Jersey City

"That thing is still out there. Let's go and kill it."

Henrick's words light a fire in Tony's eyes, prompting him to make a beeline straight for the door. Everyone then packs their own belongings up and follow.

"Hey, why do you think this tunnel is so empty? Not that I'm not grateful, but I expected hordes of corrupted." David whispers to Selene as they step out.

The magic user prepares a bolt of magic, scanning her surroundings before answering. "The people that didn't turn probably attracted them when they ran for the exits of the tunnels."

Father David nods at the explanation and looks around for any sign of the serpentine corrupted.

Silence pervades the atmosphere, a sense of unease permeating the group's surroundings. They swing their flashlight to and fro, in an effort to spot the creature, to no avail.

Henrick keeps his eyes low to the ground, a thought occuring to him as he signals for the group to stop.

With a flex of his will, an electrical field spreads out and discreetly covers the surroundings. A few seconds pass as he registers nothing, until a faint snake like silhouette appears in his senses.

The soldier snaps into focus as he leaps over a vehicle and stomps down viciously once he clears it. Concrete chunks spread out as his bare foot pulverizes the serpent's face.

"KRIIEEEEEEEH!!"

The corrupted screams in agony, unable to free itself. It's tongue shoots out and tries to chomp down on Henrick's crotch, but the soldier is prepared for it.

His hand shoots out and rips the organ out in one swift motion, triggering an explosion of blood from the serpent's mouth.

Before it can even think of doing anything, a burst of electricity from Henrick's foot causes it to convulse madly in pain.

"KRIIEE-" its scream abruptly stops as the soldier pushes down, crushing its skull, twisting his foot just to make sure that it's dead.

The rest of the group release a breath they didn't even know they were holding, stunned by how quickly Henrick dispatched the threat.

"Holy shit. That was quick." Tony says, unsure of how to feel about the situation. David places a hand on his shoulder in a silent display of comfort.

The electricity user throws the organ held in his hand onto the ground and wipes his hands on his shirt.

He cleans his foot as best he can on the ground, already looking towards the end of the tunnel. "Let's go. The faster we're out of here, the better."

As the group moves forward, none of them notice the tongue that Henrick ripped out start to move. It slithers towards the maintenance room, rapidly shrivelling up, but locked onto a target.

Ten minutes pass as Henrick's group finally make it to the end of the tunnel. A collective sigh of relief is exhaled then abruptly stifled as they trade the oppressive darkness for the oppressive black clouds and dark purple skies.

They're all about to exit until they hear a distorted voice that sets them all on edge. "hEy, tONy."

Tony whirls around and widens his eyes as he sees a shambling Mac approaching the group. His neck wound has disappeared, but his face is pale.

Leo growls heavily, his hairs standing on edge and his face set in a snarl as he gets down low in preparation to lunge.

"Mac? H-how?" the metal man asks, as he slowly approaches the stocky officer. Henrick pulls him back, a frown on his face as he turns towards Tony.

"That's not Mac. I just realised that I didn't absorb any purple mist after crushing that thing's skull."

Tony shrugs Henrick off and frowns, clinging on to hope that his friend might still be alive. "No! Maybe...maybe he awakened his abilities! Maybe he can heal!" he says, but the hesitation is clear.

"oF CoURse, it's me. I'm fine now, buddy." the corrupted's words become startlingly clear as it continues its approach.

Tony shakily breathes and walks towards his friend, placing both hands on "Mac's" face as he cups it. He takes a deep breath and gives him a big smile.

Without warning, Tony wrenches the corrupted to the side and throws it towards a car. "Mac hates the word buddy." The force of the throw crumples the already damaged vehicle.

There is no reprieve as Tony fully transforms into a metal behemoth and pummels the corrupted over and over again.Blow after blow land with devastating accuracy as he openly cries.

The corrupted's face compresses and decompresses as it resists the metal man's rage filled attacks.

"Mac thinks it's too condescending of a word." He picks the corrupted up by the neck and jams his fingers into where the wound used to be.

"Promised to never use it as long as he lived!" With a roar, he rips the "tongue" out and stomps onto it with all the force he can muster, cratering the floor.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry..." Tony whispers, placing Mac's body down and wearily collapsing onto his knees. Purple mist flows through his body, turning his metallic skin into a darker sheen.

Father David does the sign of the cross and prays for the dearly departed, while Leo's ears flatten against his head in sadness.

Alex steps towards Mac's body, a grim look on his face. "May I? At least he won't be eaten by those things." Tony nods and steps back, clenching his fist as Alex lets loose a torrent of flame.

The officer keeps his eyes on the burning corpse, committing it to memory, as his tears finally stop. What replaces it is a determination to live.

Tony turns to look at Henrick, his metal skin receding. "You were right. This isn't our world anymore." The soldier just frowns at those words as he leads the group onwards.

2 hours later

Henrick and his group decide to walk along the water's edge as they set a brisk pace for themselves. Luckily scavenging hasn't been an issue so far, but doubt for the future lingers at the back of the soldier's mind.

They turn and find themselves on Grand Street, weary but still doggedly making their way through Jersey City.

"How long until we get to the State Forest?" asks Elly as she drags her feet trying to keep up with the group of adults.

Henrick smiles sadly at her discomfort and carries her with an arm. "Just a while longer." Elly pouts and crosses her arms. "You said that a while ago."

Though she complained. The little girl decides to get down from Henrick's arms, which confuses the soldier.

"It's alright, you aren't heavy." Elly shakes her head and looks grimly into his eyes. "I won't be the reason you get hurt because of those monsters. I won't distract you."

Father David clenches his fist, heartbroken that a child has to even consider such a thing. "How about we take a break, Henrick? Maybe at the Liberty State Park?"

Selene smiles at the suggestion. "We can even take a look at the Statue of Liberty." The group perks up at this and looks at Henrick, waiting for his decision.

"Alright. Let's get some rest then. Come on." Henrick says as he picks Elly up once more. "For the record, you aren't a distraction." The little girl tears up slightly at that and just buries her face in Henrick's shirt.

The group turn into Jersey Ave and see the first signs of the Liberty State Park. They experience something akin to a second wind when they think of the break they're about to have and speed up just a little bit.

Walking along Phillip Street, Elly points at the science museum and and the beautiful nature around them.

The seemingly untouched forest, almost seems to pulse with a palpable life force as they push deeper into an area with a heavy amount of trees.

"Let's take a break here. We're sufficiently covered, and there doesn't seem to be any corrupted."

Everyone plops down onto the ground and unwinds. Tony in particular almost seems to collapse, no doubt shattered by the prior events.

Veronica offers everyone some water as they take some food out to refuel. "How far off are we?" she asks David as she sits next to him with an orb of water.

"At the pace we're going? I'm guessing another five hours." he sighs as he stares at the sky. "But then again, it's hard to keep track of time with the sky being purple and everything, so I guess it doesn't matter."

The water user gives the priest an encouraging smile as she stands and makes her way to Selene, who is standing at the edge of the treeline.

"See anything?" Veronica asks, slightly tense around the taciturn woman. "No. Just nature, and that makes me nervous." Selene replies as she walks back to the group.

The water user quickly follows the elf-like woman as she feels a chill in her spine. Alex leans his head on a tree as he exhales deeply.

Henrick approaches and throws a beer that was scavenged to the fire user. "It's not much, but maybe it'll help with what you're feeling. I know it's not easy having to be the one to burn those bodies."

Alex chuckles at that and pops the can open. "No, but I feel good knowing that they won't be corrupted." he says, but hesitates as he tries to formulate his next words.

"Is this all for nothing? Are we doomed?"

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END