The creature wasn’t like the mindless zombies Leon had fought before.

Its skin was smooth yet unnaturally pale, almost synthetic. Its muscles rippled, looking reinforced beyond normal human limits. The moment it took its first breath, its chest expanded like it was relearning how to function.

But the worst part?

It studied them.

Leon’s grip on his rifle tightened. “It’s… thinking.”

The Alpha tilted its head, its glowing eyes darting between them, as if processing. And then...

It moved.

Leon barely had time to react before the creature blurred forward with inhuman speed. It wasn’t running, it was gliding, its feet barely making noise against the floor.

He fired.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Three precise headshots. Perfect aim.

The Alpha’s head snapped back from the impact… but it didn’t fall. Instead, its body absorbed the force, its skin rippling as if dispersing the kinetic energy.

Then it smiled.

Leon cursed. “Shit.”

The Alpha vanished from sight.

Eric barely had time to turn before.

SMASH!

He was sent flying across the room, his body crashing into a console with enough force to dent the metal. He coughed, blood splattering from his lips.

Leon’s mind raced. This wasn’t just another zombie, it was something new, something far beyond what he’d encountered in his past life.

“Carter, get to cover!” Leon barked.

Dr. Carter ducked behind an overturned desk, frantically trying to access any manual lockdown features on his tablet. “I-I need time!”

Leon didn’t have time.

The Alpha reappeared, right in front of him.

Instinct took over.

Leon raised his left hand, electricity crackled to life.

BOOM!

A lightning-infused punch connected with the Alpha’s chest, sending it skidding backward. Sparks flickered over its skin, and for the first time—its smile faded.

It felt that.

Leon exhaled, his arm smoking from the energy discharge. “Alright… so you’re not invincible.”

The Alpha growled, its humanoid form now shaking, as if the attack had triggered something inside it.

Then its bones cracked.

Its body shifted, growing larger.

Leon’s stomach dropped.

“Oh, hell no.”

The Alpha’s muscles expanded, its limbs elongating. Its fingers sharpened into claws, its jaw distorting as more teeth pushed through its gums.

This wasn’t just an infected anymore.

It was evolving before their eyes.

Eric groaned, dragging himself up. “Leon… what the fuck is that?”

Leon didn’t answer.

Because he already knew.

This was no ordinary Alpha.

This was a Proto-Tyrant.

Something that shouldn’t have existed yet.

Something that had never appeared this early in his past life.

Leon clenched his fists, electricity arcing around his body.

This fight just got a lot more complicated.

The room trembled as the Alpha's transformation completed.

Its hunched frame had doubled in size, veins bulging under its thickened, grayish flesh. Its elongated claws dripped with a dark, viscous fluid, sizzling wherever it touched the ground. A grotesque fusion of muscle, bone, and raw mutation, its very existence defied the laws of biology.

And worst of all?

Its glowing crimson eyes were locked onto Leon with an intelligence far beyond that of the mindless infected.

Then...

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It moved.

A blur of motion, too fast for something its size.

Leon barely had time to react before the Proto-Tyrant was on him, its massive claw swinging in a brutal arc.

BOOM!

Leon ducked, the shockwave of the swipe sending debris flying. The sheer force split the floor, a jagged crater forming where the claw struck.

"Shit!!!"

Leon sprang back, twisting his body mid-air as he unleashed a bolt of lightning.

CRACK!

The electrical blast struck the Proto-Tyrant in the chest, lighting up the room with a violent surge of energy. The creature convulsed, its muscles locking up from the sudden surge...

But only for a second.

Then...

It charged straight through the attack.

Leon’s eyes widened.

This thing was adapting.

Eric, finally steadying himself, saw the monster closing in on Leon.

“Oh hell no.”

Gritting his teeth, he lifted his shotgun, aiming for the mutant’s exposed joints.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The buckshot ripped through its knee, black ichor splattering onto the walls. The Proto-Tyrant stumbled, its momentum disrupted as it let out a guttural roar.

“LEON, MOVE!” Eric shouted.

Leon didn’t hesitate.

He lunged forward, lightning crackling around his fist as he delivered a devastating uppercut to the creature’s jaw.

CRACK!

The impact sent the Proto-Tyrant staggering backward, a dent forming in its otherwise impervious skull.

But then..

Its wounds began closing.

Leon froze.

“Are you serious?”

From his cover behind a fallen console, Dr. Carter’s hands flew across his tablet, pulling up the emergency lockdown procedures for the facility.

“This thing… it’s absorbing kinetic energy,” Carter murmured, piecing together data from its vitals. “Leon, we need a different approach! Stop using raw force!”

Leon rolled his shoulders, lightning still humming in his veins. “Then what do you suggest, Doc?”

Dr. Carter glanced at the reinforced containment tanks lining the walls. Each one was filled with a highly reactive coolant solution used to preserve biological samples.

If it worked on keeping deadly organisms dormant…

“Electrocute the tanks!” Carter shouted. “Flood the room with the coolant, freeze it in place!”

Leon’s mind raced. It was a gamble, but they were running out of options.

The Proto-Tyrant let out another roar, its body twitching as if growing stronger with each passing second.

Leon clenched his fists.

“Alright. Let’s see how you handle this.”

Leon pivoted, raising both hands toward the containment tanks.

Then...

BOOM!

A surge of pure electricity exploded outward, chain-reacting through the metal pipes connected to the coolant storage. The force shattered the tanks, releasing a flood of freezing liquid into the room.

The Proto-Tyrant howled as the super-cooled substance splashed across its body.

Its movements slowed, its flesh hardening as the temperature dropped drastically.

Leon didn’t waste a second.

Summoning every last volt of energy, he focused his power into one final attack..

A lightning spear formed in his hands, crackling with a deafening hum.

“Time to put you down for good.”

With a final thrust, he hurled the charged spear directly at the Proto-Tyrant’s frozen core.

KRZZZZZT—BOOM!

The spear impaled the creature, unleashing a devastating chain reaction as electricity surged through its crystallized body.

The Proto-Tyrant twitched violently, then shattered into a thousand frozen shards.

Silence.

Then...

Thud.

The creature’s remains collapsed into the pool of coolant, unmoving.

Leon exhaled, staggering back as the adrenaline finally wore off.

Eric let out a breath of relief. “Well… that was one hell of a fight.”

Dr. Carter wiped sweat from his brow, staring at the remains of the Proto-Tyrant. “That… wasn’t supposed to exist. Not yet.”

Leon’s eyes darkened.

Something was changing the timeline.

And he had a bad feeling this was only the beginning.

The cold mist lingered in the air, swirling around the shattered remains of the Proto-Tyrant. The room, once filled with the echoes of combat, had fallen into dead silence. Only the soft crackling of electricity dissipating from Leon’s body remained.

He exhaled, his breath visible in the freezing air. His muscles ached from overexertion, but he forced himself to remain standing. They couldn't afford to let their guard down.

Eric nudged one of the frozen chunks of the mutant with his boot. “Damn… That thing was a nightmare.”

“No kidding,” Leon muttered, rubbing his temple. The Proto-Tyrant had been stronger than expected. And if Carter was right about it not being meant to exist yet, then something, or someone, was accelerating the outbreak.

Dr. Carter knelt beside the remains, carefully prying a pulsating core from the frozen flesh. Unlike the others, this core had faint blue veins running through it, pulsing as if still alive.

“This… This is different,” Carter said, turning the core over in his gloved hands.

Leon frowned, kneeling beside him. “How different?”

Carter glanced up, his expression grim. “It's not just a standard mutation core. This one has… artificial modifications.”

Leon’s eyes narrowed. Artificial? That could mean only one thing.

Someone was tampering with the infection.

Leon took the core from Carter, feeling the faint static hum within. As soon as he touched it...

A sharp jolt ran through his arm.

System Notification: High-tier Mutant Core detected. Compatible with host abilities. Do you wish to absorb it?

Leon hesitated for only a second before answering.

Yes.

A rush of energy flooded his veins, colder than anything he had experienced before. His body shook violently as the mutation core merged with his existing abilities, sending waves of new information surging through his mind.

Electricity crackled along his skin, but this time, something was different. His powers felt… refined.

He clenched his fist and, for the first time, focused without effort. The usual unstable bursts of energy were now controlled, precise, like an extension of his very being.

“Leon?” Eric took a cautious step forward.

Leon exhaled, releasing a small arc of controlled lightning from his fingertips. Unlike before, when his power tended to surge uncontrollably, this time, it was stable.

He smirked. “Looks like I leveled up.”

Carter nodded, still studying the remnants of the core. “It’s likely that your powers just reached a new threshold. We’ll need to run some tests later, but this… this could be a game-changer.”

Leon nodded, rolling his shoulders as the lingering energy settled in his body. He could feel it, something had awakened inside him.

***

With the immediate threat eliminated, they finally had a moment to breathe.

Eric sat on a broken console, reloading his shotgun. “Alright, now that we’re not about to die… what’s the plan?”

Leon crossed his arms. “We need to move. This place isn’t safe anymore.”

Eric raised a brow. “You sure? We just cleared this place out.”

Leon shook his head. “If that thing was here, that means whoever’s behind this experiment is nearby. We can’t stay in one place for too long. We need to find the Blackwood Facility.”

Dr. Carter straightened at the mention of the name. “You’re sure about that?”

Leon nodded. “It’s the best option. Our old shelter was too exposed, and we can’t trust the city anymore. Blackwood is remote, fortified, and, if my memory is right, still stocked with pre-apocalypse supplies.”

Carter hesitated before sighing. “It’s risky, but I agree. Blackwood was a high-security research lab before things fell apart. If there’s anywhere left that can function as a stronghold, it’s there.”

Eric groaned. “Great. More hiking through mutant-infested wastelands.”

Leon smirked. “Think of it as a survival adventure.”

Eric deadpanned. “Screw you, man.”

Before they could continue, Carter’s tablet beeped with an incoming transmission.

The screen flickered, filled with static interference. But amidst the noise, a distorted voice came through...

“…They… coming… escape… impossible… find you soon…”

Then.

Silence.

The three men exchanged wary glances.

Leon tightened his grip on his weapon.

“Looks like we’re not the only ones on the move.”