Necrocide

Chapter 53

BEGINNING OF THE OUTBREAK...

The ghost of Sarah was nowhere to be found in Lancaster. In fact, nothing there felt like a safe place to Bloodletter nor did it feel safe to anyone else once he arrived.

He wasn't sure how many people he killed during the six-hour walk to Lancaster, but he reached the double digits by the time he passed through three small villages too obscure to even be found on the map. And that was just him alone. The less powerful Deadmen took no prisoners, sinking their teeth into any unfortunate soul unlucky enough to escape on time. And the worse part was that many of those bodies were either bitten once or brutally ripped apart only to be left for dead, dooming them to spend eternity as walking corpses once the corrupted Ambrosia had spread through their bodies.

Lancaster wasn't big enough for the AIS to build barricades around, so it wasn't hard for the Deadmen to attack in swarms. While the weaker ones saw their targets as prey, Bloodletter knew who he wanted to kill and why. He attacked only those with guns or those who worked with Schaefer's AIS, easily ripping them apart with his powers as if they were made of plasticine. He'd use his blood bombs to obliterate larger obstacles like vehicles and parts of buildings with ease, still not caring for those who were in the way of the explosions.

He didn't even know why he was in Lancaster anymore. He was wandering around the city looking for a safe place that only existed in his daughter's mind. And all he continued to find were more people trying to kill him, which he'd then have to butcher before they could end his own life. He wasn't even sure if he should refer to himself as alive. He was aware of his actions but couldn't understand the consequences.

Bloodletter wasn't the only one going overboard with the violence. The fanged woman didn't hesitate to tear apart people with her terrifyingly sharp teeth. The soldier closest to her got his head ripped clean off his neck, an expression of pure terror frozen on his face even after death. Blood splattered all over the pavement as his headless corpse collapsed to the ground. Then she chased after the other soldiers and people, continuing to mangle her victims without hesitation.

But Bloodletter and the fanged lady weren't aware of a newcomer equally as dangerous as they were. A Deadman whose skin was as white as volcanic ash. It was built like a cinderblock, and it suffered the same lipless fate as the fanged woman, his teeth and facial muscles disturbingly visible. Its arms repeatedly transformed into large, impossibly sharp blades that appeared to be amalgamations of bone and muscle. As threatening as it appeared to be, its lack of a shirt yet willingness to wear cargo pants and boots was slightly amusing.

Then the feeling of amusement disappeared as soon as he was able to slice a soldier's arms off in one clean swoop. The poor bastard was gored alive by the albino monster's arm blades, the sound of a hellish roar exiting the creature's throat.

"Fucking hell," the fanged lady whispered. "Guess you and I aren't the only freaks out here anymore."

"Guess not," Bloodletter replied, watching the white monster from a distance.

He noticed an incoming group of armed men charging in from behind the bladed creature, firing at his back. Unlike Bloodletter, who was still able to take on an onslaught of gunfire due to his healing factor, not a single bullet could penetrate the white creature's skin. It was like a walking, bulletproof callus. And the creature took out most of the front line with ease in the end, even managing to bisect three soldiers in half.

Before he could dismember the remaining soldiers, lines of red razor wire sliced through them out of nowhere. The soldiers collapsed to the floor in bloody chunks, and the pale-skinned monster did not appear to be happy about it. Once he realized it came from Bloodletter, he stared at his new rival with sudden hatred.