The scream rattled the tunnel.
It wasn't just sound—it was pressure. A low, guttural vibration that sank into the bone, into the teeth, into the back of the skull until every instinct screamed get away.
But there was nowhere to go.
The nest stretched around them like the inside of a rotting cathedral, pillars made of fused corpses, webbing of wires and tendons strung across the ceiling. The Broodmother crouched in the center, its eight limbs flexing with unnatural grace, the folds of its flesh shifting like something alive beneath the skin.
It moved without eyes, head tilting toward the group as if it could taste their fear.
The sound cut off. The silence that followed was worse.
Kai's hand tightened around the hilt. The weight felt good. Solid. Necessary.His heart wasn't racing. It was steady.
Behind him, Aarav muttered, "That's… not a zombie."
"No," Kai said. "It's worse."
The Broodmother lunged.
Kai moved first.
The world slowed—not because it actually did, but because his body could finally keep up with his mind. The arcs of motion, the sound of claws slicing through air, the scent of blood and rot—it all registered in perfect clarity.
His blade came up.
Clang!
The Broodmother's forelimb slammed into his sword, force blasting him backward three steps. Sparks burst where steel met bone. The limb twitched as if testing him.
"Spread out!" Kai barked.
They moved.
Broodlings dropped from the ceiling like sacks of meat, hitting the ground with wet cracks before scuttling forward on all fours. Their faces weren't faces—just stretched skin over bone, with too many teeth pushing through at odd angles.
Renji's blade flashed, taking one's head clean off. Blood sprayed against the tunnel wall in an arc, sizzling as it hit metal.
Riko's machete buried deep into another broodling's shoulder. The thing didn't scream—it just twitched, grabbed her arm, and tried to bite. Aarav's shotgun roared, the buckshot blasting it into chunks that slapped wetly against the ground.
Kai ducked under a swing from the Broodmother, rolling across the blood-slick floor and coming up behind it. He slashed low, severing the tendons in one rear limb.
It shrieked—high, keening, almost human.
Then the hallucinations began.
The tunnel flickered. One heartbeat, Kai was staring at the nest. The next, he was standing in his childhood home, his mother in the kitchen, smiling. The smell of her cooking filled the air.
"Kai," she said.
He blinked. She was gone. The Broodmother's claws were inches from his throat.
Kai twisted, steel hissing as it met bone again. His boots slipped in gore, his shoulder slamming into the nest wall.
[Adaptive Evolution activated.][Neural interference reduced by 8%.]
The flickering lessened.
He could fight this.
Renji wasn't as lucky. He stood frozen, eyes wide, muttering a name under his breath. A broodling leapt at him from the side.
"Renji!"
Kai sprinted. His sword cut the broodling in two mid-air, hot blood splattering across his face. He shoved Renji backward. "Wake up or you die!"
Renji blinked, breath ragged. "…I'm good."
They weren't good. Not yet.
The Broodmother reared back, torso-mouth splitting open, revealing rows of jagged teeth that spiraled inward into blackness.
Something moved inside.
It spat—thick, steaming fluid arcing toward Aarav.
"Move!" Kai shouted.
Aarav dove aside. The fluid hit the ground, instantly burning a hole through the concrete. Steam hissed upward.
Kai's mind clicked. Acid projectile. Wide arc. Cooldown unknown. Avoid direct lines.
The broodlings swarmed again.
Lina knelt beside Tara, one hand on her pistol, the other clutching a makeshift spear she'd scavenged from the nest. Every time a broodling got close, the spear darted forward, precise and final. She didn't waste ammo.
Tara twitched in her arms, eyes fluttering. Her voice came out in a rasp."Not from here… not from here… the root calls her…"
"Save your strength," Lina whispered, but Tara's gaze locked on the Broodmother, silver flickering in her pupils.
The Broodmother stopped.
Every limb went still, as if sensing something. Then it screamed again, the sound so loud the nest shuddered.
It leapt—not at Kai, not at the group—but directly toward Tara.
Kai didn't think.
He was already moving, crossing the distance in three long strides. His sword came up in a rising slash, the blade biting deep into the Broodmother's torso. Acid sprayed, burning his forearm through the jacket.
Pain flared.
[Regeneration activated: 3% recovery per minute in hostile environment.]
The burn dulled. His grip stayed strong.
He shoved forward, driving the sword deeper. The Broodmother shrieked and backhanded him with one massive limb. The world tilted as Kai slammed into the nest wall hard enough to crack bone.
HP dropped.
[HP: 42%]
He staggered up. Couldn't stop.
A broodling lunged from the side—Kai caught it by the throat, slammed it to the floor, and stomped down. Bone and brain matter exploded beneath his boot.
"Renji! Aarav! Keep it off Tara!"
The Broodmother whirled toward him again.
Kai exhaled once. His stance shifted—low, balanced, lethal. The fight wasn't over.