A sickening squelch echoed through the tunnel as something beneath moved. Leon, still gasping for breath, locked eyes with Evelyn. They weren't safe yet.
Mia reloaded, hands shaking. "Tell me that thing is finally dead."
A deep, guttural clicking answered her instead.
The Hollow Eater wasn't just alive. It was changing again.
Beneath the debris, flesh writhed and twisted, bones snapping as its form expanded. Its blackened exoskeleton cracked apart, replaced by a new layer of grotesque, glistening sinew.
Then—a mouth tore open across its chest.
Rows of serrated teeth glistened with bile. From within, several grotesque tendrils slithered out, each tipped with gnashing fangs.
Mia stepped back. "No… no, no, no—"
A tendril lashed forward, snagging her by the leg. She screamed as it yanked her off the ground, dragging her toward its gaping maw.
Leon moved instinctively.
He grabbed a rusted pipe from the debris and slammed it down onto the tendril.
The monster shrieked, releasing Mia.
Evelyn aimed her shotgun at its exposed chest-mouth and fired.
The force ripped through its flesh, spraying the tunnel walls with black ichor. But even as it reeled back, the wounds stitched themselves shut in seconds.
"It's regenerating too fast!" Evelyn shouted.
Leon's mind raced. They couldn't kill it—not in a straight fight.
Then—inspiration struck.
"The emergency override," Leon panted. "We can seal the blast doors on it!"
Evelyn's eyes widened. "You're insane."
"Yeah," he agreed, "but it's our only shot."
The control panel was across the tunnel—right past the Hollow Eater.
The beast lunged again, its new barbed limbs slamming into the ground.
Mia fired, but its mutated hide deflected the shots.
Leon sprinted. The creature reacted instantly.
A razor-sharp tongue lashed toward him, barely missing as he dove beneath it.
The control panel flickered in the dark, covered in grime and blood.
Evelyn unloaded another round, forcing the creature to flinch, buying Leon precious seconds.
The Hollow Eater howled.
The walls behind it pulsed, alive with something horrible. The Devourer was watching, its influence spreading.
Leon skidded to a stop at the panel. He smashed his fist against the emergency switch.
A deafening alarm blared.
The blast doors screamed as they began to close.
The Hollow Eater roared, realizing too late—
The doors slammed shut, severing its tendrils.
For the first time, the beast shrieked in true agony.
The tunnel shook violently.
Leon collapsed, chest heaving.
Evelyn looked at the sealed doors. "Is it over?"
Because in the distance, something laughed.
The Devourer wasn't finished.