The armored vehicle "Mule" rolled over the shredded remains of the Burrowing Hunting Dogs, grinding their radiation-stinking filth deep into the cracked asphalt. The atmosphere inside the vehicle was heavy; the adrenaline from the brief firefight had long since subsided, replaced by a deep unease over Ethan's discovery. The beasts might possess coordinated intelligence, or even a commanding individual—this thought slithered through every team member's mind like a cold, venomous snake.
Captain Barton ordered Rick to set the sensor sensitivity to maximum, focusing on any abnormal high-frequency signals. The waveform on the screen became increasingly complex, with background noise amplified: countless subtle sounds and vibrations—wind whistling through hollowed buildings, distant structures groaning under their own weight, even the movements of tiny mutated creatures—were all captured and displayed, forming a dizzying chaos. The brief high-frequency signal never reappeared, as if it had been a ghostly illusion, but the silence itself was even more unsettling.
The vehicle continued deeper into the B-7 sector. The scene of the ruins began to change. Scattered, dilapidated buildings grew denser as they drove along an abandoned highway ramp toward the entrance of a dead city.
Gigantic, heavily rusted metal signs leaned precariously by the roadside, most of the lettering flaked away, barely readable: "...Welcome to... Oak City...". Oak City. A name that might have once been full of life in the old world, now served as a tomb.
The closer they got, the stronger the invisible pressure became.
The entire city seemed gripped by a massive, gangrenous dark-green hand. An unprecedented vine-like plant covered almost every building, vehicle, and street fixture in sight. The vines were astonishingly thick, some with main trunks over a meter in diameter, twisting and coiling like living things. Their surfaces were filled with dark, vein-like patterns that pulsed uncomfortably, along with countless tiny, hair-like tendrils. The vines were a bizarre, nearly black-green color, secreting a glistening, highly corrosive slime that slowly eroded and decomposed whatever they touched. Concrete crumbled under their grip, metal visibly rusted and peeled away.
More disturbing, the plants seemed to emit a faint, cold phosphorescence, especially eerie in the dim yellow light. The sweet, cloying stench of decay grew overwhelming here, almost tangible, penetrating even the vehicle's filtered protective suits.
The "Mule" slowly entered the city entrance—a toll station nearly sealed by massive vines. The vehicle's top-mounted cutter spewed scorching plasma, painfully slicing through the stubborn, unimaginably tough vines, carving a narrow passage. Thick, fluorescent dark-green sap oozed from the severed vines, dripping onto the vehicle's roof with sizzling corrosive sounds.
"Radiation levels are spiking!" Rick's voice carried a hint of panic. "These plants... they are high-concentration radioactive sources themselves! And they're emitting a strange energy field... interfering with our sensor accuracy! Life-sign scans are unreliable!"
The vehicle finally squeezed into the city interior.
Inside, the scene was even more horrifying. Vines cascaded like waterfalls down the sides of skyscrapers, in many places burying streets entirely, forming dark-green, slightly writhing, terrifying walls. Sunlight was almost completely blocked, only occasional beams piercing the vines to cast flickering, grotesque shadows on the slime-covered, decaying ground. Visibility dropped sharply, forcing the "Mule" to use high-powered spotlights, their pale beams cutting through the darkness, revealing these terrifying creations of warped life.
Deathly silence. Even more silent than the ruins outside. Except for the subtle rustle of moving vines and the drip of slime, there was no other sound. It was as if every sound, even hope itself, had been swallowed by these greedy plants.
"What the hell is this..." Morgan muttered, even he was shaken by this hellish scene, scanning with his machine gun the vine walls that seemed ready to attack at any moment.
"No complete matches in the database," Rick spoke rapidly, sweat beading on his forehead. "Some traits resemble 'Radiation Hell Vines', but normal Hell Vines are not this aggressive, nor do they emit this disruptive energy field... Are they... evolving? Or catalyzed by something?"
"Where was the scientist's last signal located?" Captain Barton's voice remained calm, though the knuckles gripping his radio were pale.
"The signal... severely interfered, intermittent!" Rick struggled with the data. "The last relatively clear location points toward... the city center, possibly the City Hall or the library archive complex!"
"Move forward. Maximum alert." Barton ordered. The "Mule" growled low, like a beetle trapped in webs, laboriously pushing through the dark green tunnel.
The vehicle moved agonizingly slow. The spotlight beam swept across streets lined with vine-covered shops, cafes, and cars... Occasionally illuminating tightly bound, almost mummified human skeletons, frozen in their death struggles, silently testifying to the despair of that moment.
At a relatively open intersection, the vehicle was forced to stop—the road ahead completely blocked by a collapsed building and massive vines sprawling over it.
"We can't go further," the driver reported.
Barton paused briefly, then decisively ordered: "On foot. Full protective gear, heavy weapons. We should be near the target area. Rick, attempt to set up a temporary relay to boost signal. Lina, Ethan, scout ahead. Morgan, cover fire. Move!"
The team moved quickly and silently. Full suits were sealed and helmets locked. Weapons loaded, heavy gear secured. The rear doors opened slowly, letting in a wave of thick, radiation-laden, sweetly foul air that churned their stomachs despite filtration.
One by one, they dismounted, boots squelching on the wet, sticky ground. Spotlights swayed across the dark street, amplifying the surrounding horror. The vines reacted to their presence, writhing subtly, tendrils stretching toward them.
Lina and Ethan moved ahead as vanguards, left and right, advancing slowly down the street. Rifle-mounted tactical lights cut through the darkness. Morgan held the center, the multi-barrel machine gun slowly swiveling with their movement like a dormant beast. Barton and Rick followed, Rick nervously operating the portable scanner, attempting to capture any useful signal amidst strong interference.
"Found something!" Lina suddenly whispered, crouching next to an almost engulfed SUV. The doors were open, with bullet holes and massive claw marks. She used a knife to push aside vines, revealing inside: a damaged protective suit, torn and dried black with blood, and a broken scientific instrument case nearby.
"It's the survey team," Barton checked the suit's identification, frowning.
Ethan found more traces on the ground nearby: scattered shell casings not from the rescue team's standard gear, and a dragging mark extending toward the grand building labeled "Oak City Public Library". The sign swayed, tightly entwined with vines.
"Traces lead to the library," Ethan reported.
"Check it out. Maintain formation," Barton ordered.
The library's main doors had long decayed and collapsed; inside was pitch-black, like the throat of a giant beast. Flashlights revealed vines encroaching within, toppled bookshelves, books corroded and stuck together by slime, forming a grotesque nest-like structure. The air was thick and the cloying smell nearly suffocating.
They moved carefully inside, boots crunching on decayed books and slime. Light swept over walls, occasionally revealing violent combat marks—burn marks from energy weapons, claw marks, and more blood stains.
Behind a relatively intact consultation desk, Rick discovered something: "Captain! Here!"
The team gathered. In the corner behind the desk lay a few empty energy magazines, a portable terminal with a cracked screen, and a hastily torn notebook page weighed down by a rock, seemingly intended to leave a message.
The writing was frantic, stained with dark red blood, showing the author's extreme haste and terror:
"...*April 17th (?), time confused… interference too strong… they are not mere beasts! The vines… protecting them… or… raising them?..."
"...Sample activity far beyond expectations… Dr. Dunn called it 'the Key'… but he went mad… he wanted to leave… must stop him..."
"...Signal… sending distress… but they came… from the walls… from the shadows…"
"...They fear high-frequency sound… but only temporarily…"
The text abruptly ends, followed by a long, dragged bloodstain.
The note circulated among the team, weighing heavily on everyone. Fragmented information revealed a chilling truth: intelligent beasts? Symbiosis with vines? "The Key"? Dr. Dunn gone mad?
"Damn, this place is getting creepier," Morgan growled, machine gun trained on the faintly writhing vines in the darkness.
"Seems our scientist friend got into serious trouble," Lina said, lips licking, eyes sharp.
Then, chaos erupted!
"Ah—!" Rick let out a short scream!
Trying to get closer to a wall to receive a signal, he accidentally approached a relatively still vine cluster. Instantly, the vines snapped up like venomous snakes at incredible speed! Thick vines wrapped around his ankles and calves, dragging him violently toward the wall!
"Help!" Rick screamed, dropping the scanner. He struggled, but the vines were terrifyingly strong, their corrosive slime burning through his suit, sizzling and emitting white smoke.
"Fire!" Captain Barton roared, aiming his rifle at the vines!
Energy beams and bullets struck the vines, tearing openings with fluorescent sap spilling out, but more vines surged in from all sides, relentless! The library hall's vines accelerated, writhing like awakened snakes, tendrils flailing wildly, the energy interference intensifying, even disrupting helmet comms.
Morgan's heavy machine gun roared, shredding masses of vines, but they were too many, and even severed ones wriggled along the ground, continuing to climb! Lina fired frantically, but with limited effect.
"No! Too many! And they're absorbing energy!" Lina shouted, noticing energy weapons were less effective than bullets, their energy seemingly siphoned by the vines' tendrils, making them even more active.
Rick was dragged to the ground, more vines wrapping him, nearly fully enclosing him! He whimpered in despair.
Then Ethan's voice came through the static-laced comms, unusually calm: "Morgan! Don't shoot the main vine! Target the connection points near Rick's ankles! Short, precise bursts! Lina, use your pistol, aim at the points I marked!"
Ethan aimed the rifle's laser precisely at the main vine roots around Rick's ankles, speaking rapidly: "These plants have neural-like nodes! Hitting them is more effective than the main vine! Captain Barton, the interference might originate from some central core plant, or… 'the Key'? We need to get out of here now!"
His calm and quick judgment was like cold water, dousing the team's panic.
Morgan immediately adjusted his gun: "Bang! Bang! Bang!" Short precise bursts, the hot bullets nearly grazed Rick's suit, severing the thickest vines at his ankles.
Lina fired almost simultaneously, "Bang! Bang!" The pistol rounds struck the laser-indicated spots, sap spraying, vines loosening.
Once the grip weakened, Rick kicked back frantically.
"Grab him!" Barton shouted, rushing with Ethan, pulling Rick's arms and dragging him from the writhing vine heap!
"Move! Retreat immediately!" Barton ordered.
Morgan suppressed incoming vines with fire while retreating. Lina supported Rick, whose leg suit was corroded and damaged. Ethan and Barton covered the rear.
They staggered onto the relatively open street. Behind the library entrance, countless writhing vines surged like furious tentacles but seemed constrained, unable to fully leave the building, twisting for a moment before retreating into the darkness.
The team collapsed on the street, breathing heavily, hearts pounding. Rick looked at his nearly burned-through suit leg, pale and shaking uncontrollably. A few more seconds, and he would have been dragged into that green hell, utterly consumed.
Barton looked at Ethan, eyes complex—both approving and probing: "How did you know hitting there would work?"
Ethan steadied his breathing, shaking his head: "Not certain. Just observation. They move rhythmically, responding differently when attacked, suggesting a core node. When pointed with the laser, they clearly avoid it, showing perception and weak points." He paused, adding, "And the note… 'they fear high-frequency sound', whether referring to beasts or plants, shows a shared weakness. These plants might not be just plants."
Everyone's gaze returned to the library, completely consumed by dark green terror, and the surrounding dead city, slowly digested by the creeping rot.
What did the scientists find here? What is "the Key"? Where is Dr. Dunn now?
Questions multiplied, and danger escalated exponentially. They had to face elusive beasts and this seemingly living, hostile city itself.
Captain Barton stood, voice hard again: "Check equipment, tend wounds. We can't stay here. According to the note and traces, Dr. Dunn may still be inside, or gone deeper. We must find him, the 'Key', and the data."
He glanced at the shaken Rick and silent others.
"This city is alive. It hunts. And we are its prey."