Hans, together with his pair of scouts and attack dogs, moved into the third apartment building under the strange gazes of the survivors.
"Where's that person going?" asked one.
"Do you not know? He's the Commander of this base!"
"Strolling outside with his soldiers, he must be on a mission."
"Or a death wish..."
The entire room turned silent. Everyone else turned their heads and glared at the survivor who made that remark.
"Do you want to die?" a male survivor approached that person and grabbed their collar.
"Look, desperate times it may be but to say words like that-!"
"Heh, fools." The person slapped the arm away and walked as if nothing happened.
The rest cursed under their breath, returning to the windows and watching Hans and his small squad disappearing into the distance.
...
"This entire place is too silent." Hans commented, feeling the chill in his body despite having no wind.
The apartment complex was always boisterous with countless shouts, cheers, and buzzing of car engines. Now, the large area felt haunted.
Empty pools.
Grown weeds.
Even the birds that once chirped on the tree branches were gone.
Only the sound of their boots clapping onto the cemented ground reverberated. Rex and Vex trotted on the sides, curiously observing their surroundings.
"Woof!"
The two dogs suddenly barked, alerting the three humans. Hans glanced at the unnerved dogs then shifted his eyes to the third apartment building.
"That building is cursed indeed."
Their continued barking deepened the frowns forming in Adrian and Dmitri's faces. They equipped their MP7A1s and carefully treaded towards the entrance.
"Do you feel it?" Adrian's body tensed, taking a deep breath while closing in.
"Yes, psychic energy," Dmitri responded, "It seems the meteorite shard has this effect."
"Psychic energy?" Hans, oblivious to their senses, asked in confused, "What do you two mean by that?"
"Commander, psychic energy has the ability to alter a living being's mind." Adrian explained, planting his back to the wall, "Talk about mind control and going insane."
"You were introduced to this?" Hans was bewildered, not expecting this concept to show itself now.
Yuri's abilities carried something like this. Don't tell me it has something to do with that?
"Our training manual did, but to encounter it here..." Dmitri's voice turned cold, gripping the gun's vertical grip tighter, "Commander, please be careful. The psychic energy has limited effects on us but may not be the case to you."
Hans's heart was filled with elation hearing Dmitri's concern.
"You don't have to worry about me. I can handle myself. Focus on the path ahead of you."
"Yes sir!" The two slowly advanced into the entrance, checking their corners in quick succession.
"Lights out. Toggle your night vision." Dmitri slid down his NVG and peered through the darkness. He went to the right side of the hallway, Adrian opposite him.
Hans waited at the entrance, watching his two scouts moved around with precision and wariness. Rex and Vex followed, growling on the way, their heads slightly tilting above.
"Hallway, right side. Clear."
"Hallway, left side. Clear."
Adrian and Dmitri turned around and regrouped at the center.
"Maintenance Room, move." Dmitri led the way, forming a small column with Adrian and the two dogs.
"Check the door. I'll take cover."
Adrian grabbed the lockpick set from his tactical pack and touched the door handle, finding the doorknob fixed in place.
He knelt and quickly picked the lock, "Door's unlocked. Moving in."
He slowly pushed the door while his gun pointed ahead, targeting the head of a maintenance crew zombie. A single bullet plopped it down, the thud echoing throughout the spacious area.
"Careful. Zombies around."
After a short and thorough inspection, they found nothing. Dmitri approached the switch panels again.
"Floors five, six, and seven are down."
"Noted. The meteorite shard must've struck there." Adrian remarked, cocking his gun.
"Agreed. Check every floor, eliminate threats, and move on. No looting." Dmitri reminded.
"I know. Time isn't on our side here." Adrian took a deep breath, washing off the psychic effects that has stacked onto his mind. "How about the Commander?"
"I'll take point, you guard our rear." Dmitri stood up and moved out.
"Hehehe, I'll be your spotter again?" Adrian chuckled and slightly lagged behind.
"Quit the chatter. Check the kitchen and the back first, then upstairs."
"Roger that."
Time ticked slowly.
Hans held his personal MP5 submachine gun, tapping the trigger guard with his fingers. The surrounding had turned quiet after Dmitri and Adrian left his vision.
"I hope nothing happened to them..."
As he murmured, footsteps echoed from the far end of the hallway. The two scouts returned, unscathed and full of energy.
"How did it go?"
Dmitri and Adrian stood in front of him. The dogs' ears remained pointed, their bodies alerted as ever.
"First floor is clear, Commander," Dmitri reported, "The fifth to seventh floor is blacked out. We suggest a careful approach."
"You want me to remain at the center?" Hans guessed their intentions. There was no problem in using the common method of clearing the floors.
However, the slight cautiousness in Dmitri's words suggested that something unknown was lurking in the darkness. It could also be that they simply didn't want him to encounter danger firsthand.
"Yes, Commander. I shall take point; Adrian will be at your rear."
"Then I'll be in your care." Hans wanted to take out a flashlight but remembered the NVG's sensitivity.
Dmitri realized the problem as well and offered a solution, "Hold my shoulders, Commander. You can follow me that way."
"Yeah, I'll take off my gun in case." Hans slung the MP5 over his shoulder and placed his right hand over Dmitri's shoulder.
"Moving."
Hans tried to match Dmitri's pace, taking small steps in the blood-ladened floor tiles. The team arrived near the stairwell, leading into the second floor.
At that moment, Rex and Vex barked loudly, pointing their bodies straight at the stairs. Dmitri and Adrian shifted their sights, staring at the empty wall ahead.
"Do you see something?" Adrian asked.
"No, but I sense it," Dmitri peered through the goggles and noticed a slight imbalance in the texture of the wall. "Center, right above the railing."
Adrian followed and spotted a curved outline of a human body stuck in the wall. Rex and Vex's growled on that figure, saliva pouring from their sharp, white teeth.
"Kill it?" Adrian aimed.
"Fire."
Two bullets flew out, hitting the obscured figure in the darkness. The walls near the stairwell cracked, cement fragments falling to the floor.
"It's quick and tough." Dmitri remarked, continuing his advance. Hans remained quiet, not wanting to interrupt their intense battle.
"Dark blood, fresh. The bullets wounded it, but it escaped, bleeding." Dmitri flicked off the blood and started scouring the second floor.
The fluorescent lamps hang on the ceilings by a thread, flickering dim lights that hardly illuminated the darkness. Wooden fragments blasted into the floor, dirtying the area.
"Adrian, watch that stairwell. Commander, stay with Adrian," Dmitri patted Rex's head, "Lead me to him, buddy!"
Rex barked and sprinted ahead to the end of the corridor, stopping midway and glancing at the ceiling not far away.
Dmitri walked through the broken doors and stepped on the wooden fragments, producing crisp sounds.
At that moment, the air whistled. Ten streaks appeared in the air, aiming at Dmitri.
The sudden assault came fast, but Rex was faster, jumping into the air and biting at something.
The dog and the obscured figure fell. Rex grumbled, shaking its head while clamping deep at it. Rex's body tensed before it yanked itself off, tearing a large portion of rotten flesh.
Dmitri gasped and leaped backward, grateful of Rex's immense reaction speed. He raised his gun and fired at the grave wound that Rex inflicted.
A hoarse roar rang, blood spraying around. Before the obscure figure could recover, Rex pounced again and aimed its mouth at the figure's neck. Another chunk of flesh was torn again, prompting Dmitri to shoot.
The man and dog duo took turns inflicting damage against this unknown enemy. The latter thrashed to no avail, unable to catch the agile Rex nor reach the distant Dmitri.
The struggle lasted for a few seconds before the thumping from the brawl ended. When the figure stopped moving, the strange warping sensation around it faded.
Dmitri closed in and observed the smooth grayish skin of this figure.
"Another kind of zombie," his hands touching the plump skin, "A sneaky type, one that turns almost invisible in the dark, huh?"
His eyes shifted to the clawed hands, "Must be what gave it the ability to scale walls."
Rex trotted to his side, whining while wagging its tail side by side. Dmitri rubbed its fur, thankful of the dog's assistance.
"Good job, buddy. Is there more?"
"Woof!"
Rex barked, moving to the stairwell and looking back at him, "Upstairs, huh?"
"What was that?" Adrian asked, interested about the earlier fight.
"Another special zombie. This thing can turn invisible."
Dmitri's words startled both Adrian and Hans, "An invisible zombie?"
"Not quite. You've seen those strange warping vision earlier. Catching it is quite hard, but since we know about it now, we'll have the advantage."
"If there's one here, there's more above," Adrian tightened his grip on the gun, "But think about it, they didn't leave this building. That's very suspicious, don't you think?"
"Agreed," Dmitri glanced at the broken doors and its wooden fragments, suggesting that the zombies who were in here did ran out.
"These creatures may be sensitive to light."
"Flashlight?" Adrian suggested.
"Do it if you want to be blind." Dmitri snorted and went past Adrian, advancing to the upper floors.