Having evolved Gabriel felt like a new person.His body felt extremely light and seemed to have infinite energy but believing himself invincible in this world is one of the fastest ways to die. Without wasting time he went to the workshop to do routine maintenance of the group's equipment and make something special for the tank.
Gabriel dedicated himself to modifying Yeni's armor to make it resistant to electric attacks. Electricity despite being an extremely lethal force is quite lazy and predictable and that is why it is easy to deceive. The Faraday cage is basically a metal box that is placed around a person or object to protect it from electricity, it takes the path of the least resistance and therefore always chooses to pass through the conductive metal than through the body of the person residing inside. Using the same concept, Gabriel lined the interior of the plate armor with a network of copper wires and beneath it a layer of insulating rubber.Finally the woman's armor was left with an outer layer of steel, then the net of Copper, then the insulating rubber and finally kevlar to give an extra layer of protection.
When Gabriel finished he called his partner to test the modifications of her gear in case he had to make any adjustments. The woman took a few seconds to adjust and took a few small jumps to prove how much mobility she had lost.
Yeni: This shit feel a lot more heavy and bulky.
Gabriel: We should raise your strength more so that it doesn't get in your way so much.
Yeni: I don't even want to imagine how I'm going to cook in this when we get to summer.
Gabriel: We will worry about that when it happens. After all, as we have to travel south, the heat wouldn't be as problematic . . . . .in theory.
Yeni: And what about you? Lucia and you don't need protection against those electric bastards?
Gabriel: Yes, but since Lucia will be out of commission for a while is better to focus on you. In my case for that I have my range weapon, advantages of being a Jack of all trades.
In this way another day end. They still had more than two weeks before the city became uninhabitable but the date of the exodus was approaching slowly and safely. The weather this morning was quite horrendous, a constant rain lashed the city and thanks to some weather information they managed to get out of the communications room those clouds wouldn't go anywhere. In the dining room the group was meeting as usual for breakfast. Gabriel, Michi and Oscar no longer need sleep but is always nice to share the table with the rest of their companions.
Gabriel: As it is going to rain today I think it is quite safe to go to investigate the unique infected arsonist. Likewise, first we will need to go to a fire station to get some anti-flame equipment.
Lucia: I was investigating and the nearest fire station was already set on fire for that thing. Luckily it seems to be on the other side of the city now, so do you want to take a chance?
Gabriel: What do you think? I say let's go now that we can.
Oscar: For my perfect, if the situation gets complicated we escape.
Yeni: You already know my answer.
Michi: So far we have been able to stay alive thanks to you so I trust your decision.
Gabriel: Well, it's decided, that will be our new goal.
Lucia: Shouldn't they get something for the rain? We don't have any umbrellas in here.
Gabriel: A little water never killed anyone,our vitality mutation also gives us resistance to disease so there is no risk of catching a cold.
Michi: I have a question a little out of our main topic, but shouldn't we get some Geiger counters? I say with so many things changing it would not be unusual for the nuclear power plant to explode early.
Gabriel: I don't believe. . .but tomorrow we will go find some if it makes you feel safer.
As always they began to prepare for the trip. At this point putting the necessary equipment in their backpacks and preparing the bicycles was a routine.
Michi: Gabriel, do you have a second?
Gabriel: Sure, what's up?
Michi: I was reading and there is a substance that aroused my interest, White phosphorus.
Gabriel: I remember reading about that thing, isn't it a kind of material similar to Thermite, but it ignites at contact with the air?
Michi: Yes, but what I want to use it for is to create smoke grenades.I thought it would be useful to have something to cover ourselves if we have to escape.
Gabriel: The vision of the infected isn't the best for now but since everything is evolving so fast having that advantage would be useful. Do you have what you need here?
Michi: No, we need to pay another visit to that chemical warehouse that we recently went to. It must still be uninhabited, so I don't think it's very problematic.
Gabriel: Ok, if we have time we will go today. Now that I think about it we will have to go there anyway to find something I need to create a new weapon.
Michi: Great, thanks for the favor.
Gabriel: Hey. . .are you alright?A few days ago you become intelligent so . . .you have any existential problems ?.
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Mishi: No time for that, I'm very busy trying to stay alive. Do you have existential problems?
Gabriel: Yes like . . I am a copy of my previous self? Or can fate be changed? but I get distracted with a lot of casual sex and hard work.
Michi: Hey remember if you need to talk I'm here.
Gabriel: Thanks but I'm fine now.
As always during the trip they avoided large hordes and killed any infected who blocked their way. The landscape of buildings slowly changed as they approached the fire zone, those concrete towers were now a pile of rubble burned to the ground.
Michi: I'm detected several tens of unidentified infected in those rubbles.
Gabriel: Ignore them, as long as we don't get close they won't attack us.
Oscar: Those are the Scorchers?
Gabriel: Yep.
In an hour they had reached the remains of the fire station. The whole block had been burned leaving only ashes dampened by rain but within that mountain of rubble was the treasure they were looking for. The team positioned themselves in the street ready to begin the attack, Oscar and Michi went on top of a lampposts while Yeni and Gabriel were in the front as usual.
Michi: I detected 20 unidentified infected in that building but there are about 80 more in the whole area.
Gabriel: Well Yeni you know what to do, we have to wake them up.
The woman nodded and began hitting her shield with her mace creating a rather imposing rumble. Quickly moisture from the area began to evaporate creating a dense layer of mist. The debris began to move and from these emerged a new aberration.
These things were a rather unusual type of infected that only occurred with a specific condition. As it is logical the fire was effective against the infected, the heat boiled their brains inside their skulls and melted tendons and muscles. However, this didn't destroy the Hell Crystals and therefore they will revive like the rest but instead of becoming Redheads they were transformed into another type of creature, the Scorchers. These calcined corpses looked like skeletons with their eyes red as flames of hell, physically they were one of the weakest and most fragile types of infected, but they had a special ability.
In nature, it isn't uncommon to find animals that use heat as a weapon, the bombardier beetle sprays its predators with a boiling chemical compound, some species of bees cover wasps with their bodies to cook them with an infernal temperature, etc. This type of infected had a similar ability, the skin of these creatures emit an absurd amount of heat, easily reaching 200 degrees celsius. Another variant extremely difficult to count er if you only had melee weapons, luckily they weren't fast being even slower than a normal infected.
This legion of the dead with their dark skin like obsidian rose from the ashes of those buildings. The raindrops that fell on their burned bodies evaporate immediately giving rise to that mist. It filled the area with a putrid smell of burned flesh that could make those weak stomachs vomit.
In spite of what the fight seems it was quite simple.Oscar could easily kill those beasts from a safe distance and if anyone came close Gabriel would kill him quickly. Due to the speed of the redhead he didn't run many risks since his sword pierced the flesh so fast that the heat couldn't affect him. After one hour they were able to clean the entire area without suffering even a blow.
Oscar: That was anti-climatic.
Yeni:Yea Quickshot, I don't even know why I came for.
Gabriel: Don't complain that we still have to find the suits and collect the crystals.
The rest is history, they were able to find a pair of firefighters uniforms among the rubble that luckily were in a decent state despite the fire, at least the material with which they were made was intact. After collecting the crystals, they returned to their base to continue their work, change their wet clothes and take a bath to remove the smell of burned meat.
Now it was up to Yeni to evolve, after all she was the protective barrier of the group and since Lucia was recovering she would have to take her place. Also if she wanted to use her new “toy” she needed to make some changes. Their mutations were something quite standard and logical, increase their strength, regeneration, vitality, resistance, etc.
Yeni evolved
[https://i.imgur.com/ZRewdEq.png]
Giant Blood 4: Your body feels full of life, you have eight times the vitality of a regular person and you could lift 400 kilos with ease.
[https://i.imgur.com/18nL29s.png]
Giant Blood 5: Your body feels full of life, you have sixteen times the vitality of a regular person and you could lift 800 kilos with ease.
[https://i.imgur.com/xYHDYPo.png]
Enchant Stamina 4: You have great Stamina! You can run easily run eight marathons.
[https://i.imgur.com/DfVklTX.png]
Enchant Stamina 5: You have great Stamina! You can run easily run sixteen marathons.
[https://i.imgur.com/9xiNW0e.png]
Regeneration 3: Your body heals eight times as fast as an average human.
[https://i.imgur.com/DgZrW43.png]
Regeneration 4: Your body heals sixteen times as fast as an average human.
[https://i.imgur.com/t11zY4q.png]
Resistant Skin 3: Your skin becomes as resistant as copper.
[https://i.imgur.com/0MLFLmC.png]
Resistant Skin 4: Your skin becomes as resistant as bronze.
[https://i.imgur.com/irVVBZY.png]
Resistant Skin 5: Your skin becomes as resistant as iron.
After Gabriel finished adapting the armors so that they could withstand high temperatures he went to the empty room where Oscar used to practice with his unique mutation.
Gabriel: Hey Oscar, how's the training going?
Oscar: Pretty good, I think I'm already master the weird crossbow.
Gabriel: Have you thought about starting to use other things like Nunchucks or Rollerblades?
Oscar: I'm pretty sure the Nunchakus would hurt me more than my enemies. As for the Rollerblades,We don't have enough mobility with bicycles ?.
Gabriel: That is mobility for long distances, I mean something for you to use in the middle of combat.
Oscar: Even if that increases my speed, wouldn't it be stupidly difficult to keep my balance while I'm on top of a lamppost or something similar?
Gabriel: For a normal human yes but in your case it is different. With your special skills added to my genius, I think I could make something useful for you. If you can do that, we could save you the need to upgrade your speed and use those points for something else.
Oscar: I think it would be essential for that to dominate the speed at which I can spin things. As I am now I can only rotate using 100% of my strength, if I could use 50% or 20% I would be able to maneuver with those things.
Gabriel: Great, you have homework then.