The forest smoldered under an eerie, unnatural fog. A sense of dread settled over ZETU as they trudged forward, their boots sinking into the ashen ground.
"Stay sharp," Captain Marcus Kane muttered, his grip tightening on his shotgun. "Something's watching us."
Riley "Quick Shot" Bennett knelt by a half-burned corpse, her sniper scope scanning the twisting trees ahead. "This isn't normal…" she whispered. "Bodies burned, but not completely. Like something was playing with fire."
"Literally," Jenna "Blaze" Hart added, kicking a charred ribcage aside. "But look at the ground—no signs of an actual wildfire."
Then, a whisper—soft, like dry leaves scraping together—slithered through the mist.
Ethan "Brain" O'Connor's tablet flickered, distorting violently before shutting off. "What the hell?" He smacked it. "There's some kind of interference…"
A deep, guttural growl rumbled through the forest. The ground beneath them heated up.
Derek "Shield" Coleman raised his riot shield just as something massive crashed into them. He skidded back, bracing himself as blackened claws raked against the metal.
The creature landed on all fours, its glowing eyes burning through the fog. A woman, or what used to be one, with charred, cracked flesh, her fingers ending in molten talons. Long, blackened strands of hair twisted around her face like vines.
Lila "Huntress" Navarro took a step back. "That's not just a zombie…"
Marcus swallowed hard. "That's a damn witch."
The Ashen Witch hissed, her voice an unnatural melody of echoes. "You... do not belong here."
Marcus fired twice. The first slug blasted a hole in her shoulder; the second did nothing.
The wounds sizzled and sealed instantly.
"She's regenerating!" Riley shouted, quickly taking aim. BOOM! A sniper round tore through the Witch's thigh.
Then, the ground ignited.
Flames erupted from the soil, forming twisting tendrils of molten rock that lashed out at the team. Ethan barely dodged one as it melted a nearby tree into slag.
"FIRE DOESN'T WORK ON HER!" Jenna yelled, cursing as she tossed her useless flamethrower aside.
"Then we use something that does," Lila muttered. She reached into her belt, pulling out a cryonic grenade.
Marcus caught on immediately. "Frost against fire…" He smirked. "Do it."
Lila flicked the pin and hurled the grenade at the Witch's feet.
The explosion sent out a wave of freezing mist, instantly coating the Witch in crystallized ice.
She let out a shriek of rage, her molten veins hardening.
Marcus didn't waste time. He charged forward, shotgun raised.
"Burn in hell," he muttered, then pulled the trigger.
The frozen Witch shattered into a thousand blackened shards.
Silence fell over the forest.