those scumbags dying down there is a public service!"
They all started pleading with Holden at once.
Nobody wanted to tangle with a bunch of serial killers—especially not now.
Luke listened to the chanting rising from below and shook his head.
"Whatever we do now, it's already too late."
The words were barely out when a deep rumble rolled up from the depths.
Inhuman howls followed—raw, animal screams of pure madness.
Luke's blood ran cold.
"Fall back! The heavy offenders have completely lost it—they're breaking out!"
Right on cue, pale arms shot out of the hole.
Then a bloody head erged, face twisted in terror and rage.
"It's so fucking dark down here! I can't stay in this shithole!"
"Help ! Sobody help !"
The collapse had shattered what little sanity the supermax prisoners had left.
One after another they clawed their way into the light, roaring and lunging at the nearest targets.
Luke dropped the first one charging him with a clean headshot.
[Police Marksmanship: 11 XP]
Then he saw another psycho slam a guard to the ground, mouth open for a bite.
Luke sprinted, grabbed the madman by the back of his collar, and hurled him like a sack of potatoes.
The strength surprised even him.
He glanced at his hands, then at the psycho crumpled ten feet away, struggling to rise.
No doubt about it—his body had gotten a lot stronger.
He spun toward the chaos and shouted.
"Listen up! Don't be scared—these freaks have been locked underground too long. They've got no brains left!"
"Don't fight them one-on-one! Pair up with the nearest person—groups of three! Use numbers to pin them down!"
The order spread fast.
Anyone still thinking clearly snapped into action. They found buddies, ford tight groups, and started wrestling the crazies into submission.
Just when they thought they had control—
Screams erupted from the rear.
Luke whipped around.
There he was—the big guy. The one who'd gone missing.
Wearing the coroner's face like a grotesque mask, scalpel in hand, he was gliding through the crowd from behind, slicing throats with surgical precision.
In seconds they were caught in a pincer.
Two fronts. Both lethal.
Luke gritted his teeth, weighing the threats.
Front: dozens of mindless psychos, temporarily held.
Back: one resurrected killer thodically butchering their people.
No contest.
"Holden! You and the others hold the front! I'll handle the big guy!"
Luke didn't wait for an answer.
Glock in hand, he charged straight into the slaughter behind them.
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