Chapter 81
“What the hell is going on?” the leader of the group growled at Jake. “I knew we shouldn’t trust you! You’ve led us into a trap.”
Jake ignored him, preparing to fight mutants who were materializing all over him and the survivors. Frank quickly looked away from Jake as he caught sight of another vertical tear appearing in a sudden burst of eerie light on the wall in front of him. As the opening widened, clawed hands emerged, followed by the visage of an ex-human leaper with a menacing grin of jagged teeth. As the magical tear expanded even more, the mutant fully emerged from it, coiling up like a spring and launching itself toward Frank.
Jake immediately realized the leader of the group wouldn’t be able to get out of harm’s way in time, so he lurched down the corridor to intercept the mutant. He rammed into it with great force, tackling it to the ground and slashing at it with his claws, tearing open its throat. Dark blood freely poured from the nasty wound. The mutant was done for, so Jake stood up, leaving the ex-human to thrash about in its death throes on the floor.
Frank watched Jake with a mix of surprise and gratitude on his face. Although he didn’t say anything, it was obvious what he was thinking. The group leader knew that without Jake’s quick interception of the mutant, he would have been seriously hurt or even killed by now. Jake didn’t care about what Frank thought, though. He had only saved him because he knew the more survivors remained alive, the better his chances of successfully completing the tower climb challenge on time.
In his expanded field of vision, Jake noticed numerous rifts opening up on the walls with mutants emerging from them. More portals cracked open on the floor and even the ceiling. While the group of survivors had been bewildered at first, they got their shit together and quickly regrouped, showing their experience in handling such situations. Watching the group come together, covering all angles and taking out one mutant after another, Jake mentally praised himself for leading them into the building. Seeing how skilled they were in handling mutants on the street, he had realized they were experienced and could stay calm in tough situations. Even though they didn’t know what was happening in the building, their instincts kicked in, allowing them to quickly get themselves together. They fired in multiple directions, efficiently taking out mutants in droves.
After the first wave ended and a brief break began, Jake led them deeper into the eighth floor. Initially hesitant, the survivors seemed to collectively decide he was on their side and followed his lead. Upon discovering a large empty room, Jake decided it was their best option to make a stand. The survivors approved of his decision and positioned themselves at the room’s center just as another wave commenced, with magical rift gates appearing all around them on the walls, floor, and ceiling.
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As the mutants emerged from the portals, they dashed toward the survivors gathered at the center of the vast room. Most of them were low-level walkers and leapers, posing no real threat to the experienced survivors. When a powerful shambler or whipper appeared, they concentrated all their fire on it, defeating the threat within seconds. When they were too busy dealing with weaker groups of mutants, Jake took it upon himself to deal with a formidable ex-human like a shambler or whipper, taking care of the threat even faster than his allies could.
At some point, even more dangerous mutants started to appear—slashers. The survivors’ faces showed their anxiety, indicating they had never faced such opponents before and didn’t know what to anticipate. The first slasher burst through a magical gateway in the ceiling. As soon as its form began to project from the opening, Jake recognized it as a slasher and immediately extended swords from his wrists. The survivors exchanged apprehensive looks when they saw him do so. As soon as the slasher plummeted to the ground with a heavy thud, Jake charged toward it, delivering a series of powerful strikes at the dangerous mutant. In the middle of the action, he noticed the survivors watching him with amazement. They had never imagined he could move so quickly and unleash such devastating attacks. They were increasingly convinced that he was far more dangerous than any other mutant.
As soon as he dispatched the first slasher, Jake heard a piercing shriek from another one. He quickly turned to see that it had just appeared from a portal. The formidable mutant immediately headed straight for the group of survivors at the center of the room. Without hesitation, Jake sprinted toward the new threat and managed to intercept the mutant before it could reach the survivors.
Jake and the four people continued to fight off wave after wave of mutants, with the group tackling the weaker types while Jake took on the more formidable enemies like slashers and occasionally shamblers and whippers.
After the floor was finally finished, Jake checked the status of the challenge.
Tower Climb Progression
Floors: 8/10
Remaining Time: 1 hour, 11 minutes, 14 seconds
It had taken him about twenty to twenty-five minutes to guide the group to this point, but it was definitely worth it. They had cleared the eighth floor much more quickly than he could have on his own. He now felt optimistic about the rest of the challenge. If they could clear the remaining two floors and defeat the boss on the roof just as smoothly, he would be able to complete the challenge on time.
Unfortunately, what he didn’t take into account was what the survivors would think about it all. Frank, in particular, wasn’t happy about what was going on. He wasn’t pleased about the situation at all. After he was certain no more mutants were going to materialize, he spun around, glaring at Jake and pointing his assault rifle at him.
“I need an explanation right fucking now,” he growled. “Tell me what the hell is going on here, or I swear I’ll splatter your brains all over this room!”