"huff...huff...huff."
Henrick's ragged breathing softly echoes down the toilet hall while the entrance is clogged by dozens of mutated bodies. He relishes the feeling as dark purple mist enters and strengthens every cell. "Is that all of them?" he says as he shakes his muscles to loosen the tension from the earlier fight.
The soldier listens carefully for any movement outside. Satisfied that there is none, Henrick carefully removes the mutated corpses, keeping his ears sharp throughout. His muscles protest the exertion as he works to free himself from his impromptu battle site.
Once free, he stealthily makes his way to the mall proper and eases up, pleased that the horde seems to have disappeared. Henrick tightens his bag straps as he looks around for any sign of his companions. He makes his way to the fifth floor, and notes that the dead body of the tendril creature seems to be melting back into the hole it made.
He suddenly whirls around as he catches a rod of metal aimed at his head. He stares at his attacker and sees a woman holding a baby. Fear flashes through her eyes as she lets go. "Please...please, I just want some food. Please don't hurt me." she pleads, clutching her baby tighter to her body. The infant miraculously staying asleep throughout the whole ordeal.
Henrick's face remains impassive as he clenches his fist. "Why did you attack me?" he asks, his voice carrying a subtle edge of steel. The woman shrinks back and closes her eyes as she whimpers. "I'm terrified! I don't know what to do, help me please!!" she whispers harshly, falling to her knees.
Henrick sighs and walks away, and the woman takes it as a sign that he agreed. "Thank you so much! I'm Helen." she says as her mood seems to shift almost instantly. The soldier frowns, suspicion evident in his gaze. He releases an imperceptible electric field that covers himself and Helen, doing so instinctively. He observes that his body glows with electric currents, as does hers. The child, however, is a lifeless and dull black
The soldier looks at the child and seethes, anger simmering from the depths of his being. "So you drag around a deceased infant? I'm gonna kill you!!" he growls as electricity pulses in his eyes, ready to be unleashed. Helen's face suddenly freezes, her body stilling as she remains kneeling. "How did you know?" she says, her voice soft as can be and barely audible.
Helen stands and grins maniacally as she tosses the infant behind her, laughing as it hits the ground with a meaty thump. "Hihi, I always wanted to be a mother. Not as fun as everyone made it out to be." her face becomes even more manic, her skin cracking with flames spewing out. "You know how tiring it is to hold a child for the whole - urkk!!" her words are interrupted as Henrick shoots a bolt of electricity at her chest that sends her over the railing. He immediately gives chase and leaps down, catching up to Helen and grabbing her neck. They plummet and smash through an escalator, sending sparks and debris flying.
Henrick unleashes blow after blow that only seems to make Helen smile even wider, culminating into a fiery blast from her mouth that pushes Henrick away. "AHH, fuck!!" he screams as he gets pushed onto the 1st floor of the mall.
With a sickening THUD, Helen smashes into a statue on the ground floor, shattering it in the process. She lays limp and battered as Henrick gets up and checks his chest, noting the already regenerating flesh. With a grunt, he leaps down from the 1st floor and stomps down heavily on her chest.
An electrical shockwave blasts out as the fire user is shocked back into consciousness. "I'm not fucking done with you!!" he shouts as he repeatedly stomps down. The satisfying crunch of bone echoes through the empty mall, the blows seeming to shake the very floor.
Helen gasps out in pain and releases a blast of flames around her body. "Get off of me!!" she screams as the blast forces Henrick to disengage and pat down his pants to stop it from burning. The fire user stands up shakily and glares at Henrick, flames dancing on her arms.
"I'm going to love it when you scream for me!!" she shrieks as she uses the flames to propel herself towards Henrick, who rolls away and sneers as Helen slams into a stationary store. She quickly gathers herself and lunges forward once more, her entire body wreathed in flames.
The soldier bursts forward, stunning her with an arc of electricity, and lands a haymaker that displaces the air, fracturing her jaw. Helen hurtles through the air and lands heavily on the ground, blood pouring out from her mouth as she raggedly gasps.
Henrick shakes his smoking hand as he approaches the flame user and punts her head, sending her rolling across the floor. Henrick walks up to her, grabs her legs, and drags her to the shattered statue. With a heave, he slams her hard on the shattered foundation, eliciting a scream of pain and a fountain of blood from her mouth.
"Wait...wait!!! You wouldn't...kill a defenceless... woman, would you?" she wheezes, weakly scrambleing backwards, her lungs collapsed. Henrick says nothing as he stands over her.
Without a word, he stomps down on her head, again and again, his eyes flashing in rage. A few moments pass as he watches Helen grasping at his foot placed on top of her head, a ruthless smile playing on his lips. Slowly, almost gently, he starts increasing the pressure.
Helen's movements become frantic as she realises what Henrick wants to do. "No!! Are you insane?! Please don't kill me!!" she screams in desperation, her face twisted in fear. Henrick, however, remains silent as he starts hearing the sound of fracturing bones. Helen's head slowly deforms under the brutal press and blood leaks out profusely, staining the ground.
Her head pops as Henrick's foot slams into the ground, cratering it. Henrick spits on the corpse and nurses his burned chest, agony rippling through his body as flesh knits back together.
Suddenly, a tremor shakes the very building, shaking dust loose from the upper floors. The soldier looks upwards as his eyes light up. "So they went up. Hold on." he says as he rushes upwards, his bare feet still slick with blood and brain matter.
Father David unleashes a deafening blast of concussive force, all forms of holding back relinquished, that liquifies a mutated creature's internal organs as they reach the roof of the mall. "We've run out of floors, Selene! Whatever you're thinking, better do it now!!" he shouts as he sustains a concussive blast that keeps the mutated creatures from entering through the rooftop entrance.
Selene looks out and takes a knee in defeat, all the fight having left her body, and turns to the priest. "I'm sorry, I thought the building next to the mall was closer. Everything seems to have shifted. It's too far." she apologises as her ears droop in sadness.
Father David's nose starts to bleed as the vibrations of his own attacks start affecting him. "Don't give up!! Just hold on until Henrick comes!!" he shouts, his face set in a determined frown. Selene clenches her fist and unleashes bolt after bolt of magical energy. A particularly fast creature, with a feline like body structure, gets past the priest's weakening force blasts.
It stabs forward with five clawed fingers and pierces into the Father's leg, eliciting a shout of pain that further excites the monsters. Selene conjures an ethereal blade and stabs into the monster's chest, then ruthlessly kicks it off the roof, and watches as it plummets towards the ground below.
Tentacles suddenly crawl up from the side of the buildings and swipe aggressively towards the duo, coming close to striking then multiple times. "Maybe he didn't hear us?! What do we do, Selene?!" Father David asks as he continues keeping the mutated creatures at bay with concussive blasts, while his head begins to spin from the exertion at the same time.
Desperation suddenly creeps into both of their faces as the slowly get boxed in by the tentacles and mutated creatures, their bodies slowly failing. Out of nowhere, a large blast of electricity bounces from monster to monster, stunning and almost killing every single one. Henrick then slams bodily into the monster group trying to get through into the rooftop entrance.
"Why the hell did you guys go up?!" the soldier shouts as he rips a tentacle in half with his bare hands. With brutal efficiency, Henrick engages in close quarter combat that leaves Selene and Father David in shock.
Everything that came close to Henrick eventually turned into a pile of sizzling meat, its smell a horrible mix between rotten eggs and vomit. "What do we do now?! I can't go on forever!!" he screams, exhaustion starting to set into his muscles.
Father David does his best to recover while Selene steps forward to help. "I wanted us to jump to the next building, but the world shifted and now it's too far away!" she says as dozens of creatures are struck down. Henrick disengages and gauges the distance between the mall and the nearest building.
"This...this is gonna suck!" Henrick shouts as he explodes outwards with electricity, granting the group a momentary reprieve from the horde and tentacles. Selene and Father David's eyes widen in alarm as Henrick's body starts emmiting arcs of electricity, his veins pulsing with an electric blue glow.
The soldier clenches his fist as he feels liquid lightning streaking through his veins, enhancing his physical capabilities. Without warning, he bursts forward, grabbing Selene and Father David with one arm each. He places them on his shoulder and accelerates as fast as he can, pushing himself to the limit.
The mutated creatures recover and give chase, their own speed almost a blur to the normal human eye. With a roar, Henrick leaps of the edge of the rooftop with all of his strength. The trio fly through the air, time seeming to slow down, as the monsters slash and bite after them.
"FUUUUUUUU-" Father David shouts as they start descending and crash into the building windows. The street is filled with the sound of breaking glass, and the thuds of mutated creatures falling onto the ground below. The trio roll and skip unceremoniously across the new building and slam through a wall.
They lay there in the debris, dust and concrete surrounding them. "We are never doing that again..." Selene groans as she clutches her elbow.
.
.
.
.
.
.
END