“ Grenade! ”
A loud explosion occurred among the swarm of mutants, blasting them off and turning them instantly into fiery ball of yellow flame. The noise had reverberated over the sleeping town as efficiently as a thunder clap.
“ Forward! ” shouted Blake.
Five of them charged through the street full of mutants at the same time as the signal of the big blast. They moved very fast down the street while keeping their battle formation, clearing all the hostiles along the path, leaving nothing behind. The mutants couldn't even have the chances to realize what was happening when their heads were being blown up like a watermelon, spitting all the 'juice' on the ground around the corpses.
“ It's it! ” Adam yelled.
“ Killer Bees approaching! ” Hulk pointed at the top of the Rainmaker. A swarm of dark matter with a terrifying noise was hovering right above them.
“ Shit! Victor! Smoke screen! ” ordered Blake hysterically.
“ Smoke! ” Victor quickly pulled the pins of the smoke grenades and threw it out, one at their feet, one at the bottom of the Rainmaker. The white smoke gushed out from the grenade vigorously, filled the whole space. It swallowed them, smothered the greens of the grasses and the underbrush over the floor. It leached out their color, turning everything the same stony gray as the rock.
“ Fire in the hold! ” a husky voice came out from the smoke screen. At the next second, a frag grenade flew out from inside the smoke, projected straight into the opening of the flower attached to the Rainmaker.
Five of them rushed out from the smoke towards the nearest obstacles respectively. “ Take cover! ” shouted Blake while running from the Rainmaker.
“ Boom!!! ”
The enormous Rainmaker blew up in just a mere second. All of their stems and roots spilled everywhere along with its unknown corrosive liquid. The liquid that spilled all over the place let out a stinky smell and an unpleasant sound while corroding the substances they touched.
“ SOS 13 to HQ, the target is eliminated, can you copy?! ” reported Blake using his Walkie-Talkie. “ I repeated! The target is eliminated! Over! ”
“ Hey guys.......I think you need to see this....... ” said George with a trembling sound.
A wave of Stingers gushing out from beneath the roots of the Rainmaker they just blew up. It looked like a non-stop water fountain but instead of water, it was ant. The Stingers that crawled out charged towards them in full speed just like a group of raging bull during the bull running festival in Spain.
“ Fall back! To the rendezvous point! ” ordered Blake.
“ 11o'clock! Incoming mutants! Approximates 20 of them! ” said Adam.
“ Damn! They have block us off! ” grumbled Hulk.
As they were figuring a way out, a wave of mutants suddenly rushed towards them from the bend in the street.
“ No way! ” murmured Adam.
“ They are way too many of them! We are cornered! ” Blake looked at the scene in front of him unbelievably. Impossible! Impossible! Blake didn't want to accept what was happening right in front of his eyes, nor do his teammates. It wasn't going to end like this. He couldn't die without achieving anything, not when he hadn't truly save everyone who were suffering in this living hell. “ Think, Blake Conrad! Think! ” mumbled Blake desperately.
He accidentally glanced off a subway entry covering in plants, sitting at the middle of the street insignificantly. His eyes opened wide, just like a professor discovered the secret of the pyramid, stared at the subway entry while pointing at it. After a second or two of delay, he shouted “ All hands, take cover in the subway station! ”.
Others turned their heads towards the subway entry following the direction of his finger at the same time. Without hesitation, all of them sprinted at full speed and went down the subway.
“ They're on our tail! ” shouted Adam. As Adam speaking, Victor halted instantly and tossed another smoke grenade at the subway entry, concealing the squad's movement.
The subway was as dark as the shades of night. The air around them felt like it had never moved the slightest since the Second Impact. Everyone could feel as if the breath of each other infused themselves far more deeply than it did in the light of day.
The air in deep slumber started to move again when Victor spoke, “ I think we lost them. ”, the Killer Bees were hovering around the subway entry directionless thanked to the disturbance of the smoke screen.
The lack of light that had bothered them so much at first just became normal. As people went into darkness for a while, they will start to accustom to it, despite the fact that getting control over it or being swallowed by it. “ Lights up! Boys! ” said Blake while turning on his tactical flashlight that mounted to his M4A1. “ We are going in! ”
***
As they went deeper and deeper, the darkness surrounded them became more intense. Not even a single bulb in the subway was functioning normally as usual, but this was reasonable as most of the electrical supply had been cut off due to the Second Impact and the abnormal shrinking of the Frigid Zone.
“ Something not right! ” said Blake in a low voice.
“ Why? ” asked Hulk.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“ It's way too quiet.......not even a single mutant wandering around here. ” replied Blake.
“ Shoooooppp! ” George suddenly lost his balance and slipped, let his butt absorbing all the shock on impact with the floor.
Others quickly went forward to give him a hand. “ Fuck! I think I stepped on something slippery! ” mumbled George painfully. A scream was let out by George suddenly, but it had been held back after a mere half second.
“ What happen? ” whispered Adam.
“ My foot's burning!!! ” said George while trying to keep his mouth shut from letting out a yell of pain.
Victor focused his flashlight on George's foot. “ Damn, your foot is being corroded! ” said Victor by surprise on what he was seeing.
“ It is the corrosive liquid of Rainmaker. ” said Blake. “ Come! Get up! ” Blake and Hulk helped George to rise to his feet slowly.
Blake used his flashlight to find the liquid's source. The ring of light finally stopped at a white wooden door which had ' Staff Only ' written on it. The liquid was seeped out bit by bit from the narrow slit at the bottom of the door.
“ Seems like something major is in there! ” said Blake with a pair of serious eyes. “ We should go check it out! ”
“ Seem so! ” Others agreed with Blake.
The white door was being opened slowly without making a single sound. It was same with the outside, nothing can be seen with mere eyes, only darkness or even darker than that.
Blake made eye contact to indicate Victor to throw in a flare. At that instant the blaze lighted up the darken space behind the door, all of them was shocked, standing still, couldn't stop staring the scene in front of their eyes. A cluster of Rainmakers was in sight, at least four of them, with their roots adhered on the floor and wall or even the ceiling. This wasn't the worst, what was the worst was that there were many pair of deadly eyes watching them simultaneously.
“ Oh shit! ” said Hulk.
“ We are doomed...... ” murmured Adam.
***
“ Run! Faster! Faster! They are catching on us! ” I shouted.
What's behind me was a group of crazy mutants who thought us as their dinner that was running away. They kept chasing us without slowing down and sometimes let out a disgusting roar.
“ I already told you that was a bad idea! ” yelled Elrick.
“ But we can't leave her alone! She will die! ” I replied intensely.
“ Not she will die! Is we are going to die! ” shouted Wilco while carrying a little girl who was approximately 5 to 6 years old on his shoulder. The little girl was crying out loud, held her arms tightly around Wilco neck.
Four of them kept running down along the gloomy hallway with aid of the sole torchlight in Elrick's hand. The mutants behind didn't seem to have the intention of giving up on chasing them.
“ Look! There is a discarded train in front! We can hide in there! ” said Elrick.
“ Good idea! ” agreed Wilco.
Elrick took the lead and went into the train, Wilco followed up. And the last, me. The mutants almost got me when the swing door was slammed shut, keeping the mutants outside. The mutants who failed to get in still didn't give up on us, they kept on scratching and slapping the door, spitting the blacken blood in their mouth onto the crackled window.
“ I think.......we're safe for now..... ” sighed Elrick while leaning against the seat beside him.
The little girl still didn't stop crying even though the manhunt had halted. I indicated Wilco to put her down gently and I leant forward. Her crystal blue eyes was parallel with mine, I stared and looked at her eyes with a soft glance. She stopped crying at that moment and started to breathe calmly. I waited for a few seconds before asking her name in a mild tune.
“ I am Kade. What's your name? ” I asked.
“ …....... ” The little girl stayed quiet.
“ Come on! Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you! You are safe now! ” I added.
“ ….....I.......I.....I.........am Carol! Carol Wright! 6 years old! ” The little girl faltered out a few words after a short pause.
“ Carol huh.....what a beautiful name. Nice to meet you! ” I said it with a smile on my face.
“ It is dangerous down here. Why are you here? ” I continued.
“ …....... ” Carol returned to silence. I noticed that her pair of crystal blue eyes turned red again. Her tear was about to burst out.
“ It's ok, you can tell me. Maybe we can help you! ” I comforted her.
“ Papa! I came out to find papa! He promised me that he will come home as soon as possible. ” said Carol with a low voice.
“ Then.......do you know where he is? ” I asked.
Carol shook her head vigorously. “ I don't know! I don't know! Papa don't want Carol! Is it because of Carol is a naughty girl? ” Carol sobbed.
“ No! No! Carol is a good girl! I believe your papa think so too! He love you. ” I said while patting her head. “ Your papa just have some problem when coming home. Let's find him together. Ok? ” I promised her.
“ Really? ” said Carol with a pair of hopeful eyes.
“ Yes! I promised you! ” I said confidently.
***
“ Run! Dammit! Run! ”
“ Rrrrrrrrr........ ” The mutants chasing after them kept letting out a terrible roar non-stop.
Five of them continued to run upstairs, evading the wandering mutants on the path, dodging all the obstacles that scattered all over the place.
“ Where should we go? ” shouted Hulk.
“ There should be a control room ahead of us! We can hide in there! ” Blake jumped across a rack lying on the floor.
“ Shit! They are catching up fast! ” Adam turned around his head.
“ Don't shoot! You will get more attention! The sound will make mutants in the whole subway come to us! ” ordered Blake.
“ There is it! ” shouted Victor.
There was a room at the end of the corridor, with ' Control Room ' and ' No Entry ' written on it. All of them darted into the control room and locked the door harshly. Hulk quickly dragged the rack beside the computer and blocked it right behind the door, preventing the mutants outside from breaking through.
George and Victor sat down on the floor, panting. Blake observed the room with a quick glance, nothing inside, just two to three keyboard on the table and a few goddamn blacken screens mounted on the wall.
“ There is nothing here! We can't stay here forever! ” said Blake.
“ But how we break through their surround? ” Victor took a deep breath.
At this moment, the terrifying sound outside stopped, followed by the distinct sound of footsteps, fading bit by bit, disappeared at last. The next second, a voice was clearly heard by them, “ It is the zombie! ” “ Oh shit! Run! Run! ”
It seemed like the mutants had found their new dinner.
“ There is someone out there! ” said Adam with a surprised face.
Blake blocked Adam from moving the rack in front of the door aside with his right arm. He signaled Adam to stay put.
“ Why? Shouldn't we help them? ” questioned Adam.
“ If we go out now, not only we can't save them but we all will be killed together. ” explained Blake calmly.
“ But...... ” The Walkie-Talkie attached at Blake's belt suddenly let out a single ' bip ' sound. “ Excuse me! ” said Blake while picking up the transmission.
“ Blake........Blake! Can you hear me? ” A woman voice came out from the other side of the Walkie-Talkie.
“ Yes! Every word, Kelly. We have stuck in the subway, send someone to retrieve us now. Over! ” said Blake.
“ No! No! Listen to me...... ” sobbed Kelly.
Blake could feel Kelly's anxiety even over the Walkie-Talkie. “ What has happened? ” asked Blake in tense.
“ Carol.........I can't find her in the safe house. She........she.......she is gone........ ” The Walkie-Talkie just slipped through Blake's hand and fell hard to the ground.
“ Blake! Blake! Blakeeeeee! ”