A grotesque cycle

The portal had opened completely, and from its red vertex emerged the first creature, crawling with a hiss that resonated like the creaking of oxidized metal. Its bulbous head, with multiple compound eyes, gleamed with a malignant sheen, and its sharp jaws crackled as they clashed together. John watched it coldly as it advanced.

-Defensive system activated - he murmured, as the automatic turrets swiveled towards the portal, Let the party begin.

The roar of the turrets echoed through the air, firing bursts of plasma at the first waves of monsters. The creatures, with their shiny, oily exoskeletons, fell under the weight of the shots, but their advance did not stop, more and more emerged from the portal, an endless tide of horrors, as if hell itself had opened its doors.

John quickly reviewed the controls, his eyes scanning the defense screens, suddenly, an alarm began to flash red; one of the plasma cannons had stopped firing.

-Damn generators he thought, biting his lip in frustration as he ran towards the charging station, he couldn't afford for the defenses to fail now.

-Cannons failing... ammunition at 30% - the AI informed him in a neutral voice. John gritted his teeth and opened his briefcase with the ampoules. There was no time to waste.

With a quick movement, he injected one of the green ones. Immediately, he felt the heat spread through his body, causing his muscles to tense and his breathing to deepen, a wave of immense strength washed over him, the creatures were getting closer and closer, but there was no room for fear or error, John grabbed his submachine gun and jumped among the rubble with superhuman agility, dodging sharp claws and jaws that closed around him,

As he ran, he shot down creatures with precise shots, but some managed to reach him. He felt a sharp pain when one of them dug its claws into his armor, trying to pierce him, He growled in pain and rage, spinning on himself to unload an entire magazine into the creature's head. The beast exploded in a cloud of corrosive acid, whose green drops crackled on contact with his armor, damaging it slightly, But John did not stop.

His steps led him to the damaged generator, where the charging source had fallen. All around him, the creatures were swarming, forming a tight mass of claws and teeth, He looked at the briefcase again. There was no time to hesitate, he took one of the blue ampoules and injected it into himself.

The world around him slowed down. Every movement, every shadow and every sound became crystalline. His mind was now operating at an incredible speed, He calculated the best route to the generator while anticipating enemy attacks, moving with an almost perfect fluidity. He jumped over one of the largest creatures, shooting at the joints of its legs before smashing its head with a precise blow from his knife.

The generator was close, he grabbed it tightly as the acid sizzled on the ground, the creatures surrounded him, but John, with his enhanced reflexes, avoided them skillfully, he could feel how each second was lengthening, his mind evaluating every threat before it even took place.

He ran towards the turrets under a rain of acid and fire, with the generator in hand. He installed it just as the turrets were starting to run out. A powerful hum announced that the plasma cannons were operational again. The creatures invading its perimeter were swept away by a torrent of fire,

-Come on! - shouted John, with a mixture of euphoria and relief.

The creatures began to retreat. Just as the last abomination fell, the portal emitted a blinding flash. The red turned black, and with a dull roar, the portal closed. John fell to his knees, exhausted, feeling the injections begin to wear off.

-I made it... for now - he murmured,

panting, The command room was silent, interrupted only by the sound of his labored breathing. The smell of acid and blood permeated the air, a reminder of the chaos that had taken place. The floor was covered with the remains of the cold creatures, a sight that no longer surprised him,

John looked at one of the nearby creatures, its chitinous body broken and its entrails scattered, he knew he needed to take advantage of the available resources, Food was scarce, and although the flesh of these monsters was bitter and difficult to digest, at least it was edible.

With a grunt of resignation, he took out his combat knife, the blade, nicked and covered in blood, was still sharp enough for the job. He approached the body, crouching to cut a piece of dark, fibrous meat from the creature's abdomen, the skin was tough, like old leather, but after several attempts, he managed to separate it.

The stench hit him immediately, a mixture of ammonia and sulfur that made him frown, he stored several pieces in his backpack, there were still other parts of the body that had other uses.

"This is all that's left," he thought bitterly.

He put away the knife and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He allowed himself a pause, closing his eyes as he listened to the unsettling silence that followed the closing of the portal, his mind, inevitably, returned to the last time he faced one of these portals, Those creatures had killed his family, and now he was here, eating his killers to survive.

A grotesque cycle.

He wiped the blood from his hands, remembering how the green and blue injections temporarily improved him, but at a price. He felt his body not recovering as before, and the pains he had previously ignored were beginning to multiply, he couldn't help but wonder how much longer he could hold on before his body finally broke down,-Maybe I should worry about what this meat is doing to me... he murmured, but I have no other choice.