Chapter 20 - Hunters

"A mutant ability is quite rare though not as rare as an espers of course but it is up there…"

An [Esper] could control the elements and display telekinetic abilities whereas [Mutants] could transform a part of their bodies with a myriad of effects depending on the mutation. According to Larson, most of the enhanced were ordinary and had no abilities. It was only when they grew stronger would they gain an ability of their own.

Enhanced like David were considered rare talents as they started out with a special ability. Larson herself was an [Esper] though she didn't state what her ability was and David didn't ask as well,

"So are [Espers] better than [Mutants]?"

This question was met by a laugh from Larson,

"Many considered [Espers] to be stronger initially but as time went on [Mutants] showed flexibility and adaptation that allowed them to compete with [Espers]."

Larson was patient and answered any question David asked, he noticed that her treatment of him also changed. His [Mutant] status seemed to improve his standing in her mind.

It was only David himself who knew that he wasn't really a [Mutant] at all and it was just the effect of the [Eldritch arm]'s possession. Still this information would prove useful in the future. It also made David more aware of an enhanced individual's capabilities. The head scientist who David still hadn't seen must also be special and be either a [Esper] or [Mutant], considering all the rumors he had heard.

When David was finished asking all the questions he blushed as he spoke to Larson,

"Um, Commander perhaps we should get up?"

They were still in a compromising position and David still had his arms pinned and now that he noticed it,

'Is she grinding her ass on me…?'

Perhaps [Pheromones] were actually doing their job or maybe Larson was attracted to David but before he could think too deeply, the Commander swiftly got up and pulled David up before telling him to go get some rest as he still had the mission tomorrow.

She sent him off with a slap on his ass which dropped David's jaws. Larson laughed it off as she headed to her own quarters. David on the other hand felt… violated, no he actually felt… still violated?

'So this is how women feel around weird dudes.'

Larson on the other hand lost her smile after exciting the training room but was quite happy on the inside. She was thankful that she brought a talent like David to her side. If James had managed to poach a [Mutant] from her… she couldn't even imagine how angry she would have been,

'He is an excellent candidate. Maybe I could…'

The next day David was up and about early as he wore his gear and reported to the base's garage. This place contained all the vehicles and fueling stations. Soon Larson and Arron also came along with some other men.

Larson debriefed them on their mission as well as warning them to be back before the sunset. David and the squad would escort three supply trucks to the old factory and guard the men as they loaded the trucks with resources from the factory.

The squad managed to clear some of the zombie population in the surroundings during their previous scouting missions but it was expected that the factory itself housed some unsavory inhabitants. The journey was smooth as the squad made it to the factory whilst encountering only a few zombies on the way.

The trucks were state of the art military vehicles, and were silent and made no noise. There were even some weapons mounted on the sides for safety purposes as well as other defense mechanisms. Arron and David along with a few other men rode on a separate military truck with a mounted turret.

Quite a lot of resources were spent on this mission and Arron stressed to David how they had to succeed or else not only would the base suffer losses there would also be dissatisfaction among some higher level members.

Along the way David spoke to Arron and discussed what they would do in the factory. Arron was a silent man but was loyal to Larson and that reassured David, they got a long quite well, it also helped that David saved Arron's life.

When they reached the factory, the men were quick to ready the trucks for loading while Arron and David investigated the inside of the factory with a few other men.

It looked like there would be no problems but David was still nervous. The factory was giving of an eerie feeling and even Arron a seasoned soldier looked visibly uncomfortable. Despite their worries the factory was clear and not a single zombie was spotted. More men were called inside and they started collecting material and loading them on the trucks.

David was patrolling the factory when he heard some shouts. Rushing to the area David found that some of the men were pointing to a hole in the ground beneath some abandoned machinery. Arron arrived only to pale at the sight of the hole.

"Fuck, it's a hunter nest. Load the trucks faster. It doesn't matter if there are hunters, we need those metals if we want to get away from this god forsaken city."

Hunters were the same creatures that chased David on his arrival to this world. Luckily for the crew they were absent from their nest or else they would have faced an attack on arrival to the site. Unluckily for the crew they now had to depart before those damned creatures come back. Only two of the three supply trucks were filled so far but they would have to make do with the harvest.

'How come we never spotted a single hunter when scouting?'

The intel they gathered over the past two weeks only showed the presence of a few zombies but never was a single hunter spotted. While thinking over the issue while also glancing at the hole it suddenly occurred to David,

'Sewers!'

David directed the men to seal the hole and also informed Arron of his hunch. The men swiftly patched the hole with machinery lying on the ground with Arron and David's assistance. The squad worked faster than before, fear being a great motivator.

As the last of the trucks were being loaded, David could feel the ground shaking, the dust and debris vibrated indicating the arrival of the dreaded hunters. As David predicted, the hunters seemed to navigate through city's sewer system. The monsters must have sensed the humans invade their territory and squad wasn't exactly quite during the extraction and loading of materials.

The trucks zoomed out of the factory just as the beasts managed to push the machinery aside and climb out of the hole. At the same time they set of the explosives the men planted at Arron's discretion. In spite of this destruction the beasts shrugged their companions corpses to the side as more climbed out of the ground and rushed to the convoy.

"They'll catch up to us soon. Get ready for combat."

Under Arron's orders the soldiers were ready to fire at the Hunters. The Hunters were agile and branched out to avoid the gunfire. David watched as the beasts ran atop houses on both sides of the convoy while even more chased behind.

One of the soldiers started firing from the turret at the Hunters trailing the trucks while the rest of the soldiers focused their fire on the Hunters at the side. Despite their best efforts one of the Hunters leapt from a rooftop and attacked the Turret. Arron punched the beast away and left it in the dust.

This wasn't the end though as seeing as the turret wielding truck was harder to attack the hunters went for the supply trucks instead,

"Fuck off you dumb beasts."

Knowing this would happen, Arron guarded the combat truck while David was sent to guard the supply trucks. A simple slash of his sword at the beast mid-air managed to repel the beast. Despite the tension, the convoy was able to hold off the Hunters.

Arron nimbly jumped between the trucks to help David out which reduced the burden on David's side. If the party was still in the factory then a tragedy would have occurred but with some quick thinking, the sealing of the hole along with explosives allowed the convoy a head start.

David didn't need to actively fight the Hunters. He only had to smack them of the trucks. This was much easier than a one versus one scenario. Moving between the trucks and fighting on moving vehicles were easier than expected for David as his [Spirit Animal] the little monkey increased his kinesthetic sense.

'They are relentless.'

Hundreds of bullets were fired at the Hunters but the beasts seemed to shake it off as they continued to in their pursuit. Fortunately the turret seemed to be more effective than the firearms in stopping the monsters but it wasn't enough to cover the whole convoy.

The convoy eventually made its way out of the suburbs and the Hunters ran out of houses to run on and this made it easier for the soldiers to shoot them, meanwhile just when David thought they escaped the worst, a sewer entrance burst open on the front and a Hunter leapt out and climbed onto the trucks.

It avoided all the soldiers and headed straight for David, meanwhile another Hunter followed behind. The soldiers open fire didn't dissuade it from lunging straight at David. With zero hesitation David punched out with his possessed [Eldritch arm].

The [Eldritch arm]'s struck like a hammer against steel on the Hunter's body and sent it flying from the truck, but without giving David a break its companion was already flying towards him, leaving David no choice but to release the possession and using the floating arm to halt the beast while he used his sword to slash at the beast.

David fused back with the arm a split second later and pushed the Hunter off the truck,

'Damn it, I hope no one saw that…'

The [Eldritch arm]'s versatility was David's trump card. No one would expect a flying monster arm coming at them after all, but it was still alright. David has his back to the men the whole time so they probably didn't notice and Arron didn't comment on it so it seemed David's secret was safe for now,

'We scouted the factory before but no one discovered the nest. This mistake could have killed us all…'

To be more precise David was stationed outside while Arron and his men scouted the factory's interior. He didn't doubt Arron but it was still better to be on the safe side and inform Larson about this matter. Perhaps the Hunter's made the nest only recently, though it was unlikely.

The Hunters stopped pursuing the convoy once they left the city perimeters and they didn't meet any other troubles along the way. After reaching the base, David was dismissed and he took this chance to relax and think about the mission.

Late in the evening David went to the command room to meet with Larson. She was busy and made him wait for a while, so David took a seat and stared at the Commander as she worked. She didn't mind his glances and eventually guided David to one of the hallways. There they walked as Larson listened to David's narration of the mission as well as the unexpected Hunter encounter.

"It isn't exactly uncommon for Hunter's to prop up in unexpected places. Those hell spawn's movements are always erratic. Still it is quite troubling that they appeared so far from the city."

Larson brought David to her living quarters. It was enormous compared to David's own room with a couch, a large bed and study table with books lying about and it even had doors leading to other rooms.

Directing him to the couch, Larson took a seat by him and smiled,

"So David… Arron told me something peculiar happened on the way."