Chapter 6: First Battle… And Retreat
936 Words
*"You're new, so you don't know—"* Marthé's words tumbled out faster now. *"To adapt to the New World, humanity has developed two evolutionary paths—"*
*"Glorrk...?"* The guttural, confused sound slithered out from the guard booth again.
*"You, me, Luze—we belong to the first type of evolution. The other... we call them 'Corrupted.'"*
Lin Sanjiu looked up in bewilderment, still processing.
*"Right, you're new,"* Marthé rushed on, her voice urgent. *"Humanity split into two evolutionary directions to survive—"*
*"Glorrk?"* The same wet, questioning noise interrupted again.
The doorknob under Lin Sanjiu's flashlight beam slowly turned with a creak. The door opened.
Marthé sucked in a breath and spat out the rest in a single frantic burst: *"Corrupted will do anything to survive I have no combat ability so defeating this thing is all on you or none of us make it out alive!"* Before Lin Sanjiu could react, Marthé leaped—catlike—onto a nearby tree and vanished into the foliage.
Lin Sanjiu gaped at the empty branches, then down at Luze, still pinned under the gate.
Luze offered a sheepish grin, his newly revealed buck teeth glinting. *"Uh... I'm kinda stuck here. Maybe stop staring and watch the—"*
Lin Sanjiu's flashlight snapped back to the guard booth. The protest *"Stop calling me 'lady'!"* died in her throat.
She had never seen anything so revolting.
Wrinkled, molasses-brown skin clung to a skeletal frame, sagging in folds around the joints. The creature stood half its original height, every ounce of muscle and fat seemingly leeched away—except for the nightmare at its face. Where a human's nose and mouth should be, a foot-long proboscis jutted outward, dripping viscous saliva with each shuffling step.
The thing—barely recognizable as a former security guard—still wore its uniform, now comically oversized. It stumbled free of the fabric, lidless eyes rolling before locking onto Lin Sanjiu.
*"Glorrk... You're... pretty..."* The proboscis vibrated, emitting distorted speech. *"Skin... so elastic... Must be... juicy..."*
Lin Sanjiu froze. A whisper came from beside her: *"Lady, you got this!"*
Not Luze's voice. She turned—the teenage boy was gone. In his place, a rosy-cheeked village girl of about ten blinked up at her from under the gate.
*So Luze's shapeshifting adapts to its target...*
*"I'm injured too, damn it!"* Lin Sanjiu hissed, backing away. The movement exposed the "girl" to the Corrupted's gaze. Under the dim flashlight, "Luze's" eyes welled with tears.
The creature halted mid-step.
*"Little... sister?"* It lurched forward, ignoring Lin Sanjiu completely. Droplets of saliva splattered Luze's face as it loomed closer. *"Why... here?"*
Luze shuddered visibly but maintained the act: *"Big brother... I came to find you... It hurts... The gate's too heavy..."* A tear rolled down. *"Help me... Please..."*
*"Shouldn't... have come..."* The Corrupted's proboscis drooped. For a moment, something almost human flickered in its hollow eyes.
Lin Sanjiu edged backward, signaling toward Marthé's tree. The redhead dropped soundlessly to a lower branch, poised to flee.
*Thank god this thing still has some humanity left—*
The Corrupted's head snapped up. Its proboscis whipped through the air, flinging droplets in all directions as it emitted an ear-splitting buzz.
*"But I'm... HAPPY!"* The voice boomed, grotesquely gleeful. *"Family... fluids... nourishing! No need... to hunt... You CAME!"*
Three realizations hit simultaneously:
1. Luze had just become an all-you-can-eat buffet.
2. The Corrupted's "humanity" was skin-deep.
3. They were screwed.
*"MARTHÉ!"* Luze screamed as the proboscis stabbed downward.
Marthé moved faster than Lin Sanjiu could blink—her blood-drawing nails slashed upward, deflecting the strike. The force shattered her keratin blades into fragments.
The Corrupted barely noticed. *"Fake flesh... No blood..."* It shoved Marthé aside and paused, confused. *"Where... sister?"*
Luze had shapeshifted again. Now, two identical Corrupted stared at each other.
*"You... ate her?"* The original's proboscis vibrated furiously. *"GLORRK! KILL YOU—"*
The strike came too fast to dodge. Marthé lunged—only to be swatted aside like a fly. As the proboscis descended toward Luze's face, a metallic CRASH interrupted.
The Corrupted flew backward as Lin Sanjiu's Audi rammed into it at full speed. She skidded to a stop beside the gate, slapping a hand against the iron bars. *"MARTHÉ! DRIVE!"*
The Corrupted rose, unharmed. The buzzing intensified—
Marthé dove into the driver's seat as Lin Sanjiu strained. White light flickered around the gate like a failing bulb. Sweat poured down her face. *"I can't—hold it—"*
The gate vanished for one precious second—long enough for Luze to roll free—before rematerializing with a ground-shaking THUD.
*"GET IN!"* Luze hauled Lin Sanjiu backward as the proboscis speared toward her spine. The car door swung open—
CRACK!
The strike shattered the window instead. Marthé floored the accelerator before the Corrupted could recover. The Audi's bumper grazed its torso, emitting a sickening squelch as they fishtailed onto the road.
No one breathed until the creature dwindled to a speck in the rearview mirror. It paused, then shambled back toward the apartment complex.
*No survivors left there now.*
*"Seems your world's Corrupted are slow movers,"* Marthé observed, wiping her brow.
Lin Sanjiu numbly passed out water bottles. The past few hours felt surreal—like a fever dream.
*"Thanks,"* Luze mumbled after gulping half his bottle. His buck-toothed grin resurfaced. *"You could've run. You didn't."*
*"And we made a good team,"* Marthé added, catching Lin Sanjiu's eye in the mirror.
For the first time that night, Lin Sanjiu smiled. *"Yeah... Now tell me about this damn 'New World.'"*
---
- Writer
