"This is so fucking scary." comes Mac's admission as he holds his shotgun close and points his flashlight everywhere, fingers trembling in the dark and cramped space.
Selene raises a brow and gives the grizzled veteran a once-over, chuckling to herself at the tough looking man who's now cowering behind Tony.
"Don't tell me you're scared of the dark?" Selene whispers incredulously, though there's no real mockery in her tone.
Mac scoffs at her question. "I'm not scared of the dark, but of the very real zombie things that might pop out and bite my nose off!" he whispers gravely, eyes darting around at every small sound.
Tony rolls his eyes, and gives Mac a playful shove. "Live wire over there would have said something if there were any." the metal man says, pointing at Henrick.
Mac gulps, wiping away sweat from his forehead. "Yeah, well... Better safe than sorry." Selene nods at those words and continues navigating through the tunnel.
The three remaining survivors, parents with a child, huddle closer to Henrick's party as the group climb over and duck under vehicles in all manner of positions.
Henrick suddenly raises a fist, prompting everyone to stop and manifest their abilities. One of the police officers, however, barely sees that a normal looking woman is convulsing on the floor a few feet away.
"Guys! There's a woman here, she needs help!!" the cop runs towards the woman, but immediately gets lifted by the back of his neck.
The electricity user scowls as the cop thrashes in his grip, eyes alight in befuddled annoyance. "Are you trying to get us all killed?" he whispers harshly.
Henrick releases the cop, who stares up at him in fear and anger, and observes the woman.
Darkened purple veins start to pop out like worms under her skin, her eyes roll in different directions independent from one another, and her limbs start grotesquely elongating.
She suddenly stops shaking and snaps her head towards the group. The family of three scream as the woman smiles, her grin quite literally reaching her ears.
Henrick covers his hands in electricity as he prepares to engage, but notices the bulge in the corrupted's throat. His eyes widen in alarm before he grabs Elly and hides behind a car.
"Take cover!"
Everyone dives behind cars, except for the police officer that's still on the ground. He stares at the corrupted in fear, his limbs refusing to move.
A female police officer notices this and runs out from behind cover to drag the frozen fool, but scowls when he refuses to budge.
The corrupted slowly crawls towards them with an almost curious look on its face. "GET THE FU-urkk" the female cop starts, but is suddenly engulfed in dark purple ooze shot out from the corrupted's mouth.
She screams in agony as the ooze, as if alive, pierces through her eyes and flows into her ears, mouth, and nose. She claws at the substance, digging into her own flesh in an attempt to remove it.
Her hair rapidly falls out, veins darkening to a sickly shade of purple. Her mouth starts transitioning into a gaping maw, while her flesh takes on a raw pinkish hue.
The newly turned corrupted smiles that same unnerving smile and darts behind a vehicle. "Holy shit," Alex shouts as the flames on his hands sputter from shock. "it turned her?!! It's like a parasite!" Selene frowns and shoots out a volley of magical bolts.
The parasite dodges the high velocity bolts and ducks behind cover, quickly masking itself in the darkness of the tunnel.
The fool somehow finds the strength to move and scrambles away on all fours, but doesn't realise that he chose the wrong direction. The corrupted peaks from behind a vehicle and tears into his stomach with its hand, dragging him into the darkness.
"AAAAHHH!!! PLEASE HEL-" the scream for help is abruptly cut off. An oppressive silence now dominates the tunnel, the only sounds being the rapid and panicked breathing of the survivors and cops.
David looks at Henrick, his eyes asking an unspoken question. The soldier focuses and spreads his bio-electric field, cursing as he picks up multiple energy signatures around them.
"We're surrounded. But they're not moving." Henrick says, confused. He places Elly with Selene, giving the woman a look that clearly conveys his message.
He slowly makes his way to an energy signature that registers on his field and curses as he sees a puddle of writhing purple ooze on the floor.
"I'm registering these puddles as entities. Be careful, it could be anywhere." Henrick says to the group, unease weighing down his every move.
The survivor family decide to enter a vehicle as quietly as possible, closing the door and locking it. "Chrissy, dear, stay away from the windows okay?" says the father to his daughter, keeping his eyes on the outside.
Chrissy doesn't answer as she focuses on the faintly glowing purple puddle next to the car. Her eyes widen in terror, her body refusing to move, as she sees a head slowly rising from the puddle, a monstrous grin on its face.
Henrick slowly makes his way to another energy signature and sees that it is also a purple puddle of writhing ooze. The soldier frowns, confusion evident on his face.
"Chrissy!!!!" Henrick whirls around at the scream and rushes forward when he sees the lower half of the child's body twitching on the floor outside of the vehicle the survivors were hiding in.
David pales and crosses himself, then rolls away when he registers a faint whooshing of air behind him. The parasite chomps down on empty air, its bloodied maw still slick with Chrissy's blood.
The police officers rush forward and try to get close enough for the shotguns to be effective. One Police Officer gets beheaded instantly, and another gets gutted.
"Get back!!" Father David shouts as he blasts the creature with concussive waves. Mac pulls back one officer before he can be killed by a random swipe from the stumbling creature.
Tony chooses this moment to slam the creature with a haymaker that sends it skidding backwards, but largely unharmed. The parasite's throat bulges once more and almost everyone dives for cover.
The survivor parents scream in heartbroken rage as they rush the creature with reckless abandon. Globs of purple ooze fly onto their faces, initiating the transformation.
However, before it can fully take effect, the father stabs a pocket knife into the creatures throat. "G-give...me...Chrissy...back..." he manages to wheeze out before fully transforming.
Grotesque grins form on what used to be the parents' faces, as they duck behind cover and into one of the puddles.
"GRAAAAAH!!" The parasite screams as it rips the knife out, purple ooze flowing out of its throat wound in thick rivulets. Henrick manages to reach the parasite, leaping into the air in preparation for an attack.
Suddenly, however, the three recently turned corrupted fly out of one of the puddles and tackles him into an overturned truck. The soldier grunts in pain as the corrupted start trying to tear into his flesh.
Alex unleashes a torrent of flame onto the still staggering parasite and grins when he sees the purple ooze rapidly catching fire.
The parasite roars and tries to retreat into one of the puddles, but gets launched away when Father David jumps out from cover and slams it with concussive blasts.
It rolls across the floor, disoriented and still on fire. Alex wreathes himself in flames and jumps on top of the creature with righteous fury burning in his eyes.
He increases the temperature and screams in satisfaction as it completely catches on fire, but is surprised when the parasite throws him off with inhuman strength.
Selene leaps of a car as she forms a magical spear and stabs it through the thigh, the spearhead digging deep into the earth to immobilise it.
"Henrick!" Selene shouts as she forms a shield that immediately crumbles when the parasite swings its clawed appendages across its surface.
The elf-like woman tumbles backwards from the force of the backhand, but recovers quickly and fires bolt after bolt of magical energy that barely penetrates its skin.
Henrick shouts as electricity rapidly carbonises the corrupted that are assaulting him. He staggers up and notes that the surprise attack managed to wound him a little.
With intense focus, the soldier forms an electric bolt and hurls it towards the rooted creature.
CRACKOOM!!
A sound akin to a mini thunderclap echoes throughout the tunnel as the parasite is blown away. Its body convulses through the air, but doesn't get to slam back into the ground as David fires a concussive blast at it.
Before it can recover, the electricity user leaps into the air and lands a brutal downwards straight that sends the corrupted into the concrete.
With a roar, the soldier then descends and viciously stomps on its head, releasing a shockwave of displaced air and a spray of brain matter.
Henrick lets out a huff and kicks the corpse away, narrowing his eyes when the purple puddles of ooze start withering into dust. Dark purple mist from the parasite seeps into his body and heals the minor wounds.
Alex looks to Chrissy's lower half and stifles a tear as he burns it as well as the remains of the officers. "This isn't right..." he says, jaw clenched in frustration and helplessness.
Veronica places a hand on his arm and gently squeezes it, giving him her support. Selene looks towards the rest of the tunnel and sighs at the dark expanse.
"We should keep going. We're halfway there."
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END