Even with the dark flesh covering the city, everything remained eerily silent, and not a single infected in sight.
By now, Cade and the others had already sensed it, sothing was wrong. Still, they kept moving. The mission ca first.
Suddenly, Kael’s eyes sharpened. He raised a hand, signaling the team.
In an instant, everyone reacted. They broke formation, slipping into cover, behind abandoned cars, pressed against walls, bodies low and still.
A second later, faint movent echoed from above.
Then... "Ahhhhhh...!"
The sound rang out, multiple voices overlapping into one distorted scream.
The team stiffened as their ears picked up the direction imdiately.
Thud. Thud. Heavy impacts followed as sothing leapt across rooftops, closing in fast.
Carefully, each of them leaned just enough to peek. Then they saw it.
Perched on a nearby rooftop was a massive four-legged creature. Its body was large and twisted, its movents fast despite its size as it scanned below.
"What the hell is that..." Raya muttered under her breath. Then, through the comms, "It can mimic a human voice. Captain... is this our target?"
Cade watched it calmly, his expression unchanged even in front of its size and presence.
"No," he said flatly. "Just another mutation."
After a brief pause, he spoke once more. "Cassian, take it out."
Cassian didn’t reply. He had already moved.
By the ti anyone might have noticed, he was gone from his original position, reappearing on a higher balcony of a nearby building. He settled low, his sniper rifle braced steadily against the wall.
A soft, controlled thud echoed from his position, barely louder than a light tap on tal. At the sa ti, the bullet struck.
It tore into the creature’s head, ripping a large chunk clean off. The impact sent it stumbling off the rooftop, crashing onto the ground below with a heavy thud.
"One round per target... that should be enough," Cassian murmured, a wide smile forming on his lips. But the smile faded almost imdiately.
The creature twitched... then pushed itself back up, part of its head missing.
"Pfft. You call that one bullet?" Kael’s voice crackled through the comms, amused. "Need a hand?"
Cassian’s eyes narrowed. Nothing had ever survived a clean shot from him.
Without hesitation, he fired again. And the second shot hit true, straight through the creature’s eye.
It staggered, but instead of dropping, it let out a distorted roar. Then its head snapped upward, locking onto Cassian’s position, drawn by the faint sound of the shots.
With a sudden burst of speed, the creature moved. It leaped onto a nearby car, crushing the tal under its weight, then charged forward, rushing straight toward the building.
"You want to play?" Cassian murmured. "Then co."
He didn’t move. Didn’t even shift his stance, steady and unshaken, as the massive creature closed the distance.
Suppressed shots rang out in quick succession, each one precise, each one landing cleanly on the creature’s head even as it darted forward at high speed.
If Jaxon had seen it, he would’ve been stunned, this level of control and accuracy was far beyond his own.
The creature didn’t stop. It rushed straight toward Cassian, reaching the base of the building in seconds. It crouched, ready to leap... then its body gave out.
It collapsed with a heavy thud as more than half its head was gone, dark blood spilling across the ground.
Cassian lowered his rifle slightly, his gaze cold. ’Eight rounds...’ he noted silently. ’That’s how much it took from this rifle.’
"Cassian, get out of there now." Cade’s voice cut through his thoughts.
Cassian paused for a split second, then looked around. That was when he felt it. A faint tremor from the ground below.
Far off, the echoes of movent began to spread through the city. The echoes of gunfire and the creature’s earlier screech had shattered the silence of the city.
Cassian moved imdiately, pushing off the balcony and making his way down without hesitation. Within seconds, he regrouped with the others, falling into stride beside them.
"Kael, what do you see?" Cade asked as they ran.
Kael’s voice ca through. "No visuals yet... but sothing’s coming."
A split second later...
"Spread out!" Cade shouted.
The team reacted instantly, breaking formation.
The concrete block slamd into the ground where they had just been, shattering on impact. Pieces of rock burst outward, scattering across the street.
High above them, on the rooftop of a ten-floor building, a variant stood motionless, watching them.
A single shot rang out.
The bullet tore through its face, dropping it instantly. Its body tumbled off the rooftop and hit the ground below with a dull thud.
"Clear," Cassian’s voice ca calmly through the comms.
But the mont didn’t last. The ground began to tremble, low at first, then stronger. And a deep roar followed, echoing through the empty streets.
Ahead of them, the cars ahead were suddenly shoved aside as sothing large forced its way through. tal scraped and bent as a hulking infected burst into view, charging straight toward Cade.
Cade didn’t flinch. He adjusted the launcher on his shoulder, the weapon locking into place with a soft click. A faint glow ran along its side as it calibrated.
"Target locked," he said calmly.
The launcher fired with a deep, controlled thump, no flash or roar.
A second later, the street ahead exploded. The hulking infected was torn apart mid-charge, its body blown into pieces as the blast swallowed everything around it.
"Stand in my way... see what happens," Cade murmured.
For a mont, everything went quiet again. The trembling stopped.
Smoke slowly drifted through the street, revealing nothing but scattered flesh and debris.
"That was clean, Captain," Lyra said with a grin, giving his shoulder a quick slap.
"I..."
Then the ground ahead suddenly burst open. The road split apart as a large hole ford where the explosion had just been.
From the hole, sothing shot upward fast.
An infected lunged straight up from the crater, but before it could move further, Kael’s submachine gun barked in short, controlled bursts, tearing it apart before it could land.
"Move!" Cade shouted. The team did not hesitate. They ran at once, weaving through corners and broken debris.
Behind them, the crater widened. Then more ca out.
Dozens of grasshopper-like infected began pouring out, their limbs snapping and clawing as they flooded onto the streets.
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