area51novel Chapter 190: Push Part 1
Chapter 190: Push Part 1
"Let’s fucking end this and go to our objective," Adrian said.
The Hunter roared again while stumbling through the burning office floor.
Half its torso had been blown apart by the AT4 rocket, exposing shattered ribs, melted flesh, and blackened organs hanging grotesquely from its body.
But it still moved.
Ryan immediately slammed another magazine into his rifle.
"I seriously hate these things."
"CONTACT FRONT!" one operator shouted.
The Hunter lunged across the office floor violently despite its injuries.
THUPTHUPTHUPTHUP.
Suppressive fire hammered the creature nonstop while sparks, blood, and chunks of mutated flesh exploded across the burning room.
The radiation-mutated Hunter barely slowed.
Its enlarged arm smashed through overturned office desks like cardboard while the creature barreled directly toward the team.
Then one operator stepped forward carrying an M320 grenade launcher.
"MOVE!"
THUMP.
The 40mm grenade struck directly against the Hunter’s upper chest.
BOOM.
The explosion erupted violently across the office floor.
The Hunter staggered backward this time.
Finally.
One of its legs partially collapsed beneath the blast while burning tissue sprayed across nearby walls.
Ryan immediately pointed.
"Legs! Hit the damn legs!"
The operators adjusted fire instantly.
Suppressed rifles cracked nonstop while rounds shredded the creature’s lower body.
Concrete dust exploded around the office floor while flames spread farther through broken furniture and collapsed ceiling debris.
The Hunter roared again before charging anyway.
Then Adrian stepped forward directly into its path.
Ryan immediately shouted—
"Adrian!"
Too late.
The Hunter swung its enlarged arm directly toward him hard enough to cave through concrete walls.
But Adrian moved first.
Fast.
He sidestepped violently before driving a combat knife deep into the creature’s exposed neck wound created by the AT4 blast.
The Hunter screamed.
Adrian immediately grabbed the knife with both hands before ripping downward violently.
The blade tore through burned flesh and exposed muscle.
Then Ryan opened fire point blank into the opening.
THUPTHUPTHUPTHUP.
7.62 rounds tore directly into the creature’s exposed throat and spine.
The Hunter staggered violently backward.
Another operator immediately launched a second 40mm grenade.
THUMP.
BOOM.
This time the explosion hit directly beneath the creature’s legs.
The Hunter collapsed hard through the weakened office floor.
CRASH.
Concrete shattered beneath its weight while the massive body disappeared downward into the lower level of the building.
The entire structure shook violently afterward.
Dust exploded through the office floor while portions of the ceiling cracked loudly overhead.
Ryan slowly stared downward through the hole.
"...Please tell me that killed it."
Then the roar echoed upward again from below.
Still alive.
Ryan closed his eyes briefly.
"Of course it’s still alive."
Adrian immediately turned toward the eastern corridor.
"Move now!"
Nobody argued.
The team sprinted across the ruined office floor immediately while infected screams echoed throughout the building behind them.
The entire structure sounded alive now.
Doors breaking.
Footsteps.
Growling.
The infected were flooding every floor.
One operator kicked open the eastern emergency exit afterward.
The team burst into another stairwell leading downward toward street level.
Unlike the previous stairwell, this one looked partially collapsed.
Several sections of concrete had already fallen inward while old blood stains covered portions of the walls.
Radiation warning clicks intensified slightly across the team’s detectors while they descended.
Ryan glanced briefly toward the Geiger counter attached to his vest.
Still survivable.
Barely.
The operators moved quickly through the damaged stairwell while distant roars echoed from above.
The Hunter was climbing again.
"Why is it always us fighting these damn things?" one operator muttered.
Ryan immediately answered.
"Because apparently we’re the main characters."
Another operator snorted briefly despite the situation. Seconds later, the door beneath them exploded inward.
Three infected burst directly into the stairwell.
BANG BANG BANG.
Suppressed shots dropped them instantly.
But more immediately followed.
Dozens.
They flooded upward from the lower floors screaming violently.
Some looked heavily mutated by radiation exposure.
Tumors bulged from their backs.
Extra limbs protruded unnaturally from certain bodies.
One creature’s jaw had split completely open down its chest.
Another moved on all fours with elongated arms dragging across the concrete steps.
"CONTACT LOWER STAIRWELL!"
The operators unleashed controlled bursts downward immediately.
THUPTHUPTHUP.
Bodies collapsed across the stairs while blood sprayed against the walls.
But the infected kept climbing.
Fast.
Way too fast.
One operator pulled another fragmentation grenade.
"FRAG OUT!"
BOOM.
The lower stairwell disappeared beneath smoke, blood, and shredded infected remains.
The blast temporarily halted the advance.
"MOVE MOVE MOVE!"
The team descended rapidly through the smoke-filled stairwell while stepping over twitching bodies and shattered concrete.
Moments later.
The building shook again.
A loud crash echoed several floors above them.
Ryan looked upward briefly.
"...He’s still following us."
Another roar confirmed it immediately.
The Hunter smashed through multiple floors while pursuing them downward through the structure.
And now, the infected seemed even more aggressive because of it.
Like the creature itself was driving the entire horde into frenzy.
The operators finally reached the lower lobby floor moments later.
Or what remained of it.
The entire entrance sector had partially collapsed inward while burned vehicles remained embedded halfway through shattered glass walls from the nuclear shockwave months earlier.
Moonlight filtered weakly through drifting ash outside.
And beyond the ruined entrance—
The streets of Beijing waited.
Filled with infected.
Ryan slowly looked through the broken lobby windows.
"...That’s a lot."
Hundreds of infected crowded the surrounding streets already.
Some climbed abandoned vehicles.
Others slammed themselves violently against the building exterior trying to reach the team.
And farther down the road—
More movement approached.
Massive amounts.
The earlier rooftop screams had attracted entire nearby hordes.
Adrian immediately scanned the area.
"Underground access tunnel?"
One operator checked the navigation tablet quickly.
"Six hundred meters east."
Ryan looked outside again.
"We’re not sneaking through that."
No.
They weren’t.
The streets outside had already become a death trap.
Then suddenly, the Hunter burst through the lobby ceiling behind them.
CRASH.
Concrete exploded downward violently while the massive creature landed directly inside the ruined entrance hall.
The operators immediately spun around.
"CONTACT REAR!"
The Hunter looked worse now.
Much worse.
One arm hung partially destroyed while its torso remained torn open from earlier explosions.
But its black eyes still locked directly onto the team.
Still hunting.
Still alive.
And then, the infected outside noticed it too.
The hordes became even more aggressive afterward.
Screaming.
Charging.
Flooding toward the building from every direction.
Ryan slowly stared between the Hunter behind them and the massive horde outside.
"...This city seriously wants us dead."
The Hunter roared again before charging directly toward them.
Adrian immediately pointed toward the street outside.
"We punch through now!"
The operators reacted instantly.
Smoke grenades flew through the shattered entrance first.
HISSSSS.
White smoke exploded across the ruined streets outside.
Then the team opened fire.
THUPTHUPTHUPTHUP.
Suppressed rifles and machine guns tore through the front infected ranks while the operators pushed directly out of the ruined lobby into the dead streets of Beijing.
The city exploded into chaos around them.
Gunfire echoed between ruined skyscrapers.
The Hunter roared behind them.
And hundreds of infected surged through the smoke-filled streets from every direction.