Story 859: It Crawls From the Ashes

The dust hadn't even settled.

Chunks of twisted rebar and crushed concrete littered the street, a graveyard of destruction. And yet, they knew it wasn’t over.

Leon’s hands tightened around his rifle, sweat dripping down his brow. "Tell me it’s dead this time."

Nobody answered.

Beneath the rubble, a deep, wet crunching sound echoed—a bone-grinding, flesh-reforming symphony of horror.

Then, the ground shifted.

Lucas stepped back. “No. No way.”

A massive clawed hand burst free, shredding through concrete like paper. Another followed. Then, with a monstrous roar, the Flesh Reaper erupted from the debris, its sinewy form larger, stronger, mutated.

The fire hadn’t weakened it. The explosion hadn’t buried it. They had only helped it evolve.

"RUN!" Evelyn screamed.

The Flesh Reaper lunged, moving faster than before. Its barbed tongue shot out, nearly impaling Mia as she dived away.

Reaper fired his shotgun point-blank into its head.