Tough Exterior

"I need backup here!"

Lieutenant Ramirez said on his radio as he ran while still dragging the woman behind him. Luckily for them, the floor seemed slippery for the giant spider as it constantly slid whenever it made a sharp turn. Furthermore, the goods and racks that littered on the floor hampered its movement even more.

But this did not mean it can't attack them with other means. The mouth of the woman opened so wide that it can definitely swallow his head whole! It then started spitting globs of greenish sticky fluid that seemed to corrode everything it came into contact with!

Lieutenant Ramirez traded pot shots with the giant spider even though he knew that it didn't make any difference. Every time he landed a hit on the giant spider's exoskeleton, it produced a sound similar to hitting metal.

He could not afford to stay still to target the woman's head which is definitely its most vulnerable part, so he just ran to his squadmates instead.

"Ramirez, what's happening?"

"I'm being chased by a large human hybrid spider!"

"Say what?!"

"It's dangerous to fight it here inside! We have to fight it outside! I'm going directly for the exit, so be ready!"

They were talking on an open channel, so all of them heard what they were talking about. Although what Ramirez said sounded absurd, they still took it seriously as they all move towards the exit immediately. The whole situation they were in was already absurd, so why can't a giant human hybrid spider can't exist?

A few moments later, lieutenant Ramirez finally saw the exit where they parked their vehicles and where the other soldiers were stationed at. Unfortunately, the giant spider was also awfully close to them! They were still lucky though, as the spider wasn't able to hit them with its acid spit.

The woman was also slowing down because of exhaustion. When lieutenant Ramirez noticed this, he didn't hesitate to do the most optimal solution.

"I'm sorry about this."

Lieutenant Ramirez lifted the woman and carried her like how those guys in movies carried their girlfriend. Because of this, he was forced to discard his rifle so he can have a firm grip on the woman's legs.

"Hang tight!"

He ran as fast as he could, but no matter how much he tried to run at his full speed, his wound hinders him from exerting too much force. He gritted his teeth as he tried his best to endure the intensifying pain from his wound. It even started bleeding again!

The woman on the other hand still looked terrified from both the giant spider and the man that was carrying her. But if she had to make a choice to run in a different direction or go with the unknown man, she will definitely choose the man. She tightened her grip on the collar of the man and closed her eyes to not see the terrifying sight behind them.

Just when they were so close to the exit door, the giant spider finally landed a hit! A glob of greenish sticky fluid hit lieutenant Ramirez's left foot. He instantly felt a searing pain on his foot.

"ARGH!"

Also, the glob was sticky enough to completely immobilized his affected foot! This caused him to become out of balance and unintentionally threw the woman on the floor. They both fell with great force that they weren't able to recover quickly.

Ramirez was in deep trouble! Not only was he unable to move, but his foot was also being dissolved each second that passed! The pain was unbearable. It almost felt like his skin was constantly being pricked by thousands of incredibly hot needles!

Ramirez wasn't able to stand up at all. Not only was he unable to move, but the looming threat that is the giant spider is also getting closer and closer to them.

"GOD DAMNIT! RUN! NOW!"

There's no point for the woman to stay with him. He will only drag her to her doom! Luckily, his squad mates were on their way to help them. This at least made Ramirez feel hopeful that the woman will survive. As for him? He wasn't sure. Not only the glob was extremely acidic, but it was also really tough! It will probably too late before he manages to free his foot from the acidic glob.

The woman hesitated for a bit. Her eyes showed sadness and regret, but she will die too if she helps the unknown man. Her self preservation instincts overwhelmed her emotion and the need to help the man in front of her. She got up from the floor, she said something before she ran towards the other unknown men currently running towards them.

"Dawatap! Dawatap!"

After that, she ran and eventually reached the other soldiers a few seconds later. The other soldiers were still a few seconds away from him, so he decided to defend himself for the moment.

He turned his body towards the giant spider who was so close that his squadmates probably wouldn't be able to reach him before the giant spider eat him alive! He reached for his pistol currently holstered on his back and tried his best to aim for the spider's human head.

"I'm not going down without a fight! Eat this!"

BANG BANG BANG

Ramirez let out a loud shout while firing all of his bullets to the damned monster in front of him. Luckily, he managed to graze the cheek of the giant spider! This caused the monster to halt its movements, but not for long. The spider became furious! Just as the spider about to spit its acidic glob at him, a barrage of bullets hit it and some of it was dangerously close to its human head.

The spider halted once again and was even forced to step back just from the sheer number of bullets hitting its exoskeleton! This gave the other soldiers more time to try to rescue their incapacitated comrade.

"What the hell is that?!"

"There's no time asking questions. You three cover us! Don't even try to stop firing even for a second!"

"Copy that, captain!"

Ramirez became hopeful again when his backup finally arrived! Five soldiers including his captain came to the rescue! They successfully fend off the giant spider for a few seconds, but that wasn't enough to scare away the monster.

As the captain tried to free his foot from the sticky glob using his knife, Ramirez spoke.

"Captain, how's the woman? is she okay?"

"She's okay, dammit! You don't have to worry about her right now, lieutenant! Just stop squirming too much."

The moment the captain's knife made contact with the glob, it instantly produced a sizzling sound and started to deform the knife! He only has mere seconds to free the foot of his subordinate. Three seconds later, he was finally able to separate the foot from the glob. Though, his knife became severely deformed that it was rendered useless now. He tossed his knife aside and helped Ramirez to get up.

"Get up, soldier!"

"Ahhh!"

The pain coming from his severely melted foot, caused him to move in an excruciatingly slow pace! He wasn't sure if rescuing him was the right idea. He's only slowing his comrades and he might lead them to their deaths!

"Captain! Just leave me here. I'm slowing you all down! I will try to stall the monster for a bit so you can run to safety"

"No, lieutenant! We don't leave comrade, remember? Also, if we leave you now, then we just wasted our time rescuing you! You think I'll just waste our efforts?"

"But, Captain, some of them might die!"

"Shut up, soldier! I will even drag you if I have to!"

Ramirez gritted his teeth as he tried to walk as fast as he could. The three soldiers behind him were constantly firing their rifles at the giant spider, unfortunately, it was useless! They were only able to hold on this long was because the giant spider chose to defend its human head using its two front legs, making it move slower than normal.

A few seconds later they finally reached the exit and regrouped with the rest of the squad. During their rescue, the other soldiers were able to prepare for the incoming monster. One soldier manned the .50 cal machine gun on top of the armored vehicle, while the others equipped their rifles.

As soon as the captain, the others and the giant spider came into view, they all started firing. The sound of guns firing echoed throughout the streets. The noises alone were enough to scare off any little greenies from trying to attack their group.

The captain helped Ramirez lift up to the military truck while everyone else was fending off the incredibly tough spider. Though, when it came to firepower, the .50 cal was almost the most powerful gun! Its sheer firepower cracked the tough exoskeleton of the giant spider! This caused the spider to let out a loud screech as it scampered off away.

"Stay here lieutenant. Don't even try to move."

Ramirez sighed in a resigned manner before agreeing to the captain.

"Yes...captain"

Although the firing has stopped now and the spider was scared away, they still didn't let their guard down as they might have attracted some monsters who were brave enough to attack them. Also, the spider may not be entirely scared at all, it might follow them and prepare an ambush if it was smart enough.

"Let's go, boys! Let's not make our target wait any longer. Did he made contact again?"

As the soldiers started preparing for departure a fairly young soldier answered the captain.

"Sir! The target made contact earlier. He said we will know exactly where he is, we just have to wait for the signal"

This caused the captain to frown. Why can't he just give his damn exact address?!

"Hmm. What signal?"

The young soldier scratched his cheek for a bit and was a bit hesitant.

"That... He didn't say what kind of signal, sir"

"...Okay, let's just go to Brgy. Matinas, then"

After a few minutes of preparing, the squad was finally ready to depart. 3 soldiers occupied the armored vehicle including the captain while another was manning the .50 cal. The rest was inside the military truck.

While inside the truck, Ramirez checked his wounds starting with the wound on his side. He lifted his military uniform that was now drenched with his own dried blood. Fortunately, his wound has stopped bleeding for the second time. Though it was a bit inflamed, so it was painful when he tried to put some pressure on it. He winced.

He then checked his most serious wound. At first, he hesitated as he was not ready to see if he will be crippled or not. After some time, he finally decided to check his wound. When he looked at his wounded foot, it looks like it was melted. It even looked like part of the fabric and his shoe merged with his melted skin! It was painful even just by looking at it. His foot was so severely melted that it almost reached his bone! If the captain was even a minute late, his foot would have been unrecoverable.

"Ugh. Damnit!"

Ramirez can only blame his bad luck. But then again, his job comes first which was to save and protect civilians.

"Well, at least the woman was safe"

Speaking of the woman, Ramirez looked around inside the truck in search of the woman. A few seconds later, he saw her being questioned by another soldier who was also a woman. By the looks of it, the soldier was getting nowhere with the woman because they can't understand each other.

The woman still looked distressed, though. But at least she was not acting apprehensive or wary at the moment, which is good to see. She was also eating the food ration while being questioned.

Just when Ramirez was about to approach the two women, they were all surprised by a sudden loud explosion! Their convoy halted.

The young soldier approached the armored vehicle.

"Sir! Based on our map, that place where something exploded is located in Brgy. Matinas"

"Are you saying that is his so-called signal?"

"We are not sure, sir. But there's a high chance that it might be it."

The captain sighed as he contemplated his next action. After a few seconds later he finally decided.

"If it is in that Barangay, then we might as well check that out. Prepare to move"

"Yes, sir!"