Showdown
That was a nest. A giant, living, moving nest.
In Warren Fahy's sci-fi novel Fragnt, there are plants with hearts and blood flowing through them. Although they look like plants, they lay eggs, hunt, and even raise and eat seabirds. They are predators with roots and branches. When I read it, I thought it was a pretty interesting concept, but now that I see sothing similar in front of , that thought is completely gone. After all, stories are tragic when viewed up close, even if they seem comical from afar.
Gwoooong!
Its appearance was similar to a cross between an anemone and coral.
"Two hypotheses confird at once."
The origin of that massive nest is the hydroponics facility. Nurous branches grew from there, rising into the sky like coral. The tentacles, as thick as tree trunks, sprouted from the ends of the branches and writhed repulsively. If that were the only issue, it might have been bearable, but the problem was that those tentacles had mouths. From those mouths, a gas that clearly looked harmful was being sprayed everywhere.
[Increasing concentration of air pollutants. The concentration is rising significantly in the areas where those tentacles are spraying.]
Artemis showed a cross-referenced map and air concentration data on the PDA, and it was obvious that the nest was the cause. The bar graph spiked wildly in response to the tentacles' emissions.
Gwoooong!
Once I grasped the situation, the roar felt less like a simple cry and more like the sound of a factory in operation. During my ti as a soldier, I heard a similar sound when I entered a power plant during an operation.
"Did the explosion at the power facility happen just because those tentacles happened to spray a lot there?"
The tentacles weren't just spraying gas into the air; they were also injecting it into nearby buildings. Just like now.
Psshhhh!
A seemingly intact building quickly turned green as gas leaked out through the cracks in the closed windows.
"This is unbearable."
Unknown mucous mbranes clung to the nearby streetlights and trees, and the mold growing on them repeatedly contracted and expanded, emitting small amounts of gas. The power facility visible not far away had an entire wall blown out—likely the site of the previous explosion.
[That might actually be a good thing.]
Artemis seed pleased with the current situation.
[It would have been troubleso if sothing had been lurking in the power facility. We couldn’t afford to fight there. But since that nest is in the hydroponics facility, resolving the problem is much simpler.]
A new route was input into the PDA. The final destination of this twisted journey was the governnt building where the lower district’s control facility was located. It was close enough to see with the naked eye.
"If we capture that place, everything will be over, right?"
[Yes. Once we gain control of the entire shelter, we can deal with the nest and the nurous infected all at once.]
Her voice was full of confidence. She seed to think that the current situation was even more favorable to us than expected.
[Jinsoo, you trust , right?]
"Of course."
She’s a reliable partner. It hurts my pride as a forr officer, but she’s honestly better at being the commander than I am.
[The target is the governnt building. As long as we can get in there, everything will be okay.]
"That's true, but…" I trailed off, looking at the nurous obstacles between us and the governnt building.
Kuooo!
There were three giant mutants in the worker managent office that nearly got killed.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Even from a distance, I could feel the ground shake as the three of them moved. The mutant we encountered in the managent office moved based on instinct, with no clear direction, but these ones seed to have a specific role. They didn’t stray far from their assigned areas around the hydroponics facility. The problem was that the governnt building was close enough that we’d catch their attention if we headed there.
"Do you think they'll stay put even if they see us?"
[It’s aningless to calculate the odds.]
"I figured as much."
The mutants weren’t the only problem.
Screeech!
There were so many infected that counting them seed pointless. I could see dogs, so the size of wolves. Of course, they weren’t normal dogs. I simulated myself getting past those creatures and entering the governnt building.
Well, there’s no need to think too hard about it. No matter how I look at it, all the possible outcos lead to death. Maybe I’d get flattened by a mutant falling from the sky like a bomb while I’m running. Or I’d be blocked by a horde of infected, fumbling with “Uh? Uh?” before getting surrounded and killed. Or perhaps just as I’m about to say, "Great! I’m almost there…" a dog lunges from sowhere and bites my neck. There are countless bad endings to choose from. The scene before was truly apocalyptic.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
My hand, gripping the car I was using for cover, felt a ticklish vibration from the stomping of the mutants.
Gwoooong!
The gases spewing from the nest obscured the ceiling lights, casting unpleasant shadows all around.
Screeech!
The infected humans scread in unison like a chorus. One was completely blackened, its body glistening as if it had a tough shell. Another had no head; instead, a thick, long tentacle swayed where its head should be, with a lamprey-like mouth at the end. One oozed strange fluids from its entire body. Another one, which I had seen earlier, walked on four legs. One female creature had long tentacles sprouting from her crotch. However, the one near had a belly swollen like a pregnant woman’s. I didn’t want to imagine what might be inside.
The infected humans who still retained their original forms were carrying sothing resembling pumpkin vines, but it was obviously not anything edible. They were carrying those things from the hydroponics facility to various places.
"All of them are creatures I’ve never faced before."
The most dangerous enemy on the battlefield is an unpredictable one. To break through that, an army would have to be deployed. I’m not sure if there’s an army left that could handle such a massive number of enemies. It was a hopeless-looking situation, but I had a trump card. In fact, if it weren’t for this, I wouldn’t have erged from the manhole into the city in the first place.
I began preparing for the final assault. When all the preparations were done, she asked .
[Are you ready?]
"Of course."
[Take a deep breath, and once it starts, don’t think about anything else. Even if infected creatures approach, I’ll handle them sohow, so just focus on getting inside the building.]
I nodded and stretched. My whole body was stiff from crouching and sneaking around to avoid detection.
"Phew…" I could feel my heart pounding wildly under my hand.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Though faint, it felt more intense than the vibrations caused by the mutants wandering far away.
The fear before the final charge. The determination to succeed. The fighting spirit to wipe out those damned monsters. My small heart bundled them all together and sent them surging through my entire body. Energy coursed through my veins, filling with the strength of human willpower.
Vroom!
Rumble!
The city, which had been filled only with the sounds of monsters, suddenly echoed with chanical noises and engines roaring to life. Not just one or two, but many. Loud and nurous enough to drown out the cries of the monsters.
Thud!
The three mutants that had stopped in their tracks turned their gaze toward . They wouldn’t notice , hidden behind the vehicle I was in.
“Screeech?”
One by one, the countless infected turned toward
“Grrrr…”
Even the dogs, now so disfigured they were unrecognizable, turned in our direction.
Thunk! Pop!
The infected carrying the pumpkin-like vines set them down, and the tops of the pumpkins opened. Out ca long tentacles, with half-human torsos dangling from the ends.
"Damn it."
They were children who looked younger than elentary schoolers. So even seed like babies barely past their first year.
Screeech!
Their eyes widened as they let out sharp screams, their mouths grotesquely deford as if to fire sothing.
Roar!
One of the three mutants began charging toward , followed by a horde of infected. We began our advance as well. Passenger cars, trucks, cargo vehicles, cent mixers, buses, large excavators, fire engines, and various construction vehicles. The heavy equipnt left behind to reinforce the hastily completed areas was like a heavenly army to .
Roar!
Just before the two forces collided—
Zing!
Nurous headlights flashed on simultaneously. Blinded by the sudden light, the infected and mutants at the forefront stumbled backward. The overwhelming weight of our vehicles crashed into them.
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