Chapter 8: The giant
IAN
The moment we reached the coastal sector, the rain started. Not a downpour.
Not the kind of storm that battered buildings apart or turned the sky black.
This was worse. A thin, steady rain drifted over the coastline, creating a dense layer of fog above the water. The mist rolled across the shore like a living thing, swallowing the world piece by piece until visibility dropped to almost nothing. I felt a chill crawl down my spine. Something about it felt wrong. The coastline had always been dangerous. Today it felt like the ocean itself was hiding something. Ahead of us, Hog took point. His FN SCAR-H rested low in his hands, ready to fire at a moment's notice as he advanced through the ruined terrain. The rest of us mirrored him. Weapons raised. Eyes scanning. Finger near the trigger. Waiting.
Watching. Hog didn't slow his pace.
"We're splitting into teams." His voice carried clearly despite the rain. "Thomas, you're with me." He pointed. "Ian, Dameon, and Rhys. You're a unit." His gaze swept across the remaining soldiers. "The rest of you organize yourselves accordingly."
Nobody questioned the order. Nobody ever questioned Hog in the field. He paused long enough to make sure every soldier was paying attention. Then his voice hardened. "Rules of engagement are simple." The fog swirled around us. "If it moves, we neutralize it." No hesitation.
No mercy. "If you hear a sound nearby, engage immediately. If the sound comes from farther out, move toward it and investigate." His grip tightened around his rifle. "Fear isn't an option." The words hit hard. "This is what we signed up for." Rain dripped from his shoulders. "If we die carrying out this mission, then so be it." His eyes darkened. "But those sons of bitches don't walk away from us." The hatred in his voice wasn't unique. Every man standing there carried that same hatred. Some tightened their grip on their rifles. Others exchanged silent glances. We had all lost someone. Parents. Children. Friends. Brothers. Lovers. The infected had taken too much. Hog continued. "If a swarm starts moving toward you, your best chance of survival is to hold your ground."
A grim silence followed. "Do not run." The rain tapped against my rifle. "Do not panic."
His eyes narrowed. "The moment you move, they pick up your scent." My stomach tightened. "Worse, they sense fear." The fog suddenly felt colder. "And once they've locked onto that..." Hog shook his head. "You're already dead."
Nobody laughed. Nobody spoke. Even the veterans looked uneasy. Then came the part none of us wanted to hear. Hog's jaw clenched. "And listen carefully." His voice lowered. "If one of our own gets turned through some unfortunate twist of fate..."
I already knew where this was going. I hated it. "...we do not act like emotional idiots." My throat tightened. "The second they're infected, they're no longer our friends." Silence. "They're no longer our brothers." Every soldier stared at him. "The people we knew are gone." My hands tightened around my rifle. Hog's expression became stone. "So don't hesitate." The words landed like a hammer. "Put a round through their skull and end it." Nobody moved. The weight of that order hung over us like a funeral shroud. Several seconds passed. Then Hog barked: "Roger that?"
Nothing. The squad remained frozen. Every man wrestling with the same impossible reality. Then Hog exploded. "ROGER THAT?!" The response came instantly.
"ROGER THAT!" Our voices thundered through the fog. The mission had begun.
The moment the briefing ended, the teams dispersed. Within seconds the fog swallowed us whole. "Dameon," Rhys called over comms. "A few teams are moving west. Others east. Rear teams are securing our backline." A pause. "We're heading toward the shoreline." "Roger that," I replied. "Roger that," Dameon echoed. And we moved. The deeper we pushed into the coastline, the worse visibility became. The world turned gray.
Shapes became shadows. Shadows became guesses. Then the rain intensified.
At first I ignored it. Then my skin started burning. I frowned. "What the fuck..."
The sting spread across my arms. Across my neck. I looked down. My stomach dropped. The rain was eating through my uniform. Slowly. But undeniably. Tiny holes appeared across the fabric. The material was dissolving. I stared in horror. If this continued, our gear would be gone within an hour at max . Maybe less. And after that? The rain would start eating us. I immediately grabbed my radio. "All units, listen up." Static crackled. "The rain is acidic." Silence. Then immediate responses. "I repeat, the rain is acidic." My voice sharpened. "Whatever objective you're working on, accelerate it." I glanced upward. The rain hissed against nearby metal. "If we stay exposed too long, this weather will melt us alive." Acknowledgments flooded the channel.
"Roger." , "Copy." , "Understood." Every team increased pace. The water eventually reached our knees. Cold. Murky. Impossible to see through. Then Rhys suddenly raised a fist. We froze instantly.
I looked at him. His face had gone pale. Slowly, he pointed downward. Toward the water. His lips barely moved. "Guys..." I followed his gaze. The water shifted. A ripple. Tiny. Almost invisible. "I think something's moving underneath us." A chill ran through me. Dameon saw it too. Without speaking, the three of us altered course. Another ripple appeared. Closer.
Training took over. Weapons raised. Safety off. Finger on trigger. The instant movement appeared again . We fired.
Gunfire erupted. Muzzle flashes illuminated the fog. The water exploded. And something rose from beneath it. My eyes widened. "What..." The thing towered above us. Twelve feet. Maybe more. For a moment my brain refused to process what I was seeing. Then I noticed the bodies.
Dozens of infected. Forty. Maybe fifty.
Attached to it. Fused into its flesh.
Covering its massive frame like living armor.
And beneath all of them... The central infected. The actual creature. At least eight feet tall by itself. My mind reeled. That's impossible. We've never seen anything like this. Rhys immediately grabbed his radio.
"All units!" His voice cracked. "Emergency contact!" The giant roared. "We have a swarm!" The water churned around it. "Not just a swarm!" The thing stepped forward.
"We've got a giant infected!" Confused responses flooded comms. But soldiers were already redirecting toward us. The giant advanced. I immediately aimed for its head. The brain. The only reliable kill zone.
Years ago a bullet through the skull was enough. Not anymore. Now complete destruction was often required. I fired.
The giant moved. The bullet missed. I froze.
The thing had dodged. Cleanly. My heartbeat stopped. No. I whispered against my breath No, no, no. That wasn't normal. The infected weren't supposed to think. They weren't supposed to anticipate.
They weren't supposed to react like that. I aimed again. Then my eyes drifted toward the infected fuse onto its body. Suddenly everything clicked. My blood ran cold.
It's eating them. The attached infected weren't armor. They were food. A constant source of biomass. A supply of flesh. Fuel.
The giant was feeding on its own kind. Rhys and Dameon shifted their attention toward the smaller infected now flooding the shoreline. I remained locked onto the giant. The creature grew more aggressive.
More desperate. It was losing its food source. And it hated it. What terrified me most wasn't its size. It was its speed. Creatures that large weren't supposed to move like that. Yet it crossed the distance with frightening efficiency. Several infected fell from its body. Others emerged from beneath the water. More. And more. And more. Within moments there were nearly sixty infected advancing alongside it. Sixty infected. One giant. Three soldiers. I fired again. The giant dodged again. A cold sweat rolled down my neck. The acidic rain continued burning through my uniform. My skin stung. Every second outside made things worse. This is bad. This is really bad.
Then my eyes landed on something near the shoreline. A sharpened wooden pole.
An idea formed instantly. Without hesitation, I sprinted toward it. By then reinforcements had arrived. Gunfire erupted everywhere. Soldiers flooded the battlefield. The smaller infected started dropping. But the giant kept moving. Bullets hammered into its chest. Its shoulders. Its legs. Nothing stopped it.
Nothing. I grabbed the pole. There was only one option left. A stupid one. A suicidal one. But an option. I'd have to get close. Close enough to drive the pole straight through its skull. Then I saw something that froze my blood. Rhys. The giant had him. My heart stopped. Rhys dangled helplessly from the creature's massive hand. His throat had been torn open. Not completely severed. But close.
Far too close. The wound was horrific. My stomach lurched. For a second I thought I was going to throw up. Then the giant tossed him aside like trash. Something inside me snapped. Completely. I ran.
Faster than I had ever run before. The world became noisy. Shouting. Gunfire.
Rain. Screams. "IAN, DON'T!" "FALL BACK!" , "THAT'S AN ORDER!" I ignored every word. Hog's voice echoed inside my head. Even if we die... we don't spare the bastards. Then another voice. Mary. Soft.
Warm. The complete opposite of this nightmare. Come home safely, Ian. And I'll make your favorite dish. Then I saw Rhys again. Motionless. The giant turned toward me. I kept running. The creature reacted instantly. It's an enormous hand shot straight at me . Before I could dodge, its fingers wrapped around my body. The pressure nearly crushed my ribs. Then it lifted me. Higher. Higher. Toward its face.
Toward its jaws. Toward death. Exactly where I wanted to be. The giant opened its mouth. I drove the sharpened pole forward with every ounce of strength I had left. The tip punched through flesh. Through bone.
Through skull. The giant convulsed violently. Its grip was released. I fell. Pain exploded through my back as I slammed into the ground. I gasped. Great. Probably broke something. The surrounding soldiers immediately saw the opening. They didn't hesitate. Gunfire erupted. Then blades.
Axes. Knives. Anything capable of severing flesh. The giant staggered. Collapsed. And finally Its head came off. The enormous body crashed into the shoreline. Dead.
Finally dead. The victory lasted only seconds. The rain had nearly destroyed our uniforms. Exposed skin blistered.
Several soldiers were already suffering chemical burns. Staying outside any longer wasn't an option. "Move!" someone shouted. "Find shelter!" Nobody argued.
Nobody hesitated. The surviving soldiers regrouped immediately. Exhausted. Injured.
Shaken. And carrying the weight of what we had just witnessed. As we disappeared into the fog searching desperately for cover, one thought echoed endlessly inside my mind: If the infected were evolving...
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Then this nightmare was only the beginning.
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and then Add to home screen.