Chapter 145: The Scream [10]

"Alright, just tell me what you need me to do!" Martin said, raising the rifle and taking aim at the creature.

"Careful not to shoot me," Sydney replied, moving with fluid speed toward one of the steel spikes the enhanced infected had hurled earlier. The projectile was buried deep in the concrete floor. She grasped it firmly and worked it free.

The steel spike was nearly six feet long and weighed at least twenty pounds—a piece of industrial hardware that would have been challenging for a normal person to wield effectively as a weapon. But in Sydney’s enhanced hands, it felt balanced and manageable, its pointed tip gleaming with lethal potential in the artificial light.

"I won’t, don’t worry," Martin assured her, though sweat was beading on his forehead as he tracked the enhanced infected’s movements through his rifle scope. Every instinct he’d developed during two months of survival was screaming warnings about the wrongness of what he was observing. This wasn’t just a larger, stronger infected—it was something fundamentally different, something that combined viral aggression with strategic thinking in ways that turned all their previous experience into useless knowledge.

"But what exactly do you want me to do?" Martin continued, gulping. "That thing is intelligent enough to adapt itself. How do we fight something that gets smarter every time we engage it?"

"Just cover me," Sydney replied, hefting the steel spike. "This should work. I just have to bury this thing deep inside its brain, and it should die like any other infected."

She twirled the spike around, the motion sending blue sparks of her enhanced aura crackling along the metal surface. If she could just get close enough to make the strike count...

"But how are you going to approach it?" Martin asked. "That thing has demonstrated intelligence—it’s been using our own defensive spikes as weapons, adapting its attack patterns based on our responses. It’s not just going to stand there and let you stab it. What the hell is it, anyway?"

"I’m fast, remember?" Sydney smirked, grasping the steel spike tightly as her enhanced abilities began building pressure in her muscles and nervous system. She could feel the familiar sensation of her enhanced metabolism ramping up, preparing her body for the kind of explosive movement that defied normal human limitations. Her heart was beating loudly with nervousness and fear, but she’d learned that fear could be useful if channeled properly. Fear kept you alert, kept you careful, kept you alive when overconfidence would get you killed.

The blue aura that surrounded Sydney’s body began to intensify, crackling with energy that made the air around her shimmer like heat waves rising from summer pavement. Martin had heard descriptions of her enhanced abilities from other community members, but witnessing them firsthand was an entirely different experience. The energy she was generating seemed to bend reality around her, creating visual distortions that suggested forces beyond normal physics.

Without further warning, Sydney’s body erupted in brilliant blue light as her enhanced speed activated at full power. She disappeared from Martin’s vision so completely that for a moment he wondered if she’d somehow teleported rather than simply moved faster than human eyes could track. The afterimage burned into his retinas showed only empty space where she’d been standing, and the sudden displacement of air created a small sonic pop that echoed across the compound.

Martin blinked in shock, still trying to process what he’d just witnessed. It was his first time seeing her actually use her supernatural abilities at full intensity, and the reality of genuine superhuman powers—something he’d always assumed existed only in fiction and fantasy stories—was overwhelming his rational mind.

The enhanced infected, however, seemed at least partially able to track Sydney’s movement. Its pale eyes followed something Martin couldn’t see, tracking motion that was too fast for normal vision to register. The creature raised its left arm suddenly in a defensive posture that suggested it had not only anticipated her attack but had calculated the optimal position to intercept her approach.

Sydney materialized beside the creature with her steel spike already in motion, driving the pointed metal toward what should have been a fatal penetration of the creature’s skull. But instead of piercing brain tissue, the spike struck the enhanced infected’s raised forearm and buried itself deep in alien-strengthened muscle and bone with a wet, tearing sound.

"It’s reacting faster than I expected," Sydney grumbled, immediately yanking the steel spike free from the creature’s arm. Dark fluid that looked more like motor oil than blood spurted from the wound, spattering across the concrete floor in patterns that seemed to move with unnatural viscosity. "This thing isn’t just strong—it’s anticipating my attacks."

Without hesitation, Sydney activated her enhanced speed again to jump backward and avoid the creature’s grasping counterstrike. The enhanced infected’s massive hand swept through the space she’d occupied just milliseconds earlier, its clawed fingers closing on empty air with enough force to crush bone if the strike had connected.

If the creature managed to catch her during one of her speed-enhanced approaches, it would be game over immediately. Its strength was clearly superhuman, far beyond what even her enhanced durability could withstand, and Sydney realized what Ryan meant by not getting caught by them.

She continued her hit-and-run attacks, using her enhanced speed to appear from different angles and strike at vulnerable points before disappearing again like a blue lightning bolt that materialized just long enough to inflict damage. But with each attempt, she found herself struggling against the creature.

The enhanced infected was learning from her attacks. Its movements were becoming more efficient, more calculated, more dangerous with each exchange. Every time she appeared to strike, it was ready with defensive measures that forced her to abort her attacks or risk being caught in a trap that would mean instant death.

Each time she barely escaped being grasped by its massive hands, Martin would fire his rifle to provide distraction and covering fire. His bullets weren’t powerful enough to cause serious damage to the creature’s enhanced durability, but the impacts forced it to dodge or protect itself, giving Sydney the split seconds she needed to escape and reposition for her next attack.

"Behind you!" Martin shouted as the enhanced infected attempted to anticipate Sydney’s next appearance and position itself to ambush her rather than react to her strikes.

Sydney heard his warning and adjusted her attack at the last possible second, her enhanced reflexes allowing her to change direction in ways that would have been impossible for normal human physiology. The sudden course correction sent her spinning through the air in a controlled tumble that brought her steel spike around in a wide arc toward the creature’s exposed back.

But the enhanced infected had anticipated even this adjustment, spinning around to meet her attack with another defensive countermeasure. The constant adaptation was becoming exhausting, requiring Sydney to burn through her enhanced energy reserves at an unsustainable rate just to avoid being killed.

The constant demands of her enhanced speed were beginning to take their toll on her energy reserves. Each burst of supernatural velocity required enormous amounts of energy from her enhanced metabolism, and she could feel her reserves depleting with every exchange. Sweat was beading on her forehead her breathing was becoming more labored with each attack sequence.

But things had gotten even worse somehow...

"Are you kidding me..." Sydney whispered through ragged breath.

Moving fast, the Infected grasped one of the wooden spikes that protruded from the body of a man it had killed earlier, pulling the blood-covered projectile free with a wet, sucking sound.

Then the Infected rushed toward Sydney with the wooden pike extended. Sydney dodged the initial thrust, her enhanced speed allowing her to slip around the weapon’s reach, but the creature continued its assault with a series of sweeping strikes that forced her to use her velocity to maintain distance rather than close in for attacks.

Each swing of the improvised spear created whooshing sounds through the air.

Sydney used her enhanced speed to circle around the creature and deliver quick attacks to its back, sides, and legs, trying to find vulnerable points that might slow it down or impair its mobility. Each strike connected with enhanced force, opening wounds and damaging tissue, but the injuries seemed to have minimal effect or rather none on the creature’s combat effectiveness.

Her steel spike left deep gashes across the enhanced infected’s torso and limbs, dark fluid flowing from multiple wounds that would have been fatal to any normal creature. But as long as she couldn’t destroy its brain, the enhanced infected continued fighting with undiminished capability.

Moreover, she was getting exhausted from using her enhanced speed so extensively. The ability demanded enormous energy from her enhanced metabolism, creating a constant drain that was making her movements slightly less precise with each exchange. If the fight continued much longer, she would be forced to rely on her enhanced capabilities against an opponent that vastly outmatched her in strength and durability.

At that critical moment, the enhanced infected suddenly changed movements and rushed directly toward Martin instead of continuing to focus on Sydney.

Martin’s eyes widened in terror as he saw the massive creature bearing down on him with supernatural speed. He tried to fire his rifle, squeezing the trigger repeatedly, but the distinctive click of an empty chamber told him he’d exhausted his ammunition at the worst possible moment. He was completely defenseless against a creature that could cover the distance between them in seconds and kill him with casual ease.

"Martin!" Sydney screamed, panic flooding through her as she realized she didn’t have time to reach him before the enhanced infected could strike him down. Her enhanced speed was impressive, but she was too far away and the creature had too much of a head start for her to intercept its attack.

But just as the enhanced infected reached Martin’s position, someone tackled the older man and rolled him away from danger in a perfectly timed intervention that probably saved his life.

"Christopher!" Sydney shouted his name with relief and happiness.

Christopher laughed nervously. "How can you be panicking against just one enhanced infected when we’ve faced things like the Frost Walker?" He asked trying to lighten the mood in the quite dangerous situation while taking away Martin.

"Hey! You’re the ones who fought that thing, you and Ryan, and you had fucking flamethrowers! I’m stuck with a steel spike and a construction worker with an empty rifle!"

"Hey come on..." Martin grumbled.

Christopher laughed again, but his expression became more serious as he studied the enhanced infected creature.

"Ryan told me about these things," he said grimly. "But seeing one in person is definitely something else entirely."

Martin, still on the ground where Christopher had tackled him to safety, looked up at his rescuer with obvious gratitude mixed with shock and confusion.

"Thank you, Christopher," Martin said sincerely, struggling to get back to his feet. "But were you aware that monsters like this existed? And did you know about Sydney’s supernatural abilities?"

Christopher just shrugged. "You’d be surprised how many people in our group have developed supernatural powers," he replied, reaching into his bag to retrieve additional weapons and ammunition. "But I can explain all that later. Right now, we need to focus on the immediate threat."

He reached into his bag and handed Martin a fresh rifle with a full magazine, while drawing a shotgun for himself. The weapon was a military-grade combat shotgun loaded with four shells containing heavy buckshot—not much ammunition for a prolonged fight, but potentially enough to make a decisive difference if their attacks were precisely coordinated.

"Don’t waste any shots," Christopher said as he checked his weapon’s action and verified that the safety was off. "We need every bullet to count, and this thing can’t be taken down unless we blow off the head."

As if the enhanced infected understood it, it let out another of its weird roars and rushed toward them, but this time Sydney was ready for its charge. She activated her enhanced speed and struck the creature from the side, her steel spike driving deep into its torso between two ribs while Christopher fired his shotgun at point-blank range, the heavy buckshot impacting the creature’s head and shoulders with devastating force that sent alien tissue flying in all directions.

Martin’s rifle cracked repeatedly as he provided covering fire, his shots carefully aimed to avoid his enhanced allies while forcing the creature to divide its attention between multiple threats.

When the enhanced infected focused on Sydney, Christopher would strike from its blind spot. When it turned to deal with Christopher’s shotgun attacks, Martin’s rifle fire would force it to adjust its positioning. When it tried to pin down Martin, Sydney’s enhanced speed attacks would drive it back into defensive postures.

The battle raged across the compound for several minutes, with the enhanced infected demonstrating remarkable resilience and adaptive capability despite the sustained assault from multiple directions. But gradually, the accumulated damage began to tell, and its movements became slightly less precise, slightly slower, slightly more predictable.

In the end, it was a perfectly timed combined assault that finally brought down their supernatural opponent. Sydney’s enhanced speed attack drove her steel spike deep into the creature’s skull from one side, penetrating it with enhanced force that buried the weapon halfway through its head.

"Chris!!"

"I got it!!"

Simultaneously, Christopher’s final shotgun blast struck its head from the opposite angle, the heavy buckshot creating massive trauma that shattered bone and destroyed tissue.

BANG!

"Fucking die!"

At exactly the same moment, Martin’s precisely aimed rifle shot penetrated the creature’s eye socket, the bullet traveling through its brain cavity at the instant when its defenses were overwhelmed by multiple simultaneous attacks.

There was a long silence, a frightening one actually and then...

The enhanced infected let out one final roar that seemed to echo across the entire field with unnatural resonance, then collapsed to the ground with the finality of something that would never rise again. Dark fluid pooled around its massive frame, creating an expanding stain on the concrete and then the dangerous glow finally faded from its pale eyes.

Sydney, Martin and Christopher stood over the fallen Infected, breathing heavily from the exertion and adrenaline of the battle while surveying the destruction that surrounded them.

"Is it really dead?" Martin asked, keeping his rifle trained on the motionless creature just in case it was somehow feigning death. Clearly he lost his initial thoughts of the brainless ordinary Infected...

"It better be," Sydney replied, wiping sweat from her forehead as her enhanced aura finally began to fade back to normal levels. Her energy reserves were completely depleted, leaving her feeling drained in ways that went beyond simple physical exhaustion. "Because I don’t think I have the energy for another fight like that. My Dullahan Energy are completely tapped out."

"We don’t have time to celebrate—look at this!" Christopher said urgently, pointing toward the streams of ordinary infected that were now moving with renewed purpose through the compound. The creatures had completely avoided the three fighters during their battle with the enhanced infected, but now they were shambling toward the rear of the Municipal Office building, following the exact route the evacuation had taken.

The sight was deeply troubling. They moved past the destroyed defenses, past the bodies of fallen community members, past the three exhausted fighters without showing any interest in immediate targets.

"Fuck! Will our people make it to the vehicles in time?" Martin asked, his voice tight with worry for his wife Linda and all the other civilians who were depending on their defensive action to buy them enough time to reach safety. The evacuation had been planned meticulously, but no plan survived contact with the kind of coordinated assault they’d just faced.

"I made sure everyone had left the building before coming here," Christopher replied, though his expression showed the same concern that was etched across Martin’s weathered features. "But I can’t predict how many infected they’ll encounter before reaching the prepared vehicles. They have dozens of firearms and plenty of ammunition, so I think they’ll be able to fight their way through. But we also need to leave immediately—look."

Christopher pointed toward another group of infected that were now walking directly toward their position, moving faster than the shambling pace that characterized most virus victims.

"It seems like the enhanced infected was somehow controlling or directing the standard infected around here," Christopher continued. "Now that it’s dead, they’ve lost that local coordination and are reverting to the Screamer’s original orders—which is apparently to systematically eliminate all human survivors in Jackson Township."

"Yeah, we need to move now," Sydney nodded in agreement, but when she took another step forward, her legs gave out completely and she collapsed to her knees with a gasp of exhaustion and pain.

"Sydney!" Christopher immediately knelt beside her.

She was breathing hard, her face pale and covered with sweat that spoke to more than just physical exertion. Her enhanced abilities had clearly pushed her biological systems beyond their safe limits, leaving her in a state that might be dangerous if not properly managed. The blue aura that had surrounded her during combat was completely gone, replaced by the wan complexion of someone whose energy reserves had been completely depleted.

"I think I overdid it with the enhanced speed attacks," Sydney said through gritted teeth, her voice strained with the effort of remaining conscious. "My body feels like it’s been hit by a truck, and I can barely stand up without falling over."

"We have to leave this area immediately," Martin said, glancing nervously at the approaching infected while shouldering his rifle. "Those things are getting closer, and we don’t have the ammunition or energy for another prolonged fight."

"No," Sydney shook her head. "I have to get back to our house. The others are there, and they might be in serious danger. I have to make sure Rachel, Elena, Cindy, and everyone else gets to safety."

She struggled to push herself back to her feet.

"You want to go back to your house alone in your current condition?" Martin asked with obvious concern. "That’s incredibly dangerous, Sydney. You can barely stand up, let alone fight your way through infected territory. Rachel and the others are intelligent and resourceful—they’ll find a way to survive and escape without putting yourself at additional risk."

But Sydney shook her head. "Ryan predicted that something like this might happen, and he prepared for it. There’s a camper van hidden near our house, stocked with emergency supplies and ready for immediate evacuation."

"A camper van?" Christopher asked with surprise.

"Yeah, he parked it about half a mile from the house in a concealed location," Sydney explained, her breathing becoming slightly more regular as she talked. "It’s fully loaded with canned food, water, medical supplies, weapons, fuel, and everything we’d need to survive on the road for weeks if necessary. I have to reach it and get everyone out of the area before the infected swarm becomes too thick to navigate."

She paused, wiping sweat from her forehead with a trembling hand. "Besides, Ryan might need help when he gets back from whatever thing he’s on. If he returns, it’ll be to our house first."

Christopher looked at Sydney’s expression for a long moment, then glanced at Martin.

"Go ahead, Martin," Christopher said finally. "Get to your evacuation vehicles and lead the others to safety. Don’t wait for us or worry about what happens next."

"Are you serious, Christopher?" Martin asked in shock. "Those infected are moving toward the house too. You’d be walking directly into the worst possible danger zone."

"Yeah, I’m serious," Christopher replied. "Sydney and the others are my friends—close enough to be called my fam. I have a vehicle parked not far from here that I can use to get us back to the house quickly. We’ll evacuate everyone, meet up with Ryan if possible, and get out of Jackson Township before the situation becomes completely impossible."

Martin was struggling to leave both of them alone but seeing their expression he sighed.

"Be careful, both of you," he said finally. "You’re good kids, and I’d hate to lose either of you to this mess."

He shouldered his pack and rifle, gave them one last look that might have been farewell, then jogged away toward the evacuation routes where his wife and the other survivors were depending on his leadership to reach safety. Obviously he wasn’t going to take the same path as the Infected but just climbing over the grid and get from behind.

Christopher watched him disappear into the darkness, then turned his attention to Sydney, who was still struggling to maintain her balance.

"We need to hurry," Christopher said, taking one of Sydney’s arms and draping it over his shoulders to provide physical support. "My car is parked about three blocks from here, and those infected aren’t going to wait for us to recover."

"Now you want to come back to our group, Chris?" Sydney said with a weak but teasing smile."I thought you didn’t want to deal with all our complicated relationship drama anymore. We don’t usually accept traitors back into our little family."

She coughed slightly, and Christopher noticed with alarm that there were flecks of blood in what she expelled.

He smiled nonetheless.

"Very funny, Sydney."