The sound of the crate crashing against concrete was deafening in the dead city. It echoed through glassless windows, down hollow streets, bouncing off the canyon of ruined towers.
Arthur's head snapped toward the source, jaw tightening. "Goddammit…"
The Firefly who dropped it froze, pale as chalk. One of his comrades hissed at him, shoving his shoulder. "You idiot! Do you want every fucking clicker in this city on us?"
Too late.
From somewhere deep in the maze of broken buildings, the telltale click-click-click rose. Dozens of them. Echoing, multiplying.
Arthur grabbed Rory by the collar and yanked him toward cover, his voice low and sharp. "Move, boy — now!"
They dove behind a tangle of rusted cars and a jackknifed delivery truck that had long ago become part of the city's barricade. Arthur shoved Rory down low, drawing his cattleman with one hand and his machete with the other.
Then he saw it.
Not just the pale, staggering clickers pouring out of doorways like a tide, but something larger forcing its way into the open. Its roar shook the street, guttural and heavy. The stench of rot clung to the air as fungus plates glistened under faint daylight.
A bloater. Smaller than the monster Arthur had seen near the tunnel — but still towering over the clickers, its fungal armor thick like stone. Its roar cut through the night, and all the clickers shrieked in response, as if the damn thing was their general giving the order.
Arthur muttered under his breath. "…Hell. Big ugly bastard's runnin' the show."
Rory's sawed-off trembled in his hands. "Arthur—"
"Steady now." Arthur's voice was low, controlled, but his revolver's hammer clicked back with finality.
"They charge, we don't hesitate."
The bloater bellowed again and surged forward, heavy feet cracking pavement as the clickers poured in behind it.
The street became chaos in seconds. The Fireflies opened fire in panic, muzzles flashing, their shouts swallowed by the shrieks of the clickers.
Arthur shoved Rory deeper behind the barricade, pressing a firm hand to the boy's chest. "Don't move. Don't make a damn sound."
The bloater crashed forward like a bull, slamming into the squad. Rifle fire tore chunks from its fungal plates but it hardly slowed. One man emptied a clip at point-blank — the bloater's massive arm swept him off his feet and crushed him against a wall.
Clickers poured in from every angle, climbing over hoods, dragging screaming men into the dark. The Fireflies were trained, armed — but they weren't ready for this.
Arthur kept his breathing steady, watching through a crack between twisted steel. His revolver stayed tight in his hand, but he didn't raise it. Not once.
"…Ain't no savin' 'em."
Rory's wide eyes reflected the gunfire and carnage, his sawed-off trembling in his grip. "Arthur…"
"Quiet, boy." Arthur's whisper cut sharp, a blade against the din. "You pull that trigger, we're corpses too."
The bloater tore another man in half, spores bursting from its armor as it roared. Screams echoed through the street — then one by one, they cut short. The firefight ended not with victory, but silence broken only by wet tearing and clickers feasting.
Arthur seized the moment. He pulled Rory back by the collar, keeping low. He scanned the wall of wreckage beside them — the burned husk of a delivery truck pressed against a crumbling storefront. Windows were boarded, but the side door of the shop sagged half-off its hinges.
"There. With me."
They slipped from cover as the infected gorged themselves. Every step was calculated, Arthur's machete in hand in case anything broke from the pack.
At the doorway, Arthur braced his boot and shoved the warped wood open just enough to slide inside. Dust and mildew hit his nose, stale air that hadn't been breathed in years. He guided Rory through, then eased the door shut until only the faintest sliver of firelit chaos was visible.
Arthur exhaled slow, shoulders tense, eyes hard. "That's how close it gets, boy. One sound, one slip… and we end up like them."
From the other side of the wall, the bloater's roar shook the building. The sound of bones cracking followed.