Beast at the Door

The creature's roar echoed through the narrow confines of the tower, reverberating in my chest like a thunderclap. I could feel its weight, its presence, growing closer with each passing second. The stairwell rattled as the infected below tore into the military, their screams rising above the gunfire, each one a chilling reminder of what was coming for us next.

Zeke's hands moved furiously across the keyboard, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. The progress bar crept forward at an agonizing pace. 75%. 80%.

But it wasn't enough. The creature—the hulking, grotesque thing with its bulging muscles and twisted, decayed skin—was just below us, its footsteps heavy and deliberate, each one shaking the floor beneath us. The other infected were nothing compared to this. They were fast, yes, and brutal—but this one was slow, calculating. It was as if it knew exactly what it wanted, and it was coming for us.

"It's getting closer," Apollo muttered, his voice tight as he watched the door. He held his rifle in a white-knuckled grip, his eyes never leaving the entrance to the control room. "Zeke, how much longer?"

Zeke's breath came in shallow gasps, his fingers trembling as he typed. "I need... just a few more minutes."

Minutes we didn't have.

I could hear the thing's growl now, low and guttural, vibrating through the walls of the tower. My heart pounded in my chest, and I felt my pulse quicken, each beat a countdown to the inevitable. The door wouldn't hold. Not against that. The infected had torn through military-grade armor like paper—what chance did a rusty door have?

"I can hold them off," Apollo said, his jaw clenched. He moved toward the door, his body tense, ready for a fight he knew he couldn't win. "Just keep working."

"No," I whispered, grabbing his arm. The thought of him facing that thing alone, of him throwing himself between us and that monster, made my stomach twist. "You can't fight that."

He looked at me, his expression softening for just a moment. "We don't have a choice."

I swallowed hard, my throat tight with fear and desperation. He was right. We were out of time.

Lylia, who had been pacing near the windows, stopped suddenly, her eyes wide with fear as she peered down the stairwell. "It's here."

The door creaked under the weight of the infected pressing against it. Their snarls and growls filled the room, a symphony of chaos that sent a shiver down my spine. And then, with a deafening crash, the door buckled inward, its hinges snapping under the force of the monster's massive hands.

The creature stood in the doorway, its hulking frame filling the narrow space, its bloodshot eyes fixed on us. Its skin was mottled with patches of rot and decay, stretched tightly over its grotesque muscles. It was taller than I had imagined—easily seven feet, maybe more. Its head jerked to the side as it let out another roar, the sound so loud it rattled the glass in the broken windows.

Apollo raised his rifle, his jaw set. "Get down!"

Before I could react, the gunshots rang out. The bullets slammed into the creature's chest, but it didn't flinch. It kept coming, its massive hands swiping at the air as it lunged toward Apollo. He fired again, this time aiming for its head, but the thing barely staggered.

"Zeke, we need to move!" Lylia shouted, her voice trembling with panic as she grabbed for her bag. "We can't stay here!"

"I'm almost done!" Zeke yelled back, his voice frantic. 85%. 86%. The progress bar inched forward, but the monster was closing the distance faster than the upload could finish.

Apollo emptied his rifle into the creature, each shot doing little more than slowing it down. The bullets punched through its skin, but there was no blood, no reaction other than its angry, deafening roars.

"We need to go," I said, grabbing Zeke's arm, but he shook his head violently, his eyes locked on the screen.

"Just... one more minute!" he shouted, his voice strained with desperation. 90%. 91%.

The creature lunged again, its massive arms sweeping across the room. Apollo ducked, narrowly avoiding the strike, but the impact sent him crashing into the wall, his gun skittering across the floor. The beast growled, its eyes now locked on Zeke.

"Zeke!" I screamed, rushing toward him, but Lylia grabbed my arm, pulling me back.

"We can't save him if we stay here!" she shouted, her eyes wild with fear. "We need to run!"

I froze, torn between the instinct to flee and the desperation to protect my brother. The creature was almost on him, its massive hands reaching out. The stench of rot and decay filled the room, overpowering everything else. Time seemed to stretch, every second a lifetime as Zeke typed furiously, his fingers moving in a blur.

And then, just as the monster's hand was about to close around him, the screen flashed. Upload Complete.

"I got it!" Zeke screamed, leaping from the chair just as the creature's hand slammed down where he had been sitting.

"Run!" Apollo shouted, grabbing Zeke and pushing him toward the exit.

We bolted.

The stairs were narrow and steep, the walls echoing with the sounds of the creature's furious roars as it tore through the control room behind us. I could hear its footsteps, heavy and deliberate, as it followed, smashing through anything in its path. The whole tower shook with its rage.

My breath came in ragged gasps as we raced down the stairs, my legs burning with the effort. Zeke was ahead of me, his face pale and drawn as he clutched his tablet to his chest. Apollo was right behind me, his hand on my back, pushing me forward.

But the creature was faster.

It roared again, the sound so loud it made my ears ring, and I glanced back just in time to see it descending the stairs behind us, its massive frame barely fitting through the narrow space. Its eyes were locked on us, its mouth twisted in a snarl of rage and hunger.

"Go, go, go!" Zeke shouted, his voice cracking with fear.

We reached the bottom of the tower and burst through the door, the cold night air hitting me like a slap to the face. But there was no time to stop, no time to think. The creature was right behind us, its heavy footsteps pounding the ground as it chased us into the darkened streets.

The infected were out there too—smaller, quicker, but no less deadly. They moved through the shadows, drawn by the noise, their eyes glowing in the dim light.

"We can't outrun it!" Lylia shouted, her voice high with panic as she stumbled over a fallen piece of debris. "It's too fast!"

"Keep moving!" Apollo yelled, pulling her to her feet.

The creature roared again, and I felt the ground tremble beneath my feet. I glanced back, my heart pounding in my chest, and saw it charging toward us, its massive hands reaching out.

We wouldn't make it. It was too fast, too strong. The truth was out, but we wouldn't live to see the consequences.

I clenched my fists, my breath coming in short, painful bursts as I pushed myself harder. The streets blurred around me, the sounds of the infected and the creature filling my ears. I didn't know how much longer we could run, but I wasn't going to stop.

Not now. Not after everything.

We turned down a narrow alley, the walls closing in around us, and for a moment, I thought we'd lost it. But then the ground shook again, and I heard it—closer now, its growls reverberating through the night.

It was coming.