A vicious stomp caves in a corrupted's skull, the brutal blow fracturing the earth as the last of the creatures is put down.
"Freak..."
"...those used to be humans..."
"Are we...safe with this guy?"
"Look at his smile."
Henrick quickly schools his expression and decides to ignore the comments. His entire body is covered in gore, yet this doesn't seem to bother the soldier.
A few survivors start retching as Henrick approaches, the smell of blood and viscera proving to be unbearable to the relatively weak willed.
The electricity user looks around and frowns. "Where did Elly go?" he asks, as he scans the rooftops, and sighs in relief when he sees her and Veronica waving on top of a 5 storey building.
Tony, who himself is covered in guts, raises a hand for a high five at the soldier's vicious and decisive actions. Henrick merely nods as he wipes off the majority of the fluids and meaty chunks on his body with his hands.
"Dang, you're packing some serious heat. How many of these zombie bastards did you kill?" the cop asks, stealthily retracting his outstretched hand.
Selene steps in, handing Henrick a towel, one which the soldier accepts. "It's not just the corrupted that increases your strength." The elf-like woman shivers as she recalls the monstrous form of Eric.
David crosses his arms at the memory, his face a mask of confusion. "Could he have still been classified as human though?" Selene hesitates at the question while Tony just scratches his head at their conversation.
"Look...easy for him to talk to them."
"...a freak too."
Tony frowns at the hushed conversations. He turns to the survivors, an angry expression on his face, but stops himself from exploding. The survivors slowly retreat at the police officer's anger.
"HE'S GONNA ATTACK US!!"
"MONSTER!!"
"FUC-"
BOOM! An electrical bolt suddenly slams into the middle of the survivor group, the concrete on the ground shattering as it staggers the terrified civilians.
The silence that follows is deafening as Henrick looms over them, his face shadowed as he glares at them with faintly glowing electric blue eyes.
"Leave." Henrick rumbles out as electricity courses along his fingers. His eyes stare unerringly at each survivor, their faces blanching at the command.
"If you can't appreciate the fact that we're risking our lives for you, then leave."
The words land like hammer blows as the survivors start shouting out in outrage at Henrick's ultimatum. Their fear for the corrupted overriding their fear of the soldier's retaliation.
"You can't just throw us away!!"
"What are you gonna do? Kill us if we don't?"
"I'll stay where I want to stay, fuck you!"
Tony reels back in disgust at the shamelessness of these people, clenching his fist as he contemplates knocking a few heads together.
Electricity arcs out from Henrick's body as a bloodthirsty grin makes itself known on his lips. Father David tenses as he feels the very real intentions coming from the electricity user.
The survivors slowly quiet down as arcs of electricity starts licking at the ground in front of their feet.
"Oh my god..."
"He's really gonna do it..."
"..."
Silence once again dominates the scene as the cops look on with unease apparent in their body language. Had they chosen a monster to protect them?
The electric discharge ceases as quickly as it began with Henrick making his way to the cars. "Get in and move out. We're almost at the tunnel."
Henrick removes his shirt as the survivors and police officers shakily make their way to the vehicles.
Tony places a hand on Henrick's shoulder when the soldier passes. "Were you...were you really going to kill them?" the officer asks, dreading the answer
Henrick gives him a look, his eyes still glowing from the current flowing through his body. "Yes." the admission comes easily without a single change in his expression.
Before Tony can react, Elly and Veronica suddenly appear in a wave of distorted space. "Henrick!! You were so cool!!" the little girl says, punching her fists and kicking her feet in an attempt to look like the soldier.
Veronica creates an orb of water and offers it to Henrick, which he accepts, while she ogles him as discreetly as she can.
After using the orb to clean up as best as he possibly can, the group make their way inside the vehicles and continue their steady pace towards the Lincoln Tunnel.
The trip takes 15 minutes as the entire procession prioritise safety and stealth, whilst they scavenge through any store they pass. Though they run into an issue as soon as they reach the tunnel.
"Well that's not good." Alex says, scratching his head in frustration. Father David wipes some sweat from his brow as he takes in the condition of the tunnel.
All the lanes are chock-full of piled up cars, leaving no space to move the vehicles even if Henrick and David lifted them. All the lights are no longer on, with the tunnel completely bathed in darkness. The vehicles grind to a slow halt as everyone steps out.
"What's the play?" Tony asks, noticeably more reserved around Henrick's group, no doubt processing the earlier events. David moves to the more elderly survivors and offers them some help.
Unfortunately the priest is met with distrust, disgust, and fear. Selene places a hand on his arm and gently shakes her head, pulling away the disheartened man of the Lord.
Henrick frowns at the survivors, though none dare to meet his eyes. He turns to the police officers and notes the amount of ammo they have for their shotguns.
"We'll have to go on foot. It'll be dangerous." Henrick says to Tony as he keeps his eyes on the tunnel, a sense of unease rumbling through his gut.
This immediately sparks murmurs of fear and uncertainty from the survivors, who shiver at the thought of walking through a cramped and unlit tunnel.
A single glare from Henrick cuts off their steadily rising complaints as fear overwhelms them. A particularly brave middle aged man steps forward with six survivors and a scowl on his face.
"I think you're doing this to get back at us!! Use your freak muscles to clear the way or we're leaving this group!"
Henrick just smiles and gestures back to the city in a display of nonchalant dismissal. The middle aged man shivers at the eerily quiet skyline of Manhattan, but his pride wars with his fear.
"Listen here, Freak! Do you know who I-"
He is unable to finish his words as a bolt of magical energy sears past his head, singing a few strands of hair as it obliterates a signpost. Selene steps forwards, a quiet scowl on her face as she prepares another bolt.
Tony steps forward, concern etched onto his face as he transforms into a metal man. "Let's all calm down."
Henrick calmly walks towards the tunnel, his own group following him. "If any of you seven follow us, I'll kill you on the spot. This is not a threat." The warning hangs heavy in the air like a reapers scythe, sending a chill down everyone's spine.
The middle aged man sputters, but can't seem to find the words to rebuke the soldier. The six survivors look to him for guidance, but he is just as lost if not more so.
Making a decision, he steps forward intending to follow the rest. Without warning, his head suddenly explodes in a shower of skull fragments and carbonised flesh.
None of the survivors dare to scream as they slowly turn to look at Henrick, whose fingers still bear tiny electric arcs, and pale in fear.
"I told you that it wasn't a threat. Go, now." The soldier gestures once more back to the city, making it clear which way the six survivors should go.
The six survivors shakily stagger backwards, afraid that the soldier would kill them just as he did with their leader. They slowly make their way back to the city, and run for cover as soon as they reach a building.
"Hmph." Henrick huffs as he walks towards the tunnel. Tony clenches his fist as he looks out to where the splintered group went, a resigned look on his face.
"They won't survive for longer than five minutes..." the officer says, fixing Henrick with a hard glare. "I know," says the soldier. "and they know it too, yet they still decided to act that way."
Tony fully transforms into metal as he growls at Henrick. "Doesn't mean we get to throw them away!!" Selene steps forward and slightly pushes Tony backwards. "They made their choice."
The Police Officers all give each other a look as Tony turns to them for support, but look away from the Metal man as a way of answering.
Henrick sighs and looks down at Tony, clearly noting the hesitation, betrayal, and uncertainty in his eyes.
"This isn't our world anymore..." says the soldier, a hard gleam in his eyes as he places a hand on Tony's shoulder. "Look at the sky. Look at the city. Look at all of us here."
"We don't have the luxury of acting like those survivors. Not if we want to survive. You want to protect others? Fine. But you'll have to make sure they're worth saving."
The officer stutters as Henrick finishes.
"T-that's not...W-we can't just..." Henrick turns away while shaking his head. "We'll have to make the decisions for ourselves, Tony. Whether you want to or not."
Henrick's group nods at those words, even the kind hearted David. Selene's face remains hard, though a glimmer of approval shows in her eyes.
Alex gulps but recognises the truth. Elly simply grips onto Henrick's pant leg while Veronica pales at the reality of their situation.
"Let's get to that camp. Then you can decide if you want to keep surviving or play hero."
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END