Jake dropped a few feet before grabbing hold of a piece of rebar sticking out from the nearest wall, preventing his fall. Hanging on with one hand, he took a moment to steady himself. He then swiftly scanned his surroundings and noticed another sturdy handhold, slightly lower than his current position, protruding from the opposite wall. Positioning the soles of his feet against the wall, he carefully adjusted his body angle before pushing off against the wall, releasing his grip on the piece of rebar. He easily twisted his body in midair, rotating to face the direction of his movement. Just before impact with the opposite wall, he braced himself, hitting it with the soles of his feet and bending his knees to absorb the shock. Reacting swiftly, he reached out and grabbed hold of another piece of rebar jutting out from the wall to halt his descent down the shaft.
After that, Jake glanced over his shoulder and noticed that he was now positioned at the same level as the entrance to the sixth floor. The door was absent, and the section of the wall surrounding it had been partly destroyed, creating a large gaping hole in its place. His plan was to reach the sixth floor to determine if the magical platform would descend with him. If it did not, there would be no point in wasting time descending all the way to the first floor.
Jake adjusted his body toward the entrance, then propelled himself off the wall, soaring across the expanse of the shaft and through the entrance to the sixth floor. Upon landing, he bent his knees to soften the landing. He then broke into a run down the corridor leading toward the elevator shaft housing the magical platform. As he sprinted, he listened carefully, focusing on any sounds around him, but no more gunshots could be heard coming from the street. The group of survivors had likely already looted the mutants they’d killed and continued traveling to whatever destination they had been headed to prior to being ambushed. Jake knew he had to hasten his pace if he wanted to intercept them before they slipped away.
When he made it to the elevator shaft, he saw the platform positioned at the same level as the sixth floor, indicating that it had indeed descended along with him by one level. It was great. It meant that once he reached the first floor, the platform would lower all the way down as well, providing him with the means to transport the group of survivors to the intended floor. Figuring out how he would lure them inside the building and then herd them all into the elevator shaft posed an altogether different challenge to tackle. He would also have to follow them into the elevator shaft, as he had a hunch that the enchanted platform wouldn’t ascend until he joined them on it. How the survivors would react to having a monster like him in such close proximity was hard to predict. Jake had no idea how to do all that or whether it would ultimately work out. He would have to come up with a plan on the fly and simply watch how things played out.
After returning to the empty shaft, he continued his descent. He dropped down the shaft, progressing one level at a time, gripping pieces of rebar sticking out from the walls and any other available handholds. When there were none directly below him, he pushed off from his current wall to leap to another one that offered a secure grip. The descent proceeded easily and smoothly. While he was aware that falling even from the top floor to the bottom wouldn’t be fatal, he knew he would get hurt, which he aimed to avoid at all costs. To conquer the final three floors and defeat the boss, he needed to be in good condition. So he proceeded with his careful yet brisk descent, leaping from wall to wall and grasping onto handholds as he went. Even after being a morphus for some time now, Jake still marveled at his agility and swiftness. He effortlessly controlled his body, adjusting midair with ease and smoothly seizing handholds.
At last, he arrived at the base of the shaft. He got out and sprinted through a brief corridor that opened up into the main area of the first floor. Racing across the vast room, he burst out of the building. Pausing momentarily, he took a second to survey his surroundings, noticing the corpses of the mutants slain by the group of survivors just a few minutes earlier. Regarding the survivors themselves, he spotted them half a block away from the building, strolling down the street. They hadn’t gotten all that far, so his worry about them getting away had been unfounded. However, the most challenging part was yet to come.
Jake slipped into a swift but almost silent pursuit of the survivors. He moved with stealthy grace, treading cautiously and silently like a seasoned predator on the hunt. While he had his eyes fixed on the survivors ahead of him, he paid attention to his surroundings, his senses finely attuned to the slightest of movements or possible signs of danger around him. Within moments, he narrowed the gap between the survivors to a mere fifteen yards. Surprisingly, they were none the wiser.
He was usually pleased with how silently he moved, but right now it worked against him. Jake needed to attract the survivors’ attention, but he also knew that getting too close to them would be risky. If he were to sneak up on them suddenly from behind, the only outcome would be to spook them, causing them to potentially open fire on him before he had a chance to communicate. No, he needed to make them aware of his presence without being too overt and drastic about it.
Slowing down, Jake glanced around and spotted the rusty car frame off to his right. An idea sparked in his mind, prompting him to swerve toward the old vehicle. As he closed the distance to within a few yards, he leaped forward, propelling his body up onto the roof of the dilapidated car. The rusty metal roof, showing signs of heavy damage, sagged slightly beneath his weight but held firm, emitting a loud, creaking sound.
Jake crouched down, his palms resting on the rusty metal of the car roof, his gaze fixed on the group of survivors farther down the street. Just as he expected, they heard the creaking noise from behind them. They hesitated for a fraction of a second before quickly pivoting to face his direction.
“What the hell is that?” Jake heard one of the survivors exclaim before they all simultaneously aimed their guns at him as if on cue.