Leon stared at the map, his golden eyes scanning the coordinates Eric had pulled up from the facility's terminal.

They had a choice to make.

Return to the shelter they had secured earlier, a relatively safe haven with their supplies intact.

Head for Blackwood Facility, a remote stronghold buried deep in the mountains, rumored to house military-grade weaponry and research data on the infection.

Under normal circumstances, they would've gone back to the shelter. But circumstances had changed.

Leon clenched his jaw, his mind replaying the fight with the mutant stalker.

That thing wasn’t just some random evolution of the infected. It had intelligence. It had strategy.

And worst of all, it knew who he was.

That alone made the shelter a liability.

If that creature or others like it were tracking him, it wouldn’t take long before the shelter was compromised.

Dr. Carter had also revealed something that cemented their decision.

Blackwood wasn’t just another bunker. It was an off-the-books government facility where classified experiments had been conducted.

If there was any place that held answers to what was really happening, it was there.

Leon took a deep breath.

They were going to Blackwood.

As they moved through the abandoned streets, Leon felt it.

Something inside him had changed.

Absorbing the evolved core from the mutant he killed wasn’t like the normal infection process.

It didn’t turn him into a mindless monster.

Instead, it awakened something.

His senses were sharper. He could hear the distant hum of a streetlight flickering, the faintest shuffle of movement three blocks away.

His strength had increased. He gripped the steel railing of a wrecked bus too tightly, and the metal bent under his fingers.

But the most terrifying part?

He could feel something pulling at him.

Like a predator sensing prey.

It was as if his body was starting to understand the infected.

Leon clenched his fist.

This was a gift and a curse.

He had power. But at what cost?

As they moved through the city, it was clear, things had deteriorated fast.

Fires raged. Cars were overturned. Bodies littered the sidewalks.

And worst of all, panic was at its peak.

They passed by a grocery store where people were fighting each other for food.

A man in a bloodstained suit grabbed a canned good from another’s hands, only to be stabbed in the gut a second later.

Screams echoed.

Eric tensed. “This is getting bad, man.”

Leon scanned the area, his heightened vision catching movement on the rooftops.

Not infected.

People. Armed. Watching.

“We need to move fast,” Leon said. “We’re not the only predators out here.”

They turned a corner—and stopped dead in their tracks.

A barricade blocked the road.

And behind it—armed men in makeshift riot gear.

Dr. Carter inhaled sharply. “Survivors?”

Leon narrowed his eyes. Something felt off.

A man stepped forward, tall, muscular, with a scar across his cheek. He carried an assault rifle, but it was his calm demeanor that set off alarms in Leon’s head.

This wasn’t just some random survivor.

“You’re not from around here,” the man said, eyes flicking over them. Assessing.

Leon didn’t respond.

The man smiled. “People don’t walk these streets unless they have something worth protecting. Or something worth taking.”

Eric muttered under his breath, “Great. Raiders.”

Leon shifted his stance subtly, preparing to strike if needed.

But before things could escalate...

A scream erupted from behind them.

And then, gunfire.

Something was coming.

Leon felt it first.

A presence. Watching. Stalking.

The raiders turned, raising their weapons as shadows moved through the smoke-filled street.

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Fast. Too fast.

Leon’s blood ran cold.

He recognized that sensation.

It was another one of them.

Another evolved mutant.

Then, out of nowhere..

The attack came.

A blur tore through the barricade.

One of the raiders barely had time to scream before he was lifted into the air, then ripped in half.

Blood sprayed across the pavement.

Panic erupted.

“OPEN FIRE!”

Bullets rained, but the creature moved too quickly.

Leon grabbed Dr. Carter and dove for cover. Eric hit the ground beside him, cursing.

Leon’s eyes locked onto the monster.

It was different from the one he fought before.

It was bigger. Bulkier. Armored.

And worst of all...

It was looking straight at him.

It knew what he was.

Leon exhaled slowly.

This was it.

Another test.

Another fight for survival.

And this time, he wasn’t sure if he would win.

***

A thick silence fell over the ruined street. The mutant stood in the flickering firelight, its hulking body covered in armored plating, grotesque flesh stretched over what looked like exposed bone spikes along its shoulders. Its glowing red eyes locked onto Leon, nostrils flaring as if it could smell him.

It wasn’t like the first evolved mutant he had fought before.

This one was stronger. Smarter.

Leon’s fingers clenched around the handle of his combat knife, but he knew steel alone wouldn’t be enough.

The raiders had already learned that lesson. Their bullets had barely made a dent.

The leader, the scarred man, cursed under his breath and barked, “FALL BACK! REGROUP!”

But it was too late.

With a guttural snarl, the mutant lunged forward, a blur of unnatural speed for something so massive.

CRUNCH!

One of the raiders was caught in its grip.

Before the man could even scream, the creature crushed his skull like a melon. Blood splattered across the pavement.

Leon’s muscles tensed. It’s too fast. Too strong.

And then...

Something inside him shifted.

A familiar hum. A vibration beneath his skin.

Leon’s vision sharpened, his senses heightening as something crackled through his veins.

And then, he felt it.

A low, static charge rippling underneath his skin.

Electricity.

Raw, uncontrolled power.

The mutant turned its head, sniffing again as if sensing the change in the air.

Leon took a deep breath, steadying his heartbeat.

And then, he moved.

In a blur of speed that even he wasn’t expecting, Leon dashed forward, closing the gap between him and the monster in seconds.

The creature swiped at him, but this time, he dodged effortlessly.

The world slowed.

His movements felt lighter. Faster.

Then, instinctively, Leon clenched his fist.

A faint blue arc of electricity crackled along his fingers.

His eyes widened. What the hell?

The mutant lunged again.

Leon reacted on pure instinct.

He swung his electrified fist at the creature’s exposed side.

BOOM!

The impact sent a shockwave of electricity through the mutant’s body, lighting up its nerves like a live wire.

The monster howled in agony, stumbling backward, twitching violently.

The air around Leon buzzed, the ground beneath him crackling with small arcs of lightning.

Eric, still crouched behind cover, shouted, “HOLY SHIT! DID YOU JUST?!”

Leon didn’t answer.

He was too focused.

The mutant shook off the attack, its red eyes blazing with fury.

Leon exhaled, watching the sparks dance across his skin.

I can control it.

I can use this.

The mutant charged again.

Leon planted his feet, energy coiling around him.

He dodged left, barely missing the swipe of its claws.

Then he spun, twisting his body with unnatural speed, and slammed his electrified fist into the back of the creature’s knee.

CRACK!

Another shockwave erupted. The electricity surged through the mutant’s nervous system, causing it to spasm violently.

The beast collapsed to one knee, its body convulsing.

Leon didn’t waste time.

He grabbed his knife, eyes flashing as the energy surged through him.

And then, in one swift motion,

He plunged the blade straight into the base of the mutant’s skull.

SZZZT...BOOM!

A final burst of electricity pulsed through its body.

The monster let out a gurgling shriek, before finally falling limp.

Dead.

Leon stood over the body, chest heaving, electricity still crackling along his fingertips.

The battle was over.

But something felt different.

Something had awakened.

A heavy silence followed.

The raiders, what was left of them, stared at Leon in shock.

Even Eric and Dr. Carter were speechless.

The scarred man, the leader of the raiders, finally found his voice.

“What the fuck are you?”

Leon turned his golden eyes on him, the last remnants of electricity still flickering around his hands.

He didn’t answer.

He didn’t need to.

Without another word, he turned to Eric and Dr. Carter.

“We’re leaving.”

No one argued.

As they disappeared into the night, Leon could still feel it, the energy inside him.

And for the first time since coming back to this world…

He realized he might not be entirely human anymore.

***

Leon stood over the mutant’s lifeless body, his chest still heaving from the battle. The final traces of electricity crackled around his fingertips before fading into the night.

He took a slow step forward, pressing his boot against the mutant’s twisted skull. A deep, jagged crack had split the bone where his knife had plunged, but what mattered was beneath it.

The core.

With practiced ease, Leon crouched down and shoved his fingers into the soft, bloody tissue at the base of the creature’s skull.

His fingers wrapped around something hard and pulsating.

He yanked it free.

A dull, pulsing glow emanated from the orb in his palm. Unlike the standard infected cores he had seen in his past life, this one was different.

The color wasn’t just a murky red like most evolved cores. It had streaks of blue and violet crackling like trapped lightning.

It radiated warmth, sending faint tingles through his palm.

The energy inside felt… alive.

Leon clenched his fist around it.

An electricity-type core.

Memories of his past life resurfaced, of people desperately hunting for elemental cores, knowing that absorbing them would grant specialized abilities far beyond normal physical enhancements.

But in his past life, he had never gotten his hands on one.

They were too rare. Too valuable.

Yet here he was, holding one in his hands.

Eric stepped closer, his breathing still unsteady. “Is that… what I think it is?”

Leon nodded. “An evolved core.”

Dr. Carter, who had been silent until now, adjusted his glasses. “If you absorb that, it might enhance your abilities further.” His voice was clinical, but there was a hint of curiosity beneath it.

Leon rolled the core in his palm.

Normally, absorbing a core required a controlled process, one had to be careful, as the energy inside could easily overwhelm a body not prepared to handle it.

But something told him… he could take it.

Without hesitation, he pressed the core against his chest.

The moment the core sank into his body, a jolt of electricity shot through his veins.

BZZZZT—!

His muscles tensed violently.

His vision blurred, then sharpened.

Every nerve in his body lit up like a supercharged circuit.

Leon gritted his teeth as an immense wave of power crashed over him. It wasn’t just a surge, it was as if the energy was rewriting him.

His cells crackled with electricity.

His heartbeat thundered in his ears, faster and stronger.

The air around him sizzled with raw power.

Then, all at once...

It stopped.

Leon opened his eyes.

A faint blue glow flickered within them.

He exhaled slowly, flexing his fingers. The static was gone, but… he could feel it beneath his skin. The power wasn’t out of control anymore. It was his.

Dr. Carter adjusted his glasses again. “Fascinating.”

Eric just stared. “Dude… you’re a walking thunderstorm now.”

Leon glanced at his hands. Sparks of blue energy danced along his fingertips before fading. A slow smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

This was only the beginning.

With the battle over, the night stretched on, thick with the scent of blood and burning wreckage.

Leon scanned the ruins around them. The gunfire had stopped. The remaining raiders had long fled into the darkness.

But Leon knew this was only a small victory.

There was something bigger coming.

“We need to move,” Leon said, breaking the silence. “We’re heading for Blackwood Facility.”

Eric frowned. “Why not go back to the bunker?”

Leon shook his head. “The shelter was never meant to last. The moment the real outbreak starts, that place will be overrun.”

Dr. Carter nodded in agreement. “Blackwood is remote. Highly classified. It’s likely to have security defenses we can repurpose.”

Leon turned his gaze north, toward the distant silhouette of the mountains.

Blackwood Facility had been one of the last holdouts in his past life. A secret military stronghold hidden deep in the wilderness.

There were weapons there. Resources. Maybe even a cure.

But there was one problem...

It was never meant to be found.

And something told him… he wasn’t the only one looking for it.