A little further away from the research facility.
Dozens of zombie corpses were littered on the ground. Some were dismembered; some were torn apart, but all of them were dead.
In the middle of it all stood Carr’s squad. Covered in the undead’s blood. They looked like grim reapers, all of them except Alaric.
The doctor was busy doing his doctor things, collecting samples for research later. His actions almost made Carr believe the old man had intentionally let out a scream, and there were no flying monsters.
"I know," Carr said, his fists clenched.
Just because they didn’t lose any men didn’t mean they couldn’t have lost. He was about to use his gun when the last zombie fell. A second later, more zombies would have been on them following the gunshot.
When that happened, I’d put a bullet in your head first. Stupid bastard.
As much as he wanted to arrange a meeting between Alaric and the God, he had to swallow his anger back. Neha was the one who haunted him, and Michael, who was wrapped around her finger.
One word from that woman and his life was effectively over.
It’s better to stay in her good graces for now.
If there was one thing Carr had learned from the apocalypse, it was that no regime could stay in power forever. Hailey lost control to Michael, and similarly, Michael would someday lose as well.
Carr just had to survive, and soon it would be his chance to rule over others... briefly.
However, for that day to arrive, he needed to serve the current regime first.
After plastering a fake smile on his face, he walked to Alaric.
"Is there anything else we could help you with, sir?" he asked.
"This... no, no. That’ll be all for now," Alaric replied. "I’ll trouble you and the soldiers again if I find something interesting again."
"Of course, we are here to serve you."
Carr’s smile dropped as soon as he turned his back on Alaric.
I’ll trouble you, my ass. You’ll be the first one to die if I lose a single soldier. That’s my word.
Meanwhile, back inside the research facility.
Blaze looked over his shoulder, staring into Voss’s eyes.
For once, someone didn’t look at him as if he were a monster. But as if he were his savior.
It amused Blaze. The fool thought he was saved. Well, in a way, he was.
Blaze had been following the pull while maintaining his distance. That’s when he saw the grotesque monster.
For a second, he almost didn’t intervene. As the man he had seen before was wearing clothes, but the one in danger wasn’t.
Blaze thought Voss wasn’t the scientist and almost let him die. Then he noticed the ID card and reacted before the zombie could eat Voss.
How could he have let Voss die when he had special plans for him?
A groan interrupted Blaze’s thoughts as he turned to face the monster.
Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about you either.
Well, that’s what he wanted to say but froze upon seeing the zombie’s twisted, yet familiar face.
Well, well, well. Isn’t this a surprise?
Although it was twisted at an odd angle, Blaze still recognized the owner of that face.
It was Martin. One of his first two experiments.
Still, it was strange.
The last time Blaze saw him, he had turned into a corpse, which David fed on briefly after turning into a zombie.
Martin didn’t convert the last time he checked. Neither did he have enough body mass to turn into a ten-foot-tall hulk either.
The inside was dark, and even though Blaze’s eyes could see better than most creatures, he still required some source of light to look at the minute details.
Let’s take a better look at you outside, shall we?
With that thought, Blaze charged at the zombie, his claws out for display. In response, the zombie unleashed its tentacles, trying to grab Blaze.
However, he was a step ahead.
After the second evolution, Blaze’s speed was five times faster than before. A trait he showed off by twisting mid-air to dodge the first two tentacles.
The third one came from above, aimed at his neck. With a swing of his claws, he dealt with that too.
Frustrated, the zombie let out a fourth tentacle right from its chest. It shot towards Blaze’s chest as if it wanted a bear hug from him.
Voss watched in awe and fear from the sidelines. He wanted to run away, but the encounter before had drained him of all energy. His jelly legs wouldn’t move.
All he could do was sit there and wonder what kind of blade his savior was using. After all, it could cut through the tentacles so easily when his scalpel and scissors failed.
Voss expected Blaze to slice through the tentacle like before and then kill the zombie.
However, to his horror, Blaze grabbed the tentacle!
The zombie tried to pull the tentacle free from Blaze’s grasp, expecting some resistance, but there was none.
Blaze had no intention of playing tug-of-war with the tentacle. Instead, he let the zombie pull him.
Before the zombie could realize what was happening, Blaze twisted his body mid-leap and yanked the tentacle forward. The momentum pulled him toward the monster’s broad back.
The zombie tried to shake him off, but claws from Blaze’s feet popped out, burying deep into the creature’s flesh.
While that was going on, Blaze quickly looped the tentacle he was holding around the creature’s thick neck and pulled back with all his strength.
The zombie flailed its arms, wanting to knock Blaze off. But all it did was throw itself off balance.
Just like that, the two stumbled through the hole the zombie had made before, heading straight towards the ground.
The zombie kept thrashing around as wind rushed past them. Blaze used his weight to turn the zombie on its stomach and then retrieved his foot-claws.
The wind lifted his legs up. It was the moment he had been waiting for.
With that, Blaze brought his feet down and pushed off the creature’s back, launching himself at the wall. All four of his claws popped out, burying into the wall.
Concrete, debris, and sparks flew everywhere, but Blaze held on. It didn’t take long for friction to work, and he slowed down.
The zombie, however, wasn’t so lucky and fell face-first onto the ground.