In a spacious underground bunker, a group of individuals sat attentively, focused on a middle-aged man who was elucidating a concept displayed on a large holographic screen. Among them were two Asian brothers who were strikingly similar, one sporting white hair while the other had black. Additionally, there was a handsome white man with silver hair and a lightning mark above his eye, a stunning white woman, and a muscular dark-skinned man adorned with flame tattoos on both arms. "You have been selected to safeguard the world against imminent dangers. Please introduce yourselves one at a time, beginning with you." The middle-aged man remarked, gesturing towards the white man who rose with a solemn demeanor. "My name is Michael Barnes, and it is my pleasure to work with you," The silver-haired man stated with a serious expression as he surveyed the faces of the others. "Oh, so you're that guy," The first Asian with white hair remarked, a smirk playing on his lips. "Excuse me," Michae
“I trust that everyone enjoyed a restful night.” Lionheart exclaimed with a hearty laugh as the squad gathered around the table, each member displaying a range of expressions on their faces.“Why do we have to wake up so early? It’s just 5 am” Bai said, yawning and scratching his head.“Yup, it’s not like we’re in a military drill camp,” Hei added in agreement, gazing at Lionheart, who smirked in response before turning to a scientist seated beside him.“This is Dr. Ed, the leading scientist here, holding a rank just below mine in terms of clearance. He will guide us through the active threat we identified last night. However, before we proceed, I would like to introduce you to the final member of your team. Doc, you cantake it from here.” Lionheart smiled at the white coat seated beside him, who grinned and nodded before standing up to reveal himself to the curious onlookers. He was dressed in white scientist robes, and his eyeglasses occasionally glimmered with a faint hue as he pic
“Alright, the primary goal of this training is to enhance your coordination with one another. Before we begin, let's warm up with some light exercises,” Captain Jack stated, gesturing toward an exercise course situated in a spacious room.“Wow, this place is enormous! How much did you all invest in this place? Incredible!” Henry was in awe of the vastness of the training room; it resembled a grand hall complete with a race track.“Enough, just enjoy it. The battle ahead isn’t going to be easy, so forget about the money,” Captain Jack said as he walked over to some of the scientists nearby.“Hello Bai, would you like to race?” Micheal spoke with a competitive edge to Bai, who flashed a grin and made his way to the race track.“Do you really believe you can outrun me, lightning boy?” Bai taunted, preparing his body with a stretch.“I’m not sure, but I’m curious to discover which is faster: lightning or light itself.” Micheal smiled as he walked over to the race track with Bai. 'Isn't li
“WHOOSH” The sound of the parachutes flapping in the air sounded in the quiet night as the group landed on the ground and immediately got on guard grabbing their weapons.“West clear” Micheal immediately after landing turning on his night vision helmet and discovering that there were no nearby enemies.“East clear” Henry also cleared up the East.“North clear” Bai cleared up the north.“South clear” Hai also finally cleared up the south side.“No enemies around then, everyone turn on your maps and follow behind me, eyes on the surroundings, once you spot an enemy, alert the rest of us before you attack” Micheal instructed the others, his previous seriousness disappearing as he grabbed his gun and followed the route on the map.“Roger” The rest replied following behind him with one line, with Micheal at the lead and the others behind him observing their whole environment.They walked from the drop-off location through the desert-like land toward the location of zone one itself, after w
“Are you certain, Mike? You understand what this will mean right?” Bai requested confirmation from Micheal regarding his decision.“Yeah, I’m sure. Just do it, and stop calling me Mike,” Michael replied with a determined look, signaling that he was ready to confront whatever lay ahead.“Okay Mike,” Bai said, pressing a button, seemingly ignoring Michael’s caution against addressing him in that way.“BEEP BEEP” The machine emitted two sharp beeps, instantly alerting everyone around.“I got it,” Bai exclaimed, his expression brightening as the screen illuminated with multiple video feeds.“Alright, let’s find out what was deemed so significant that it needed to be erased,” Hai remarked, his expression filled with curiosity.“BEEP BEEP BEEP” The watches on the group's wrists suddenly began beeping, capturing their attention.“What is this?” Henry furrowed his brow in perplexity, unable to grasp the cause of the watch’s peculiar behavior.“The scan detected life signals at a distance; we n
“What is it?” Hai rushed into the room, yelling as he entered to find Henry standing over a peculiar creature, gun aimed at it, prodding to check if it was alive.“What on earth is this..this thing? It looks like a blend of horror and death. Where did you find this..whatever it is, Henry?" Bai stared at the creature in shock; throughout his 25 years on Earth, he had never encountered anything like it. It resembled an alien parasite from space, measuring just half the size of a basketball. Its appearance was akin to an octopus, with spikes embedded in its tentacles. Several lines extended from its tentacles to its head, where a sphere was visible. It had two red eyes, each containing three layers of pupils. Although it lacked a visible mouth, when turned over, the mouth was revealed to be on the underside of its tentacles.“I don’t know; it came out of that hole and tried to attach itself to my face. Luckily, I was fast enough to respond; otherwise, I don’t know what would have happened
“That was quite.. um, enlightening,” Bai remarked, scratching his head as he contemplated what he had just witnessed.“Yoshi, could you pause the footage at the end, just before it concludes?” Michael asked. Yoshi nodded and complied, pausing the video precisely at the moment something shot out of the Captain’s mouth.“Yeah, could you zoom in on this part?” Michael said, pointing to the object that shot out.“What is that?” Hai inquired with a frown, gesturing towards the now enlarged image that displayed the distinct outline of the object that had been ejected.“Seems like a tube,” Racheal replied, squinting her eyes at the image in an attempt to identify what it was.“But there is something else emerging from the tube,” Henry added, indicating the sharp, pointed organism that was also protruding from it.“What unusual details caught your attention in the video?” Micheal inquired with a furrowed brow, appearing to contemplate something with great depth.“One strange fact is the zombie
“So you mean that the newly infected people can be saved?” Rachael asked not expecting this twist.“For now that’s just my hypothesis, I need proof to further validate it as a fact, luckily The hippocampus was still functioning so I could use the latest technology to pierce through the fabric that encloses the memories” Yoshi replied causing Bai to frown.“Why do you talk so not understanding-ish, I’m more confused now than I was before” Bai said shaking his head.“Yeah, you need to cool down with the encyclopedic speech” Henry also added agreeing with Bai who grinned staring at Yoshi triumphantly.“Okay how about now homie, you feel me now dawg” Yoshi said imitating an African American’s accent.“Now that’s just racism” Henry replied with a frown, rolling his eyes.“Hey could we just get back to the issue at hand, we’re wasting precious time” Micheal interrupted the conversation bringing everyone’s minds back.“So as I was saying, I scanned through the memories and even though some o
"Muuu, muuu." Mike stared at the bodies before him, the muffled screams echoing around him, yet his gaze remained fixated on the holes in their heads. Suddenly, similar memories began to flood his mind. He was still lost in this state when he felt a thick, heavy hand grab him. "Mike! Snap out of it. They're gone. We need to move; the others can't hold them off much longer." Henry's deep voice pulled Micheal from his thoughts. He quickly shook his head, attempting to refocus on reality. Turning to see Bai and Hai unleashing a barrage of bullets on the Scrapers, and Racheal igniting an inferno of flames against them, Micheal felt something snap inside him. "Go up, I've got this," Michael said to Henry before turning back and rushing over to where the others stood. "You guys leave, I'll hold them off," Micheal said to his teammates, who paused, staring at the lightning pulsing around his whole body. They could feel the intensity and power emanating from Micheal, and without wasting
"You three should head to the control room; perhaps you'll discover something valuable. Greg, I think there should be some weapons stored in there, correct?" Micheal addressed Henry, Bai, and Hai before turning to Greg and posing a question. "Indeed, there should be some remaining. I recall some survivors from the base mentioning that they had scavenged the area on their journey here," Greg responded after a moment of contemplation. "The bullets available are largely ineffective against the majority of the monsters present, so we will only take explosives and any other items that are effective against them. Perhaps we can bring along a few handguns as a precaution. You all should check it out with Greg while the rest of us remain on watch here." Micheal gave instructions, earning a nod from the three who promptly set to work, with Greg taking the lead. After several minutes, they came back from their search, carrying a bag filled with a few useful items, including explosives, flas
"Henry, take Mike with you. The rest of you, clear a path to the vehicles. No matter what happens, keep moving forward and don’t look back. Find the source of all this and take care of it. I trust you all to handle the rest. And please, don’t hold Micheal responsible for what’s happened. It’s been a pleasure knowing each of you." With a broad grin, Yoshi addressed his friends, drawing his sword from a reaper's skull as he charged toward the oncoming reapers, not pausing for a response. "Yoshi, hold on!" Henry called out in an attempt to stop him, but Yoshi had already dashed into the sea of reapers, unleashing his abilities to their fullest extent. He executed a combined attack, drawing on all the powers of the group that he had replicated. With this strategy, all the reapers appeared to charge at him to strike, as though he had attracted their attention. "We can't leave him behind; we have to go back for him," Bai insisted, determined to assist Yoshi, but his brother restrained hi
"With this number, it would be impossible to get through," Greg remarked, frowning as he glanced at the sea of Reapers. He was acutely aware of how terrifying these creatures could be, having lost more than just a few friends to them."Hmm, no obstruction in place. I think we can take them; we know enough about them to finally confront them," Michael said after some thought. His words made Greg and his wife exchange glances, trying to determine if they had heard him correctly."Did you really just say that you want to confront all of those creatures?" Greg inquired, astonished; he found it hard to accept what he was hearing."Indeed, in the past, we found ourselves in circumstances that hindered our ability to fully leverage our skills, or we lacked sufficient knowledge about the threat at hand. However, that is no longer the case. We now understand that the worms controlling the reapers are located in their necks, that they are vulnerable to fire, and that they respond strongly to so
"Are you all the only ones down here?" Micheal inquired, skillfully sidestepping the questions and alleviating the uncomfortable tension."Pardon me, I must apologize. Allow me to reintroduce myself: I am Greg, and this is my wife, Doctor Anna." It was only upon hearing Micheal's question that Greg recalled they had not adequately introduced themselves."It's a pleasure to meet you, Greg and Anna. I'm Micheal, and these are my teammates: Henry, Racheal, Hai, Yoshi, and Bai." Micheal nodded respectfully as he introduced himself and his team."Nice to meet you all," Anna said with a warm smile."It's a pleasure to meet everyone. I take it you're the captain, correct?" Greg also nodded toward the group before turning back to Michael, who nodded in response."That's correct, I'm the captain. Although we just met, we need to skip the introductions. We've only been assigned here for five days, and after that, a nuclear option will be necessary to prevent any spread. We've already spent near
"They are moving too quickly!" Hai shouted as they attempted to steady their aim on one of the attackers, but the assailants moved too quickly; all they could see was a blur, and that was it."Maintain your positions, Racheal, direct your flames toward the pipes above. Yoshi, replicate and target the opposite side. The rest of you, switch to your special bullets and aim for the center. If these Scrapers are anything like their kin, they should also be vulnerable to flames." Micheal instructed with a serious expression; even he, with his quick reflexes, was unable to achieve a steady aim on the reapers."WHOOSH" In a flash, commands were carried out, and fire erupted from Yoshi and Racheal towards their hidden attackers."SCREECH!" In an instant, cries of agony reverberated as multiple figures surged toward the group, who now had a precise target."ENGAGE TARGET!" Micheal shouted, and in response, the only sounds that filled the air were the sharp cracks of gunfire, intertwined with th
Still within the sewers, the team navigated through the foul stream of liquid sewage, remaining vigilant for any sign of the new threat posed by Scrapers, while also drawing closer to the service tunnel; it was now just a few turns away from their destination. "I'm telling you, after becoming a mutant, he could see sounds and hear images. I don't understand why this is so difficult for you all to grasp." Bai's voice carried a hint of betrayal, reflecting his friend's apparent distrust in his words. "I've encountered creepers, reapers, octoworms, and a plethora of unimaginable phenomena, but the idea of someone hearing images and seeing sound—how is it even possible to hear images? Do you ever pay attention to the words you speak?" Henry, standing to the left of Bai, sighed as he pondered the absurdity of human imagination. Yet, considering Bai's outrageous behavior, it seemed he might not be entirely human himself; perhaps he hailed from the planet 'oogle g****e'. "Yes, I am indeed
"Ugh, how much longer until we reach the service tunnel?" Bai inquired with a sigh, feeling the pangs of hunger after nearly a day without a proper meal. "We're almost there, just hold on," Yoshi replied, studying the blueprint. They had made significant progress without any issues, which was a positive indication. Just a bit further to reach the service tunnel. “What is that?” Racheal inquired as her flashlight revealed a section of the wall marked with black paint. Noticing this, she cautiously moved closer for a better view and inadvertently stepped on something that made a cracking sound. CRACK "Is that...?" Her pupils contracted upon noticing what she had stepped on; she swiftly withdrew, aiming her gun at the object, which illuminated it for the others to observe. "A skull," Michael nudged the cracked skull with his feet. The transparent sewage water made it easy to see that the flesh on the skull had been scraped off cleanly, leaving the skull bare on the ground. "P
"Racheal, please use your flames to create a barricade on both sides; that will allow us some time to devise a plan." Micheal issued an order to Racheal with a calm demeanor, and she nodded before swiftly executing the command. From their earlier encounter with the undead above ground, they recognized that Racheal's flames had a significant impact on them.WHOOSHRacheal unleashed her flames upon the approaching reapers, sending them tumbling into their comrades behind. A barrier of fire ignited on both sides, effectively dividing the team from their foes. This provided the team with an opportunity to take a moment to relax."Great job, Racheal. Now, Bai and Hai, could you please clarify the nature of your abilities?" Micheal offered Racheal a smile, a feat that was notably challenging given their current circumstances. He then shifted his gaze to the brothers, who, for once, wore serious expressions."I can manipulate light to achieve various effects," Bai replied, observing how Mich