6 meters~
...
...
.
5 meters~
...
...
.
4 meters~
At this point Ada felt her heartbeat pounding like crazy; this was the first time she was that close to a mutated walker, a breathing one.
"I got you; keep going."
"Silence, please; you are only making this harder for me." She took a deep breath, looking down at the disgusting creature that was still unmoving.
It just lay there, looking as if it were merely sleeping.
Beads of sweat rolled down Ada's forehead; she steadied herself, gun still pointed at the partially exposed brain of the creature while her other hand held the smoke bomb in her sweaty palm.
Ada walked two steps and halted, hearing Sasuke commanding her to stop.
"One more step and it will attack. Good job, walk backward slowly—Ada? What the fuck are you doing?"
"This still doesn't confirm the exact proximity; just be fast if this thing proves to be more agile than me." She took a deep breath and took another step.
At this point, the slumbering monster sniffed, and its tendons immediately convulsed. Sasuke, who was 20 meters away suppressing his chakra, chuckled in disbelief seeing her reckless actions and shunshin'ed in front of her, consuming 180 threads from his overall 218 chakra threads.
His blade flashed, cutting the long tongue that was about to pierce through her heart.
His other foot went up, and he dropped an axe-heel down on the monster's head faster than it could follow.
Ada grimaced at the mushed brain pieces and blood that were sent flying.
"*Whew*, that was nerve-wracking..." She breathed out and turned to Sasuke, who crouched beside the monster, his new x-ray vision scanning the monster's corpse.
'The same corrupted chakra...where had I seen this before?' He closed his eyes, going through his memories, inadvertently triggering the ones he didn't want to recall.
Sasuke took a breath and tried to focus on what he was looking for...it didn't take long before he felt the familiarity.
Sage kabuto.
That filthy chakra that radiated off him when they met was similar.
Only this one felt pitifully weak and much worse, as if someone just ignored the whole process and devoured–
'Wait, that's it. What if...Alena already had proof that I existed here, and Ada was sent after me? She wasn't told my identity, sure, so...they were after shinobi? There are others here? And they are both the key and the target for those mutations? That or I'm missing something, dammit. Guess I'll need to keep the next abnormal one alive'
His thoughts were interrupted by the Asian beauty, who finally processed what she had witnessed. "I know you were amazingly strong and fast, but you can teleport now?"
Sasuke ignored that and asked a question instead: "Tell me, Ada, was there anything spoken about shinobi in any of the reports you came across?"
"Shinobi? You mean ninja?"
"Yeah."
She nodded and smirked, trying to fish for information. "I knew you were a ninja, but the ones I saw reports of were all...human, normal. I mean, why are you different?"
"Names?" And Ada sighed, knowing she won't get anything.
"Rachel, she is skilled but nothing like you and Haku...why are you asking?"
Sasuke shook his head; there was no such name belonging to anyone important he knew of.
"What was said in the report?"
Ada rolled her eyes. "Do female ninjas interest you?"
And she shrugged seeing his unamused look. "Alright, hmm...she killed a mercenary squad? I didn't care much about it; she got captured anyway. And labelled as fake. Wait...is this what you mean? So, because she wasn't as powerful as you. They deemed her a failure?"
"Guess we'll know in the future; come here."
Ada tilted her head and walked to his side; she raised an eyebrow seeing him placing a palm on the spot where she injured her thigh.
"That's a weird way to molest me. You k-" She paused, feeling... comfort; the slight ache she had been ignoring was no more.
"Only a psycho will feel horny in this smelly shithole; pack your things, we are leaving." Sasuke stood looking at the lady who started poking her thigh with a surprised expression.
"And do it fast; 30 walkers are coming this way."
"Thanks, Sasuke."
"You're welcome."
...
The next morning.
Sasuke looked at the lady who swung her blade expertly a few times.
Her stance wasn't the best but was way more balanced than his two phantoms.
"You trained in sword arts?"
"It wasn't my focus point, but I know how to handle them. Thanks for the sword," she smiled, sheathing the blade.
Wasting bullets on walkers was impractical; thus, she requested to have one when Sasuke said he had some secondary blades tucked at safe points.
Ada tried hard not to gaze at the sweaty figure of the man who turned his head and went back to focus on his handstand push-ups.
Ada could do the same if she tried, but not with the thing he was balancing atop his feet soles while he kept doing push-ups using his fingertips.
She couldn't understand how he was lifting a damn Toyota Camry in that position and keeping it steady as he went on with his push-ups. The car alone must weigh at least 3000 lbs {+1,360 kg}.
She gulped, noticing his pants and turned to quench her thirst.
"Won't this tire you later on when you need to fight?"
Sasuke looked at the woman who squatted in front of his face, her finger tapping his chin teasingly.
"You know I can drop it atop your head, right?"
"Boring. Can you tell me how you became this strong? Did you use some kind of serum?"
"You want to know?"
"I do." She nodded with suggestive smile.
"You want to become like this too?"
"Absolutely."
"It won't be easy; it's a long and tedious journey."
"Try me."
"Alright, listen carefully."
Sasuke stabilized his stance, his eyes looking at the ground as he spoke in a very serious tone that made Ada's spine tingle in anticipation.
"100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and a 10 km run." He looked up, meeting her baffled face. "Every single day."
Ada wished she can punch his damnable face. "Just say you don't want to share."
"It's up to you whether you believe me or not. Human beings are strong because we have the ability to change ourselves."
His source? "How to Bullshit Your Way Through Hardness."
"Tsk, you are no fun; I don't care. You will eat after this? I can cook something quick."
"Nah, I'm done; be ready to leave in fifteen." He bent his legs, lowering the car, placed his palms on the ground, and then with a strong push, he tossed the plus-than-ton car in the air, then pushed himself to his feet again, and caught it again, his chakra working on steadying the car and strengthening his grip over it as he proceeded to lower it to the ground.
Ada watched this for the second time in amazement. "I can't understand how you are still single even with all those muscles and all."
Sasuke sipped his water and turned to her. "Who said I am single?"
"You aren't? Hmm... Haku?"
"Why do you even want to know?"
"Because I'm curious who is this lady that let you leave with another woman?"
"One you could never be; she knew the bigger picture and what it meant to be in a relationship with me from the start." Sasuke put the bottle back in the backpack and stretched; he really missed Katniss, but with how things kept appearing and the chaos happening all around, the only option to make sure his people aren't harmed is to keep pushing forward.
He made it clear from the start that if Katniss wanted someone that could be around all the time...he wouldn't be that.
The world is too big for him to stay holed up, and Ciri can't be left alone; thus, until he figures things out, that will be the way.
He went on to take a quick bath leaving Ada contemplating who she might be.
Ada shrugged soon losing interest; she hadn't met the ones from the prison, and Sasuke didn't seem to be talking about Maggie.
Ten minutes later Sasuke appeared once more, freshened and full due to the soldier pills he consumed.
They soon boarded their vehicles and left, keeping to their route toward Fort Benning.
><><><><><><><><><><>
"What is this?" Katniss asked as she entered the lab, her face scrunching in disgust at seeing the dissected creatures.
Haku turned to answer her, glancing toward the two bright minds working nearby. She pointed at the quadrupedal creatures on the table... "Another abnormality that was found by Sasuke-sama."
Haku, too, wanted to help, but her expertise lay in herbs and pharmaceutics.
Katniss nodded, took something, and left soon after; she hoped Sasuke was safe out there...those abnormal monsters became a new worry for them now.
The fluorescence shone above the two dissected corpses laid on stainless steel tables near to where the two doctors were standing. The smell of disinfectant and decay filled the laboratory.
Karisu studied the corpse briefly before turning to Dr. Jenner, who still couldn't believe what he saw those couple of days.
He adjusted his glasses as he focused on studying the creatures' muscular torsos before explaining to her.
"As unbelievable as that sounds, they're built for rapid movement… and not the shambling kind. Every fiber here is more powerful than any walker I'd dissected, even humans, bar the last giant abomination of course."
Kurisu nodded absently, tracing a gloved finger near one of the exposed cranial plates.
"The cortical tissue is malformed, yet… active. It's as if the mutation forced the brain to grow outward instead of inward. Almost like a brain turned inside-out."
"That would explain the heightened sensory response. Sasuke said they reacted even to bullets—actually dodged them. That's...worrisome."
Haku spoke seeing the look on Jenner's face. "You don't have to worry; I and Sasuke-sama can deal with those and keep you all safe."
"I'm not that worried about my safety; I'm worried about other survivors out there, but at least from what he told us, they didn't react to the woman he was with. That's something."
Jenner smiled stiffly and turned to check the deep fissures across the creatures' tongues. "The musculature here is absurd, his tongue could pierce a human body if the leverage is right."
Kurisu's brow furrowed. Part of her wondered why these monsters reacted only to her new boss. and nother part wondered who was behind this game.
She pulled data passing it to Jenner.
"Notice the density of the limb tendons—same reinforced collagen layering as the 'giant abomination,' but the structure is lighter. No exoskeletal support, just dense, flexible tissue. I think someone refined the mutation process."
"You think this is humans work? Aren't there similar chances of it being a natural mutation?"
"I believe it would be worse for all of us if that was a natural mutation. I'm 90% sure at least a human mind has a hand in all of this."
"Hmm, you might be right." Jenner nodded. "From what I can tell, they simplified the process here. That Giant's strain was designed for durability; these things are bred for speed. They traded armor for agility."
"Exactly," Kurisu replied, pulling up holographic overlays from her scanner. "See this pattern in the spinal protrusions? It's like the mutation sought balance between human and feral locomotion. Quadrupedal stance, but partial bipedal potential—so that it can climb or leap when necessary."
Jenner stepped closer, studying it.
"This is too much to be coincidence. Could these be branches—evolutionary types? One designated for physical strength and durability, the other for speed and maneuverability." He closed his eyes; this shit was turning disturbing by the moment.
"Maybe. That's just our speculation for now; we need more studies and samples, but it's either that or the virus itself is learning. That's still a possibility."
"Yes," Jenner nodded, pulling an example from his computer. "Some viruses can adapt to available genetic material and mold themselves into something efficient, look."
They stood there watching over the corpses and data when Jenner thought of something. He turned to the redhead he came to see as the brightest mind; she was simply a genius. He couldn't believe she was still in her twenties and yet had that exceptional knowledge and experience.
He asked Kurisu, not sure himself, "What do we call them? They can't go in the log as •mutated walker specimen type-B•. That's not very inspiring."
Kurisu looked at the massive, twitching tongue on the tray beside her and stated simply.
"Lickers. Their primary weapon is that tongue, and..." she gestured at the exposed brains—"Their hunger seems to override everything else. Like rabid dogs." She shrugged seeing Jenner chuckling.
"Lickers it is, then. It strangely fits them."