~ Chapter 12: Mutated Nano-Z ~

[Kardian’s point of view]

The road was crowded with cars and the dead bodies of humans who at one point lived around these parts. From time to time, one of them would try to get up but would then be immediately silenced by my retractable blade. The core in his brain would be extracted and then I would calmly continue to move forward. Life seemed to have vanished from this place and the low guttural growls of the Nano-Z sent chills down my spine.

“It feels so weird to see the streets like this...” I said as I stopped at an intersection where a flying tank had crashed in a truck.

On each side of the street there were signs that a terrible battle took place here. There were upturned cars and piles of bodies everywhere. The most numerous ones being the soldiers, but from what I could see, once the Nano-Z started to attack, the battle slowly tipped against the army’s favor as their old comrades would rise up from the dead and attack them. This was a war of attrition in which the humans found defeat.

“Why did the army lose here?” I wondered out loud as I approached another flying tank which was simply turned to the side by some powerful force.

“It was most likely a horde of Nano-Z.” came Xerya’s reply.

“A horde? Even so, it shouldn’t have been a problem for the army, right?” I asked raising an eyebrow and then pointing at the tank in the middle of the intersection.

“Depends on the number. I presume that a large number simply overwhelmed them despite the fact that they had a greater firepower.”

“In other words, if I am to fight a horde, I have to do it in a controlled environment where they can’t just rush at me in a straight line?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Yes. I would recommend hit and run tactics, since, if you try to stand your ground, this strategy will have a high chance of failing.” she replied.

“I’ll keep that in mind... High ground wins the battle, hit and run tactics guarantees it.” I nodded.

From there, we moved towards the bridge that went over two major highways and connected this side of the city with the one in the North. In theory, there were supposed to be a lot of Nano-Z there, but I was ready for them... or so I thought.

“There aren’t that many of them, are there?” I asked as I poked a dead Nano-Z in the head.

“The core was extracted.” Xerya pointed out.

“Yeah, I noticed that... Could survivors be collecting them or something?” I asked.

“I doubt it. Rather than humans, I believe there is a higher chance for a Mutated Type to be the main culprit.” she told me.

“That would be scary. Can we take them on?”

“They are mildly more powerful and aggressive than a normal Nano-Z, but it’s doable. What I find odd, however, is this ‘uncomfortable feeling’ you kept mentioning.”

“Well, I can’t help it if I keep feeling like I’m being stared at...”

“I have already run a full-range scan, but I didn’t detect anything. I’m currently checking your visual sensors and eye nerves to see if there are any errors.” she explained in a more roundabout way that it was all in my head.

“Riiight...” I said and then looked back.

Maybe it was because the city felt abandoned that I was starting to see and hear things, after all the Nano-Z didn’t move until you got close enough to them or when for some reason they were startled by a noise or sensed a human nearby. This made it easier for survivors to lure them into traps and even distract them while they fled from an area. I read on the net that some of the camps in other cities took it upon themselves to use this knowledge in order to get rid of as many of them as possible. Cleaning up the city was a good idea, but when there were millions of Nano-Z and maybe no more than a hundred thousand of survivors per city, it made it sound more like a noble dream than anything. After all, it wasn’t as if there weren’t any raiders in other places, most of them simply didn’t make a big deal out of it and announced their presence everywhere.

To reach Resonance High, I had to cross the main highways which split the city in half. Normally, there were several passageways including underground ones which allowed for easy access no matter from which side you came, however, given the current circumstances, most of them had either been blocked or forced to collapse. I understood the logic of wanting to keep the hordes away, but in doing so, it also blocked off the remaining survivors on the other side.

The usual bridge I took seemed to be in a good shape, with only a bunch of cars piled up on it, most of which had been in some sort of accident and only a few completely destroyed. As I made my way up on the bridge, I began to notice that something was amiss. I was expecting this place to be crawling with Nano-Z, but instead I barely spotted one or two corpses and even those were trapped in their cars because they either changed inside or got stuck between the bent metals. It looked as though someone or something went through the trouble of killing off all of them, and they did it in the most gruesome and disturbing way possible. The entire area was splattered with enough blood to turn. The cars were also looked weird, some of them had been pushed to the side while others got dragged closer to the middle of the road, forming a maze of some sort. Since I was stronger than the average human, I didn’t have to follow the maze, so I just jumped off on top of the cars and then used them as platforms.

Eventually, I reached the place that appeared to be the center of a massacre, where the remains of countless survivors and Nano-Z could be seen. It looked like some sort of a nest made with blood and guts, but the most disturbing thing was the fact that from here on, the bridge was blocked off by several cars and buses that had been dragged and piled up there intentionally.

“Xerya, what do you think?” I asked as I looked up at the wall of steel painted with blood and noticed the bodies of the dead Nano-Z hanging from them.

“There are no cores to be found here. Warning! I suspect this to be the work of a Mutated Zombie that’s undergoing change to a Researcher Zombie. I advise to proceed with caution.”

Not even a second after her warning, my sensors all fired up and detected something approaching me fast.

I had but a split second to lift my right hand up and use the cores stuck there to block the attack. A bunch of them flew off as a result, but I was safe. The impact, however, threw me back next to the ledge.

“GRRR!!!” the thing that attacked me was hideous.

There was a big bulge coming out of its head that looked like a metal ball, dirty hair, an eye that didn’t work, twisted metal teeth, and cracked dirty skin that looked as though it was about to flake off. Before I had a chance to look at this creature better, I felt it trying to dig deeper into my arm and bite off, so I had no choice but to kick it in its bulging stomach as hard as I could and toss it over the ledge, however, it grabbed on me with its hand with two long fingers, and we both fell on the highways below.

My body smashed hard against the rooftop of a car while that creature fell on the pavement next to me. If it wasn’t for Xerya’s modification done to my body, I wouldn’t have been able to survive this landing, however, I wasn’t the only one. With a guttural growl, that thing got up and looked my way. I barely managed to push myself off the car’s rooftop when I heard it screeching and running towards me. I immediately unsheathed my blade and attacked it, but the creature dodged by a hair’s length and then took some distance from me.

We were now staring each other down, and I finally got the chance to take a better look at whatever attacked me.

This Mutated Nano-Z was taller than the average human, it had a monstrous shape with a malformed head, saggy breasts, a bulging belly, long arms with two elongated fingers on each hand, spikes sprouting out of her back, and a flaky gray skin that reminded me of old paint. It was hideous, her blood-stained jeans were ripped all over the place and barely covered her legs, and only a few rags remained from her top shirt. It was hard to believe that at one point this creature was actually a woman, probably beautiful too, but the Zombolik virus reduced her to this hideous state. It made me pity her and at the same time fear her.

“Kardian, this mutant doesn’t resemble the information I acquired from the other Zombolik infected units.” she told me as I was preparing to end this creature’s life.

“Erm, and how should it have resembled?” I asked raising an eyebrow.

“Like a human being with minor modification to their frame. Cyborgs are the only ones that have a higher degree of mutation, but that is normal when considering that their bodies have been modified with cybernetic enhancements. The Zombolik nanobots can corrupt the original programs of those parts and then implement them into the Nano-Z frame. They are usually the only ones who have an enhanced evolution option.” she explained.

“So, wait a minute! You’re telling me cyborgs evolve faster than the rest of Nano-Z?!” I was flabbergasted.

“Affirmative. The purpose of this sped up evolution is to bypass any problems a basic Nano-Z might have upon turning. Integrating the cybernetic parts requires extra processing power, so the hosts will be made to hunt as soon as they have turned. Once they acquired enough cores, they can easily integrate, modify, and use their parts.” she explained.

While I wanted to learn more about this sudden reveal, the monster in front of me got tired of waiting and rushed at me, ready to rip and tear me to pieces.

“As if I’d let you!” I shouted as I jumped to the side and then kicked her in the chest, tossing her into one of the cars.

The alarm started beeping, calling out to any nearby Nano-Z that could still run or walk. It was a very dangerous situation for me, so... I did what any other sane person would do in my case... I ran.

“Xerya! Tell me where to go!” I asked as I rushed as fast as I could down the street with Nano-Z waking up left and right and a big angry monster following me.

“I’m not a GPS.” she complained.

“TELL ME WHERE TO GO!” I shouted as I jumped over a car.

The Nano-Z inside tried to grab me but failed. Another one jumped off the sidewalk on my right and fell face first on the rooftop of a car. Another one rushed from my left and I dodged him by a hair’s length and bumped into a car.

“XERYA!” I called out to her again.

“In four meters take a right turn. Rush through the building to the second floor and jump into the building next door. Then rush to the next floor and kill the three Nano-Z there. According to the schematics, it should be a good place to fight the Mutated Cyborg. However, I suspect that she’s an abnormal variant...” she explained.

“OK! Right! Rush! Second floor! Jump over! Next floor! Got it! Also, what made you think she’s an abnormal variant? The big brain box that pops out of her head?!” I asked as I jumped over a Nano-Z and rushed to the building.

“A host body’s brain is necessary for a proper transformation into a Nano-Z, however, if the Zombolik nanobots can’t reach the brain an error occurs which results in abnormal mutations meant to compensate the lack of a brain. Given how this host looks, it is highly likely that her brain wasn’t infected.” she explained.

I entered the building and smashed the door in the face of the mutant.

“Well, if the brain isn’t infected, does this mean she can still be saved?!” I asked as I rushed up the stairs.

“Her body was compromised and already subjected to change. We can’t save her, but we can prevent her brain from being affected by the nanobots if they enter under my command.”

“So, kind of like hacking her nanobots without actually extracting the core?” I asked.

“Negative. We need to take out the core first. Afterwards, I need to insert a good amount of my nanobots inside her. Unfortunately, I don’t have an appropriate tool for that.” she explained.

“Then make one!” I urged her as I pulled a desk down to block the path behind me.

“GRAAAH!!!” the mutated cyborg was relentless in her chase as she smashed down the door, but I didn’t stay to see what sort of damage she caused, I rushed to the second floor, jumping over the corpses on the way and avoiding any Nano-Z that popped out from one of the empty rooms.

Right when I was about to jump over to the next building, Xerya spoke “A new tool has been developed, however, I require to repurpose the Extractor and several parts from the Experimental Units. Do you agree with this process?” she asked.

“YES!” I replied as I jumped out the window and safely landed on the other side.

Looking back, I saw the mutated cyborg smashing into the wall of the corridor. She was confused for a moment, but it didn’t take her long to find my track. I clicked my tongue and rushed up the stairs. Xerya said that I had to kill all the Nano-Z I encountered now, so using the Retractable Blade, I began to cut them down. Stabbing them in the temple, smashing their heads in the walls, and by decapitating them, I made quick work of them.

When I reached the place that she told me I could fight with that thing I realized that it was a former dancing studio with the bodies of several women lying around, eaten and ripped to shreds by those who turned and trapped them here. I made sure there were no more Nano-Z and then I turned around to face the cyborg.

“Xerya, how long will it take for you to make that thing?” I asked her as I heard the growling getting closer and closer.

“Approximately three minutes and twenty seconds.” she replied.

“Are you kidding me?! I have to survive against that thing for more than three minutes?!” I complained.

“It should be doable.”

“Great...” I gulped and took a step back as I got ready to confront the creature.

Like a prowling beast, she drew close, matching her steps as she sniffed the air and let out horrible growls. Most of the other Nano-Z have abandoned the chase as they got lost on the way here, but the Mutated one seemed to have a different way of chasing down her prey. Actually, the fact that she knew how to chase down and even stalk a prey was already making this variant of Nano-Z far more terrifying than the others. It made me doubt that I could last for three whole minutes against this thing, yet, if I wanted to see if my theory was correct, I had to do it.

“Just dodge the hell out of it... Simple, right?” I said with a wry smile on my lips.

“GRRR!!!” with a guttural growl, she stepped forward into the corridor that led to this room.

Turning her ugly head towards me, she spotted me.

“GRAAAH!” she let out a powerful roar that disturbed the Nano-Z around this place and then dashed towards me.

“Well, aren’t you a loud one?” I said as I dodged out of the way and in doing so, I kicked her hard to the side.

Instead of staying near her, I ran to the other side of the room. There was a table and a big cracked mirror there. I turned over the table and hid behind it. The beast immediately entered in a prowling mode as she got down on all fours and approached me from the side with steady and slow steps.

Yes, yes! Take your time! That’s what I want! I thought and with this, the game of cat and mouse began.