Chapter 197: Extraction

The creature roared.

And the entire underground loading bay shook violently.

Dust exploded from the ceiling while loose concrete fragments rained across the floor around Adrian’s team.

The thing emerging from the collapsed tunnel barely resembled a human anymore.

It was massive.

At least four meters tall while hunched forward beneath layers of blackened flesh and grotesque tumor-like growths. Several elongated limbs dragged unnaturally across the ground while exposed bone protruded through portions of its body like natural armor plating.

Its chest pulsed strangely.

Like something alive moved beneath the flesh itself.

And its eyes—

Completely black.

Ryan slowly took one step backward.

"...That thing definitely skipped several evolutionary stages."

Doctor Lin stared at the monster in horror.

"It was contained..."

Adrian immediately looked toward her.

"What?"

The creature roared again before slamming one of its massive limbs into the floor hard enough to crack concrete.

Doctor Lin’s voice trembled slightly for the first time.

"It was one of the original mutation subjects."

The operators immediately tightened formation.

That was not good.

Not good at all.

The creature suddenly charged.

Fast.

Way too fast for something that large.

"CONTACT!"

The loading bay exploded into gunfire.

THUPTHUPTHUPTHUPTHUP.

Suppressed rifles and machine guns hammered the creature nonstop while sparks, blood, and chunks of black flesh exploded across its body.

The monster barely slowed.

One operator launched a 40mm grenade immediately.

THUMP.

BOOM.

The explosion slammed directly into the creature’s torso.

Fire erupted across the loading bay.

Still—

The monster kept charging.

Ryan immediately swore.

"Oh come on!"

The creature slammed directly into an abandoned military transport vehicle near the elevator shaft and threw it across the loading bay like scrap metal.

CRASH.

The vehicle smashed into the wall hard enough to collapse part of the concrete support structure.

Then the infected arrived.

Hundreds of them.

They flooded from the lower tunnel sectors behind the giant creature while screaming violently through the darkness.

The underground hordes had finally reached the extraction sector.

"Rear tunnel breach!" one operator shouted.

The loading bay became absolute chaos.

The operators split fire immediately.

Some focused on the massive mutation charging through the center while others opened suppressive fire toward the infected pouring through the tunnels behind it.

THUPTHUPTHUPTHUP.

Bodies collapsed nonstop across the floor.

The infected kept climbing over each other anyway.

Ryan fired controlled bursts into the larger creature’s face while backing toward the freight elevator controls.

"Adrian!"

"I know!"

Adrian immediately activated the encrypted radio.

"Extraction One, status!"

Static crackled violently.

Then the pilot answered through heavy interference.

"Thirty seconds out!"

That was good.

And terrible.

Because thirty seconds inside this loading bay felt impossible.

The giant mutation roared before slamming one elongated arm downward toward the operators.

BOOM.

Concrete exploded upward from the impact.

One operator barely rolled aside before the floor where he had been standing collapsed inward completely.

The MK48 gunner opened fire directly into the creature’s exposed chest afterward.

THUPTHUPTHUPTHUPTHUP.

Heavy 7.62 rounds shredded through black flesh while thick dark blood sprayed across the loading bay.

Then suddenly—

The creature’s chest split open.

Ryan’s eyes widened instantly.

"...What the hell?"

Several smaller parasite-like organisms burst directly out of the wound and launched toward the operators.

"CONTACT SMALL FAST MOVERS!"

The creatures moved horrifyingly fast across the floor and walls.

One leapt directly toward an operator’s face before getting shot midair.

Another slammed against Ryan’s chest plate before he ripped it off and crushed it beneath his boot.

Black fluid splattered across the concrete.

"Okay nope!" Ryan shouted. "Absolutely nope!"

Doctor Lin backed farther toward the freight elevator while clutching the data case tightly.

The loading bay alarms suddenly activated afterward.

WARNING.

SURFACE ACCESS ELEVATOR ACTIVATED.

The huge freight elevator platform above them finally began descending.

Adrian immediately looked upward through the shaft.

Moonlight streamed down from the ruined surface above.

Then—

A sound echoed across the night sky outside.

WHUPWHUPWHUPWHUP.

Ryan’s expression immediately changed.

"The Ospreys!"

The MV-22s had arrived.

Far above the ruined streets of Beijing, the two tiltrotor aircraft descended aggressively through smoke and ash while their massive rotors hammered the night air.

The pilots could already see infected concentrations converging toward the extraction site from multiple directions.

Entire streets moved.

Literally moved.

The infected formed gigantic swarms pushing toward the elevator sector.

Inside the lead Osprey, the crew chief stared downward through thermal optics.

"Jesus Christ..."

The pilot immediately keyed comms.

"Extraction One to ground team. We have visual on massive infected concentrations around your position."

Adrian answered instantly while firing into the charging hordes.

"Just get here!"

The giant mutation roared again before charging toward the freight elevator platform.

Adrian reacted immediately.

"AT4!"

One operator ripped the launcher from his back and stepped forward.

"CLEAR BACKBLAST!"

The operators moved instantly.

The launcher fired.

WHOOSH.

The rocket slammed directly into the creature’s upper torso.

BOOOOOOM.

The explosion engulfed the loading bay center in fire and smoke.

The shockwave knocked several infected backward while debris exploded outward violently.

For several seconds—

The giant creature disappeared entirely behind the flames.

Then the elevator platform finally reached the loading bay level.

CLANG.

The reinforced surface lift locked into place.

"MOVE MOVE MOVE!"

The operators immediately began retreating onto the platform while firing nonstop into the advancing infected.

Doctor Lin climbed aboard first.

Then the wounded operator.

Then the others.

Ryan backed toward the platform while firing bursts into the tunnel entrance.

The infected kept coming.

Screaming.

Climbing over bodies.

Flooding through the underground sectors endlessly.

Then suddenly—

The giant mutation emerged from the flames again.

Still alive.

Half its torso had been blown apart by the AT4 rocket, exposing burning organs and shattered bone.

But it still moved.

Still hunted.

Ryan slowly stared at it in disbelief.

"...How the hell do we kill this thing?"

Adrian grabbed Ryan’s vest suddenly.

"On the platform. Now."

Ryan immediately jumped backward onto the freight elevator.

The giant mutation charged directly toward them.

Too fast.

Way too fast.

Then above them—

The Osprey arrived.

The side door slid open instantly.

A door gunner leaned out with an M134 minigun already spinning.

The gunner immediately saw the loading bay below.

And opened fire.

BRRRRRRRRTTTTTTT.

Thousands of 7.62 rounds poured downward like a metal hurricane.

The giant mutation disappeared beneath the stream of fire instantly.

Concrete exploded apart.

The tunnel entrance collapsed inward.

Entire infected waves were shredded apart beneath the minigun barrage.

Ryan stared upward.

"...I love Ospreys."

The second Osprey joined the attack immediately afterward.

Its door gunner opened fire toward the surrounding streets above the shaft entrance while the aircraft hovered aggressively through the burning ruins of Beijing.

The freight elevator finally began rising.

Slowly.

Too slowly.

The operators kept firing downward while the platform ascended toward the ruined surface.

Below them—

The underground loading bay vanished beneath endless gunfire, infected screams, and collapsing concrete.

The giant mutation still moved somewhere inside the destruction.

But even it could no longer push through the storm of minigun fire pouring down from above.

Then finally—

The freight elevator reached surface level.

The ruined streets of Beijing opened around them beneath burning skies and drifting ash.

The Ospreys hovered directly overhead.

Rotors screaming.

Door guns firing nonstop into surrounding infected hordes.

"GO GO GO!"

The operators sprinted from the elevator platform directly toward the aircraft while infected flooded through the burning streets around them.

Ryan grabbed Doctor Lin’s arm and pulled her toward the lead Osprey.

The crew chief immediately reached down from the side door.

"MOVE YOUR ASSES!"

One by one, the operators climbed aboard while miniguns continued hammering the streets behind them.

Adrian entered last.

The moment his boots hit the aircraft floor—

The pilot increased thrust.

The Osprey lifted violently into the smoke-filled Beijing sky while the dead city burned beneath them.