Pandemic

10:14 Hrs, September 12th

Unknown location, Scarfield

The Commander and his elite force of Cytogen employees prowled the city for the missing squad from the night before. The men were restless.

"Commander, this is stupid. The squad can't be alive. There's no way they could've survived the night. Silverstrain would've killed them."

"Alpha-Prime, not Silverstrain. Get it right." Another shot out.

"Whatever. It's a technicality."

"Silverstrain was the original creature. It became Alpha-Prime when it was infected and became, as far as we know, immortal.

"Exactly. A technicality."

"Going from a mutated experiment to a zombie controlling super creature is hardly a technicality."

"Yeah, but-"

"Ssh!" The Commander interrupted.

Everyone went silent.

Clicking, though almost mute, could be heard echoing in an alleyway 50 feet ahead of them on their left before it faded away.

They stopped, readying their weapons.

There was more clicking behind them on their right, then on their left as well.

The two way radio on the Commander's belt went off. "Commander, I think we've found where the missing squad is." It was Olivia.

The Commander lifted up his radio slowly, hypnotized by the clicking swirling around them. He caught a glimpse of an Adult sneaking on the rooftops.

"Commander are y-"

"We're here." He whispered, almost afraid to speak. "We're being ambushed. We need backup right away." He looked around quickly for a landmark. "We're near the police station. Please-" A strange growl came from one of the alleyways. "Hurry, there-" The growl flowed through the air again. "Ssh! I heard something." They waited as the growling grew louder. Finally it came out of an alleyway in front of them. "Alpha-Prime!" The Commander dropped the radio to hold the machine gun with both of his hands. He fired at it but zombies flowed out in front of it, blocking it from harm.

They came from all directions, attempting to surround the Beheader Unit.

"Run!" All of them turned and, running into the backend of the circle of zombies, emptied their clips. A very narrow pathway opened up in the mass of writhing flesh, and would be filled at any second. The men crashed through the gap, except for one. "I want a shot at that fucker." He said, jamming in another clip.

The Commander caught a final glimpse of the elite soldier. The man got off a handful of shots, but the zombies were shielding Alpha-Prime. Then he was driven down by countless blows.

Then the Commander did a double take. Why would an immortal creature be shielded? It never was before. And since when did Alpha-Prime have zombies do the hunting for it? He turned and saw why. Alpha-Prime was in the stalker stage of growth. If the alpha male was killed within it the creature would surely die. It was letting the zombies hunt for it to ensure its safety.

"Now! Reload your weapons! Alpha-Prime is a stalker! Now's our chance to end it!"

They turned to find Alpha-Prime surrounded by zombies, consuming its victim. The Beheader Unit ejected all of their empty clips and reached for their spares.

Blood splattered everywhere.

The Commander turned to find a soldier severed from his left hip to right shoulder. "No!"

Another man was sliced apart, followed by another. Through the blood he could see a spider-like creature. An Adult. "Run!" He screamed helplessly. Their chance had been lost.

The seven remaining soldiers fled for their lives.

The Adult cut another man down at the ankles, leaving the scraps for the zombies who were now following as well.

They were almost out of the city now. Ahead, the Commander could see the small specks on the horizon that were his camp.

Two blurs crashed into the group of fleeing men, knocking them all to the ground.

Two more Adults. The third reached them as well. He watched for a single instant as his men were slaughtered, then one of the Adults jumped over to him and raised its claw to finish him off.

A bullet smashed through its eye, its sole weak point, and it fell over backwards in a spurt of green blood. The blood of a mature parasite.

The Commander didn't bother trying to find his savior. He just accepted it and ran for his life, a horde of zombies and the remaining two Adults in pursuit. As he approached the encampment the sentries guarding the Guillotine Squad opened fire on the writhing mob. The Commander broke free as the opposition seemed to hit a wall, a continuous spray of lead keeping them at bay.

The zombies scattered and retreated, their numbers cut down. An Adult was dead as well.

The Commander looked up at one of the sentries as he gasped for air. "Where's the other squad?" He asked.

"We don't know. You were the only one to come back. They must still be in the city."

The Commander looked back towards the city and hoped that Olivia's squad had fared better than his.