(Where collapsing tunnels, super-evolution, and blind murder-beasts all get crammed into one terrible afternoon)
Let me tell you something about collapsing tunnels: they don't give you polite warnings. One moment, you're standing on solid ground trying to process the fact that a ten-foot-tall mutant monster just tried to murder you, and the next? BOOM. Concrete rainstorm.
"GO! MOVE!" I yelled, dragging Adrian forward by the collar like a malfunctioning robot vacuum that couldn't find its charging dock.
The ground beneath us cracked like a candy bar in a microwave. Steel beams screamed like tortured banshees, and behind us, the tunnel gave a mighty groan, then decided life wasn't worth it anymore. The ceiling collapsed in an avalanche of concrete and rusted pipes.
Through the chaos, I caught one last glimpse of those glowing red eyes Apex Hollowed watching us as the rubble swallowed it whole.
Not dead.
Not gone.
Just... buried. Waiting.
That's a comfort.
A slab of concrete the size of a small car slammed down behind us, barely missing my feet. My body screamed, but something inside me overrode the pain adrenaline, maybe. Or something... else.
We dove out of the tunnel like Indiana Jones escaping a trap. Dust exploded behind us, a mushroom cloud of filth and decay. I hit the ground in a roll that should've dislocated at least three joints but didn't. My muscles screamed in protest, then fell oddly silent, like they were regenerating before my brain could register it.
Adrian coughed beside me, looking like a powdered doughnut version of himself. "Dude," he wheezed. "What the hell are you?"
That was a great question.
I didn't answer because, frankly, I had no idea. My ribs had been cracked by the Apex's strike. Now they felt fine. Better than fine. Healed.
I stared at my hands. They looked normal. Five fingers, same scars, dirty fingernails. But they weren't normal. Not anymore.
The sky above us churned with dirty gray clouds, the sun long buried behind layers of gloom. The city stretched before us, a graveyard of twisted metal and shattered glass.
What had once been a thriving place grocery stores, coffee shops, people arguing about parking spots was now a silent, haunted skeleton. Buildings leaned like drunks after last call. Abandoned cars littered the roads, doors flung open mid-escape. Every window looked like a watching eye.
Far off, a screech cut through the silence.
Not human.
"Yep," Adrian muttered. "I'm officially done."
I pulled him to his feet, every sense buzzing with alert. "We need shelter."
He pointed. "There. That apartment building looks... slightly less murdery than everything else."
It was at least four stories tall, weathered but not crumbling. Good vantage point. Narrow entrance. Defensible. My new instincts agreed.
"Let's go."
We moved quickly but quietly. I didn't even realize how quiet we were being until I noticed that my footsteps weren't making any sound.
Yeah. Super comforting.
We wove through wreckage,burned-out cars, shattered glass, street signs twisted like pretzels. The further we went, the more the silence pressed in. Like the city itself was holding its breath.
We reached the apartment building's entrance. I was about to go in when...
Click.
Just a tiny sound. But enough to send every alarm in my body into overdrive.
I threw my arm out to stop Adrian. "Wait."
"What is it?"
"Shh."
Something was breathing inside the building.
Heavy. Methodical. Not human.
And then the System spoke.
[Warning: Unidentified Mutation Detected]
Because obviously, it couldn't be something nice. Like kittens.
The thing launched from the shadows with all the grace of a nightmare ballet dancer. It was a Hollowed kind of. Same pale skin and twitchy movements. But this one was taller. Leaner. Its limbs were absurdly long, fingers ending in curved talons like meat hooks.
And its face no eyes. Just a smooth patch of skin where they should've been.
But it saw us.
Oh, it definitely saw us.
"RUN" I started, but it was already too late.
The creature vanished. I mean, blinked out of existence. One second it was crouching, and the next it was behind me, claws whistling through the air.
I ducked just in time, the talons slashing through empty space.
Adrian screamed something involving several curse words and tried to draw his gun.
"Don't shoot!" I snapped.
"What?!"
"It hunts by sound!"
He froze. Good. Because one gunshot would've turned us into a buffet.
The System chimed in again, calm as a serial killer watching TV.
[Analyzing Mutant Attributes…] [Designation: Blind Stalker] [Primary Weakness: Sonic Overload]
Well, that was helpful if I had a speaker system and dubstep playlist handy. Which I didn't.
The Blind Stalker vanished again. My skin prickled air shifted then BOOM, it reappeared, lunging straight for my chest.
This time, I was ready.
I dropped, twisted sideways, grabbed its arm mid-swipe, and used its own momentum to flip over its back like a kung-fu pancake.
There was a sickening pop as its elbow bent the wrong way. It screeched—loud enough to shatter glass—and lashed out blindly.
Adrian covered his ears. "IT'S GONNA CALL OTHERS!"
"Not if I break its spine first!"
I twisted, drove my knee into its back, and slammed it into the pavement hard enough to make the concrete crack.
It spasmed, twitched, then went limp.
Silence returned like a wet blanket.
Adrian lowered his gun slowly, eyes wide. "Okay. New rule. You go first. Always."
My heart thundered in my chest. Then the System whispered again:
[Adaptive Combat Progressing…] [Evolution Threshold Approaching…]
My body locked up. Every nerve lit like a Christmas tree wired into a nuclear reactor.
My vision exploded with static. Data and symbols flooded my brain like a slot machine having a meltdown.
Adrian grabbed my shoulders. "Elias? What's happening?! Are you okay?!"
No.
No, I wasn't.
Because something was happening inside me.
Something... wrong.
My skin burned. Not like fire like pressure, like something beneath the surface was trying to get out.
And worst of all?
I could feel it watching. Not the Blind Stalker. Not the Hollowed.
Something inside me. Something that wasn't human.
My knees buckled. Adrian caught me just before I hit the ground.
"Talk to me, man! What do I do?!"
The System flashed one final message before everything went dark.
[Phase Two Evolution Imminent…] [WARNING: Conscious Control Not Guaranteed]
Awesome.