Chapter 12: The NestSam barely had time to process what he was seeing before Carter yanked him by the colr and pulled him into a sprint. The depot had become a hunting ground, and they had just walked straight into it.

  The mutated infected were unlike anything Sam had seen before. They were fast, moving on all fours, their spines twisted at unnatural angles. Their eyes glowed with a sickly yellow hue, and their jaws hung open, revealing rows of jagged, rotting teeth.

  And there were dozens of them.

  The first one lunged, smming into a rusted-out vehicle just inches from Sam. Its cws tore through the metal like it was paper.

  “Inside! NOW!” Carter bellowed.

  Sam didn’t hesitate. He sprinted toward the depot’s entrance, dodging debris and bodies. The others were right behind him, gunfire exploding in bursts as Carter and Grace tried to hold the creatures back.

  One of the mutants shrieked and leaped toward Grace. She dropped to one knee and fired, bsting its head clean off. Its body colpsed mid-air, skidding across the pavement.

  Sam reached the steel door of the depot and smmed his shoulder into it. It didn’t budge.

  “Locked!” he shouted.

  “Move!” Carter shoved past him and raised his shotgun. BOOM!

  The lock shattered.

  Sam threw the door open, and they all piled inside just as the creatures closed in.

  The second they were through, Carter grabbed the door and smmed it shut, barricading it with a nearby metal beam.

  Outside, the creatures howled and shrieked, their cws raking against the steel. The entire door shook under the force of their bodies smming into it.

  Sam backed away, his heart pounding. “What the hell were those things?”

  Grace wiped blood off her face. “Something worse.”

  Carter turned, scanning the dark interior of the depot. “We’re not safe yet.”

  He was right.

  Because the inside of the depot was just as dangerous as the outside.

  Inside the Lion’s DenThe depot was huge—a massive warehouse with towering metal shelves, overturned supply crates, and old military gear scattered across the floor.

  The air was thick with the stench of death.

  Sam took a cautious step forward, his boots crunching over shattered gss. The only light came from the moon filtering through broken windows, casting eerie shadows across the walls.

  Grace pointed toward a row of old storage lockers. “Let’s see what we’re dealing with.”

  They moved quickly, staying low. Every noise felt too loud, every breath too sharp.

  Sam opened the first locker. Empty.

  The second one. More dust.

  The third—jackpot.

  “Got something,” he whispered, pulling out a military-grade backpack filled with MREs, water bottles, and ammunition.

  Carter grabbed it and slung it over his shoulder. “Good. Keep looking.”

  They spread out, scavenging through the depot, grabbing anything useful.

  Then Sam heard it.

  A faint, wet breathing.

  He froze.

  Somewhere in the darkness… something was moving.

  His grip on his bat tightened.

  “Guys,” he whispered. “We’re not alone.”

  Grace turned, rifle raised. “Where?”

  A soft growl echoed through the depot.

  Then—a shape moved in the shadows.

  It was an infected. But not like the ones outside.

  This one was huge.

  Seven feet tall, its body covered in bloated, pulsating tumors. Its skin was cracked and stretched, its muscles unnaturally rge.

  And its head…

  Its head was barely human anymore, its jaw split open like a grotesque flower, rows of teeth lining its gaping mouth.

  Sam’s stomach twisted.

  Carter’s voice was tight. “What the hell is that?”

  Grace whispered, “Something we don’t want to fight.”

  The creature turned toward them.

  It sniffed the air.

  Then its dead eyes locked onto Sam.

  It charged.

  The Titan“MOVE!”

  Sam barely had time to react before the Titan smmed into the shelves where he had been standing. The impact sent crates and metal beams crashing down, kicking up a cloud of dust and debris.

  Sam hit the ground hard, rolling to avoid a falling crate. His ears were ringing, his vision blurry.

  Carter fired. BOOM!

  The shotgun bst hit the Titan square in the chest.

  It didn’t even flinch.

  Grace opened fire, bullets ripping into its bloated flesh—but instead of dropping, it just screamed, a guttural, earsplitting sound that made Sam’s blood turn cold.

  The creature swung its massive arm, hitting Carter with full force.

  Carter flew back, crashing through a pile of crates. He didn’t move.

  Sam’s heart stopped.

  “CARTER!”

  The Titan turned its attention to Grace, its head tilting unnaturally.

  Grace fired again, but the bullets barely slowed it down.

  Sam knew they had seconds before it killed them both.

  Then he saw it.

  An old fuel barrel, half-hidden behind a pile of debris.

  “Grace! Cover me!”

  Without waiting for an answer, Sam sprinted toward the barrel.

  The Titan let out a guttural snarl and turned toward him.

  Sam grabbed a rusted fre gun off the floor and yanked it open.

  One shot.

  One chance.

  The Titan charged, its massive footsteps shaking the ground.

  Sam raised the fre gun—aimed for the barrel—and fired.

  BOOM!

  The explosion ripped through the depot, sending fire and metal shrapnel in every direction. Sam was thrown backward, hitting the ground hard. His ears rang, the world spinning.

  For a moment, everything was silent.

  Then—a sickening, wet gurgle.

  Sam looked up.

  The Titan was still standing.

  But its body was on fire, its tumors bursting like rotten fruit. It staggered, letting out one final, blood-curdling scream before it colpsed.

  Sam let out a shaky breath.

  It was dead.

  The AftermathGrace rushed to Carter’s side, shaking him. “Carter! Come on, wake up.”

  He groaned, slowly sitting up. “That thing… hit like a truck.”

  Sam exhaled, exhaustion washing over him.

  They had survived.

  But they weren’t safe yet.

  Because outside, beyond the depot’s walls…

  More mutants were coming.

  And Marcus?

  Marcus was still out there.

  And Sam had the sinking feeling that their deal wasn’t over yet.