Chapter 105: Commercial Center - Descent (II)

"This one is mine too."

Dmitri moved toward the next row.

The shape crossed another concrete beam.

Rex followed it from below, though his growl had already stopped. Specter and the other DASF units tracked the same movement from behind Echo Five.

The infected remained close to the ceiling.

Its skin carried the color of the concrete beneath it, while its long fingers held the edge of the beam without making a sound. Only the enlarged eyes remained visible whenever its head turned.

Another Stalker, Dmitri raised his MP7.

The infected opened its mouth, its throat stretching.

Dmitri moved aside before the tongue reached him.

The slick length struck the floor where his leg had been, then curled upward while the creature attempted to pull it back.

Lasher? And a stalker?!

Dmitri fired twice.

The first suppressed round entered through the open mouth.

The second struck above the eye.

The Stalker lost its hold on the beam. Its body dropped between the parking rows, followed by the tongue collapsing across the concrete beside it.

Dmitri kept the MP7 aimed on its head for another second.

Nothing moved.

Specter lowered his rifle.

"Lasher trait."

"Combined with a Stalker."

Dmitri approached the body without entering reach of the tongue. The camouflage had already begun fading along its arms and torso, though the elongated tissue remained extended from its mouth.

The Lasher itself was nothing new.

Finding its tongue inside something capable of hiding against a ceiling was.

Dmitri placed the shared marker over the corpse.

"More hybrids confirmed. Stalker camouflage with Lasher mutation."

The other Recon Teams acknowledged.

Dmitri looked toward the next parking row.

"Continue."

Echo One resumed its advance.

Dmitri took the western lane, while the other Scouts spread across the spaces between the parked vehicles. Rex remained close to the front. The second Attack Dog moved several meters behind with Echo One-Four, checking the gaps beneath the cars and the darker sections between the pillars.

Echo Two separated at the junction.

Adrian led his team toward the eastern parking rows, leaving Echo Five between both routes. Specter Squad remained near the center, close enough to reach either side without crowding the Scouts ahead.

Ordinary infected continued emerging between the vehicles as Echo One advanced.

The less-promoted Scouts handled them without slowing the formation. Short suppressed bursts crossed the parking rows, while Dmitri kept his attention on the ceilings, pillars, and upper sections of the parked vans.

Across the junction, Echo Two opened fire.

Adrian’s team cleared three infected beside a concrete divider, then shifted toward a row of abandoned motorcycles. One Attack Dog stopped near the payment booth and stared beneath the lowered barrier.

Adrian raised his fist.

A Scout crouched beside the booth and extended the fiber-optic camera around its corner.

"Two inside."

The team separated.

One Scout covered the booth’s window. Another moved around the opposite side.

Both infected died before either reached the door.

"Eastern lane clear to the first stairwell connection," Adrian reported.

Echo Five acknowledged from the center.

Dmitri looked farther west.

The parking rows widened beyond the next set of pillars. More hostile movement passed between the vehicles, though none approached with the patience of the two hybrids they had already encountered.

"Echo One continuing."

The Scouts moved forward again.

Behind them, Echo Five marked the cleared junction. Nothing had reached Specter Squad yet.

The next section was darker.

Fewer vehicles remained there, while the deeper rows sat completely beyond the light reaching from the ramp behind them.

Concrete pillars divided the parking lanes at regular intervals, leaving narrow spaces where several cars had been abandoned too close together.

Both Attack Dogs stopped again before the deeper rows.

Three concealed figures separated from the ceiling, a parked van, and the concrete supports. One carried the swollen throat of a Screamer. Another launched a Lasher’s tongue.

Echo One-Two destroyed the first before it could release a sound. Echo One-Three killed the second while it tried to retract its tongue. Dmitri dropped the third before its feet reached the floor.

All three bodies fell within seconds of one another.

"Western lane clear," Dmitri reported.

Similar reports arrived from Echo Two and both stairwell teams. The hybrids were no longer isolated.

Dmitri did not slow the advance.

"Echo One, continue."

Echo Two advanced along the opposite side.

Echo Three and Echo Four linked with Echo Five near the central lanes.

The second sweep found nothing else. The first level was clear.

All five Recon Teams converged near the southern end of the level, where the parking lanes narrowed around a concrete divider and several payment barriers. Beyond them, the floor sloped downward.

Another ramp.

The lower level remained hidden beneath it.

Dmitri stopped before the descent.

A metal gate had collapsed across one side, leaving the other half open. Several vehicles had crashed near the entrance, their doors and roofs pressed inward as though something large had forced its way between them.

Rex stared into the darkness.

The other Attack Dogs began doing the same.

A heavy breath came from below.

Slow and deep.

The sound passed through the ramp and between the parked vehicles, followed by another exhale several seconds later.

Something scraped against concrete.

One of the damaged cars shifted slightly.

Specter Squad moved forward without being called.

The four DASF units passed Echo Five and stopped behind Dmitri’s team, their .338 rifles already aimed toward the descent.

Another breath rolled up from below.

This time, it was closer.

Dmitri stepped away from the center of the ramp.

The DASF leader moved beside him.

"Chancel, your senses."

One DASF unit moved forward, her figure slimmer than the rest.

Dmitri felt the same pressure that usually surrounded Kimmy.

Chancel stopped as she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. An invisible pulse spread outward from her and passed through the concrete below.

Specter glanced toward her. "Report."

"Large muscular infected. High physical output. Full squad engagement required."

"Confirmed. Specter Squad forward. The rest of you, hold until it’s clear."