Levi had never run this fast in his life.
Not when a boss chased him for a proposal in his previous life.
Not when he'd sprinted through a red light with a truck bearing down on him.
This was different.
His legs no longer felt like his own—more like twin engines pushed past their limits, with only one command burned into them:
Forward. Don't stop. Run.
Wind howled past his ears, yet at the same time, he heard everything—far too clearly.
He heard Steve dragging him along at full speed, military boots hammering against the metal floor in a frantic rhythm, like a death march counting down their last seconds.
He heard his own heart slamming wildly against his ribs, pounding so hard it felt like it might burst straight out of his throat.
But more than anything—
He heard what was behind them.
A sound he never wanted to hear again.
"Shhhh… splaaash… thump…"
A nightmare stitched together from multiple horrors.
The wet, dragging sound of massive flesh sliding across metal—like a butcher hauling a freshly slaughtered whale.
The screech of metal parts and pipes scraping the floor, collapsing under unimaginable weight.
And beneath it all—
That heartbeat.
Thump… thump… thump…
It was following them.
That thing—the abomination of flesh and machinery—had truly escaped the lab, and it was chasing them.
Levi didn't need to look back.
With his enhanced hearing, the image formed automatically in his mind:
That enormous legless mass using its tangled mechanical supports like limbs, scuttling through the narrow corridor like a grotesque spider—moving far faster than something that big ever should.
That thing can move.
And it can hunt.
"What the hell did Hydra build?!"
"Stairs! Ladder—now!"
Steve's voice cracked like thunder ahead of him, yanking Levi back from sheer terror.
They were at the end of the corridor—the vertical ladder up to the power room right in front of them.
Steve didn't slow down.
At the last second, he shoved Levi hard in the back.
"You first—go!"
Then Steve spun around, planting himself between Levi and the corridor, vibranium shield raised.
He was going to hold it back.
Alone.
"Captain!" Levi's eyes went red.
"No arguing!" Steve roared, not even looking back. "Get up there—tell Logan! Plan B!"
Levi's chest clenched painfully.
He understood. Any hesitation now would be betrayal.
Grinding his teeth, he scrambled up the ladder with everything he had.
He had never felt such a short climb stretch so long.
The entire structure vibrated beneath him.
The thing was closer—far closer.
The stench of blood and chemicals surged upward like a toxic tide.
"Steve!" Levi couldn't stop himself—he glanced back.
Just in time to see a massive shadow—pale flesh fused with cold metal—nearly filling the corridor as it lunged toward Steve's much smaller blue figure.
BOOM!
The impact shook the platform violently.
Steve had blocked it with his shield.
"I'm fine!" Steve shouted, voice muffled but steady. "Go!"
Levi didn't dare look again.
He hauled himself over the edge and rolled into the power room.
"What the hell happened?"
Logan's gravelly voice cut through the chaos. He was already at the entrance, grenades clenched in both hands, face grim as he caught the smell drifting up.
"There's a monster down there!" Levi gasped. "Captain's holding it off! Plan B—now!"
Logan's pupils shrank. No questions.
He turned and sprinted for the transformers.
Then—
BANG!
The hatch they'd come through bulged upward violently, metal deforming under a colossal blow.
A split second later, a thick, pale tentacle—armored with metal plates and barbed ridges—shot through the gap like a living spear, straight for Logan's back.
"LOGAN—LOOK OUT!"
Logan moved like an animal.
Without turning, his body twisted at an impossible angle.
WHIP!
The tentacle missed him by inches, slamming into a control console instead.
Sparks exploded.
The solid steel console crumpled like tin.
Levi's scalp prickled.
That hit would have cut a man in half.
Logan snarled.
"ROAR!"
Three bone claws snapped out with a metallic scream.
He lunged, slashing hard at the retracting tentacle.
CLANG!
Sparks flew.
The claws barely scratched the metal plating.
The recoil sent Logan staggering back, shock flashing across his face.
That was when Steve emerged from below, hauling himself up, uniform soaked in green sludge but eyes sharp as ever.
He didn't hesitate.
The shield flew.
WHAM!
It struck the tentacle at the exposed flesh near its base.
SPLAT!
Foul green fluid sprayed as the creature recoiled, screeching silently and retreating back into the hatch.
Now!
Levi didn't think.
He yanked a grenade from his belt, pulled the pin, and hurled it straight down the hole.
BOOM!
The explosion rattled the entire room, smoke blasting upward.
"Nice throw!" Steve barked. "Logan—blow the transformers!"
Logan was already moving.
He jammed both grenades into the transformer vents.
"Three seconds!"
"RUN!"
Steve grabbed Levi and bolted.
Logan followed instantly.
They burst out of the power room—
KABOOOOM!
The explosion behind them was apocalyptic.
The shockwave threw Levi forward like a ragdoll. Walls shattered. Electricity screamed. Every light in the facility died at once.
Total darkness.
They stumbled, crawled, ran—pure instinct guiding them.
Then—
A sealed metal door.
Steve didn't slow.
He slammed into it like a battering ram.
CRASH!
The door and frame tore free.
Cold air. Snow. Smoke.
They were outside.
They staggered into the blizzard just as the Hydra factory behind them began to scream—metal twisting like a dying beast.
And then—
The explosions truly began.
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