The streets were silent. Too silent.
Evelyn's breath came in short, rapid bursts as she leaned against a crumbling wall. Reaper pressed a hand to his throat, still recovering from Voss' crushing grip. Mia kept her pistol drawn, her fingers twitching. Something was wrong.
Then the sky darkened.
It was sudden, unnatural. Like something massive had blotted out the moon. The air grew thick, oppressive—almost sentient.
A deep, guttural growl rumbled through the ruined cityscape.
Mia barely had time to turn before something descended from the rooftops.
It landed with a sickening crunch—a hulking figure wrapped in an abyssal, writhing mass of living black sinew.
Its eyes burned white, jagged and slanted, like slivers of malice carved into its skull. The creature's mouth unhinged, revealing rows upon rows of serrated, interlocking teeth. Its tongue, a thick, writhing appendage, snaked out and tasted the air.
The Black Maw had arrived.
Evelyn froze, horror twisting her gut. She'd seen mutations before, but this… this thing wasn't just infected. It was something else. Something worse.
The Black Maw's chest pulsed, its veins throbbing with an obsidian ichor that seeped into the ground beneath it.
Reaper lifted his shotgun. "What in the actual—"
One moment, it stood yards away.
The next—it was inches from Reaper's face.
A massive, clawed hand lashed out. Reaper barely dodged, but the shockwave from its movement sent him sprawling.
Mia fired. Three shots—direct hits.
The bullets buried deep in the Maw's flesh.
Then, to their horror, the flesh swallowed them whole. The wounds sealed instantly.
"That's… not possible," she whispered.
The Maw grinned. Its voice wasn't a snarl or a growl. It was a whisper. A rasping, unnatural whisper that crawled into their heads.
Evelyn didn't hesitate.
"Go—NOW!" she screamed.
The Maw didn't chase immediately.
It watched. Studied them.
A wet, gargling, inhuman sound.
The creature moved like liquid shadow, its massive frame shifting effortlessly between ruined buildings. It didn't lunge. It didn't pounce. It stalked.
Reaper swore. "We need a plan, NOW!"
Evelyn scanned the ruins. Her mind raced. There had to be something—
A half-collapsed skyscraper.
"Get to the tower!" she yelled.
Mia and Reaper followed without question.
The Maw tilted its head, amused.
The hunt had just begun.