The sun hadn't risen yet, but the sky was already bleeding grey. Fog clung to the ground in thick, coiling tendrils, making the road back to town look like a ghost trail. The air smelled like rust, damp ash, and old blood.
"We shouldn't go back," Klaus muttered, tightening the strap on his rifle. "You've seen what's out there."
"We've also seen what's not in here," Egwene replied, her voice low but steady. "If we don't eat soon, we'll be too weak to fight anyway."
Theron stood between them, backpack half-zipped, eyes on the horizon. "We don't have a choice."
The trio had been the first to volunteer for the supply run. It made sense—they moved fastest, knew the layout of town best, and none of them could stand the tension building back at the military base. Everyone else was hungry, scared, and whispering about the creatures evolving.
And deep down, Theron suspected it was true.
Scene 1: Return to Ruin
They moved quietly through the skeletal streets of the town. Shattered windows watched them like empty eyes. Some buildings had collapsed entirely, swallowed by the earth during the quake.
Egwene stopped outside the shell of a grocery store, half its sign dangling like a broken jaw.
"Still think this place hasn't been picked clean?" Klaus asked.
"Hope doesn't cost anything," she answered, stepping inside.
They crept through the aisles—moldy cereal boxes, bloated canned goods, overturned shopping carts. In the back, they found a storeroom untouched by looters. Jackpot.
As they packed their bags, Egwene crouched beside a rusted locker. It popped open with a groan, revealing not food—but a tattered leather journal. She flipped it open. Blood smeared the first few pages, but the writing beneath was legible.
"The gas came through the vents. That wasn't an accident. The soldiers wore masks. We didn't. I heard screaming. I thought it was in my head. But now their bones are bending…"
"Guys," she whispered. "This wasn't just a leak. Someone planned this."
Scene 2: Something New
They froze as a sound echoed down the aisle. Not a growl. A click. Sharp, irregular.
Klaus raised his weapon. "Something's here."
From the shadows behind a row of shelves, it slithered out. Tall. Too tall. Its body was humanoid but stretched unnaturally, skin tight over moving bones. Its eyes were pale, almost glowing in the dim light. Camouflage flaked off its arms like dead leaves.
It saw them. And screamed.
"Run!" Theron shouted.
They fled through the broken back exit, barrels tumbling in their wake. The creature was fast—smarter than the others. It cut them off, lunging at Klaus
Egwene tackled it with a metal pipe, bashing its skull once, twice—before it staggered back into the shadows.
"klaus, are you—"
"I'm fine," he said, wincing, hand pressed to his side. Blood seeped through his jacket.
Theron grabbed his arm. "We're getting out. Now."
Scene 3: Escape and Cost
They made it back to the base just after sunrise. Those on guards let them in fast, seeing Klaus condition. they all rushed over.
Egwene sat in the corner, shaking, the journal still in her hands. Theron stood by the gate, watching the road.
"I should've gone with them," said someone behind him.
He turned. It was Elektra—quiet, observant. Her eyes flicked toward Egwene, then back at Theron.
"You care about her," she said. Not as a question.
Theron didn't answer.
Inside the infirmary, Klaus gritted his teeth as the medic worked. "It didn't bite me," he insisted. "Just grazed me."
But even as he said it, his veins pulsed strangely beneath his skin.
---
Later that night, while the base slept and the stars hid behind clouds, something moved in the shadows near the fence.
And it clicked. Slowly. Patiently.
It had followed them home.
---
Later that night, while the base slept and the stars hid behind thick, unmoving clouds, something moved just beyond the fence line.
It crept through the underbrush—tall, lean, nearly silent. Only the faint click-click-click of its joints betrayed its presence, a soft ticking in the dark like a predator testing its boundaries.
It stopped just feet from the outer fence, head tilting at the faint blue arc of electricity dancing along the wires. The air buzzed, low and steady, a relic of the old military infrastructure miraculously still working.
The creature sniffed the air, tongue flicking out like a serpent's. Then it reached forward. One long, bone-thin finger brushed the wire.
Zzztt!
The jolt hit fast. The thing reeled back with an inhuman shriek—high-pitched, guttural, and piercing all at once. Its voice sounded like metal twisting in fire. The scream echoed across the base, loud enough to rattle windows and stir every sleeping soul inside.
Floodlights snapped on. Alarms started to wail.
Within seconds, boots pounded the catwalk of the watchtower.
Theron was first up, rifle in hand, heart hammering. Behind him came Egwene, gripping her shotgun, and then Aiden with a sidearm and narrowed eyes.
"What the hell is it?" someone asked, breath visible in the chill.
They looked out into the night. A single creature stood against the perimeter—its limbs longer than before, hunched but upright, skin pale and steaming. Sparks popped along its body as it staggered into the electric fence again, screaming in fury, not pain.
"That's not one of the slow ones," Egwene muttered.
"No," Theron agreed, jaw clenched. "It's learning."
The creature thrashed again, jaws snapping toward the fence like it wanted to bite through the wires.
"Shoot it!" liam shouted out of fear .
Crack!
The first bullet hit its shoulder, sending a splatter of thick, black fluid into the dirt.
Crack-crack!
Two more rounds slammed into its chest. It didn't fall.
It just screamed louder—spine arching unnaturally, fingers clawing the dirt.
Aiden aimed down his sights. "Enough."
He fired once, clean through the head.
The creature shuddered… then collapsed, smoke rising from the point of contact with the electric wires. Its body lay twitching at the edge of the fence, caught between two live wires that hissed quietly.
A few more people gathered, weapons ready. But none of them moved closer.
"Do we go down there to check if it's dead?" someone asked, voice shaking.
Theron shook his head. "Leave it. If it's dead, it's dead. If it's not…" His eyes stayed locked on the body. "It'll try again."
They stayed there for a while, watching the unmoving corpse from behind the safety of steel and current, hearts heavy, weapons ready.
And though the creature didn't move again that night, no one truly went back to sleep.