Shadows of the Night

Blossoming blood splatters adorned the infected individual's body.  Duke had actually aimed for its head, but being unfamiliar with firearms, he hastily fired off a few shots, and hitting at all was already quite good.

In Duke's eyes, the infected individual became almost like a blur.  the Number 2 infected grievous injuries and the added fury , a single blow would be enough to explode its head.

However, as if he had calculated it in advance, after firing five shots, Duke took a step backward.  This seemingly ordinary movement caused the infected individual to suddenly lose sight of Duke's position.

The gun that had fallen on the rusty manhole cover was gone.  The enormous body of the infected individual rushed past where Duke had disappeared, crashing violently into a house and shattering it to pieces.  While Alexander's desperate efforts had been somewhat effective, Number 2 infected still emerged victorious, its wounds splattering blood like raindrops.

After being repeatedly wounded by a teenager, Number 2 infected's anger had obliterated its remaining rationality.  It squeezed its massive body into the well opening, but due to the narrowness of the opening, it got stuck.

However, even so, it still exerted all its strength to charge forward and scrape against Duke.  Duke had to use his firearm to defend against it, and then, under the colossal impact, the gun shattered into pieces.

As the well opening grew larger, Duke had no choice but to jump down or escape through the drain, but compared to the infected, his speed was negligible.  He sat there quietly, seemingly accepting his fate, his pale face fixated on Number 2 infected's eyes.

Although Number 2 infected  was stuck in the well opening, it still caused a huge commotion, piercing the silence of the night.  Usually, the residents might have poked their heads out to see what was happening, but on this particular night, they had almost all retreated to their basements after hearing the commotion.

Alexander lay in a pool of blood, his teammates had all been knocked out by the monster with the toxic mist awakening technique, scattered by the side of the garbage heap.  At this moment, Duke seemed to have no chance of escape left.

However, in the dark of the night, a petite and frail figure descended from the garbage heap.  She appeared delicate, even somewhat thin, and the tips of her hair were slightly disheveled.  However, in her hand, she held a jet-black dagger stained with blood.  It was Monica!

As Monica approached the struggling infected individual step by step, her eyes gradually took on a strange shade of red.  Her chestnut-colored hair billowed in the night, emitting a mysterious purplish-red glow.

In this moment, Monica's previous timidity and vulnerability had completely transformed into a ruthless and cold-blooded intent to kill.  She tightly gripped the dagger and suddenly accelerated, her speed not any less than the infected's!

Duke gazed at the widening crack, his pallor becoming even more pronounced.  There was less than half a meter between him and Number 2 infected.  He could even smell the foul stench of its breath.  However, just at that moment, Number 2 infected emitted a mournful howl!

Struggling for a while, Number 2 infected then desperately braced itself against the well's walls, attempting to break free!  Fortunately, Trying to get in here to kill Duke, it had gotten stuck, or it would have escaped long ago.  Despite being stuck, it continued to struggle to free itself, but it was only a matter of time!

However, Duke took action!  He made an extremely irrational move!  In the instant that Number 2 infected struggled to break free, he unexpectedly stepped forward, his hands firmly gripping its arms, like a vise, applying his entire body weight to this arm covered in spikes!

Number 2 infected hadn't anticipated that the man before it would be so audacious, but this delay did indeed buy some time.  Although it didn't know what had happened, blood was continuously dripping from the cracks in the well's opening, rapidly staining Duke's face red.  The other hand of Number 2 infected was scratching at the well wall, trying to escape, while Duke clung to it as though he were playing tug-of-war.

During this process, faint hissing sounds of the dagger piercing flesh could be faintly heard.  Then, Number 2 infected slammed heavily into the well's wall, and a strong Fishy sweet sensation surged up in Duke's throat, as if his organs were all displaced.  However, he remained steadfast like an unyielding rock.

Before this, Duke had thought that the first time he killed someone an hour ago was the craziest thing he had ever done.  However, reality proved him wrong;  he had surpassed his own limits.

A dozen seconds later, even the massive body of the infected seemed to have exhausted its strength, its arms gradually losing power, and its desperate roars weakening.

Outside the well, a girl with flowing purple  hair and reddened eyes set down her dagger and quietly watched the infected in front of her, its back now resembling a hornet's nest punctured by her.  The madness gradually faded, the dagger made a crisp sound as it fell to the ground, and her eyes regained their clarity.

"Brother, brother!"  Monica, devoid of the earlier madness and indifference, leaned helplessly over the well, murmuring softly.  Silence hung in the air, as if an ominous message had arrived in the night.

"Cough, cough, I'm fine, just give me a moment," Duke's familiar voice came through, and Monica raised her head, her eye sockets reddened by tears.

Duke quietly picked up the fallen gun from the ground and then pointed to the dagger in the corner of the wall;  Monica immediately understood his intent.  Their tacit understanding had reached a point where they could comprehend each other's thoughts without words.  Thus, she followed suit, albeit hesitating for a moment.  The inner fear transformed into a bitter reality in an instant.

Using the lowered arm, Duke propelled himself back to the drain beside the wall.  Exhaustion and pain swept over his entire body, and he felt like he was about to be torn apart.  However, the ultimate result was positive.  In the foul-smelling sewer, the boy, his body covered in blood, suddenly seemed to release all his burdens, laughing recklessly.