GUNFIRE

Logan swept the entire shelf of supplies into the sack, before moving on to the next one. By his side, a couple goons were doing the same thing with nearby closets, taking as many resources as they possibly could before it was too late.

"Hey, hey…! Is the van coming or what!?" asked someone.

"Not yet… The boys went to get it a while ago, they should be arriving soon!" replied another man, standing on the open back door, leading out into a flight of stairs which connected with the street.

"How is the situation back there…?" Logan pointed towards the front door of the storage room, towards the concourse hall.

"I can't hear anything… Those two got some reinforcements a moment ago, didn't they!?"

A burly figure approached them from a corner of the room.

"I think they have a damn good shooter down there… I saw how they dropped that bastard in a single shot." Jacobs proceeded to cough and spit on the floor before continuing. "They're probably going to die."

"That wouldn't be a problem, would it?" Julien stepped into the conversation, tightly holding Lilian's restrained hands behind her back. "The van doesn't have enough space for everyone."

"Heh… You're exchanging them for sacks of food, aren't you? And I thought I was the mad one here…"

"Please, Mr. Jacobs, don't talk as if you wouldn't have done the same thing."

"Nah, I would've beaten the crap out of them myself."

"Maybe we should stop the pointless chit-chat?" said Logan. "If those idiots out there get slaughtered, we might have to hold our ground here until the van arrives."

Hearing them talk nonchalantly about the deaths of their comrades, the rest of the group shared uncomfortable looks among themselves. Nobody wanted to leave their friends behind, but nobody wanted to oppose that trio either. Especially not Jacobs. His brilliant criminal record was proof that fucking around with him was a very bad idea. If lowering their heads and obeying was enough to ensure their survival, they'd do so.

Lilian, however, didn't seem to pay any attention to anyone around her. Her angry fit had subsided shortly after getting restrained. Her eyes were adrift, focused on nothing at all. Or maybe she was, as a matter of fact, focused on something. Something only her eyes could see. Her pupils flickered non-stop, like a broken engine rattling in its effort to kick in once again.

******

Deep within the darkness of the subway, tucked away where nobody would interfere with it, a big shape wiggled and squirmed in short, calculated bursts of movement, almost like spasms. It was a mound of hard organic tissue, the exterior of which looked like some sort of calcified carapace.

Several shamblers hugged the thing, clinging to it. Even though they had been converted just a while ago, they had already lost all remnants of vitality. Their bodies were partially fused with the vibrating mass, emaciated, drained of life. What remained of their vague consciousness would soon fade away in its entirety, leaving nothing but empty husks behind.

The mound pulsated and trembled violently one last time, seconds before a giant vertical crack split it in half from top to bottom. There was something inside. A slime-covered appendage emerged from the interior, prying both halves open. Clouds of mysterious steam poured from the black cavity inside, dissipating upon reaching the floor.

As the cocoon slowly fell apart into several pieces, a humanoid shape rose from its remains. It stepped on the decaying shambler corpses on its way out, crushing their bones beneath its weight. The darkness in the tunnel was quickly dispelled by the thing's bioluminescence, which gradually emanated from its body with the newborn energy that flowed through its veins.

It was confused. Its limited cognition couldn't comprehend where was it, what was it meant to do, why was it alive. It took a couple more steps, it swayed its arms around, trying to get used to basic locomotion.

Then, it heard the whispers.

A maddening voice, commanding it from somewhere, requesting its presence at all costs. A voice it couldn't resist, an existence so powerful it overwrote its own identity.

Possessed by a force beyond its understanding, it started sprinting at full speed, towards the surface.

******

Claire didn't want to wait anymore, but she didn't have a choice. She gulped nervously, waiting for William and Marcus to make their move. The silence in the hall was freaking her out. The enemy wasn't attacking them, but they weren't retreating either. She could see them poking their heads from behind the columns on the upper floor every once in a while. What were they waiting for?

*Bang!!* *Bang!!* *Bang!!*

Marcus gave the signal to go. Three shots, spaced out by about a second, aimed at three different cover spots on the top floor. Almost simultaneously, William bolted from behind his own cover and made a dash for the corpse in front of the underground access.

Marcus' cover fire was effective, keeping the enemy's heads down long enough for William to reach his target, but it wasn't perfect. One stray bullet managed to fly down in William's direction, missing him by an inch. Marcus returned fire at the shooter, also missing.

William's only option for cover were the stairs connecting with the upper floor, to the sides of the underground entrance. As soon as he took refuge under them, pistol in hand, everything came to a stop once again.

…

Claire had a valuable window of opportunity there, and she had made use of it. The enemy, with their attention centered on the bullet exchange, didn't seem to notice her slithering towards the outer walls of the concourse and making her way towards the back. She had managed to hide out of view, right under enemy positions.

What was the plan? She wanted to reach Nora, make sure she was okay; but her hiding spot was in plain view in the middle of the hall. Approaching them directly would be a quick way to catch a bullet. Still, she had to do something. At the very least, she could try and get closer to their location.

She tip-toed forward in the dark. A crossfire zone to her right, abandoned shops and hallways to her left, the enemy somewhere on top of her, darkness ahead… Nowhere felt safe. Panting with fear and stress, she advanced towards William's position, right behind the stairs.

Her presence startled him. She was damn lucky he recognized her before pulling the trigger.

"Claire…!? What are you doing here…!?" he whispered. "It doesn't matter… Listen, I have an idea…"

"O-Okay…" she replied, nodding.

"I think there's another way up in that direction…" he said, pointing towards the darkness, deeper within the building. "There should be a stairwell that goes all the way from the underground parking lot to the top floor. I'll go up and try to create a diversion. If it works… get Nora and his partner to safety."

"Are you sure it's a good idea to get separated…!?"

"They have the advantage up there… I don't see any other way. Just do as I said, and don't be reckless! Wait until you're certain they're busy with me and Marcus. You hear!?"

"Alright…!" as soon as she gave him the confirmation, he turned around and bolted away down the closest hallway. "B-Be careful…!"

She wasn't sure those last words had reached him at all, since she was trying her best to not raise her voice more than absolutely necessary. Not even a second had passed, and she could no longer see William, the darkness had devoured him whole.

She knew she couldn't waste any time. She kept hugging the outer walls, crawling as close as possible to Nora's position. She stopped behind a column, and waited.

They were right there, about five meters away. Claire could see Nora hunkering down behind a wall, along with some other unidentified person. Perhaps the man who saved them, back inside the subway? They didn't look like they had noticed her presence, and she didn't dare make a sound to let them know. The entire hall was silent. Everyone watched, waiting for a signal to spring into action.

She bit her nails, struggling to count the seconds in her head.

Suddenly, she heard the gunshots.

******

The very first thing William had done upon reaching safety was checking the magazine. It still had bullets. Had he stopped to check the dead body for extra ammunition, he'd have been a sitting duck. He would have to settle the encounter with whatever he was carrying.

As he climbed the stairs, feeling his way around in near complete absence of light, he kept reminding himself of why he was bothering with all that effort, taking all those risks. He was baffled, in a way. Where was the calculating, careful and analytical William? That whole day had been an emotional rollercoaster, which unearthed a tiny sliver of hope that ended up twisting his own point of view in ways he would never imagine. He had questions, and he yearned for answers.

'Soon… Let's get this over with, then…'

But he'd need the girl. He was almost certain. Lilian was instrumental. There was no chance she wasn't. And they had her. Somewhere nearby.

He took a deep breath to calm his nerves, and took a peek around the corner. He was under the cover of darkness; he was pretty sure they wouldn't be able to spot him. From his new position, they were exposed. They were at least five people. The men gesticulated and squirmed in place behind their cover, whispering to each other and using extensive body language in their attempts to communicate. They seemed confused, and restless. Perhaps they were getting impatient? William didn't really understand why were they still standing there. It felt like they were stalling for time, but for what reason?

The girl was nowhere to be seen.

'Marcus mentioned a safe room on the top floor… It's probably up ahead, isn't it…?'

He took another breath, before taking aim with the pistol. On the back of his mind, he knew there was another issue at hand. Catching a bullet wasn't the only threat they had to watch out for. Loud noises were a bad idea for a reason, and more so near such a hot spot, an outbreak site. Whatever he did, it had to work, and it had to do it fast.

…

*Bang!!*

He didn't bother aiming for a headshot. The bullet disappeared into the closest target's ribcage, who immediately let out a howl and dropped down to the floor.

"Aaaargh!!!"

"What's going on!!?" chaos and screams didn't take long to fill the air.

"Someone's up here!! Watch out!!!"

William didn't give them any time to regroup or reposition. One of the men rushed to the fallen one's side, attempting to aid him. He took aim again.

*Bang!!* *Bang!!*

One miss, one hit. Fresh blood splattered the floor, coming from the left leg, causing the man to scream in pain and fall back. He dragged himself across the floor until he took refuge behind a nearby bench, leaving his partner behind. The other dude wasn't doing much better. His short breaths, pretty much wheezing, could be heard loud and clear, most likely symptoms of a punctured lung.

"There!!!"

A bullet flew past William's face, to the point that he swore he could feel an intense sensation of heat from the bullet trail. He recoiled back and out of view.

'Shit…! That was a close one…!'

He could hear the men running around and arguing among themselves. Some more gunshots boomed through the hallways.

'I sure hope that's Marcus…'

He thought about Claire. Had she managed to reach Nora? Regardless of what the answer was, he needed to keep pressuring them. He took another careful look, and took aim one more time.

******

Guns were loud. Too loud. Nora had witnessed that kind of thing before, several times. But right there, the walls of that massive hall made the thundering noises of the gunfire bounce and echo all over the place, hammering her ears and making her want to bury her head directly into the ground.

'Oh god… What's happening…? Somebody, help me…!'

[There you go again, begging for help, when it's clear that nobody—]

"Nora…!!" a female voice startled her, interrupting her thoughts.

She unearthed her head from the floor and looked up, to a familiar figure kneeling over her. The unknown person gently laid a hand on her left shoulder, giving her comfort. Upon seeing their face, her eyes were quickly overrun by tears.

"C-Claire…? Aaah…. Claire…!" her voice sounded disconnected from reality, like ramblings that vaguely managed to become words. She wanted to keep talking, but she cried instead.

"I-It's okay…! We're here, it's okay! We came to help!"

Claire took a glance at Desmond. She didn't look too pleased by what she saw.

"It's you…! Hey, is that a gun you're holding…!? Why aren't you helping!?" she asked him.

"A-Ah…! No, I didn't… Um…!" as usual, Desmond failed to articulate proper words.

Ever since he dragged Nora behind cover, he had done nothing but crouch down and wait. She could easily relate to his behavior. Cowering down and hoping that all problems fade away on their own volition.

"Give me that gun!" demanded Claire.

"I-I can't…!"

"We need to help them!"

Desmond hesitated, but he eventually complied. Nora, still sobbing, stared at Claire with a mix of bewilderment and awe. Claire, that timid and reserved girl, was taking the initiative. She remembered her angry outburst at the apartments, and also back at the skyscraper shelter… For her sake, every single time. Tears took hold of Nora again.

"T-Thank you…!" mumbled Nora.

"There's no time to talk now…! We need to get out of here! We're exposed! William and Marcus are keeping them busy! Come on!"

******

Its footsteps resounded throughout the subway hallways like an earthquake. The surface was close, it could feel it. It was having slight issues with the size of the tunnels, it needed to lower its head to avoid hitting the ceiling, but it still advanced at a very rapid pace.

Something was ahead. A flimsy wall, made of wood, metal, ropes… A barricade of sorts. There was light coming from the other side, orange and warm. Was that wall meant to stop it? It wouldn't be enough. Something so weak wouldn't stop it from heeding the call.

It readied its right shoulder and rammed the blockage. The entity didn't even slow down while charging right through the barricade, making it explode outwards as If hit by a truck.

******

A loud, distant sound echoed around the concourse. It sounded like an explosion? Claire froze in place, nervous.

"H-Hey… Did you hear that…?" she asked.

Nora and Desmond, kneeling behind the pillar by her side, looked just as dumbfounded as she did.

"I d-don't know… I think it came from down below…?" answered Nora.

Claire had a bad feeling about it. Judging by Marcus' words, the outbreak wouldn't be settling down for a while. Were the shamblers finally catching up to them? That whole time, she was pretty aware that they might be finding themselves surrounded by hungry corpses again, at any time and without warning. They had to rescue Lilian and leave as fast as possible.

But, somehow, that noise felt wrong. She stared at the dark entrance to the underground tunnels, with cold sweat pouring down her face.

******

The little ones were going up as well. Were they drawn by the unintelligible noises coming from above? Were they also heeding the call? No, they couldn't be. They were merely following the scraps left behind. Trekking out of instinct, in a trance, not really comprehending anything beyond the most basic compulsions.

But the entity was different. Its presence was required. More than anything else. It was compelled to go, no matter the obstacles in its way. The little ones were in its way. They were less necessary than it. It needed to get them out of the way, they would slow it down.

The entity didn't care about the shamblers running towards the surface alongside it. It bashed them and punched them out of the way, splattering them against the walls, sending them flying bunch after bunch.

******

Claire's eyes were open wide in disbelief. In that moment, despite how horrifyingly terrified she was, her body refused to tremble, afraid of startling what she was looking at, whatever it was.

'A-Ah… W-W-What is… t-that THING…?'

She remembered that iconic scene in Jurassic Park, were Alan Grant stated that the Tyrannosaurus wouldn't see them if they didn't move. Unfortunately, she wasn't a movie protagonist, and that thing wasn't a T-Rex. She almost wished it was.

The hulking figure had emerged from the underground tunnel in the blink of an eye. Like fueled by a supernatural force, it leaped out of the darkness, bypassing the mechanical stairs in their entirety, and landing right in the middle of the concourse. The floor tiles cracked under the force of the impact.

For several eternal seconds, it didn't move. Then, it's glowing eyes started scanning the surroundings. They went over Claire, almost making her piss herself, but it didn't seem to care about her at all.

Then, alerted by something, the thing turned around.

It looked up.