The Predator detected nothing unusual, and the teeth-grating sound of chewing resumed below.
"Change of plan," Calista decided. "Maya, Bossie, come with me. We'll move down and eliminate it at close range.
"Everyone else, provide covering fire. If it raises its head or tries to escape, open fire immediately. Aim for the tumor and the joints."
Using the tangled pipes and the shadows cast by the steel framework as cover, the three silently climbed down from the edge of the platform and approached the monster from behind and to the side while it remained absorbed in its meal.
The closer they came, the stronger the stench of decay and blood became.
Their headlamps illuminated Frank's gruesome corpse.
Or rather, the walker he had become.
Only at this distance could Calista and the others clearly see that Corporal Frank Wilson had turned into a walker.
His gray-white, rigid face was turned toward their approach. His eyes were wide open, his pupils dilated. His right hand still clutched his empty gun, every fingernail broken, while his mouth opened and closed faintly.
The severed edge of his waist was ragged from repeated tearing by tremendous force. His spine had pierced through the skin, jutting stark white into the air with strands of muscle fiber still clinging to it.
Corporal Frank Wilson had kept fighting until the very last moment, right up until his death.
Anderson had said that the Predators did not eat humans, only Black Fire mutants.
That was not entirely correct.
Black Fire mutants were also a type of walker. The Predators did not specifically feed on Black Fire mutants.
They fed on walkers.
Corporal Frank Wilson had still been alive when they took him, so they had not eaten him. They had dragged him away instead.
He had later been killed while struggling. Once he turned, he became food for the Predator as well.
The creature was now using its slime-coated tongue to eagerly lick away the last scraps of heart muscle from between Frank's ribs.
The Frank walker stiffly turned his head. He felt no pain and was driven only by instinct to drag the remains of his body away from the Predator.
The creature gave off a presence that ordinary walkers instinctively avoided.
Growing impatient, the Predator placed one claw against his shoulder and stopped him from moving. Frank could only remain there, mindless, as the creature slowly devoured him.
Their teammate had been discarded in that filthy corner like a half-gnawed bone, left to be trampled and eaten by this vile monster.
Blazing rage surged through Calista, threatening to overwhelm her.
Her teeth ground together. Her breathing grew heavy, and hatred rose in her chest until she nearly lost control.
Beside her, Bossie shuddered violently and swallowed hard.
Maya bit down on her lower lip, her weapon trembling in her hands.
The three exchanged a glance.
Calista forced down her hatred and rested her index finger against the trigger guard. The crosshairs of her sight settled steadily over the Predator's spindle-shaped tumor. Its densely packed grooves suggested it might contain the creature's central nervous system.
Bossie aimed at the comparatively vulnerable shoulder joint, while Maya covered the gap between the pipes on the left, the most likely escape route.
Behind their gas masks, all three kept their breathing as quiet as possible.
Twenty-five meters.
Twenty meters.
The Predator suddenly stopped gnawing on the ribs.
It did not raise its head or turn the tumor, but its entire body went rigid. The scrap of flesh in its mouth fell silently onto Frank's ruined chest.
A chill crept up Calista's spine, the unmistakable feeling of being targeted by a predator.
It had sensed them.
The next instant, the Predator violently twisted its featureless "head." The countless grooves across its spindle-shaped tumor opened and closed rapidly as it instantly locked onto Calista's position.
Though it had no eyes, Calista could clearly feel a vicious gaze piercing the darkness and fixing itself on her.
The creature braced itself on its hind legs and slowly raised its heavily developed crystalline bone-blade forelimbs. Thick fluid mixed with Frank's blood dripped from the tips of its claws.
It was preparing to attack.
All three tensed.
Then, in that split second, the Predator's tumor abruptly shifted toward the general position of Bossie and Maya behind Calista.
The grooves across its surface began opening and closing at a frantic rate. It seemed to have detected the other team members, and its attack stopped short.
Without hesitation, it swung its raised forelimb.
Its target was not Calista.
It struck the remains of the Frank walker beneath its claws.
"Whoosh. Smack!"
Frank's mangled upper body was hurled through the air with tremendous force, becoming a horrifying projectile of flesh and blood aimed directly at Calista.
Shredded organs and foul bodily fluids scattered through the air, blocking her vision and line of fire.
At the same time, the Predator unleashed the tremendous power of its hind legs and sprang backward into a narrow gap between the pipes. It moved so quickly that only a dark blur remained.
"Fuck! Fire!"
A roar tore from Calista's throat as she twisted aside, avoiding the remains of her fallen teammate. Her eyes were ice-cold.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Bullets chased the fleeing blur into the narrow gap. Most struck the metal pipes, sending sparks flying.
Calista was the closest, however. Even as she dodged, her exceptional reflexes and weapon control allowed her to fire a precise short burst.
"Thud! Thud!"
Two bullets punched into several deep fissures near the end of the creature's tumor as they opened and closed violently.
Two small bursts of thick black-green fluid erupted from the wounds, mixed with what appeared to be nerve tissue.
"Screeech—!!!"
A brief, piercing shriek erupted from deep within the pipes, nearly tearing at their eardrums.
Yet the monster barely slowed.
The rustling sound rapidly faded into the distance, disappearing into the tangled maze of pipes. Only a few drops of black-green fluid remained on the floor, sizzling as they corroded the surface.
"It got away!"
Maya and Bossie panted, their weapons still aimed toward the gap where the monster had vanished, shock written across their faces.
The Predator possessed exceptionally keen senses.
It had feinted an attack, created an obstruction, and then escaped without hesitation.
Its instinct for evaluating danger and protecting itself went far beyond anything they understood about walkers or ordinary mutants.
Calista slowly walked over to what remained of the Frank walker and knelt beside him.
Mindless and unaware, Frank snarled and reached toward her.
Calista paused, then carefully drew her dagger. She gently placed her left hand against his forehead and swiftly ended his suffering with her right.
She raised her head. Her eyes were red, but no tears fell.
"Corporal Frank Wilson. Anderson. We won't forget what happened to you. We will wipe out every one of these monsters."
Jenson and the others arrived from behind. They stared mournfully at the remains of their fallen teammate, but no one spoke.
The horrific sight made Honeywell gag several times. He looked around nervously and asked in a trembling voice, "That thing seemed smarter than the Claw mutants. It knew how to assess a threat. So... now that it's wounded, will it alert the others?"
The thought sent a chill down everyone's spine.
"We're out of time. We have to move faster than whatever it might bring here."
Calista stood and looked at Frank's mutilated remains. Grief flickered in her eyes, then was quickly replaced by determination.
"Jenson, leave the highest-level danger marker and identification code. Record that we encountered a new type of mutant, and mark Frank's... location.
"We can't take him with us yet."
...
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