Darkness. Silence. A heartbeat pounding in her ears.
Evelyn gasped awake, her body aching from the explosion's shockwave. She could still feel the heat licking at her skin, the scent of burning flesh and charred metal thick in her nostrils. Smoke filled the air, stinging her lungs as she forced herself upright.
Where was Mia? Lucas? Leon?
A groan came from nearby. Evelyn turned, squinting through the thick haze. Mia lay sprawled against a pile of debris, coughing.
"Evelyn…" she wheezed, blinking the soot from her eyes. "That was… completely reckless."
Evelyn exhaled. At least one of them was alive.
She staggered to her feet, scanning their surroundings. They were somewhere deeper in the underground tunnels, the explosion having blasted them through a collapsed section of the facility. The air was thick with moisture, decay, and something… else.
A wet, slithering noise echoed in the shadows.
Mia tensed. She heard it too.
Then—a deep, guttural growl.
From the darkness, something emerged.
It was no longer the Maw.
It had changed—evolved.
The creature stood taller, broader, its flesh thick with black sinewy armor, fused with the organic tissue of the Devourer's corruption. Its claws were razor-sharp, its elongated tongue dripping with acidic saliva. But its eyes—what few it had left—were different.
The Maw had become something more.
Evelyn and Mia didn't wait. They turned and ran.
The beast moved like a nightmare, its massive frame deceptively fast, lunging forward with a snarl that shook the walls.
Evelyn grabbed Mia's arm, yanking her through a rusted maintenance door. They stumbled into a forgotten laboratory, its walls lined with decayed research equipment and shattered containment pods.
A terminal flickered, displaying corrupt data logs.
Evelyn scanned the screen, her mind racing. The research here was different.
Not just the infection—but forced mutations.
This wasn't just evolution.
Mia grabbed her shotgun, reloading with shaking hands. "We can't stay here."
A sickening crunch from the corridor made her blood turn cold.
The Apex Maw was forcing its way in.
Its claws tore through the rusted steel like paper.
Evelyn's heart pounded. No escape. No time.
Her eyes darted back to the terminal. One last command was accessible.
"Containment Override: Experimental Subject #9."
Mia saw the look in her eyes. "Evelyn—"
She pressed the button.
A horrific screech filled the room.
Then—the walls burst open.
Something else had been sleeping here.
And now, it was awake.