The six mutated deer locked their glowing red eyes on Raven, their twisted bone white antlers shining in the sun with blood-soaked strands of fur and shredded gut's hanging on them. The deer pawed at the snowy earth with their blood-stained hooves, muscles flexing under thick, dark fur. Raven raised her Zastava M19 MSG and took a single step forward, ready to deal with the threat in front of her.
Alara stayed directly behind her, holding her pink coat close with one hand while the other gripped a handful of zombie cores. Metal Mouse, now completely invisible thanks to his newly activated optical camouflage, lingered in Alara’s shadow, ready to act to protect her.
Raven’s eyes locked on the deer as the deer suddenly charged twords her. They moved like pack of wolves, swift and hungery, their heads low with antlers pointed at Raven and mouths open to reveal rows of serrated razor sharp teeth.
With a practiced calm, Raven pulled the trigger of her rifle. Semi-auto fire erupted from the rifle—pew pew pew pew pew. The 6.5mm Grendel fluid rounds cut through the air in flying strait at the deer, each round hit a deer in the face, neck, or chest. The initial impacts sent blood spraying into the air, chunks of flesh erupted like fountains, but the deer didn’t die.
They kept charging.
Then, one by one, they dropped mid-run. Their bodies spasming violently before collapsing into the grounds, black blood flowed out from their mouths, ears, and eyes. Raven watched closely, breath steady as the last deer fell to the ground just fifteen feet in front of her. Her poison-infused rounds did their work. A blend of deadly nightshade, hemlock, and mandrake root—collected from NYU’s pharmaceutical wing and strengthened by her own plant manipulation abilities flowed through their bodies now. Their internal organs were probably liquefied before their brains even shut down from the posion.
Raven nodded once in approval. “Effective,” she said out loud.
Normal bullets wouldn’t work on mutated animals. Not against bodies, this densely pact with muscles that act like a second set of armor, their hides are resistant to basic penetration, their bones are stronger than some basic metals. These are not deer anymore. These were weapons of slaughter.
Raven walked forward, careful not to step in the bloody mess. Leaning down near the closest corpse, Raven ran two fingers along the blood-matted fur and noted the tension still locked into their muscles. These creatures are just shy of Level one. The same ranking system that applies to awakened humans and evolving plants also applies to mutated animals.
A moment of satisfaction crossed her face. "So it has begun."
Let the Yellow Fish Raiders keep thinking they own this place. Let them keep wandering Central Park like it's their playground. She’d just found new players for their game stronger, deadlier ones. The idea of turning the zoo itself into a trap began to form in her mind. Let can let these mutated animals wipeout her enemies for her. She does need to fight every battle herself. She just needs to make sure her enemies pick the wrong battlefield.
With a wave of her hand, she stored all six deer corpses into her system space. Their remains were invaluable the bones, mutated tissue samples, their hides are all valuable but nothing is better than the bodies themselves. The potential for new recruits for her future android army is always a good thing she is not a necromancer, but using these bodies makes fun new organic robots possible.
Turning her head, Raven looked over her shoulder at Alara, who was happily eating a handful of zombie cores. The energy in her body is becoming more visible now. Alara now has a faint inner energy in her body. Raven could see it clearly: Alara was nearing her first evolution. Level One. Her moment of awakening of coming soon.
Raven’s lips parted as she took a slow breath, feeling something unexpected happiness. “Not long now Alara ” she said softly. “Not long at all.”
This calls for a celebration.
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