36 Chapter 36
Dizziness muddled his mind as the environment around him spun. Melting into his bolted seat from the fatigue, PQ's motions remained stagnant.
When the beast yanked the heavy vehicle into the air, PQ felt his soul being segregated from his physical body, and his life flashed before his eyes. It wasn't necessarily because of the turbulence, nor was it because of the draining depletion of energy, but instead, more of the gemstone clogging his airway and nearly choking him to death.
Sitting amidst the chaos and wreckage, PQ blinked furiously to quell the vertigo attack. Playful stars danced across his vision, worsening PQ's migraine as a tumultuous battle waged on. Without PQ's constant repair, the attenuated armour of the vehicle could no longer withstand its own weight as it crumbled into a thin layer of scrap.
Ashy dust particles drifted uninvitedly into the vehicle as if seeking refugee from the rampage occurring outside. With a jarring hole on the surface of the vehicle, PQ was bestowed upon a first-class view of the riveting rivalry between man and monster.
Like how PQ's analysis has foretold, the supposedly, 'impeccable', formation has been breached.
Caught in the crossfire, dilapidated vehicles blemished the streets, humming a demoralizing tune as rogue bullets strummed against the fallen metallic behemoths.
A behemoth of flesh and bones trampled over a wounded soldier and drained its malformed fist at an innocent survivor who had just recently been rescued, squashing him like a feeble bug. Pulps of mush spattered across the gravel road.
As a concentration of flashlights targeted the beast, PQ finally witnessed the appearance of the monster who possessed those glowing yellow eyes.
Scrutinizing the rampant beast, PQ couldn't help but bring up the imagery of a Category 1 zombie. Similar in size, the beast hovered over the soldiers, nearly neck to neck in height with the tallest athlete in the Earth's history.
Despite possessing a humanoid form, the region where the human skull should exist was absent. Assimilated into its shoulder blades, an imperceptible bulge replaced the head. The humanoid monster grew no head nor neck, retaining just a flat, corpulent surface where the raw bulge centred. As it crawled on all fours like a mutated gorilla, its fidgeting facial features spread grotesquely across the bulge. Yet without a coating of fur furbishing its exposed skin, the monster felt more like a sentient battering ram, rather than an intelligent ape.
Due to the monster's absence of a pupil, PQ was unable to determine the direction of its chilling gaze. Without pupils moving or at least dilating, it was blatantly impossible to decipher its subsequent attacks.
Empty chrome yellow sclera stared hauntingly at the unknown. The only factor proving that it was a living being was the squirming veins on the surface of its eyes, as well as its drooling, gaping mouth.
"PQ! Snap out of it, we gotta leave now!" A small pair of hands unbuckled PQ's seatbelt as a soft feminine voice ushered PQ to evacuate the wreckage.
PQ reacted obtusely to Teresa due to his migraine, but he promptly loosened the safety strap around his waist as he scanned his surroundings.
An assortment of ammunition and equipment scattered inside the vehicles like seashells on a shore, depicting the tragedy that had fallen upon them. Perspiration slid down Raphael's face, drenching his beard while he dragged out a heavily injured soldier from the debris.
The soldier groaned in agony as his broken arm, bent 180 degrees in the opposite direction, crunched painfully.
"Raphael use your engineering brain! Make some casts or something." Teresa shouted out an order as she tossed a medical kit lying on the ground to Raphael.
Setting it down, Raphael scavenged through the medical supplies as he began to concoct a makeshift cast. "Charlie, keep rescuing survivors. I need to tend to the injured. Teresa, look for more useful pieces of equipment and aid me." He said as he directed the scene.
"Understood."
Teresa replied promptly as she dived into the wreckage to salvage further.
"Chloe come!" Under the guidance of his golden retriever, Charlie continued to search for survivors nearby.
The never-ending chaos clouded PQ's mind as an enlarging scarlet pool of blood entered his vision. Red tainted his shoe.
'I knew it! I knew it! I fucking knew something bad was gonna happen!' Cussing inwardly, PQ's eyes followed the gushing pool of blood.
Leaning lifelessly against the walls of the dilapidated vehicle, the soldier whom PQ had given a chocolate bar was no longer breathing. Under the shades of his helmet, PQ could vaguely see his soulless and empty eyes. A metal shard that had blown off during the collision had penetrated through the kind soldier's heart mercilessly, killing the poor soul in an instant.
A lone chocolate bar sat silently amid the puddle as blood poured profusely from the soldier's fatal wound.
The impactful visuals before PQ were exceptionally poignant, stimulating his recovering brain.
When the idea of joining the army first crossed his mind, he had only considered the benefits and growth he'd receive, but not so much of the repercussions.
He and the soldier were just engaging in a conversation not long ago, and within mere minutes, a man's life has forever vanished right before his eyes.
Was joining the military the right choice? PQ couldn't give himself a good answer. However, to gain access to the obelisk at the city center, the military was an unavoidable obstacle that he had to overcome. As Glen had informed him, the obelisk has by now been swarmed with government officials, the military and the police force. Judging from humanity's curious and ambitious nature, an alien structure spawning from outer space was obviously going to be extorted.
Despite being overexerted, the unknown energy coursing through PQ's veins heated up, as if it were deterring his doubts. Shaking his head violently for a quick wake up call, PQ steeled himself with determination.
Unless he had the strength to dominate over an entire city worth of military force, he would have to concede for now and humbly join the military.
"Where are the lieutenants! We need their assistance against this monster!"
"Communication is lost, Sergeant! The front carriages are under attack too!"
Army soldiers of varying rankings exchanged absolute orders and urgent information, attempting to reconnect with the main forces ahead of the parade while battling the beast.
However, everyone present understood the high chance of their lieutenants not returning as backup. As instructed by the high ups, the V.I.P was a top priority and they would continuously execute the escort mission at the expense of foot soldiers.
In other words, they were expendable. Unfortunate and cold-blooded as it may be, no one's safety can be completed guaranteed in an apocalypse.
Progressively, the bullet wounds and injuries embellishing the monster began to tally up. Bleeding in one eye, the half-blinded creature seemed to be losing the close battle as a rain of ammunition chipped off its durable flesh and skin. But without a main tank to sustain its attention, the myriad beams of flashlights dwindled as the monstrosity picked on the powerless soldiers one by one.
Smashing his steaming rifle onto the solid ground, one of the unassuming soldiers sprinted towards the rampaging beast at high velocity. Picking up a ragged metal shard that had peeled off from the shell of an armored vehicle during the initial collisions, he leaped into the air and jabbed it forcefully into the back of the distracted monster. This injury enraged the beast as it turned its abnormal and haunting head around, desperately searching for the attacker as its sickening eyes sparked.
After accomplishing this game-changing feat, the heroic soldier had quickly scurried away before the beast could target him, hiding under the cover of flying bullets as he blended into the crowds.
Mouth agape, this very scene stunned PQ to his core.
The random soldier who had severely injured the raging beast, although weaker than him, was clearly a superhuman like him. For some odd reason, he had been subconsciously categorizing himself amongst greats like Glen or the two powerful superhumans he had fought alongside at the supermarket.
If he thought deeper about it, who knew how many superhumans like him existed out there amongst the survivors of the 750 billion population on Terra!
So far, was he the strongest in this little city of his? No! No, he wasn't! If he doesn't compete more seriously with the rest of the world, how can he keep up with the rapid mutations of zombies! This realization instilled unrelenting fear.
"I am not special!" PQ screamed inwardly, quelling the fear in his brain.
"I am just like everyone else!"
"I need to become stronger!"
Recollecting himself transiently, PQ also followed the footsteps of the brave soldier and charged into the battlefield. Copying the actions of the other soldier, PQ clenched his teeth and scooped up a severed piece of metallic armour. The hefty weight sank his arms uncomfortably, becoming extremely awkward to hold. But staring hopelessly at the preventable slaughter, fervent persistence enveloped PQ as he channelled up his strength.
The broad material began to adjust in size as an innate force drew out the grey haze from his palms. As the edges of the material began dilating like an illusion, the miracle happened again.
The thick slab of metal began to shrink in every dimension, moulding into an angular silver staff that was thin enough to fit inside his grip. Though the spacial distribution of material has decreased as compared to its original volume, the true weight of the weapon remained unchanged, which only meant one thing — it would still pack the same punch!
Hoisting the angular staff firmly with two hands, PQ felt a wave of tiredness hypnotizing him into taking a rest. But after swallowing that gemstone thingy by accident, every cell in his energetic body was pumping with vigor!
"I think I might have eaten some solid drugs!"
Allowing the adrenaline to take over, PQ could sense his lively body and physicality being advanced to newer heights. Due to the absence of a mirror in this apocalypse, PQ has yet to discover the subtle changes happening to him. The full hair of brown he has inherited from his mother had sprouted strands of grey, similar in color to the haze his ability emits.
As if sensing a threat, the injured monster ceased its attacks on the retaliating soldiers as it abruptly directed a murderous intent toward the young adult dashing towards him.
With a plate of metal engraved in its damaged flesh, the foreign objects triggered an even wider cut on the monster as it twisted its humanoid body.
The headless creature ignored the stinging barrage of bullets as it galloped towards PQ on all fours, preparing to risk its life just to consume this phenomenal treat.
"You asked for this!"
Acknowledging that there was no turning back, PQ roared at the top of his lungs as he seized this golden opportunity and welcomed the incoming humanoid battling ram with open arms. Jumping on a capsized vehicle, PQ kicked off the gigantic, rubber wheel of the truck that acted as a functional spring.
A dense mass of flashlights projected onto the leaping man and the charging beast, framing this exhilarating interaction like feverish actors performing under the intense spotlight.
As complete darkness settled onto the lifeless city, Terra's unique dual moons have by then positioned themselves atop the cloudless sky like dazzling pearls.
Showering a milky, dreamy hue upon Terra's vast lands, they silently monitored humanity's performance against the apocalypse, bestowing their unfeigned support from above.
