"What the hell is this thing?" Martin gasped, his voice barely audible over the sounds of gunfire, screaming, and destruction that had transformed the Municipal Office from a sanctuary into a battlefield from humanity's worst nightmares.

The fight was raging throughout every corner of the building and its surrounding compound, creating scenes of chaos that would have been unimaginable just hours earlier when their community had been sleeping peacefully behind what they'd believed were impregnable defenses. Now those same defenses lay in ruins, and infected creatures were pouring through the gaps like a tide of death and corruption.

People were being evacuated through the rear exits according to their carefully rehearsed emergency protocols, but the evacuation was proceeding far too slowly for the rate at which their defensive positions were being overrun. Margaret was coordinating the civilian movement as fast as she could despite the terror surrounding them, but even her organizational skills couldn't overcome the simple mathematics of time versus the speed of approaching threats.

Meanwhile, Martin and every other man capable of holding a weapon were fighting desperately to hold back the infected horde that was streaming through their destroyed perimeter. They'd formed defensive lines using overturned furniture, concrete barriers, and anything else that might slow the infected advance, but their ammunition was running low and their casualties were mounting with each passing minute.

The ordinary infected were bad enough—dozens and dozens of virus-corrupted humans stumbling forward with mindless hunger. But manageable numbers of standard infected were something their community had learned to handle through months of survival experience.

What made this assault truly terrifying was the presence of the enhanced infected creature that seemed to be directing the entire attack.

"Damn it!" Martin cursed as he watched another of his friends fall to the creature's assault.

"No! Please, God, no!" Came the anguished cry from someone watching their companion being torn apart.

"Guargh!" The death rattle of yet another community member echoed across the battlefield.

Martin looked around helplessly as one by one, the people he'd worked alongside, eaten meals with, and shared hopes for the future with were being systematically killed by creatures that shouldn't have possessed the intelligence to coordinate such an effective assault. These weren't just his fellow survivors—they were friends, neighbors, people who had become family through shared hardship and mutual support.

Tom, who had helped him install the electrical grid system, was lying motionless near the entrance with a wooden spike protruding from his chest.

The infected were swarming through every breach in their defenses, but what made the situation truly hopeless was the enhanced creature's approach to destroying their resistance. Instead of simply charging forward like ordinary infected, this creature was systematically dismantling their defensive capabilities using their own protective barriers against them.

The enhanced infected was pulling wooden spikes from the defensive perimeter they'd so carefully constructed—spikes that had been designed to impale attacking creatures—and hurling them with deadly accuracy at Martin's people. E

"It's coming this way, Martin!" Someone screamed in terror, pointing toward the approaching enhanced infected.

Martin flinched and looked ahead, seeing the massive creature stalking toward their position. As it got closer, its true size became more apparent—nearly eight feet tall, with muscular proportions that spoke to supernatural strength.

The other defenders began taking steps backward as the creature approached, their nerve finally breaking under the pressure of facing something they had never faced before.

"Shoot it! Use all your remaining bullets on that thing! Aim for the head, everyone! Don't let it get any closer!" Martin shouted desperately.

"Right!" They all nodded, raising their weapons and taking aim at the enhanced infected with the grim determination of people who understood they were probably about to die but wanted to make their deaths meaningful.

But just as they opened fire, the enhanced infected demonstrated exactly why conventional tactics were useless against its capabilities. It tore the door completely off one of the abandoned vehicles that littered their compound and raised it in front of itself like a shield.

All their bullets struck the metal door with sharp pinging sounds.

"What the hell kind of infected does something like that?!" One of Martin's men shouted in disbelief.

"It just... it used that door to protect itself!" Another voice added.

"Don't tell me that thing is actually thinking!" Came a third voice, filled with the terror.

Martin felt his own certainty crumble as he watched the creature. He'd suspected before, but now he was absolutely certain: this infected creature possessed genuine intelligence.

They continued shooting despite the obvious futility, but their ammunition supplies were rapidly being exhausted. One by one, Martin could hear the distinctive clicks of empty weapons as his people ran out of bullets without having inflicted any meaningful damage on their primary target.

And then, with terrifying swiftness, the enhanced infected went on the offensive.

It charged forward with superhuman speed and slammed the car door into one of Martin's men with enough force to send the man flying backward like a rag doll. The impact was so powerful that Martin could hear bones breaking even over the chaos of the surrounding battle.

Before anyone could react to the first attack, the creature had already grasped another defender by the neck with one massive hand. The man's feet left the ground as the enhanced infected lifted him effortlessly, and then there was a sickening crunch as the creature simply crushed his throat with casual ease.

Screams and cries of horror echoed from everyone around them, the pure violence and gore sending some of the remaining defenders into shock. Several people began vomiting immediately, their minds unable to process the brutality they were witnessing.

The casual ease of the killings was almost as terrifying as the violence itself.

"Run! Fall back immediately! Join the evacuation and get to the vehicles!" Martin shouted, finally accepting that conventional resistance was not only futile but was getting his people killed for no strategic benefit.

Understanding that fighting such a monster—something that possessed both supernatural strength and tactical intelligence—was useless, Martin chose the only rational solution available: organized retreat. They had hopefully bought enough time for most of the people inside the Municipal Office to reach the emergency vehicles parked a mile away from their compound.

The remaining defenders nodded without sparing any glances for their fallen comrades, their survival instincts finally overriding their loyalty to the dead. They began running toward the rear exits, following the evacuation routes that had been planned for exactly this kind of catastrophic scenario.

Martin remained in position longest, using his final bullets to provide covering fire for the others while they escaped. Every shot he fired was precious, not because it might damage the enhanced infected, but because the noise and muzzle flashes might distract it long enough for more people to reach safety.

"Don't wait for me! Don't waste time looking back! Just run as fast as you can!" Martin shouted at his retreating people, though his attention was focused on the enhanced infected that was definitely preparing to eliminate him.

He turned around just in time to see the massive creature towering directly over him, close enough that he could see the alien intelligence burning in its pale eyes. This was death approaching with dangerous intent, and Martin found himself staring directly into the face of his own extinction.

Martin saw his life flashing before his eyes—memories of his wife Linda, his dead son, images of the community they'd built together, regrets about all the things he'd never have the chance to do or say. The enhanced infected raised one massive arm, preparing to deliver the killing blow that would end everything Martin had ever been or hoped to become.

But just before the creature could strike, something blue flashed across Martin's vision and slammed into the enhanced infected at incredible speed.

A tremendous impact sound echoed across the battlefield as the enhanced infected was sent flying backward, rolling across the ground with enough force to create small craters where its body struck the concrete.

Martin blinked his eyes in shock and saw a figure surrounded by a brilliant blue aura that seemed to pulse with supernatural energy. The newcomer was moving with speed and grace that defied normal human limitations, and there was something familiar about their silhouette that made Martin's heart leap with hope.

"Looks like the same thing happened here as well," the figure said with grim recognition, surveying the destruction and carnage that surrounded them.

"Sydney?" Martin called out in shock.

"At least you're still alive, Martin," she replied with obvious relief, though her expression remained serious as she assessed the situation they were facing.

"Sydney, what are you...?" Martin stared at her in amazement, trying to process what he was seeing. There was literally a blue aura crackling around her body like some kind of supernatural force field, and she had just sent an eight-foot-tall enhanced infected flying backward with what appeared to be a single kick.

He did want to find rational explanations—some kind of special effect, advanced technology, optical illusion created by stress and adrenaline. But the evidence of his senses was undeniable. Sydney was surrounded by genuine supernatural energy, and she had just demonstrated physical capabilities that were impossible for normal humans.

His brain was having trouble accepting what he was witnessing, but it looked clearly supernatural. There was no other explanation for what he'd just seen.

"Where is Ryan?" Sydney asked, understanding Martin's confusion but having no time to explain the nature of her enhanced abilities or the complex circumstances that had led to their development. Instead, she focused on the immediate priority: locating the person whose combat experience and enhanced capabilities would be essential for dealing with the enhanced infected that was already getting back to its feet.

With Ryan's help, they could probably eliminate this creature and turn the tide of the battle. Without him, even her enhanced speed and strength might not be sufficient to protect all the remaining civilians who were still trying to evacuate from the compound.

The enhanced infected was rising from where it had fallen, shaking its massive head to clear the disorientation caused by Sydney's surprise attack. But the creature's pale eyes were now focused on her with obvious recognition that she represented a threat worthy of its full attention. Maybe it could already feel Dullahan inside her.

"Ryan? I honestly don't know," Martin replied, his voice carrying confusion and growing concern as he scanned the field around them. "I thought he was somewhere nearby, but I haven't actually seen him since these creatures attacked us during our sleep. With all the chaos and fighting, I just assumed he was in a different part of the compound. Maybe he is helping everyone to evacuate behind…"

"Are you kidding me?" Sydney grumbled, her Dullahan senses already telling her that Ryan's distinctive presence was completely absent from the area.

The realization sent a chill of worry through her that had nothing to do with the enhanced infected creature that was now pulling itself back to its feet. Ryan simply wasn't the type to hide or retreat when there were dangerous infected creatures threatening people he cared about. His protective instincts and sense of responsibility were too strong, too deeply ingrained in his character for him to be anywhere except the front lines of this battle.

He was too kind, too selfless, and—if she was being honest—too recklessly heroic to do anything except immediately attack the most dangerous threats to ensure everyone else's safety. During every previous crisis they'd faced, Ryan had been the first person to throw himself into danger, the one who took the biggest risks to protect others, the leader who never asked anyone to face threats he wouldn't confront himself.

But the fact that he wasn't here, wasn't fighting alongside Martin and the other defenders, meant something had gone seriously wrong before the attack on the Municipal Office had even begun.

"What does that mean, Ryan?" Sydney muttered to herself, a bit worried. "You can't just leave me to handle this alone..."

She had no choice but to fight this thing alone then…

Sydney remembered all too clearly Ryan's warnings about enhanced infected creatures. He'd fought two of them in previous encounters and had specifically warned everyone in their household to immediately flee if they ever encountered something similar. His instructions had been unambiguous: these creatures were too dangerous for anyone except him to engage directly, and survival depended on running rather than fighting.

But she had no choice right now. The evacuation was still in progress, there were still people who needed protection, and she couldn't just let Martin die here.

"Martin, you're going to have to help me fight this thing," Sydney said.

Martin gulped audibly, his face pale with the knowledge that they were about to attempt something that had a very low probability of success. But he nodded understanding that retreat was no longer an option, and picked up a rifle that had been dropped by one of his fallen comrades.

He checked the weapon quickly and confirmed that it still contained ammunition—not much, but enough for a few critical shots if they could identify vulnerable targets on the enhanced infected's massive frame.

"Alright, just tell me what you need me to do!" Martin said, raising the rifle and taking aim at the creature.

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