Chapter 238
Chapter 238
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Escape
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-Rumble...
A heavy explosion rocked the room violently.
The bed creaked under the force.
I woke up.
'Earthquake?'
"Wh-what's going on?!"
Carrie, who had been sleeping soundly beside me, bolted upright in shock.
"Time to find out."
Carrie and I quickly dressed and stepped into the corridor.
The others had already emerged, looking baffled as they tried to figure out what had happened.
Grace met my eyes and gave a subtle silent greeting, but she awkwardly averted her gaze.
'Embarrassed about last night?'
Jessica approached us.
"Let's check the security room."
We headed to the security room and scanned the surveillance camera feeds.
"Here."
At Jessica's words, one screen enlarged.
It showed the elevator we'd arrived in.
The thick metal doors were slightly pried apart. Through the gap, writhing black flesh was visible, bits of raw meat glinting.
-Screeech!!
The gap in the doors was widening.
Jessica tapped her tablet and spoke.
"I've sealed off that elevator sector. But as you can see, it won't hold for long. No time left. We escape now."
-Boom!
The elevator doors burst open like torn paper, flesh spilling inside. Then the camera feed went black.
"Hurry."
Jessica's face grew grave as she watched the screen.
We grasped the severity of the situation, prepared hastily, and gathered at the entrance to the sealed train platform.
No maggots here, but zombies swarmed the place.
-Boom!
The lights flickered with the vibration.
The flesh monster was trying to break through the lab's sealed zones.
Jessica, working her tablet, said,
"Opening it."
"Hold on."
Jessica looked at me puzzled as I stopped her.
Mana flowed from me, enveloping me and the group in mana armor.
"Hero suit!"
Carrie shouted excitedly.
She seemed to love the mana armor.
She was so thrilled—maybe when we returned to our world, I should buy her a real hero suit?
"H-Hero suit? What's this?"
Jessica examined the mana armor coating her body with fascination.
"My superpower. As long as you've got it, even a zombie bite won't be a big deal."
"I figured there might be other superpowered folks besides you, Edward... but this is incredible. Wish we had time to talk more, but no such luck. Open the door."
The group nodded at Jessica's words.
-Hiss!
With a pneumatic hiss, the sealed train platform doors slid open. The zombies filling the platform turned their gazes toward us in unison.
"Kraaaagh!!"
The zombies screeched like madmen and charged at us en masse.
Edward started things off.
He unleashed his power, scattering flames around.
Dozens of oncoming zombies burst into fire.
But there were still plenty more.
Zombies in the back shoved their burning comrades aside and pressed forward.
Grace, Philip, and Richard surged ahead, massacring the zombies outright.
With mana armor, bites were no threat.
They could move without restraint.
These people, who had cowered pathetically on the surface, were unstoppable against underground zombies.
We bulldozed through the zombies and pushed deeper inside.
"With this many superpowers, zombies are no big deal. Hiyah!"
Carrie rammed her fist into a zombie's mouth, shattering it.
"C-Carrie! Stay back!"
Philip yelled in horror at the sight.
"Don't worry, Philip. Look, I'm fine."
Carrie casually showed her unscathed hand.
Mana armor didn't boost physical strength that much.
Yet Carrie dispatched the zombie effortlessly.
A normal woman without special training couldn't smash a zombie like that even with mana armor.
Philip didn't seem to realize it, but Carrie's feat was a precursor to awakening.
There were many zombies, but with mana armor and four superpowered allies besides me, we broke through the horde smoothly.
Once we descended to the tracks, it got even easier.
Not as dense as the platform entrance.
We followed the train tunnel toward our goal.
-Rumble...
A collapsing sound echoed from behind. Sounded like the flesh monster tearing up the underground lab.
The group's pace quickened at the noise.
We dispatched sporadic zombies as we went for a while...
-Grrrrrind!!
A grinding sound like something forcing its way through, and the ground vibrated.
I slowed and moved to the rear, peering into the dark tunnel end.
Darkness was no obstacle for me.
Filling the tunnel from the end came a massive flesh mass. Its skin bristled with countless bulging eyeballs—a grotesque sight.
This thing felt different from the flesh monsters we'd seen before.
"It's coming. Run!"
I shouted to the group, scooped Jessica and Carrie under my arms, and bolted.
"What the—"
Jessica started to protest being suddenly hoisted and carried, but trailed off.
She'd seen the huge eyes approaching from the darkness behind.
The others glanced back at my warning and blanched at the flesh monster filling the tunnel, sprinting desperately.
As we fled from the flesh monster, Edward started lagging.
He had the worst stamina here, excluding Carrie and Jessica.
Inevitable.
"Edward, what are you doing?! Run!"
Jessica, slung over my shoulder, yelled at him. Her tone was rough, but worry laced her voice.
"Huff! Huff! S-sis..."
'Can't just ditch him, huh?'
Jessica's brother.
Abandoning him could sour her opinion of me.
Ahead, the tunnel widened.
A platform.
Not far to the goal now.
Close enough for Carrie and Jessica to run on their own.
I set them down.
"Un-ho?"
Carrie called questioningly.
"Go on ahead."
Carrie flinched at my words but nodded and ran forward.
Jessica hesitated, worried for her brother, but nodded at my silent look and dashed off.
She had to be anxious about Edward.
Yet her judgment was swift. She knew she couldn't help much by staying.
Edward came panting into view.
"Hah... hah... U-Un-ho, sir..."
No way was I carrying a guy like that.
I grabbed Edward's arm.
"Huh?"
He looked baffled as I seized it.
I hurled him forward toward the group.
"Gahhh!!"
He rocketed past the others, tumbling across the ground.
Nearby zombies pounced on him.
"S-save me!!"
What a wimp.
With mana armor, he wouldn't get hurt.
He could use his powers, but panic had him curled up fetal.
The group, led by Grace, rushed in and cleared the zombies off him.
"You idiot. Quit whining and get up."
"Uh? Oh..."
Edward stood sheepishly, scolded by Jessica.
-Roooar!!
The massive flesh mass surged forward.
I extended my senses—no mana stone detected.
'The main body after all?'
Its form suggested it might be the source tentacles sprouted from.
I lobbed several incendiary grenades at the oncoming mass.
-Fwooom!!
The grenades detonated, engulfing the flesh in flames.
-Shrieeek!!
It screeched in agony from the intense heat, faltering. Its speed dropped sharply.
I hadn't expected to take it down this way. Buying time for the group's escape was enough.
I kept hurling incendiaries while running.
Even wreathed in flames, the flesh tentacles doggedly pursued.
A wide space appeared—the train platform.
Underground logistics warehouse.
Our destination to reach the surface.
"Un-ho!!"
Grace urgently called from the half-open barrier door.
The others had already gone inside.
I glanced at the sluggishly pursuing flesh, tossed a few more grenades, and slid through the half-open door.
-Thud.
The door sealed shut behind me.
-KABOOM!
The thick metal barrier creaked from the flesh monster's impact.
No time to relax.
It wouldn't hold long either.
We all sensed it and raced up the stairs without pause toward the surface.