Chapter 10
456words
The wolf pack pursued relentlessly, their claws and teeth scraping against the graphene coating with a sound that set teeth on edge.
Buck manned the roof-mounted machine gun, tracer rounds slicing through the night but failing to disperse the beast horde that surged forward like angry hornets.
"They're draining our ammo!" Kay shouted, eyes locked on the rearview mirror. The wolves strategically avoided fatal wounds, with injured ones immediately devoured by their pack. Mycelium visibly regenerated on their remains at a terrifying speed.
Lila suddenly jabbed at the navigation device. "Zone 36 ahead!"
A barbed wire fence materialized on the horizon. Watchtower searchlights swept across the snow plain, eerily ignoring the wolf pack. The main gate stood wide open—a silent, gaping maw.
"Something's wrong." Kay eased off the accelerator. "It's too damn quiet."
The vehicle entered the base. Dozens of armored vehicles stood in the square, cannons pointing skyward. Each was entombed in thick fungal mats, resembling gray-white sarcophagi.
"The shelter's underground in Zone C." Buck's voice cracked. He pointed to a building marked with a nuclear symbol.
The "Ark" crushed the fungal mat beneath its wheels, halting before massive alloy doors. Kay melted the lock with his acetylene torch. As the doors swung open, a wall of stench hit them.
Beyond lay hell itself.
Hundreds of corpses stood in neat rows like soldiers at attention. Each bore a charred bullet hole at the temple, yet their lips were frozen in eerie smiles. All clutched glowing moss containers, the vegetation already spreading across their bodies like blue veins.
"Voluntary sacrifice..." Lila's hand trembled as she raised the radiation detector. "They're feeding the fungi!"
Amy suddenly broke free and ran toward a female corpse clutching a faded teddy bear.
"Mom?" Amy gently touched the woman's decaying cheek. The fungal filaments at her fingertips quickly withered, revealing bite marks on the woman's neck—clearly not human.
An alarm suddenly blared! Red light slashed through the darkness. Every corpse simultaneously opened hollow eye sockets, golden fungal tendrils shooting out like striking vipers!
"Back to the car!" Kay yanked Amy away. Buck sprayed the corpse horde with his machine gun. Bullets punctured moss containers, detonating clouds of blue spores!
The "Ark" reversed out of the building. In the rearview mirror, reanimated corpses pursued on all fours, moving at impossible speeds.
"Zone B!" Buck suddenly shouted. "The armory has heavy weapons!"
Kay slammed the brakes. "How the hell do you know the layout?"
Buck silently raised his prosthetic limb, pointing to the scratched military unit number. This time Kay saw it clearly—not 82nd Airborne Division, but [52nd Chemical Defense Research Company].
"This isn't a shelter." Blood vessels crowded the veteran's eyes. "It's a fucking hatchery."
