The squad moved with renewed urgency, each member snapping into their roles with the precision born of desperation. Malik kept the heavy gun roaring, its deep, thunderous bursts shaking the ground beneath them. Sunny worked quickly, rigging explosives along the convoy’s perimeter while muttering to himself under his breath. Kara barked orders, her voice cutting through the chaos like a whip, directing fire and rallying the soldiers.
Titus, perched behind cover, recalibrated his rifle’s scope, his sharp eyes scanning the advancing horde. He could see them shifting—adjusting. The creatures moved as one, a single, nightmarish mass of darkness that split apart and merged again, like water endlessly flowing and reforming. Each individual attack only delayed their advance for a moment before they adapted, reshaped, and pressed on.
“They’re spreading out!” Titus yelled, firing off a shot that sent one of the smaller forms sprawling. It disintegrated into a pool of darkness but reformed almost instantly, its new shape even deadlier than before.
“We’re running out of time here!” Kara snapped back.
Titus’s mind raced. They couldn’t hold the line much longer. The creatures weren’t just adapting individually—they were part of a singular force, learning and evolving as a whole. Every bullet fired, every grenade launched—it all just fed the collective intelligence driving them forward.
“Sunny, detonate on my mark!” Kara shouted.
“Ready when you are!” Sunny replied, his hands trembling as he gripped the detonator.
“Wait!” Titus called out, his eyes narrowing on the horizon. He could see something—a massive shape emerging from the darkness. It moved with deliberate, terrifying intent, towering over the others.
“What the hell is that?” Sunny whispered, his voice barely audible.
Kara’s voice cracked through the comms. “If we don’t stop that thing, we’re done. Focus everything we have on it!”
The creature looked like an amalgamation consisting of at least 100 of its counter parts, if before you could sense the air of death, now you could feel it. Looking at the giant, it didn’t look possible to harm the thing, the pure size of it made you realise you were only in the pond but now you were in the sea.
The convoy erupted into coordinated chaos. Bullets and grenades flew toward the massive entity, their explosions lighting up the dark like fireworks. The creature hesitated briefly, its form rippling under the assault, but then it surged forward again, faster and more relentless than ever.
“Now, Sunny!” Kara shouted.
Sunny slammed his fist on the detonator. The charges exploded in a deafening roar, tearing through the advancing creatures and sending shockwaves across the battlefield. For a moment, everything seemed to stop.
But then, the mass shifted. The smaller creatures surged forward, covering the larger one as it pressed on, its form twisting into a spear-like shape. It struck the first vehicle with brutal force, flipping it like a toy. Soldiers scattered, their screams lost in the chaos.
The giant amalgamation was still moving, barely harmed by the blast that could’ve taken out a whole block of houses, the thing seemed to be immortal, there was nothing any of them could do.
“T! Keep firing!” Kara yelled, but Malik’s gun fell silent. He was overloaded with the smaller creatures, the creature’s tendrils had pierced the turret, dragging Malik and the gun into its writhing mass.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“No!” Titus shouted, his voice breaking.
The squad was falling apart. The creatures overwhelmed the convoy, their unrelenting force consuming everything in their path. Titus’s gaze darted around, searching for any chance—any way to turn the tide. His eyes landed on a nearby refinery, its massive storage tanks looming like ghosts in the dark.
A spark of hope ignited in his chest. The tanks were filled with volatile fuel—enough to cause an explosion that could level the area.
“Titus, what are you thinking?” Kara’s voice cut through the comms, strained and desperate.
“Just keep firing, if we don’t make it, I’ll make sure they also won’t make it”
“Understood, it was short but sweet Titus” she replied soberly
There was only Titus, Kara, Sunny and Elias left, however one of them was going to going the big guy soon.
“We’re running out of ammo and time!” Elias shouted, blood streaking his face as he fell back toward the group.
"Kara!" Titus barked. "We have to get those things in that building. If we can lure them in and blow it, we might be able to wipe them out!"
"Are you insane?" Kara shot back, firing at one that had wandered too close. "You'd destroy half the city!"
"Better half the city than all of us!" retorted Titus. "It's our only hope!"
Kara hesitated for only a moment before nodding. "Alright, you heard him! Fall back to the building! We'll make our stand there!"
The team was quick on their feet, covering each other as they fell back toward the looming structure. The creatures gave chase, their shrieks and growls echoing through the ruins. Titus lobbed a grenade over his shoulder, the explosion slowing the horde's advance.
At last, they came to the building with its yawning entrance, like the maw of some giant beast and Titus knew it might as well of been. Inside, one could feel that the air was heavy with the acrid smell of chemicals. Old machinery and rusted barrels lay everywhere on the floor, their contents long forgotten but still dangerously unstable.
"Sunny, lay charges on the bottom of those tanks," Titus ordered, pointing to a bank of rusted vats stinking of petrol. "Kara, Elias, cover him!"
The team sprang into action, movements choreographed amidst the chaos. Sunny rushed to plant his last explosives while Kara and Elias opened fire on more of the creatures that flowed into the building.
"Titus, this charge, better work!" Sunny bellowed as he finished the charge.
"It will," Titus said, though he wasn't entirely sure himself. He glanced over at Kara, their eyes meeting for a brief moment. She nodded, understanding the unspoken weight of what he was about to do.
"Everybody, fall back!" Titus bellowed. "Get out of here, now! And make sure you find cover”
"What about you?" Kara demanded.
"I'll bring them in," Titus said. "Get 'em all in before we blow it."
Kara opened her mouth to protest, but Titus cut her off. "Go, Kara! That's an order!"
Reluctantly, Kara and the others turned to retreat; their silhouettes receded into the night. Titus turned back toward the horde; rifle raised. He fired his rifle time and again; each shot drew the horde deeper into the structure. They were surging toward him now, becoming more frantic and aggressive in appearance.
When he was sure most of them had entered, Titus backed toward the tanks. The creatures were almost on him, their forms blotting out the faint light of the fires outside.
Titus waited till his squad had found cover, he knew there was a possibility that even his sacrifice wouldn’t save them, but he had to try otherwise he’d still die a worthless death at least now he could potentially save his fellow comrades lives as well as put a dent into the invading forces.
"This is for my squad, and for earth," Titus growled, fetching a flare from his belt. He scraped it across the floor, the intense red glow cutting through the darkness “GO TO HELL!”
With a final roar, he hurled the flare at the tanks. The explosion was instantaneous. A giant fireball filled the building, and a shockwave tore through the surrounding area. The creatures were incinerated, their forms reduced to flying ash. Outside, Kara, Sunny, and Elias stood in silence, watching the building cave in on itself as flames licked high into the sky. The silence that followed was deafening. "Titus…" Kara whispered, her voice breaking. But there was no answer. Only the crackle of flames and, in the distance, the dying shrieks of the creatures. Titus had done it—he had saved them. But at the cost of his own life.
So she had thought, next thing Kara saw was another wave of the same creature however there was new variations and more of them as well as what looked to be human like figures leading them.