The infected horde approached through the warehouse entrance with that characteristic shambling gait that had become annoyingly familiar over the past weeks. But there was something different about this group—they moved with more coordination than usual.

I gripped the steel spike firmly in my right hand and raised the hand axe in my left. My enhanced reflexes allowed me to track the movement of multiple targets simultaneously, calculating attack vectors and timing with the kind of precision that had kept me alive this long.

"Elena, stay behind me," I called over my shoulder without taking my eyes off the approaching threat. "I need you covering my flanks, not getting in the line of fire."

"I know what I'm doing, Ryan," Elena replied, hefting her crowbar with confidence despite the loss of her electrical enhancement when I'd shut down the building's power. "You don't have to worry about me."

But I did worry about all of them—that was the problem. Every mission like this put people I cared about in danger, and the weight of that responsibility never got easier to bear. Elena might be capable and experienced, but one mistake, one moment of inattention, and she could end up as another casualty in this endless war against the infected.

"Cindy," I said, glancing back at her briefly, "I need you to stay behind and protect Liu Mei. If any infected manage to slip past Elena and me, you have to do it."

Cindy nodded, adjusting her grip on the steel rod she carried. "I've got her covered, Ryan. Focus on what's in front of you."

The first infected reached striking distance—a middle-aged man in a torn security uniform, his name tag still readable despite the blood stains that covered his shirt. I sidestepped his clumsy lunge and drove the steel spike through his temple with surgical precision, feeling the point penetrate bone and brain tissue before emerging from the other side of his skull. He dropped instantly, the virus-driven animation leaving his body as his nervous system shut down.

But there was no time to appreciate the clean kill. Two more infected were already closing in from different angles—a woman in a lab coat and another man in coveralls. My enhanced reflexes kicked in, time seeming to slow as I processed multiple threats simultaneously. The hand axe swept horizontally, catching the woman in the throat and nearly decapitating her, while I spun the spike in a reverse grip to catch the man under his jaw, driving the point up into his brain.

Elena moved up beside me, her crowbar connecting with the skull of another infected with a wet crunch that echoed through the loading dock. Without her electrical enhancement, she had to rely on raw physical strength and technique, but she was still devastatingly effective with that improvised weapon.

"You are doing well," I said, pulling the spike free from my latest victim and immediately scanning for the next threat.

"I've been practicing," she replied with satisfaction, positioning herself to cover my left flank as more infected shambled through the warehouse entrance.

My eyes moved constantly, tracking movement patterns and identifying priority targets. I didn't even need to activate the secret ability of my right arm—the one that could transform into a swirling blade of wind capable of creating devastating projectile weapons. These infected were dangerous in numbers, but they were still just animated corpses driven by basic hunger, not the kind of threat that required my most powerful abilities.

The next wave came at us in a more coordinated rush, five infected moving together with an almost pack-like mentality. I met them head-on, the spike finding vital points with mechanical precision while the hand axe carved through infected flesh and bone. Blood splattered across the concrete floor, making footing treacherous, but I adjusted my stance and kept moving, never allowing myself to become a stationary target.

Elena's crowbar sang through the air beside me, crushing infected skulls with brutal efficiency. Despite my concerns about her safety, I had to admit she was holding her own impressively well.

But we couldn't fight the entire infected population of the warehouse. We needed to complete our mission and get out before we were overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

"We need to get that storage room door open," I called to Elena between strikes, ducking under the grasping arms of an infected woman in a blood-stained business suit. "Can you and Cindy buy me some time?"

"How much time do you need?" Elena asked, her crowbar connecting with another infected skull with bone-crushing force.

"A minute, maybe two," I said, driving the spike through the eye socket of the business woman and immediately spinning to face the next threat. "Just keep them off me while I work on the lock."

Elena nodded and moved to intercept a group of infected that were trying to flank around us. "Cindy, with me! Liu Mei, stay back and stay still as usual!"

"Are you insulting me, Miss Petrova?"

I ignored their banter and focused on the task.

The storage room door was a heavy metal barrier marked with multiple warning signs about authorized personnel only. The electronic lock had indeed been disabled when I shut down the building's electrical systems, but the door itself was still secured by mechanical deadbolts that would require more direct persuasion to open.

I holstered the spike temporarily and gripped the hand axe with both hands, studying the door's construction and looking for weak points in the locking mechanism. The hinges were on the inside, so I couldn't attack the door that way, but the lock housing looked like it might be vulnerable to a concentrated assault.

Behind me, I could hear Elena and Cindy engaging the infected, their weapons connecting with flesh and bones. But I could also hear more infected approaching from deeper in the warehouse, drawn by the sounds of combat and the scent of living human blood.

I raised the hand axe and brought it down on the door's lock housing with all my enhanced strength behind the blow. The metal dented under the impact, and I could hear something crack inside the mechanism. Another strike in the same spot, and another, each blow precisely placed to maximize damage to the internal components.

On the tenth strike, something gave way with a sharp snap of breaking metal. I grabbed the door handle and threw my shoulder against the barrier, feeling it give way under the pressure. The door swung open to reveal a storage area filled with exactly the kind of electrical equipment that Mark had requested—transformers, switching units, and regulation modules stacked on industrial shelving.

"Inside, now!" I shouted, drawing my weapons again as Elena and Cindy fought a fighting retreat toward the open door. "Liu Mei, move!"

Elena backed through the doorway first, still swinging her crowbar at pursuing infected. Cindy followed close behind, her steel rod bloody from multiple impacts. Liu Mei rushed past all of us, her arms full of the electrical components we'd already collected from the main warehouse.

I was the last one through the door, and I immediately slammed it shut behind us. The storage room had been designed as a secure area, and the door was solid enough to provide temporary protection, but I could already hear infected bodies hitting the barrier from the other side.

"Help me with this," I said, grabbing one end of a heavy metal shelving unit that had been positioned near the door. Elena and Cindy immediately moved to assist, and together we managed to drag the shelf across the floor and position it as a barricade against the door.

The sound of infected claws scraping against metal came through the barrier, but for the moment we were secure. The storage room was windowless and dark, the only illumination coming from the flashlights we carried in our packs.

"Flashlights on," I said, pulling out my own light and clicking it to full brightness. "I need to be able to see what we're looking for in here."

The beams of our combined flashlights revealed a treasure trove of electrical equipment exactly matching Mark's specifications. Industrial switching units, high-capacity transformers, power regulation modules—everything he'd requested and more, all neatly organized on metal shelving with proper identification tags.

"There," I said, pointing to a section that held the specific models Mark had prioritized. "Those switching units are exactly what we came for."

But even as I began gathering the required components into a spare duffel bag, the sounds from outside the door were changing. Instead of the random scraping of infected claws, we were now hearing something much more disturbing—heavy, rhythmic pounding that shook the entire door frame with each impact.

"Abraham Lincoln," Liu Mei said, her voice tight with concern, "whatever's out there is much stronger than normal infected. That door won't hold much longer."

She was right. The pounding was getting more intense with each strike, and I could see the metal door beginning to buckle under the assault. Whatever was attacking our barricade had strength far beyond anything we'd encountered from standard infected.

"I'm hurrying," I said, stuffing the last of Mark's required components into the duffel bag and zipping it shut. The equipment was heavier than I'd expected, but it was all there—everything we needed to establish a reliable electrical grid.

As I secured the bag of components, my flashlight beam caught something that made my pulse quicken—a high window set into the storage room's back wall, probably eight feet off the ground but large enough for a person to climb through. It was our way out, but reaching it would require some creative problem-solving.

The pounding on the door was becoming more violent, and I could hear the metal beginning to tear under the repeated impacts. Whatever was out there was going to break through our barricade very soon, and we needed to be gone when that happened.

"Got an exit," I said, pointing my flashlight beam at the window. "That window leads outside, but we need to reach it first."

The storage room's shelving units were tall and sturdy, designed to hold heavy electrical equipment. If we could climb them like a ladder, we should be able to reach the window and escape before our barricade failed.

I slung the duffel bag across my shoulder and began climbing the nearest shelving unit, using the metal framework as handholds and the shelf brackets as footing. The structure was solid enough to support my weight, and within moments I'd reached the level of the window.

The glass was reinforced, probably for security purposes, but it wasn't designed to withstand a direct assault from someone with enhanced strength. I wrapped my elbow in my jacket sleeve and drove it through the window with explosive force, feeling the glass shatter and fall away both inside and outside the building.

"Bags first," I said, pushing the duffel bag containing Mark's equipment through the broken window and letting it drop to the ground outside. "Elena, you're next. Climb up here and I'll help you through."

Elena scaled the shelving with impressive agility, no wonder from a gymnast, her hands finding secure grips on the metal framework. When she reached my level, I grasped her hands and helped pull her up to the window opening.

"There's a rope in my pack," I said, pulling out a coil of climbing rope that I'd brought for exactly this kind of emergency. I tied one end securely around a support beam and let the other end drop outside the window. "Use this to climb down."

Elena nodded and maneuvered through the window opening with careful precision, then began her descent down the rope to the ground below. Within moments, Cindy was following the same route, climbing the shelving with determination despite the obvious danger of our situation.

I helped Cindy through the window just as the pounding on the door reached a crescendo that made the entire storage room shake. Whatever was out there was about to break through, and we were running out of time.

"Liu Mei, come on!" I shouted down to where she stood at the base of the shelving unit, looking up at me with an expression of uncertainty.

But instead of beginning to climb, Liu Mei remained frozen in place, her hands reaching awkwardly toward the metal framework but not actually making contact.

"What the hell are you standing there for?!" I called down to her, my voice sharp with urgency as the door behind her began to buckle visibly under the assault from whatever was attacking it. "The door's about to cave in!"

"I... I'm not sure I'm capable of climbing up there," Liu Mei called back, her voice small. "I'm not very good at physical activities like this."

The doubt in her voice was genuine, and I realized she was genuinely afraid of the climb. Liu Mei had always been more of an intellectual than a physical person, preferring books and analysis to action and athletics. But fear wasn't going to save her life right now.

Without hesitation, I jumped back down from the shelving to the storage room floor, landing in a crouch that absorbed the impact. There was no time for gentle encouragement or step-by-step coaching.

"Climb on my back," I said, turning around and crouching down. "I'll carry you up."

Liu Mei stared at me in shock, her face flushing red with embarrassment even in the dim flashlight glow. "I... I can't ask you to..."

"You're not asking, I'm telling!" I shouted at her, my patience finally snapping under the pressure of our desperate situation. "Get on my back right now, or we're both going to die when whatever's out there breaks down that door!"

The harshness in my voice seemed to cut through her uncertainty. Liu Mei nodded quickly and moved behind me, wrapping her arms around my neck and climbing onto my back with awkward but determined movements.

At that exact moment, the storage room door exploded inward with a sound like a thunderclap, the metal barrier and our makeshift barricade flying across the room in twisted fragments. Through the smoking wreckage stepped something that made my blood freeze in my veins.

It was an infected, but unlike any infected I'd ever seen before. The thing stood nearly two meters tall, its muscular frame enhanced and distorted by the virus in ways that defied normal infection patterns. Its skin had a grayish, almost metallic sheen, and its eyes glowed with an unnatural intelligence that was far beyond the basic hunger of normal infected.

Most disturbing of all was the thick electrical cable that wrapped around its waist like a belt, sparks occasionally arcing from the damaged insulation to the creature's flesh. Somehow, the electrical current was feeding into the infected's system, enhancing its already formidable capabilities with raw electrical power.

"What the hell is that thing?" Liu Mei whispered against my ear, her arms tightening around my neck as she stared at the monstrous apparition.

"I don't know, and I don't want to find out," I said unable to hide my shock either, beginning to climb the shelving unit with Liu Mei on my back. "But we're getting out of here right now."

The climb was significantly more difficult with Liu Mei's additional weight, and I found myself breathing harder than expected as I worked my way up the metal framework. "You're heavier than I thought you'd be," I muttered between breaths, trying to maintain my grip on the shelving while supporting both our weights.

Well she wasn't really heavy, rather she was light, maybe I was just a bit tired.

Liu Mei's response was indignant. She glared at me over my shoulder, her face flushing with embarrassment and anger, and then began choking me by tightening her arms around my neck in what was clearly meant as punishment for my comment.

"What the hell are you doing?" I gasped, trying to pry her arms loose while maintaining my precarious position on the shelving. "You're going to make us both fall!"

But before Liu Mei could respond, the electrical infected below us let out a roar that shook dust from the storage room ceiling. The creature moved with incredible speed, crossing the room in two massive strides and then slamming its fist into the base of our shelving unit with devastating force.

The entire structure shook under the impact, and I lost my grip on the metal framework for a terrifying moment. My right hand slipped completely, and I found myself hanging by my left hand alone while Liu Mei's weight threatened to pull us both down to the storage room floor where the electrical infected waited with obvious malevolent intent.

Desperately, I managed to catch the edge of the broken window with my right hand, my enhanced reflexes allowing me to make the grab just as my left hand finally gave way completely. But now Liu Mei was slipping too, her arms sliding from around my neck as gravity worked to separate us.

I grabbed her arm with my left hand just as she was about to fall, holding her suspended above the electrical infected while I hung from the window edge by my right hand alone. The strain on my shoulders and arms was incredible, but I wasn't about to let go of either handhold.

"Liu Mei, look at me," I said,.

Her frightened eyes met mine, and I could see the panic and fear that threatened to overwhelm her rational mind.

"Mei," I said, using her given name directly for emphasis, "you can do this. I need you to climb up my body and get through that window. Can you do that for me?"

Something in my tone or the use of her personal name seemed to cut through her fear. For the first time since I'd known her, Liu Mei looked directly at me and said my name in return.

"Ryan," she whispered, and then she began forcing herself upward with determined movements, using my body as a ladder to reach the window opening.

I held perfectly still as she climbed, feeling her weight shift and change as she worked her way up to safety. When she finally made it through the window and grasped the rope for her descent, I felt a surge of relief that gave me the strength I needed for my own escape.

Before pulling myself up and through the window, I looked down at the electrical infected that stood in the ruined storage room below us. The creature was staring up at me with those unnaturally intelligent eyes, and I could see sparks dancing across its metallic skin as electrical current coursed through its enhanced nervous system.

"See you never, fucker," I said with a mocking look, and pulled myself up through the window opening.

I landed on the ground outside the warehouse where Elena, Cindy, and Liu Mei were waiting, all of them looking relieved to see me emerge safely from the building. The duffel bag containing Mark's electrical components sat nearby, apparently undamaged from its fall.

But our relief was short-lived. Almost immediately after I hit the ground, we heard a tremendous crash from inside the warehouse, followed by the sound of masonry cracking and crumbling.

We all stared at the building in disbelief as a spider web of cracks appeared in the exterior wall, radiating outward from some point of impact inside the structure. The electrical infected was apparently not content to let us escape, and it possessed the strength to do something about our departure.

"Run!" I shouted, grabbing the equipment bag and sprinting toward where we'd left our car. "Back to the vehicle, now!"

We had made it perhaps a few meters when the wall of the warehouse exploded outward in a shower of concrete and twisted metal. Through the smoking breach stepped the electrical infected.

"Shit."

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