Ren slipped the orb back into the pouch inside his coat, fingers tightening around the cloth as if to seal the weight of its truth. He didn't speak again.
Not about the orb.
And Not about what he really knew.
Not yet.
Claire felt something wrong at his answer as he gave him a look, suspicious, but she was a bit tired.
So she didn't press much about the matter, It was not as important as them surviving this sht.
Brian turned away, muttering under his breath, "Whatever it is, I say we smash it next time."
Ren stayed silent, letting them believe whatever made it easier to keep moving.
They followed the narrow maintenance hallway, their footsteps echoing in the dark. Pipes groaned overhead.
Somewhere distant, water dripped in a slow, steady rhythm like a ticking clock. The lights flickered again.
Claire caught up beside him. "What if those orbs are what's controlling them? Like some kind of hive link?"
Ren didn't look at her. "Maybe. We don't know enough."
'You don't know enough,' he thought. 'I've seen what happens when you tamper with them, when you keep one too long and when you listen too closely.'
His fingers brushed the pouch again.
They kept moving.
The hallway narrowed further, the walls closing in with every step. Mold climbed up the tiles like veins. Somewhere behind the drywall, rats skittered quick, nervous movements that even the infected didn't bother chasing anymore.
Claire didn't speak again. Her eyes stayed forward, but Ren could feel the weight of her thoughts pressing against the silence. She wasn't convinced. She wasn't done asking.
But for now, she stayed quiet.
Brian trudged just behind, muttering curses at every shadow that twitched under the flickering lights.
Then—up ahead—a door.
Heavily rusted, marked b-2 in faded white paint.
Ren stopped, tested the handle.
Unlocked.
He eased it open slowly. The hinges groaned but not loud enough to echo far. A blast of cold, stagnant air rolled out.
Basement level.
Inside was darkness, thicker than before. The kind that felt alive.
Ren stepped through first, sword angled forward. The others followed without a word.
This was different from the maintenance halls, wider, more open, but colder.
The concrete floor was slick underfoot, puddled from overhead leaks. Rows of support pillars stretched out into the dark, vanishing into shadow.
And beyond that... faint outlines.
Cars.
Dozens of them.
Some rusted beyond use. Others dented, doors torn off, or caved in like something huge had smashed them from above.
The basement garage.
A way out, maybe.
"This is it," Claire whispered, voice barely carrying. "This leads outside."
She pointed toward the far end of the cavernous space, where the garage door stood half-open light slanting in through the gap like a single eye watching them.
Claire exhaled slowly. "Finally. Something that looks like hope."
Feeling something wrong, Ren said. "Or it may be a trap.."
And as if on cue, a sound crawled out of the dark.
Metal dragging across concrete.
Heavy breathing.
Then something like bones cracking.
Claire froze. "Tell me that's not.."
It stepped into the light.
Not just infected.
Not like the ones before.
This one was wrong.
Eight feet tall, at least. Shoulders massive, bulging, torn by growths of blackened tissue and bone spikes. Its jaw hung loose and crooked, teeth sharpened like splinters of glass. One arm was thick and swollen, ending in a mass of fused fingers—more club than hand.
It wasn't running. It didn't need to.
It knew it would reach them.
Brian stepped back. "What the hell is that?"
Ren expression darkened, 'A Level 2 Mutated Zombie.. How did this thing appeared in early phase, This zombie only appear in coming second phase after the evolution phase..'
The creature let out a low, guttural snarl and charged.
Ren moved first.
"Run!" he snapped, sword flashing as he met the monster head-on.
Claire and Brian didn't hesitate. They sprinted for the exit, weaving through crushed sedans and twisted motorcycles.
The sound of steel striking flesh rang out behind them.
Then came the roar.
Then the impact..
Ren's body slammed into a car with a crash that echoed like thunder through the hollow garage.
The vehicle crumpled under the force, its frame bending as metal shrieked.
But Ren wasn't down.
Not yet, He wasn't dying this easily this time.. he was given a second chance which is mostly not coming again.
He staggered up from the dented hood, blood at the corner of his mouth, vision swimming, but his grip never loosened on the sword.
The Level 2 Mutated turned, slow and deliberate, its club-like arm dragging deep gouges into the concrete floor.
Black ichor dripped from the wound Ren had managed to carve into its side, but it wasn't enough. The thing didn't even seem to feel pain.
He clenched his sword tightly, as he goes in his fighting stance. But before that, He said a single word to the Claire and Brian.
"Go."
Claire looked back, eyes wide, torn between panic and refusal.
"But.."
Ren's voice rose, firm and final. "I Said GO!!"
Brian didn't argue. He grabbed Claire's arm and pulled her toward the light, toward the cracked garage door and whatever unknowns waited outside.
Claire stumbled once, but didn't look back again.
Ren turned his focus back to the monster.
It came forward, slow, deliberate. Confident. Like it knew it was stronger.
Ren's breath came in shallow draws, ribs aching, blood wetting the inside of his shirt. But there was clarity in his eyes now.
It was a chilling calmness, as if he was not face by overwhelming strength right now.
His vibes changes, It felt like it was honed by dozens battle and life and death situation.
His eyes sharpened as he stare at the mutated zombie with chilling look.
The mutated zombie felt something wrong, even though it was a brainless one. It had sharp instinct, It felt a life threat.. and right at the human he send flying a moment ago.
He wasn't just standing his ground, He was claiming it.
His hand wrapped tighter around the sword's grip, the blade faintly humming with residual energy, perhaps from the orb, perhaps from something else entirely.
He whispered to himself, voice low. "I've faced worse."
And then he moved.
Fast.
Too fast for something that had just been flung across the garage.
He ducked low, avoiding the massive swing of the monster's club-arm by inches. Sparks flew as it smashed into the concrete wall behind him. Debris exploded in a shower of dust.
Ren used it, and vanished into the darkness, he was like phantom in a fog.
The mutated turned, growling, confused by the sudden absence.
That's when the sword struck.
Not once.
But twice.
It was sweep and precise.
It slashed deep into the back of its knee, severing tendon. The beast buckled, its roar echoing through the garage like a wounded engine.
Before it could turn again, Ren was on its back, climbing, digging his boots into the misshapen ribs for leverage.
The mutated swung wildly, trying to throw him off.
But Ren was already moving, gripping the blade with both hands, he plunged it down through the base of its skull.
There was a crack. Then a flash of black energy as the orb pulsed through him, into the sword, and into the thing's core.
A scream, inhuman, mechanical, corrupted, tore from its throat as the light seared through its body, boiling the dark ichor from the inside.
It dropped.
Twitching once.
Then still.
Ren collapsed beside it, one knee hitting the floor, breath gone, eyes flickering.
But he was alive.
The orb, in his pouch loses it's luster as he was sudden struck by weakness.
"Haahh, Never would I expect that I would be able to use the energy in the core to temporary boost myself."
Ren limped forward, step by step, toward the mutated corpse. His breath was shallow, his body screaming in protest but still, he moved, drawn to the monster he had just brought down.
Kneeling down, he drove his sword into the mutant's hardened flesh, then slashed it open with force, tearing through the twisted layers of muscle and bone.
Dark ichor spilled out in thick streams as Ren cut deeper, the stench of rot and scorched meat filling the air.
His arms trembled with the effort, ribs burning with every breath, but he didn't stop.
He knew what he was looking for.
Beneath the layers of sinew and mutated tissue, near where the heart should've been, something pulsed faintly, dim and unnatural.
A dull violet glow.
The core.