Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions filled the room. Gunfire echoed without pause. The floor shook as blast after blast hit the creature, but Cade didn’t call it off.
"Keep firing!"
They didn’t stop. More rounds, more explosives, everything poured into the target.
Through the smoke and fire, Cassian’s eyes narrowed. His voice cut through the chaos, sharp and urgent. "Captain... it’s still..."
He didn’t get to finish. From the center of the explosions, sothing shot out. Tentacles burst out, lashing forward at terrifying speed.
"Move!" Cade raised his shotgun, firing point-blank to block, but the impact still sent him flying backward, his body slamming hard against the wall.
Lyra and Kael tried to evade, but the strikes were too fast, both were caught mid-motion and thrown aside like ragdolls.
Cassian reacted the quickest. He dodged the first strike and fired back, but the tentacle twisted unnaturally, changing direction mid-air. It slamd straight into his chest, and a heavy crack echoed as he was launched across the ground.
Raya wasn’t thrown. The mont the tentacles reached her, they coiled around her body, tightening instantly.
"AHHHHHH!"
Her scream tore through the air as the pressure built, the tendrils crushing down on her, squeezing tighter and tighter.
At the center of the blast, everything had been reduced to ruin, twisted tal, shattered concrete, scorched ground.
Everything... except one thing. A mass, curled into itself like a ball, wrapped in thick, pale flesh.
The creature that should have been torn apart by the explosions remained intact. Only patches of its outer layer were burned, with minor damage scattered across its surface.
"You’ve got to be kidding ..." Cassian muttered under his breath. Their weapons weren’t ordinary. They were high-tech rifles, built to tear through targets. And yet... the creature didn’t even flinch.
"Pull back!" Cade’s voice cut through sharply. He pushed himself off the ground, blood trailing from the corner of his lips.
One by one, the others forced themselves up. Pain shot through their bodies, at least a few broken bones each, but they moved anyway.
"Raya... she’s..." Lyra’s voice broke as she staggered forward.
Raya’s body was already wrapped in thick, writhing tendrils of pale flesh. Her body was barely visible now as they crushed around her. Her screams were weaker, but still there.
Lyra tried to reach her... But it was too late. The tendrils snapped back, dragging Raya with them.
"No!" Lyra scread, lunging forward. Kael rushed in and grabbed her, pulling her back.
"Move!"
Cade and Cassian didn’t stop firing. Shotgun blasts and rifle rounds slamd into the creature, but every shot was absorbed by the thick mbrane surrounding it. The bullets barely made a dent.
"Lyra!" Cade’s voice cut through. "Get yourself together and cover us!"
Lyra froze for a split second. Then she clenched her teeth. "...Damn it."
With a sharp motion, she pulled out a smoke grenade and threw it. Smoke burst outward, quickly swallowing the area in thick gray haze.
"Go!"
The team moved, retreating fast, pushing through the pain as they forced their way out of the kill zone.
From the smoke curling along the floor, the creature slowly peeled back the flesh-like mbrane wrapped around its body. Multiple eyes opened at once, all locking onto the retreating agents.
It didn’t chase, it didn’t move, it simply watched.
Then its mouth split open, lined with uneven teeth and a voice erged, warped between sothing human and sothing monstrous.
"Humans... You seek to destroy what you do not understand." The sound echoed through the room. "...you can’t escape. You breathe it, you carry it, you are already part of it."
Cade, mid-run, slowed for a fraction of a second and glanced back with narrowed eyes.
He heard it clearly, they all did. That thing... had just spoken.
"Keep moving!" he snapped, forcing himself forward again. "Kael, get the chopper on comms, now."
Kael was already reaching for his radio as he ran. "On it."
Behind them, Lyra’s voice ca out tight, shaken. "Raya... she got taken by that thing..."
No one answered. Cade’s jaw clenched. The others said nothing, but the tension in their movents said enough.
Then, just as they reached the exit... A shadow dropped from above.
"Contact!" Kael reacted instantly, barely twisting out of the way as a crawler launched at him, only missing him by inches. "Shit...!"
Before it could recover, Cade drew a pistol from his waist and fired. One clean shot and the crawler dropped, lifeless.
"Stay sharp!" Cade barked. "We head for a rooftop and send the signal from there."
They pushed forward, forcing their way out of the building and into the streets.
The mont they stepped out, the silence shattered. Shapes burst from every direction as a horde surged toward them.
They didn’t hesitate. Even with bruised bodies and aching ribs, they pushed forward, fighting their way through once more.
Without their full formation, the pressure was heavier. The grasshopper infected ca in waves, crashing into them as if they had been waiting just beyond the building.
"Don’t hold back," Cade said, voice steady despite the chaos. "We push through. Kael, find us a rooftop." He stepped forward and fired his shotgun, each blast clearing space ahead.
The rest moved with him. Lyra deployed smoke, the thick cover buying them seconds at a ti. Cassian provided overwatch, picking targets with clean precision. Kael stayed close to Cade, guiding their path while eliminating threats in their blind spots.
Step by step, they forced their way forward.
They ran, fought, and didn’t stop. At last, they reached a building and pushed inside, climbing fast. When they broke onto the rooftop, they were breathing hard, bodies tense but moving.
"The chopper should be here soon," Kael said, scanning the surroundings. "We just need to hold for a wh..."
He never finished as a massive chunk of concrete ca flying toward him.
"Kael...!"
BAM! The impact exploded near him, shards of rock tearing through the air. Kael was thrown back, his body hitting the ground hard as a pained groan escaped him.
"Kael!" Lyra shouted, panic breaking through her usual tone.
But it didn’t stop. Another chunk of debris ca hurtling toward them.
"Take cover!" Cassian barked.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
User Comments
0 comments from readers