New Dawn Chapter: 0105

It was familiar; just like everything he had seen so far.

Tysone was sure he had seen that thing before…

But where?

No time for pointless questions, he thought. It was here and they needed to deal with it.

The thing crouched in the dark.

It didn't growl. It didn't charge.

It watched.

Tysone stepped forward, halberd in hand. "Kohta, cover the back. Saeko, Rei—on me. Saya, go with Takashi. Get the civvies out."

No one argued.

The creature moved.

Fast.

It lunged—claws flashing, feet barely touching the ground. Tysone twisted and slashed. Metal scraped flesh. It wasn't deep. The thing turned mid-air and raked his chest.

His leather jacket tore.

Tysone hit the floor, and rolled right back to his feet.

Still breathing.

"It's smart." He said, circling. "Faster than the last one."

Though not stronger; a hit like that would've been fatal before. Tysone was sure it had to do with that evolution of his.

The thing snarled, a guttural sound that felt like a punch to the gut, echoing off the shattered remains of what was once a department store.

"Is that the same as the armored one?" Saya asked.

"No. This one's built different. No weapons. Just speed, mostly."

It came again.

Tysone blocked. Sparks flew. He slid back a few feet from the impact. The thing was tall, lean, all tendon and rage. Skin like dried blood. Red eyes. Its chest pulsed—something black lodged beneath the collarbone.

'Another core.'

He didn't need the name. He gave it one anyway.

"Call it a Rager." He said. "It fits."

The Rager didn't wait. It launched again. Tysone ducked, caught it in the ribs with the halberd's shaft. It twisted, grabbed the pole, and flung him.

He slammed into a shelf. Bottles and glass rained down.

Meanwhile, Kohta fired. Bullet after bullet hit its body, though it didn't go down. 

"Go for the head!" Takashi said.

"I'm trying!"

The Rager continued to move way too fast. 

Tysone picked himself up without any problems, even going as far as to dust the glass shards off of him.

"Ty!" Rei and Saya were concerned.

"I'm fine." He waved them off, quick on his feet. He wasn't hurt. Annoyed, more than anything. 

He then rushed towards that motherfucker. 'I've just tasted evolution. No way I'm going down to this weakling.' 

Confidence in the wrong hands turns into arrogance, but Tysone's wasn't unfounded. 

He bent his leg and whipped it up around in a wide arc. His foot connected right on its shoulder. The Rager growled as its knees buckled under the pressure of an enhanced human's leg power. "Nigga, you ain't that strong."

Before the Rager could retaliate, Tysone kicked its knee in, making the limb bend in the wrong way. 

The adrenaline was a familiar fire in his veins. 

He felt… good. Dangerous even. 

It really felt good being the one to hold overwhelming power in the battlefield, for once. Therapeutic. 

He didn't give the Rager a moment to recover. He surged forward, his halberd a silver blur. The creature, even with a ruined leg, was still horrifyingly fast. It tried to twist away, to bring its claws to bear, but its compromised mobility was a fatal flaw.

Thwack!

Tysone brought the flat of his halberd shaft down hard on the Rager's already damaged knee. Bone crunched audibly. The creature howled, a high-pitched, nerve-shredding sound, and pitched forward.

"Ty, look out!" Rei's voice, sharp and urgent.

Tysone was already moving. He sidestepped the wild swipe, the claws whistling inches past his face. The Rager, now on one knee and one hand, its ruined leg dragging uselessly, glared up at him, its red eyes burning with an almost sentient hatred.

"Saeko! Rei! Now! Pin it down!" Tysone said. He'd created the opening. Time for the team to exploit it.

Saeko moved fast. She came at the Rager from the side, her bokken hitting its right arm again and again—wrist, elbow, anywhere she could. The hits landed hard. The Rager snarled, but its arm dropped limp. Broken.

Rei, meanwhile, approached from the left, her spear jabbing, feinting, forcing the Rager to focus on her, to twist its upper body away from Tysone. Her attacks were precise, aimed at its face, its eyes.

Tysone circled, watching the Rager thrash under Saeko and Rei's combined assault. It was trying to get up, trying to lunge, even with one good arm and half a leg. That twitch of familiarity was ringing so much louder in his head, like a bell he couldn't ignore. But where? Where did he know it from?

The Rager was weakening. Saeko and Rei had done their jobs well.

Then it did something. Cornered, crippled, it suddenly arched its back, its head snapping to the side with an unnatural, jerky motion, and then it lunged sideways, not with its legs, but by throwing its entire upper body, its one good arm clawing, its teeth bared in a horrifying snarl. It was a move of pure, desperate, animalistic cunning.

Rei, caught by surprise by the sudden, unconventional attack, cried out as she was forced to stumble back, the Rager's teeth snapping shut just inches from her arm.

Saeko was equally taken aback, but her reflexes were lightning-quick. She brought her bokken down on the back of the Rager's neck with a resounding crack, but the creature was unfazed. It rolled, twisting back to its original target—Tysone.

Tysone saw the opening, the Rager's vulnerability laid bare, and he didn't hesitate. His halberd swung with deadly precision, the blade slicing through the creature's neck with a clean, surgical cut.

The Rager's head, still twisted in a silent howl, rolled to the floor.

The body slumped.

The creature was dead.

The group stood frozen, their weapons still held in a mix of shock and relief.

As the Rager's crimson head rolled towards Tysone's feet, a sickening thought rang through his head. 'Crimson... Head?' He had heard of something similar before. He knew he had. And it wasn't a good thing.

"What's wrong, Ty?" Takashi asked, seeing the expression on his friend's face.

"..." Tysone didn't answer right away. He gave the head one last look, then shook it off. "It's nothing."

But it wasn't.

Because if that thing was what he thought it was…

More might be coming.

...

The next ten minutes were spent calming down the group of survivors and removing the crystal from the creature's torso. Yes, it was smaller than the one they confronted earlier, but it was also slightly bigger than the Zombie Cop; their first encounter with an evolved zombie.

It was now in his hands. Usually, he'd have waited until all of this shit was over before deciding who to give it to, but the group's survival depended on their combined strength.

"Who should we give it to, Ty?" Takashi asked, looking at the crystal in his friend's hand.

Tysone glanced at Takashi, then looked at Kohta, Rei, and Saeko. One of them. Saya had already took one, as had Tysone. And by the looks of it, he didn't know if the strength gained by absorbing them was exponential or linear, or if there was a limit. Maybe because the one he absorbed was quite bigger, this one would have little to no effect on him.

It was something to try later, when he had more of them in his hands.

"... Saeko, come here." Tysone said, after thinking for a moment. Saeko nodded and came close to him.

Tysone took her hand, turned it palm up and placed the small, glittering crystal in it.

She looked surprised.

"You have a very important job in this team. You've seen it. Without your skill, we wouldn't even be here. I can't shoulder everything by myself, so I'll be giving you this to count on you more in the future." He explained, looking into her purple-blue eyes.

"Tysone…" She murmured.

"Saya can be counted on, too, I guess..." He added, almost as an afterthought.

"Hey! I take offence at your words!" The pinkette retorted. "What do you mean 'I guess'?! I'm very reliable!"

Kohta chuckled softly.

"Anyway, does anyone have any objections to me giving this to her? If so, say them now." Tysone asked the group, staring each member down with a blank expression.

No one said anything.

Takashi nodded, arms crossed. "She's the one of the main fighters, after all. If you're giving the next one to Kohta or me, it wouldn't hurt either."

"I'll be giving one to everyone. I'm merely prioritizing the most capable right now." Tysone turned towards Saeko. "I'd say 'take your time', but I don't think we'll have the luxury of that."

Saeko smiled, and, in the end, slightly cut herself with the crystal. The blood pooled up and seemingly swallowed the crystal. She didn't make any noise, though her eyes widened slightly.

"Saeko?" Rei asked. "Are you okay?"

The purple-haired girl took a moment, then answered. "Yes... it's like a... new world of possibilities is open to me." She looked at her hands, clearly mesmerized by the raw surge of strength she wasn't used to. 

With her swordsmanship, Tysone could only wonder how much stronger this woman would get in the future. It was such a relief he had her by his side.

Rei and Takashi exchanged looks.

"Let's get moving." Tysone said, and the group started walking again.

The rest of the department store was uneventful, save for a few shambling zombies here and there.

Once outside, Tysone breathed in deeply. The cold air filled his lungs, and the scent of rain was all around. Saeko was right behind him.

With her evolved strength now in the arsenal, Tysone felt more confident about their chances of survival. 

Things had been going wrong way too quickly. 

He looked up at the Aurora once again. 'Really? Resident Evil too?'

Author's Note:

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[ For the next few weeks this story will only get 2 chapters per week ]

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If you're enjoying the story and want to read ahead or support my work, you can check out my P@treon at P@treon.com/LordCampione. But don't worry—all chapters will eventually be public. Just being here and reading means the world to me. Thank you for your time and support.