Cody's body went rigid, every muscle tensing up as the cold, hard barrel of a gun was trained on him.
His eyes locked onto the threatening soldier, the world narrowing to that perilous moment, his heart a frenzied drum in his chest.
The words, a death sentence, formed on the soldier's lips, "F-"
Suddenly, like a gust of wind, Aya sprang into action. With dexterity and agility, she snatched a nearby garbage can lid, using it as an impromptu shield.
With a powerful swing, she slammed it into the soldier, causing him to stagger back. But the immediate danger wasn't the only threat they faced.
The all-too-familiar guttural snarl reached Aya's ears from a nearby alley, and as she peeked in, her heart sank. No less than five of those abominable creatures lurked in the shadows, hungry and restless.
With a wily smirk, Aya kicked a car, sending a resounding clang echoing through the streets.
In the ensuing chaos, the soldier pivoted towards her, pulling the trigger, and the bullet ricocheted off the vehicle with a deafening ping.
Breaking free from his paralyzing fear, Cody sprang into action. His crowbar cut through the air, smashing into the soldier's knee with a sickening crunch, eliciting a scream of agony.
In one fluid motion, Cody scooped up the soldier's assault rifle, weighing it in his hand for a moment before letting loose a hail of bullets.
The gun's recoil jolted him, his shots going astray, drawing more unwanted attention.
While a few bullets found their mark, injuring but not felling the soldiers, some stray bullets hit the relentless monsters that had started to flood the streets.
With a fierce kick, Cody sent the wounded soldier sprawling to the ground, unconscious.
But when he turned to Aya's direction, his heart plummeted. The few monsters in the alleyway had now turned into a horde, a relentless wave of terror.
As one of the monsters lunged at a soldier, another soldier bravely tried to fend off the advancing creature.
Mr. Peterson, assessing the situation, took careful aim and fired a shot.
The bullet pierced the soldier's neck, causing a chilling gurgle as blood spurted. The soldier crumpled, collapsing against a nearby car, leaving a morbid smear of red.
With a grotesque tilt of its head, the monster sunk its teeth into the wounded soldier, a symphony of snarls and anguished screams filling the air.
The last soldier, on the verge of madness, leveled his gun at Hayden and screamed in terror, "We are all dead! WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE!" His ranting grew more frenetic, "YOU KIDS ARE ALL FUC-”
But before the words could fully leave his mouth, Ed emerged from the shadows, machete in hand.
With an unwavering determination, he brought the blade down with all his might, cleaving through the soldier's helmet.
The sickening sound of metal meeting flesh was followed by the thud of a lifeless body hitting the pavement.
Shaking off the blood from his blade, Ed seized the fallen soldier's gun.
With a marksman's precision, he dispatched the remaining soldiers one by one, each shot lethal and exact.
Mr. Peterson, still reeling from the rapid turn of events, steadied himself, and fired another round at the advancing monstrosity, causing it to slump lifelessly to the ground.
Amid the chaos and the scuffling, Cody's voice rang out like a clarion call, panic evident in his tone, "We have to leave!"
He deftly shoved one of the approaching monstrosities away, struggling to put distance between them. Every fibre of his being resisted the urge to kill; he was paralyzed by fear.
From the periphery of his vision, Rose sprinted into the fray. With a fierce battle cry, she yelled.
"GET AWAY!" Mustering all her strength, she brought her baseball bat down with such ferocity that it crushed the creature's skull in a single, brutal strike, blood splattering in a macabre spray.
Cody, still grappling with his internal turmoil, managed to fend off another biter with his crowbar.
However, in his frantic attempt, the crowbar inadvertently pierced through the creature's chest.
This action momentarily staggered him, rendering him vulnerable to the advancing horde.
Out of nowhere, Aya leaped into the fray, skillfully driving her knife deep into one of the monster's heads, its dark blood oozing out.
Without missing a beat, she scavenged the nearby body, preparing for the next wave. "You don't need to kill any; I'll protect you," she reassured Cody with a brave smile, stabbing yet another biter with precision.
Hayden, sensing his brother's distress, surged forward, taking down one of the monsters with a swift stab of his knife.
"BITERS!" he cried out, echoing the name that had now become synonymous with these monstrosities.
Rose, hearing Hayden, shouted a warning, "BITERS BEHIND SPIKE!" In response, Spike and Bandy, their claws unsheathed and gleaming, unleashed their fury on the advancing creatures, their primal growls adding to the cacophony of battle.
With unerring accuracy, Mr. Peterson fired off rounds from his gun, each shot finding its mark.
Turning to Ed, he marveled, "How do you know how to shoot like that?" Ed's response was succinct, "Veteran." He then continued his lethal onslaught with practiced ease.
However, despite their best efforts, the group was on the brink of being overwhelmed. The situation took a graver turn when a familiar voice, laden with malice, pierced the air.
"YOU KIDS KILLED THEM," the soldier whom Cody had previously knocked out raged, aiming his gun directly at Cody, venom dripping from each word.
As the soldier's finger twitched on the trigger, a sudden, deafening electronic whirl echoed through the streets.
"TAKE COVER!" Ed's voice was urgent, and the group instinctively dropped to the ground.
In the ensuing moments, a relentless barrage of gunfire tore through the approaching horde.
The bullets, an unyielding rain of death, reduced the monsters to lifeless heaps. The deranged soldier was caught in the crossfire, his body shredded to pieces.
Amid the smoke and debris, a figure clad in sleek black armor emerged, brandishing a menacing mace.
With a warrior's grace, he swung it, taking down monsters with every strike.
"GOOD JOB LADS!" he bellowed with a chuckle. "RAVEN TO YOUR RIGHT!" A voice shouted, but Raven, the armored figure, responded with swift precision, taking down another biter.
From the smoke, a woman approached, a child-like bear demi-human clinging to her back.
The demi-human, spotting a biter behind Cody, exclaimed, "Monster here!" Without hesitation, the woman pulled out her pistol and fired, the bullet hitting its target with deadly accuracy.
