Leon held the mutant core in his bloodstained palm, watching it pulse like a living heart. It was different from the first one, denser, darker, and strangely… alive.

A normal person would hesitate.

Not Leon.

He knew what he had to do.

He pressed the core against his chest and absorbed it.

Instantly, his body reacted.

A searing wave of heat spread through his veins, flooding every cell with raw power. His muscles tensed, his bones ached, his nerves burned. It felt like he was being torn apart and rebuilt all at once.

Leon gritted his teeth. He had experienced this before, but this time, it was worse.

The core wasn’t just giving him strength.

It was changing him.

His heartbeat slowed.

His vision sharpened.

The world around him became clearer, more vivid, every sound, every movement, every tiny shift in the air felt amplified.

His instincts screamed at him.

This is dangerous.

But Leon didn’t stop.

He embraced it.

After what felt like an eternity, the pain finally subsided.

Leon exhaled sharply, his body drenched in sweat.

Something was different.

His limbs felt lighter, stronger. His breathing was quieter, controlled.

He clenched his fist.

Power.

Not just raw strength, but something more.

He glanced at his reflection in a broken mirror. His irises, once a deep brown, now had a faint golden hue.

Eric whistled. “Damn, man. You look… different.”

Leon rolled his shoulders, testing his movement. It was subtle, but he could feel it, he had changed.

Not just physically.

But fundamentally.

Leon’s body instinctively adapted to the new core.

[Enhanced Reflexes] – His reaction time had doubled. He could process movements at inhuman speeds.

[Heightened Senses] – He could hear heartbeats from across the room. Smell blood from a distance. See in the dark with crystal clarity.

[Improved Healing] – His bruises from the previous fight were already fading. Not instant regeneration, but significantly faster recovery.

But there was something else.

Something new.

He flexed his fingers. Electricity crackled faintly around his hand.

Leon’s eyes narrowed.

“…Interesting.”

He had absorbed more than just strength.

Before he could explore his new abilities further, Dr. Carter gasped.

“Look.”

Leon turned toward the facility’s monitors.

The security cameras flickered with distorted static before stabilizing. The live feeds showed the outside world.

And it was worse than he expected.

People were rioting.

Supermarkets were overrun.

Military checkpoints were being set up.

But the worst part?

The infected were spreading.

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Not fast, but steadily.

“It’s happening,” Leon muttered.

Eric swallowed hard. “Damn… It’s just like you said. The government’s barely holding things together.”

Dr. Carter rubbed her temples. “This doesn’t make sense. The infection shouldn’t be spreading this quickly.”

Leon’s mind raced. He had altered the timeline, but something else was accelerating the outbreak.

There was no doubt about it.

The world was unraveling faster than before.

Leon turned away from the monitors. There was no time to waste.

They needed a base. A safe place to prepare for the full collapse.

“We move at dawn,” Leon decided. “Stock up on supplies, weapons, and transport. We need to be off the grid before everything falls apart.”

Dr. Carter hesitated. “Where will we go?”

Leon’s mind flashed back to his past life.

There was a place.

A remote military bunker, hidden, fortified, and untouched for decades.

“The Blackwood Facility,” he said. “It’s abandoned, but it’s the perfect stronghold.”

Eric frowned. “And it’s not crawling with zombies?”

Leon smirked. “Not yet.”

Just as Leon started packing, a low growl echoed through the facility.

His head snapped up.

Eric went pale. “What the hell was that?”

Leon’s enhanced senses kicked in.

There was movement.

Something was inside the facility.

Something… watching them.

Leon slowly drew his knife, eyes scanning the dark corridors.

And then.

A shadow moved.

Too fast.

Too quiet.

Not human.

Leon’s instincts screamed.

But before he could react, the lights cut out.

Darkness.

And then…

A whisper.

“You’re not the only one who’s evolving, Leon.”

Leon’s blood ran cold.

A shiver ran down Leon’s spine.

The whisper echoed in his mind, low, guttural, inhuman.

"You’re not the only one who’s evolving, Leon."

He tightened his grip on his knife, his newly enhanced senses on high alert. The air felt heavier, almost charged with something unnatural.

Eric’s breathing was ragged. Dr. Carter took a step back, her face pale.

And then.

A thud.

Something moved in the darkness.

Leon’s golden irises glowed faintly in the pitch-black facility. He scanned the corridor, his vision sharper than before, but whatever was lurking… it was fast.

Too fast.

This wasn’t just another mutant.

Leon clenched his jaw.

He knew the infection would mutate people eventually, but this? This was too soon.

Which meant one thing.

Something had altered the course of the outbreak.

A blur of black and red lunged at him from the shadows.

Leon barely had time to react.

Instinct kicked in.

He pivoted, dodging to the side as clawed fingers swiped past his face, shredding through the steel lockers behind him like paper.

Metal screeched. Sparks flew.

Leon spun, bringing his knife up, but the creature was gone.

It was toying with them.

Eric cursed under his breath. “Dude, what the hell is that thing?”

Leon didn’t answer. His mind was racing. It was testing him.

He needed to lure it out.

Before Leon could formulate a plan, the thing moved again.

This time, it didn’t target him.

It went for Dr. Carter.

“Move!” Leon roared.

Carter barely had time to react before the creature launched itself at her with terrifying speed.

Leon surged forward, his new reflexes kicking in. Time seemed to slow as he grabbed Carter and pulled her back just as claws tore through the space where she had been standing.

The impact sent Leon and Carter crashing to the ground.

The creature skidded to a halt, its outline barely visible in the dim emergency lights.

Leon got his first proper look at it.

It was… humanoid.

But wrong.

The thing was tall and gaunt, its skin a mottled gray, veins pulsating beneath its flesh like something trying to crawl out. Its eyes were pure black, its fingers elongated into claws.

And it was smiling.

It recognized Leon.

Leon slowly rose to his feet. He had fought monsters before. But this… this was different.

Eric shakily raised his rifle. “Tell me we can kill that thing.”

Leon didn’t take his eyes off the creature.

“We’ll find out.”

The creature moved first.

Faster than before.

Leon barely managed to dodge, but this time, he countered. His knife flashed, slicing toward the creature’s throat.

But it twisted midair, dodging with unnatural flexibility.

Leon spun, adjusting his footing, but the creature was already behind him.

Claws lashed out.

Leon threw up his arm to block,

A mistake.

Pain exploded in his forearm as the creature’s claws raked through his jacket, cutting deep.

He gritted his teeth.

But before the creature could follow up, Eric opened fire.

Bullets slammed into its body.

And did nothing.

The creature barely flinched. Then, with a single movement, it disappeared into the shadows again.

Leon exhaled sharply.

It was intelligent. It knew how to retreat.

And that made it far more dangerous than any mutant he had fought before.

“We can’t fight it here,” Leon said quickly. His arm was bleeding, but he ignored it. “It’s using the darkness. We need to draw it into the open.”

Eric cursed. “You got a plan, genius?”

Leon’s eyes flickered to the nearby control room.

He did.

“Eric, get to that panel. Override the emergency power shutdown.”

Eric hesitated, but Leon gave him a look.

No time for arguments.

Eric nodded and sprinted toward the room.

The creature growled from the shadows, sensing movement.

It lunged.

But Leon intercepted it.

This time, he was ready.

As the thing swiped, Leon dodged, but instead of countering, he kicked the nearest metal locker with all his strength.

The impact sent debris flying, forcing the creature to momentarily shield its face.

Just enough time.

Leon grabbed Dr. Carter and ran.

“Move!”

They bolted toward the control room.

Eric was already at the panel, fingers flying over the keys.

“Hurry up!” Leon snapped.

“Working on it!” Eric shot back.

The creature wasn’t waiting.

It came at them again this time, aiming straight for Leon’s throat.

Leon braced himself.

And then...

The lights exploded back to life.

Blinding white flooded the hallways.

The creature reeled back, screeching. Its black eyes burned in the sudden brightness, its flesh steaming.

Leon didn’t hesitate.

He launched forward, his knife sinking deep into the creature’s chest.

This time, it felt it.

The thing let out a strangled hiss, twitching violently before ripping itself free, blood oozing from the wound.

Leon stumbled back, breathing hard.

The creature staggered, its body shaking. The light was weakening it.

It glared at Leon, and for the first time.

It looked… afraid.

Then, with a final guttural growl, it vanished into the vents above.

Silence.

Only the sound of Leon’s heavy breathing remained.

Eric exhaled shakily. “Tell me that’s not gonna be a common thing.”

Leon didn’t answer. His eyes were still on the vent where the creature had escaped.

Dr. Carter swallowed. “That… that wasn’t a normal infected, was it?”

“No,” Leon said darkly.

And that terrified him.

Because if monsters like that were appearing this early in the outbreak...

Then what the hell was coming next?