Chapter 26: The Thing That Was Once a Human

The roar echoed between the ruined buildings.

Zarek tightened his grip on the sword, waiting for whatever had made that sound to appear.

Something moved behind the collapsed building.

A moment later, it stepped onto the road.

For a second, Zarek thought it was a man.

Then he saw its size.

The creature stood nearly eight feet tall, with a thick torso, broad shoulders, and arms that hung almost to its knees. Its gray skin stretched tightly over its chest but sagged around its stomach and neck.

Torn pieces of clothing clung to its body, barely recognizable beneath the grime and dried blood.

Its head lolled to one side.

One eye was cloudy and lifeless. The other moved restlessly, scanning the street beneath a heavy brow. Its mouth hung open, exposing broken teeth and dark gums.

It took another step.

CRUNCH.

A chunk of concrete shattered beneath its foot.

The creature’s body swayed with the movement. Its right leg dragged for half a second before the foot slammed down again, sending loose debris skittering across the asphalt.

Then it raised its head and roared.

The sound was deep and ragged, but something about it made Zarek’s skin prickle.

It sounded almost human.

Almost.

"What the hell is that?" Ayesha whispered.

Zarek didn’t answer.

He was too busy studying the thing.

Its movements were clumsy, but its size alone made it dangerous. Those arms could probably smash through a car door without much effort. If it got its hands on a person, he doubted a few broken bones would be the worst of their problems.

And he had no idea how much punishment its body could take.

The creature turned toward the intersection.

Zarek immediately raised one hand, signaling the women to stay quiet. He caught Elsa by the shoulder and pulled her behind the remains of a concrete wall beside a ruined storefront.

Ayesha followed, crouching beside them. Her rifle nearly struck the wall, but she caught it before it made a sound.

They peered through a gap in the broken concrete.

The creature was moving down the street, crushing rubble beneath its feet.

Elsa pressed her injured arm against her side. Her fingers tightened around the pry bar until her knuckles turned pale.

She had fought mutants before. The smaller ones were terrifying enough, especially when they attacked without warning. But this thing was different.

It looked like someone had taken a human body and twisted it into something that no longer belonged in this world.

"Can you kill it?" she whispered.

Zarek kept his eyes on the creature.

"Maybe."

He watched it drag one hand across the side of an abandoned car, leaving a long smear of dirt and blood on the metal.

Then he added, "I’m not betting my life on it."

Elsa stared at him.

She had seen Zarek fight. She had watched him cut down armed men without hesitation and kill mutants that would have torn her apart. He usually acted as if danger were nothing more than an inconvenience.

Hearing him admit that he might lose frightened her more than she wanted to admit.

Ayesha seemed to feel the same way.

She looked from the creature to Zarek, searching his face for some sign that he was joking.

He wasn’t.

The creature stopped beside the abandoned car.

For several seconds, it stood motionless.

Then its head tilted sharply to one side.

A wet clicking sound came from its throat.

It turned toward the storefront.

Toward their hiding place.

Elsa stopped breathing.

Zarek lowered his body behind the wall, keeping only one eye near the gap. He couldn’t tell whether the creature had actually noticed them. Its clouded eye pointed in their direction, but the other was still moving, searching the street.

He shifted his sword into a more comfortable grip.

If it came around the wall, he would have to fight.

He didn’t like the odds.

His physical enhancement had made him stronger than before, and his improved swordsmanship had helped him survive several encounters. But neither advantage guaranteed that he could bring down something this large.

He could try to cut its throat.

He could aim for its eyes or knees.

He could even attempt to climb onto its back and attack from there, assuming it didn’t grab him first.

Every possibility came with a problem.

He didn’t know whether its neck was vulnerable, whether its bones were stronger than a normal human’s, or whether damaging its legs would even slow it down enough.

Too many unknowns.

Zarek enjoyed a dangerous fight when he believed he had a chance of winning. Throwing himself at an opponent simply because he wanted to see what happened was a good way to end up dead.

The creature suddenly slammed its enormous hand against the car.

BANG!

The metal door caved inward.

Elsa flinched. Her pry bar slipped slightly in her grip, and she caught it before it could fall.

Ayesha pressed herself harder against the wall. Her rifle was useless without ammunition, and even if it were loaded, she wasn’t sure a few bullets would stop that thing.

The creature leaned over the car, its jaw working as if it were chewing something invisible.

A low, broken groan escaped its mouth.

For one horrible moment, it sounded like a person struggling to speak.

Then the creature straightened and released another roar.

Zarek felt his pulse quicken.

Fear wasn’t the only thing he felt. Beneath the caution, there was a sharp flicker of excitement. The creature was unlike anything he’d encountered so far, and part of him wanted to know exactly what it could do.

But curiosity didn’t mean he had to satisfy it immediately.

He stayed behind the wall.

The creature took another step.

Then a gunshot cracked through the distant streets.

BANG!

The sound echoed between the buildings.

The creature froze.

Its head snapped toward the noise.

For a moment, nobody moved. Zarek could hear Elsa’s uneven breathing beside him and the faint scrape of Ayesha’s boot against the concrete.

Then the creature turned away from the car.

Another gunshot rang out, farther down the road.

The creature roared in response.

It started moving toward the sound.

Each heavy footfall sent loose stones bouncing across the asphalt. Its enormous body passed behind a row of abandoned vehicles before disappearing around the corner of a ruined building.

The noise gradually faded.

Zarek didn’t immediately stand up.

He waited, watching the gap in the wall and listening for the sound of approaching footsteps. A few seconds passed. Then several more.

Nothing returned.

Finally, he lowered his sword.

"It’s gone."

Elsa released a breath so sharply that it almost became a laugh. She leaned against the wall, her legs trembling beneath her.

Ayesha remained crouched, staring toward the corner where the creature had disappeared.

"Someone just saved our lives," she whispered.

"Maybe."

She turned toward Zarek. "What do you mean, maybe?"

He glanced at the distant street.

"That thing heard the gunshots and went looking for them. Whoever fired those shots might have just invited it over for dinner."

Ayesha’s mouth tightened.

"That’s supposed to make me feel better?"

"Wasn’t trying to."

Zarek sheathed his sword and rose carefully enough to keep the street in view. He still wanted to know what that creature was, but he had no intention of following it just to satisfy his curiosity.

The person who fired the gun could be alive, injured, or already dead. There was no reason to assume otherwise.

He looked at the two women.

"Can you both keep moving?"

Elsa straightened, although she winced when she adjusted her injured arm.

"Yes."

Ayesha pushed herself up more slowly. "I can."

Neither sounded convincing.

They emerged from behind the wall.

The street looked almost exactly as it had before the creature appeared. Abandoned cars, broken windows, black roots crawling across buildings. A few minutes earlier, it had seemed like an opportunity waiting to be explored.

Now the same stretch of road felt like a place they needed to leave.

Elsa kept glancing over her shoulder.

Ayesha did the same, though she tried to hide it.

Zarek checked the sword at his waist.

He was tired too.

The past several hours had involved fighting mutants, dealing with armed survivors, escaping the hotel, and crossing unfamiliar streets. His enhanced strength helped, but it didn’t erase exhaustion or make him invulnerable.

Even his shoulder had started to ache again.

And that creature had reminded him of something important.

The monsters weren’t all getting easier to handle.

If anything, the longer he stayed outside, the greater the chance that he would encounter something he couldn’t defeat with his current strength.

He wasn’t interested in dying because he’d mistaken recklessness for courage.

"We need to stop," Elsa said.

Zarek looked at her.

She glanced down at her injured arm. "I can still walk, but I can’t keep going like this forever. Neither can she."

Ayesha didn’t argue.

"I need ammunition," she said. "And we need water, food, somewhere to sleep. Somewhere with doors we can close."

"Preferably doors that thing can’t tear apart," Elsa muttered.

"That would be nice."

Zarek considered their situation.

They had supplies stored in his System Space, weapons, and enough experience to deal with some of the smaller mutants. But their current position wasn’t sustainable.

Elsa needed rest and treatment. Ayesha needed ammunition and a chance to recover. He needed to assess their next move without being forced to react to every new threat that appeared.

A shelter was the obvious choice.

It might contain useful supplies, information about the outbreak, and survivors worth investigating. If there were enough people gathered in one place, the system might even flag other high-potential individuals.

Of course, a shelter could also mean armed guards, desperate people, and a leader who expected everyone to follow orders.

Zarek had no intention of surrendering control of his resources to some stranger simply because that person had found four walls and a locked door.

But he could deal with that problem after finding somewhere to rest.

He looked down the road, then toward the buildings ahead.

"All right. We’re finding a shelter first."

Elsa’s shoulders relaxed slightly.

Ayesha didn’t look relieved. "And if the people there are dangerous?"

Zarek started walking.

"Then we’ll decide what to do about them when we get there."

He glanced back at the women.

"For now, we’ve had enough excitement for one day."

That wasn’t entirely true. He was still curious about the creature, and the gunshots had raised several new questions.

He wanted a secure place to rest, time to think, and a better idea of what was happening in Vesper.

After that, he could return to exploring.

The three continued down the ruined street, leaving the intersection behind.

Somewhere in the distance, another gunshot rang out.

Zarek didn’t turn around.

Finding a shelter had just become their first priority.