Chapter 6: Awakening

Some moments later on the street, the unlikely-to-cooperate groups navigated the streets together.

"Wooossss.." Damian struck an infected with his blade.

"Dieee.. Whack.. whack.." His underlings finished it with their makeshift melee weapons.

"Bunch of p#ssies," says Damian while looking at Daniel's group hiding.

"That was unnecessary. We could have easily avoided it," says Thomas.

"I told you not to order us around, gramps. Don't tell me your gears are just for show," says Damian while wiping the blood on his blade.

Uneasy feelings are shown on Daniel's and the others.

"Uhh, you shouldn't have asked them along Thomas, we were fine on our own." Nathan looks pissed.

"We will never know what's ahead, I think more numbers would be better, if only they would cooperate." Says Thomas sighing.

Regardless, they pressed onward.

Finally, they reached the first landmark they were familiar with: the tunnel road. It brought them a slight boost of morale, as the military base shouldn't be too far ahead.

"Hell yeah, after that tunnel, the base shouldn't be too far. We should speed up," says Damian, looking determined.

"Hold up," Thomas warns them as he sees a group of infected in the tunnel. "We should…"

"Charge! You think too much," Damian rushes ahead while mocking Thomas. "Woohoo, not so many of them. We can make it," some of his companions add as they also recklessly rush forward.

"Graaaaahhhkkk."

"Auooohhhghhh."

The group of infected also notices them. With their dreadful faces and screams, lunges toward Damian's group.

"The hell with those kids, they think it's some kind of game," says Nathan, looking surprised.

"Move, we've got no choice. We gotta help them," Thomas stands up, forced to rush forward to save them.

"Slashhhh,"

"Whack."

"Slammm."

They clash with the group of infected.

"Aaaaghhh, help me!" As they fight, some of the members get overwhelmed. Their screaming voices are amplified by the tunnel's acoustic shape, making it a lot louder.

"God damn it, we're making too much noise," Daniel says while in his battle stance.

"We have to make it quick and move from here fast," Thomas commands them while valiantly fighting.

"Keep fighting, only some left," says Damian with a battle-lust face.

"Slashhh, slashhh, slash," Damian's katana makes short work of it.

"Whoohoo, we made it," some yell in victory.

"Shut it, you idiots! The tunnel is amplifying your voices," Oppo looks furious with Damian and his companions' recklessness.

"Then let more come, we'd just crush them the same," says another one of Damian's bootlickers.

"You see, gramps? That's how you—"

"AOOOOGHHHHHHHHHHH," a grotesque scream suddenly disrupts them.

They all stand stunned in disbelief. A figure so terrifying they never imagined before stands before their eyes, especially Daniel. He would never forget those horrid eyes, those sharp teeth, and tentacles. The monstrous figure he had seen before, the one who took down the entire armed police before.

"Oh God… This can't be happening… we're done," Daniel thinks this is it. The end of their journey.

—————-

"SNAP!"

Not allowing them any time to react, those tentacles struck some right where they were standing. The others, less unfortunate, were given time to dodge and scatter in fear.

"Sh.. Sshoot it! Gh.. Goddamn it, shoot it!" Damian stuttered as he screamed with overwhelming fear.

"Ratatat-tat-tat!"

"Pow-pow-pow!"

Daniel's group shot at it with all they had.

"The hell with the noise… we're screwed anyway!" Oppo yelled while frantically shooting at the beast.

Regardless of the countless shots, the creature kept rampaging, slashing, and throwing survivors against the walls. Even the abandoned cars were sent flying by its sheer strength.

"Mommy… noo!" Damian tripped as the monster loomed right in front of him.

"SMACK!" It struck Damian where he lay.

"Small arms don't do any good damage!" Nathan yelled while shooting.

"I've been saving this for a good moment." Thomas pulled out some grenades he had been saving in his backpack.

"Shoot the eyes, slow it down. I need a good throw." Thomas yelled. They focused their fire at the creature's eyes, slowing its advancement.

"Clink…"

Thomas threw four consecutive grenades at the creature.

"Boom… kaboom… bang… KA-BOOM!"

They exploded right on the monster, hitting it hard.

"Drip… drip… drip… shhhhh," Daniel spotted a car behind it leaking gasoline due to the rampage and explosion.

"ROAR!" It screamed in pain. The explosions caused fatal wounds. It lost three of its tentacles, and its head was heavily damaged.

"Squirm… squirm… squirm…" Despite the damage, the monster is regenerating the wounds. Small tentacles can be seen trying to grow back, and its body mass is growing to cover the fatally wounded parts.

"What the hell? It's recovering ?!," Nathan yelled in disbelief.

"Quick, Thomas, throw more of your grenades," Oppo yelled at Thomas frantically.

"But… that's all I got," said Thomas as he kneeled in despair.

Their faces showed distress as they realized they had done the best they could despite the grim result.

"VROOOOMMM." A car sped its way.

They were surprised to see Daniel driving a pickup truck.

"Move!" Daniel yelled as he drove toward the heavily wounded monster.

"CRUSHH… BOOOM." The truck heavily crashed into the monster.

The monster was pinned between the truck and another vehicle which was leaking gasoline. Both the monster and the ground were covered in gasoline.

"CRACKK… STABBB." Suddenly, a tentacle pierced through the front window and struck Daniel.

"Arghhh.. Ughhh." Daniel quickly escaped through the door in pain.

"Gurgle… gurgle… Squirm… squirm…" It bled badly but continued moving nevertheless.

Daniel stood in pain. His left arm no more, his chest wounded by the impact, and his left eye terribly injured. He is bleeding terribly. And as if the situation couldn't get any worse, large numbers of infected could be seen running toward them with dreadful screams, drawn by the explosions and all the noises of battle.

"Daniel, your arm!" Thomas yelled in concern.

"More are coming, quick, we gotta save Daniel!" Oppo yelled to rush.

"No… leave me, I'm done anyway. Go ahead, save yourselves," Daniel replied with a dying voice.

"Hell, not a chance we're gonna leave you," Thomas yelled as he ran toward Daniel.

"Stop… go…" Daniel gestured for him to stop as he showed he held a lighter.

"I'm just gonna slow you down. Leave me, I gotta finish this," Daniel said as he turned on the lighter.

"God damn it, Daniel," Oppo yelled in tears.

"Hurry back, too many are coming," Nathan yelled in tears.

"Daniel… brother… I'll tell your wife how you lived," Thomas said, while pulling back and honoring Daniel's decision, in tears.

"Be safe, all of you," Daniel yelled with his dying breath.

As they withdrew, the horde could be seen overwhelming the place.

"Now it's just you and me." Daniel said to the dying monster as he prepared to light it on fire.

"Ughh… Olivia…"

Just a moment before he threw the lighter… his arm suddenly felt too heavy, his leg losing its strength, he fell on his knee. He had forced his damaged body too much, lost too much blood. His strength was at its limit.

While on his knee, he passed away.

…

The monster squirmed, starting to regenerate again.

Suddenly, the ignited lighter dropped from Daniel's hand and bounced toward the tip of the gasoline leaks.

"WHOOSHHH." A flame blazed.

"SCREEEEeeeEE." The monster set ablaze. It struggled in pain until it couldn't move anymore and burned to its end.

…

…

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"Daniel, you are called to the manager's office."

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"Yes, sir, how can I be of assistance?"

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"It's regarding the mandatory medical check-up of all staff. Yours turned out not good."

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"How is it, sir?"

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"The medical record showed you have a lung disease."

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"But that couldn't be right, I feel fine."

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"Regardless, the company has regretfully decided to discharge you due to your health concern."

…

…

"Ha ha haa. He poked his nose where he shouldn't have, damn that audit. He almost caught us."

…

"I tried so hard to find reasons to fire him, so lucky his lungs are sick.. hahahaha."

…

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"We are very sorry we couldn't continue your hiring process due to a health issue."

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"We regret to inform you that we have to reject your application due to a health issue…

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"Rejected, rejected, rejected, rejected…."

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…

…

"What a fascinating specimen. A reject and a fool of the world. Ho ho ho. Abaddon." His laughter echoed eerily through the tunnel, as he delved into Daniel's brain.oud loomed menacingly in the sky above the tunnel road where the battle had raged moments before. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning piercing down, striking the ground with a thunderous crack. From the scorched earth emerged a naked, mysterious figure. He grinned as he approached Daniel's body.

"Ho ho ho.. what do we have here? Quite an amusing show," he crooned, his voice unsettling, as though multiple entities spoke through him simultaneously.

"Ohhh. I was enjoying it, but that's all it got?" He cocked his head. He sinisterly grins as he observes Daniel's severely damaged dead body

The mysterious figure also looking at the charred carapace of the once-terrifying monster. "What a dumb luck.." The mysterious man's grin widened, his eyes gleaming with an otherworldly glow.

"Let's see if it has more to offer.." With a swift motion, he seized Daniel's head in his grasp, his eyes and veins ablaze with an ethereal golden light.

"What a fascinating specimen. A reject and a fool of the world. Ho ho ho. Abaddon." His laughter echoed eerily through the tunnel as he delved into Daniel's brain.

"Well.. well... I could use a new toy anyway. The last one broke." Six razor-sharp appendages sprouted from his back.

"Stab, stab..." His razor-sharp arms darted at Daniel's body, puncturing his flesh. Two piercing into each arm, two embedding into his torso, and two sinking deep into his legs. Meanwhile, his primary arms menacingly clutched Daniel's head.

"Be a good toy, and offer me further amusement." His eyes, mouth, and veins shimmered with a haunting golden glow as his six arms injected an unknown substance into Daniel's body. Simultaneously, Daniel's eyes radiated the same eerie golden light, mirroring the sinister resurrection taking place within.