Here's a fun fact: if your eyes ever glow in the dark and your best friend stares at you like you just turned into a demon from a low-budget horror movie, something has gone very, very wrong with your day.
I'd just caved in the skull of a mutant zombie with my bare hands. It wasn't exactly on my to-do list when I got up this morning. "Survive apocalyptic monster attack" maybe. "Discover I have superhuman reflexes"? Sure. But "Go full Mortal Kombat fatality on a creature that looked like it crawled out of someone's nightmare journal"? Yeah, no.
And now Adrian was staring at me like I'd grown a second head. Which, given how weird things had gotten, wouldn't have even surprised me.
"Elias…" he said slowly, like he was trying not to startle a wild animal. "What just happened?"
I opened my mouth to answer—then the pain hit.
A tidal wave of fire surged through my skull. Not metaphorical fire. Real, burn-your-insides, someone-stuffed-a-blender-in-your-brain kind of pain. My legs gave out, and I crumpled to my knees on the cold tunnel floor, clutching my head like it was about to explode.
That's when I heard it.
Not a voice, exactly. More like a system prompt in a really creepy operating system.
[System Initialization…] [User Identified: Elias Mercer] [Adaptive Evolution Activated] [Reconstructing Neural Pathways…]
"Ah, crap," I muttered through gritted teeth. "I've got a virus and an operating system now?"
Adrian rushed over. "What's happening to you?"
I wanted to tell him. I really did. But right then, I was busy watching glowing code flash across my vision like I was Neo in The Matrix. Symbols spun in my brain, my nerves lit up like Fourth of July fireworks, and every muscle in my body locked up.
[Enhanced Reflexes Unlocked] [Enhanced Speed Unlocked] [Accelerated Healing Unlocked] [Heightened Senses Unlocked]
Oh. Cool. That wasn't alarming at all.
The pain ebbed away, replaced by something else—clarity. Sharpness. Like someone had dialed the world up to 4K Ultra HD with surround sound. I could hear the faint scurry of rats three tunnels away. I could feel the drip-drip of water on a pipe above us. I could smell the difference in Adrian's sweat from fear versus exertion. (Gross. Useful. But gross.)
I stood up slowly, my breath weirdly steady. My wound—deep enough to see bone just minutes ago—was already a scar. Not even an itchy one.
"Elias…" Adrian took a step back. "Your eyes."
I blinked. "What about them?"
"They just—glowed. For like a second. Gold."
I turned toward a broken hunk of metal on the wall, vaguely shiny enough to show a reflection. And yep. He wasn't hallucinating. My irises had a faint golden pulse, like embers.
Fantastic. I was now one glowing eye away from a Bond villain.
"It's the virus," I said quietly.
Adrian gripped his gun tighter. "You're turning?"
I shook my head. "I don't think so. This feels… different."
"'Different' is how people describe getting bangs, not turning into a superpowered zombie!" Adrian hissed.
Fair point.
Before I could reassure him (or myself), a new sound echoed down the tunnel.
A click. Wet. Too rhythmic. Not human.
My new-and-improved ears picked up more than that scraping feet, shallow breathing, bones popping with every step. And they were close. Four of them. Maybe five.
I held up a hand. "Stay quiet."
"What is it?"
"Hollowed."
Adrian cursed under his breath. "They followed us?"
"Or they smelled us. Probably both." I turned toward the echoing sound. "Get ready."
"Ready to do what? You've got magic reflexes! I've got one pistol and the survival skills of a librarian!"
"Then stay behind me," I said. "And if I go full demon… shoot me in the head."
"Comforting," Adrian muttered.
The first Hollowed dropped from the ceiling like a nightmare gymnast, limbs twitching, eyes black and soulless. Its head snapped toward me like it recognized something in me.
Bad news: I recognized something in it too.
It was fast. But I was faster.
It lunged. I sidestepped. Time didn't slow down it just stopped mattering. My body moved before I told it to. I could see where it would strike before it moved. I dodged, spun, slammed my elbow into the side of its head. It screeched and reeled.
[Combat Analysis Activated] [Threat Level: Moderate]
Oh good. My brain had its own combat rating system now. What was next? Loot drops?
The second Hollowed scrambled into the fight, joining the first. They moved like feral beasts on Red Bull, claws scraping sparks off the tunnel walls.
They pounced in perfect sync.
I leapt backward, grabbed a loose steel pipe, and spun into a wide arc. The pipe connected with the second Hollowed's temple. Crunch. It hit the floor twitching.
The first hissed and bolted again, but I ducked low, drove the pipe into its midsection, and flipped it over my back.
It didn't get up.
I turned—two more were climbing over the wreckage, snarling.
Adrian fired a shot that clipped one in the arm. It didn't slow down.
I sprinted forward, grabbed a chunk of concrete, and threw it like a shot put. It cracked into the creature's jaw. The other lunged for Adrian, and I caught it mid-air, slamming it into the ground.
Panting, covered in ichor and sweat, I stood up as the tunnel finally went quiet again.
"Okay," Adrian said slowly. "I have… questions."
"Get in line," I muttered, wiping blood off my face.
He stared at me. "You killed them. All of them. Without breaking a sweat. Elias… you're changing."
"Yeah," I admitted. "But into what?"
Another voice echoed in my mind.
[Warning: Eclipse Strain Detected. Mutational Pathway Diverging.] [User Exhibiting Unique Evolutionary Response.]
"Sounds like I'm a special case," I said.
Adrian blinked. "Are you… talking to someone?"
"No. Just the voice in my head giving me software updates."
He opened his mouth, then closed it. "You know what? I'm not even going to touch that."
We moved deeper into the tunnel. The darkness thickened, broken only by flickering emergency lights. My body felt alive. Every step pulsed with power.
But I couldn't ignore the gnawing feeling in my gut.
This wasn't a gift.
It was a warning.
Later…
We reached a junction—a steel hatch, half-buried under a pile of rusted crates. I cleared it in seconds.
"You think this leads out?" Adrian asked.
"I think it leads somewhere," I said. "Which is more than we had five minutes ago."
I tugged the hatch open—and stopped.
There was something waiting on the other side.
Something big.
Footsteps echoed—slow, heavy, deliberate.
Adrian raised the gun. "Uh… please tell me that's not another Hollowed."
It wasn't.
The figure that stepped out of the shadows was at least seven feet tall. It wore what looked like tactical armor—scorched, bloodstained, and not military-issue. Its face was hidden behind a black mask with glowing red slits for eyes.
It didn't move like the Hollowed. Too calm.
But the way it tilted its head at me—like it recognized me—sent a chill down my spine.
Then it spoke.
"Subject Mercer," it said in a mechanical rasp. "You have exceeded expected parameters. Termination authorized."
I blinked. "Termination what now?"
The thing raised one massive arm—and an electric hum filled the air.
Its fist split open, revealing something between a cannon and a bone saw.
Adrian pulled the trigger. Empty.
"Of course," he muttered.
I stepped forward.
"Wait—what are you doing?" Adrian hissed.
"I don't think I have a choice."
I didn't. Because the armored thing lunged, and this time, even my enhanced senses barely kept up.
I dodged the cannon swipe by inches. The thing moved like a tank with a vendetta. I swung the steel pipe—nothing. It broke on contact.
I ducked another blow, rolled behind it, and aimed a kick at its leg. It didn't budge.
"Okay," I muttered, circling. "Not just another Hollowed. Got it."
The thing turned its head again. "Subject instability increasing. Initiating capture protocol."
Its chest opened.
There was a needle. A long one.
Adrian screamed. "Elias!"
Too late.
The thing fired.
The dart hit me dead center in the chest.
Everything spun.
My legs gave out. The lights blurred. The System voice in my head stuttered.
[Neural Overload Detected…] [Countermeasures Engaged…]
I collapsed, gasping, the world dimming at the edges.
The armored figure stepped closer.
"You were never meant to survive," it said. "But your evolution may still serve us."
Adrian rushed in with a crowbar, slamming it into the thing's head. Sparks flew. It reeled just enough for him to grab me and start dragging me backward.
"Come on, Elias," he said. "Stay with me!"
But my vision was fading. My body wasn't responding.
In the distance, more Hollowed screamed.
And somewhere, far above us, the city kept burning.
[Emergency Protocol Activated.] [Core Mutation Sequence—Unlocked.].....