Chapter 120: The Screamer [5]

The maintenance access panel opened into a narrow service corridor that ran parallel to the main third-floor hallway. The space was cramped and utilitarian—exposed pipes and electrical conduits ran along the walls and ceiling, and the air carried the stale scent of dust and abandoned machinery.

This time, we moved with much more caution than before. Our fall through the wall and narrow escape from the reception area had nearly traumatised us

I led the way through the maintenance corridor. Behind me, Rachel moved with equal care, her steel rod ready and her barrier abilities primed for instant activation. The recording equipment was secure in my pack, but I kept Mark’s frequency analyzer in my hand, ready to resume data collection the moment we got close enough to the Screamer device.

The service corridor had several access points that connected to the main third-floor hallway, each marked with small maintenance panels that could be opened for building repairs or emergency access. Through these panels, I could hear the sounds of movement in the main corridor—heavy footsteps that suggested something much larger than the standard infected we’d encountered.

I peered carefully through one of the access panels and immediately felt my enhanced reflexes go into high alert. There, patrolling the hallway directly in front of the technical operations room, was the massive infected that had thrown us through the window earlier.

The creature was even more imposing in the confined space of the corridor than it had been in the larger technical operations room. Its metallic skin still pulsed with internal energy patterns, and its movements had the controlled precision of something under direct intelligent control rather than simple viral programming. It was positioned perfectly to guard the entrance to the room containing the Screamer device, pacing back and forth.

I could kill it using my time freeze ability—ten seconds would be more than enough to position myself for a killing strike before it could react once I got close. But what would happen after that? There were still other infected throughout the building, and using my most powerful ability now would leave me without that option for another ten minutes. If we encountered something even more dangerous during our escape, I’d be helpless.

No, I needed to save my trump card for when we really needed it.

I studied the situation more carefully, noting the giant infected’s patrol pattern and the layout of the corridor. The creature moved in a predictable route between the technical operations room and a maintenance closet at the far end of the hallway, taking approximately thirty seconds for each circuit.

That’s when the plan began to form in my mind.

“Rachel,” I whispered, turning back to her in the cramped maintenance corridor. “I need to fight that thing alone.”

Rachel’s eyes widened with shock and immediate objection. “Ryan, that’s insane! You saw what it did to us before—it threw us through a third-floor window like we were toys. You can’t face something that powerful by yourself!”

“We need to get rid of it to reach the Screamer device,” I replied, checking the frequency analyzer in my hand. The display showed that we still needed ninety seconds of recording time to complete Mark’s minimum requirements. “And we just need to get a bit closer to resume the data collection. This thing is positioned exactly where we need to be.”

“But Ryan, that infected is incredibly dangerous,” Rachel protested, her voice tight with worry. “What if—”

“I know it’s dangerous,” I interrupted gently. “That giant infected is definitely more powerful than the electrical one I encountered in that warehouse. But I have a plan, and it’s going to require your help to work.”

I quickly outlined my strategy, keeping my voice low to avoid detection by the patrolling monster. Rachel’s expression showed growing surprise as I explained what I needed from her, but when I finished by saying that I trusted her completely to make it work, she nodded.

“I understand,” she said, gripping her steel rod more tightly. “It’s risky, but it might be our only chance to do it…”

“Remember,” I said, “you need to get within about ten meters of the Screamer device to resume recording. The moment you have a clear signal, start the data collection. I’ll keep that monster busy while you work.”

Rachel nodded. “Just… be careful, Ryan.”

“Yeah.”

I could hear the giant infected approaching the maintenance closet end of its patrol route, which meant I had about thirty seconds before it turned around and headed back toward the technical operations room.

I pushed open the access panel and stepped out into the main corridor, immediately drawing the attention of the massive creature that had been guarding this area.

The infected was exactly as intimidating as I remembered—eight feet of enhanced muscle and metallic skin, with veins of energy pulsing beneath its translucent surface like living circuitry. When it spotted me, its glowing eyes focused directly, and a low growl emerged from its throat.

The creature snapped its head toward me, its growl intensifying as it recognized the human who had previously invaded its territory and more important someone hosting a Symbiotic Entity. Then it began walking slowly in my direction, its pace gradually increasing as it built momentum for what was clearly going to be a devastating charge.

I raised my shotgun and fired, aiming for center mass to test the creature’s durability. The buckshot struck its chest with explosive force, but instead of the expected penetration, the giant infected simply raised one massive hand to shield itself. The shot partially destroyed its fingers and palm, dark fluid spraying from the wounds, but it didn’t slow down or show any sign of pain.

I considered firing again, but the infected was moving faster now, and I knew that trying to reload would be suicidal if the creature could shield itself again. Instead, I dropped the shotgun and immediately drew my steel spike in my right hand and hand axe in my left, rushing forward to meet the monster in close combat.

When the infected reached out with its remaining undamaged hand—a massive appendage that could probably crush my skull like an egg—I dropped into a slide that took me under its grasping fingers. The maneuver caught the creature’s attention and forced it to turn around to track my movement, which was exactly what I’d hoped for.

The moment the giant infected began turning to follow my position, Rachel burst from the maintenance corridor and sprinted toward the technical operations room. She moved with enhanced speed, covering the distance to the Screamer device in seconds and immediately beginning to set up the frequency recording equipment.

The giant infected’s eyes narrowed as it realized maybe that it had been outmanoeuvred or maybe it was just annoyed, but before it could decide whether to pursue Rachel or continue attacking me, I swung my hand axe in a powerful arc that caught it across the chest. The blade bit deep into its metallic skin, opening a gaping wound that leaked dark fluid and revealed the enhanced muscle tissue beneath.

The creature groaned—a sound like grinding metal—and immediately retaliated with a lightning-fast punch that would have shattered my ribs if it had connected. But at that exact moment, Rachel summoned one of her protective barriers from inside the technical operations room, the energy field appearing between the infected’s fist and my body.

The giant’s punch collided with the barrier, creating visible shock waves through the energy matrix and causing cracks to appear across its surface, but it held long enough to absorb the impact and give me time to dodge away from the follow-up attack.

“Good, Rachel!” I shouted, grateful for her perfect timing.

The infected groaned again and began swinging both fists in rapid succession, trying to overwhelm Rachel’s defensive capabilities. But I was already moving, driving my steel spike forward in a thrust that pierced the creature’s throat before jumping backward and switching my hand axe to my dominant right hand.

With a powerful overhead swing, I brought the axe down toward the giant infected’s neck, aiming to decapitate it before it could recover from the spike wound. But the creature was faster than its size suggested, reaching up with its damaged hand to intercept my attack.

Acting with lightning reflexes, I drew my Glock with my left hand and fired three rapid shots into the infected’s reaching palm. The bullets exploded through the already damaged appendage, finally severing enough tissue to make the hand useless, but my aim had been thrown off by the defensive movement.

Instead of connecting with the creature’s neck, my axe struck its shoulder with all the enhanced strength I could muster. The blade cut completely through bone and muscle, severing the arm with the already exploded hand and sending the limb tumbling to the floor in a spray of dark fluid.

The giant infected groaned and immediately raised its knee toward my stomach in a counterattack that would have driven the air from my lungs and probably cracked several ribs. But once again, Rachel’s barrier appeared at exactly the right moment, the energy field absorbing the impact and giving me an unexpected opportunity.

I used the fractured barrier as a foothold, jumping up and over the infected’s head while bringing my hand axe down in a precision strike that should have split its skull completely. The blade sank deep into the creature’s cranium, penetrating what felt like several inches of enhanced bone and brain tissue.

But incredibly, it wasn’t enough to kill the monster. I landed behind the infected, staring in disbelief as it remained upright despite the axe embedded in its head. Dark fluid poured from the wound, but the creature’s glowing eyes remained focused.

“Erm… Ryan…”

Rachel’s voice made me spin around quickly. Inside the technical operations room, the six infected that had been serving as biological amplifiers for the Screamer device were no longer standing in their motionless positions around the alien technology. Instead, they were walking toward Rachel.

Unlike the giant infected I’d been fighting, these creatures projected an aura of lethal competence that made my Dullahan senses go into high alert.

“Is the recording finished?” I shouted, backing away from the still-standing giant infected while keeping my weapons ready.

Rachel held up the frequency analyzer, its display showing the completion indicator that meant we’d successfully captured the full three minutes of data Mark needed. “Yes! I have everything!”

“Good!” I replied, then smiled grimly as I turned back toward the giant infected that was still trying to function with my hand axe buried in its skull. “Follow me!”

“Where?” Rachel asked, but I was already moving toward the massive creature that represented our ticket out of this impossible situation.

I grabbed my shotgun from where I’d dropped it and fired another blast directly into the infected’s face. The creature managed to turn its head at the last moment, avoiding a direct hit to its remaining functional features, but the impact was enough to throw it off balance.

That was exactly the opportunity I’d been waiting for. I activated my wind blade enhancement around my right arm, feeling the familiar sensation of compressed air currents wrapping around my limb like living weapons. Then I launched myself forward in a tackle that caught the massive infected around its midsection, using all my enhanced strength and the power of the wind blades to drive both of us through the corridor wall.

The impact was tremendous—reinforced concrete and steel framework gave way like cardboard as we crashed through the building’s exterior wall in an explosion of debris and dust. For a moment, we were flying through the air three stories above the ground, the giant infected serving as an unwilling cushion for my impact with whatever lay below.

We hit the ground with bone-jarring force, the infected taking the brunt of the collision while I rolled away and tried to assess the damage to my already battered body. Everything hurt, but nothing seemed broken beyond my ability to function.

“Rachel!” I called up to the hole we’d created in the third-floor wall, where I could see her looking down in shock at what had just happened. “Jump! I’ll catch you!”

Rachel hesitated at the edge of the opening, clearly nervous about the three-story fall despite my assurance that I’d be able to catch her safely.

“Trust me!” I said, reaching up toward her with both hands. “I won’t let you fall!”

After another moment’s hesitation, Rachel closed her eyes and jumped. I positioned myself carefully, using my enhanced reflexes to track her trajectory as she fell toward me. At the last moment, I leaped up to meet her, catching her in my arms while we were still in mid-air and then landing in a controlled tumble that absorbed most of the impact.

Rachel blushing gasped out but her first concern was for my wellbeing. “Are you okay? That was an incredibly dangerous stunt, even with your enhanced abilities.”

“I’m fine,” I replied, though I could feel new bruises forming on top of the injuries I’d already sustained during this mission. “Maybe a little sore, but nothing that won’t heal. You’re a bit heavier than you look, though,” I added with a teasing smile.

Rachel blushed even deeper and glared at me for the comment about her weight, but then her expression shifted to horror as she looked at something behind me.

“Ryan!” She screamed.

I didn’t need to turn around to know what had alarmed her. My enhanced senses could feel the massive presence rising behind me—the giant infected, somehow still functional despite everything I’d done to it. I could sense its huge hand reaching toward my head, probably intending to crush my skull before I could react.

But instead of turning to face the threat, I gently lowered Rachel to the ground and activated my time freeze ability.

The world went completely silent and still. The giant infected was frozen mid-motion, its massive hand inches from my head.

I walked around to face the motionless creature, noting that my hand axe was still embedded in its skull but apparently hadn’t penetrated deeply enough to destroy whatever alien enhancements were keeping it functional. The wounds I’d inflicted were severe—one arm completely severed, massive trauma to its head and torso—but somehow it was still operating.

Time to finish this properly.

I grasped the handle of my hand axe and worked it free from the infected’s skull with some effort, dark fluid flowing from the wound but not enough to indicate fatal brain damage. Then I raised the weapon above my head and smiled at the frozen monster.

“That’s 2-0 for me,” I said, “after the electrical infected and now you.”

With all my enhanced strength behind the blow, I brought the axe down in a perfect arc that split the creature’s skull completely in half. The blade cut through enhanced bone and brain tissue like it was soft wood, finally destroying whatever alien modifications had been keeping this monster alive.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep