Mutated monsters

When Lucas woke up the next day, it took him a few seconds to identify the room he was in. His mind cleared up slowly and he recalled how he had died in his lab before arriving in the apocalyptic world.

Sighing softly, he left his bed and noticed that Ryker and Vance were nowhere in sight.

It was only a few minutes to 7. But he knew what the men were up to.

Rubbing his eyes to clear any remnants of sleep, he brushed his teeth quickly and went in search of the two men.

It wasn't hard to find them. After all, there was one place where people trained.

"And the Sleeping Beauty is awake," Ryker greeted him loudly, bringing everyone's attention to him and Lucas was embarrassed for having the spotlight on him.

Threatening him with his gaze, he approached Vance who was doing push-ups.

"Vance, I..." Lucas cleared his throat, finding it difficult to ask for his help. 

Vance stood straight and looked at him curiously.

"I..I want to train as well. Can you help me?" Lucas asked, forgetting his embarrassment. 

"And you were flustered to ask me this?" Vance burst out laughing and Ryker joined him instantly.

"Looks like our friend is a little shy," Ryker teased.

"I'm an introvert alright." Lucas shot back and Ryker raised his hands in surrender.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

Before they could begin, however, a siren went off in Velomore and everyone stood up instantly.

"What's happening?" Lucas asked, covering his ears. The siren was so loud that he felt his eardrums about to explode.

"Some city is under attack. We have to go," Vance replied.

Some of the men started sprinting out of the training area. 

Lucas didn't know what to do. Yet, he still ran beside Vance and Ryker.

"Come with us, Lucas," Vance shouted as they followed Ryker to one of the choppers.

"But..."

"We could have another helping hand. We don't know how many monsters we are dealing with."

Lucas wasn't sure. But he didn't reject him and joined them, entering the chopper with Vance.

One by one, the choppers rose to the sky and Lucas sat beside Vance, clutching the grab handles tight. He noticed they were in a different chopper than they had taken the previous day.

It was a small chopper that could seat only four people. Ryker, Vance, he, and another man whose name he recalled to be Seb.

"Let me teach you how to use a machine gun." Vance handed him one of the machine guns and Lucas was overwhelmed with strange emotions when he held the weapon for the first time.

However, there was something odd about the machine gun.

"Take these." Vance then handed him a transparent box containing strange things and Lucas noticed they weren't bullets. Instead, they looked more like darts.

"It's a tranquilizer. It'll paralyze the monsters for some time."

Lucas looked at everything in awe while Vance explained to him seriously, not teasing him for his ignorance.

"Um... Vance..."

Lucas was impressed by everything. But there was a problem. He didn't know how to operate a machine gun. 

"I don't know how to operate this."

"Don't worry. I'll teach you once we reach. Let's not waste the tranquilizers unnecessarily. Shall we?" Vance joked.

"Does this work on humans as well?" Lucas asked, a thought springing in his mind.

"We haven't tested it on humans. I can't answer your question."

Lucas snuck out his tongue awkwardly, realizing how stupid he sounded. Leaning back in his seat, he sat still like Vance, conserving his energy for the fight.

Lucas didn't know for how long they had traveled. It seemed to be more than an hour and his stomach had started grumbling. 

Yet, he ignored his hunger. Saving lives was important.

"Reaching Novastra in 5." Ryker's voice fell on their ears after.

Novastra? Wasn't it Orvale's neighboring city?

Although Lucas hadn't memorized the world map, he knew a few cities bordering Orvale and Velomore.

"Descending in 5," Seb said and Lucas held his breath and looked down, only for his eyes to widen in horror.

"Oh my God! What the hell is that?"

Even Vance, Ryker, and Seb were spooked when they saw the situation down. 

The previous day, the humans could at least run to save their lives. But now, they didn't have that opportunity at all. 

The fiends seemed to have grown stronger and faster overnight and they overtook the humans easily. 

Some of the humans couldn't even scream before they were captured and squashed like a fly, their blood spluttering everywhere.

Lucas' face lost all color and he felt light-headed. The situation was nightmarish and his hands shook, his body breaking into a cold sweat.

"Focus, Lucas. We need to save the humans," Vance ordered when he saw the young man's situation.

"Follow my instructions and prepare to fire."

Lucas gulped a few times, trying to clear the black spots from his sight. 

'I can't collapse now. I need to stay strong,' he repeated in his mind, ignoring his drenched shirt.

Lucas watched Vance prepare to fire and memorized each step. 

Vance aimed at one of the ghouls inching on a human and fired the machine gun.

Although the tranquilizer hit the ghoul, there was no effect on it. It continued to run, and within a few seconds, tore apart the human's limbs.

"What the fuck!" Vance was dumbstruck.

Ryker almost lost control of the chopper.

Seb went blank.

Lucas was mortified. 

Vance tried again.

Even Lucas didn't sit still and tried using the machine gun. His aim was completely off for the first few times.

But soon, he was able to handle the weapon and aimed at one of the fiends.

Although his aim was still off, he still managed to hit the fiend in its leg. However, once again, there was no effect.

The fiend continued moving and capturing humans.

"What do we do? The tranquilizers aren't working," Vance shouted, firing at a ghoul multiple times. 

Again, it didn't work.

It was as if the monsters had gained immunity against the tranquilizers.

"Something is wrong," Lucas mumbled as he too kept firing at the ghouls. "Something is terribly wrong."

"Vance, the monsters have mutated," Ryker yelled as he continued to maneuver the chopper.

"What the fuck is that?" Seb's voice shook and everyone turned in the direction Seb was looking at.

Lucas almost lost it when he saw that some of the fiends had multiple limbs and heads. It wasn't just terrifying, it looked extremely repulsive.

"Fucking shit!" Ryker screamed when he realized they were dropping to the ground at an alarming speed because of his momentary distraction. 

And Lucas felt his soul leave his body when he met one of the fiends in the eye. It was as if death was calling him and he closed his eyes, thinking if this was how he was going to die.