The bio-mutant’s roar split the air, a guttural, inhuman sound that sent tremors through the crumbling ruins. Andy barely had time to react as its massive claws came swiping down, the force of the strike shattering stone where he had stood just seconds before. Dust and debris clouded the air, but Andy was already moving, muscles burning as he ducked and rolled out of reach.

  A warning light flashed on his rifle—OVERHEATED.

  Damn it.

  He breathed raggedly, his limbs screamed for rest, but there was no stopping him now. The mutant was relentless, its glowing, cybernetic eyes locking onto him with the cold calculation of a predator toying with its prey. It didn’t just want to kill him—it wanted to enjoy it.

  Andy’s mind raced. He reached for his wrist console and activated the drone.

  A high-pitched whir filled the air as the small device zipped into action, circling the mutant’s head in erratic, unpredictable patterns. The beast snarled, its attention flickering toward the flashing lights as it swiped at the airborne distraction.

  Andy didn’t waste the opportunity.

  His hand flew to his belt, fingers closing around a EMP grenade. He yanked the pin and lobbed it toward the creature’s feet, barely registering the beeping countdown before —

  BOOM.

  A burst of light and energy pulsed through the ruins, distorting the air and sending the mutant staggering backward. Its cybernetic limbs crackled with disrupted energy, giving Andy the opening he needed.

  He sprinted forward.

  The combat knife gleamed in the dim firelight as he leaped onto the creature’s back, his grip steady despite the beast’s violent thrashing.

  Find the opening.

  Andy drove the blade into the exposed section of the mutant’s neck, the reinforced steel puncturing through synthetic flesh and wiring. The creature let out a deafening screech, its movements turning erratic, more desperate. Andy clenched his jaw, twisting the blade deeper, wrenching it against the tendons and circuitry that held the beast together.

  The mutant bucked wildly, slamming into the side of a broken pillar. The impact sent a jolt of pain through Andy’s ribs, but he held on, teeth gritted as he forced the knife deeper, deeper —

  With a final, guttural roar, the creature gave one last violent shudder before its legs buckled. The massive body crumpled to the ground, sending a shockwave through the rubble as it collapsed with a heavy, earth-shaking thud.

  Andy rolled off, hitting the ground hard, breath coming in ragged gasps. His muscles screamed in protest, every inch of him aching, but he pushed himself up onto his elbows, wiping the sweat and grime from his face.

  The adrenaline still coursed through his veins, his heart pounding so hard it echoed in his skull.

  But he still had more to do.

  His head snapped up, scanning the battlefield, searching past the smoke and carnage.

  Where’s Terra?

  The ruins were still alive with chaos. Mutants howled in the distance, their guttural screeches reverberating through the shattered remains of the old world. Gunfire rattled from a nearby vantage point, followed by the sharp crack of a sniper shot—Jorin was still covering them. That meant Terra was still fighting.

  Andy pushed himself up, his body a trembling mass of pain and exhaustion, but he forced himself to keep moving. He didn’t have time to stop. Not now. His vision swam as he scanned the battlefield—smoke curling into the sky, firelight flickering against the jagged remains of broken structures, twisted steel, and shattered concrete.

  His breath came in quick gasps as he turned, his grip tightening around his plasma rifle. He could barely hear anything over the rush of blood in his ears, but he knew one thing with certainty.

  Terra was still out there.

  The battlefield stretched out before him like a graveyard of war—mutants lay in mangled heaps, their mechanical limbs still twitching with lingering energy surges. Bodies of fallen soldiers, both Vanguard and scavengers alike, littered the ground, their armor torn open, their weapons broken beside them. Shattered vehicles, their hulls burned and twisted from previous battles, provided makeshift cover across the ruins, but Andy could see movement beyond them.

  More mutants were still out there, lurking in the rubble.

  A deafening explosion erupted from the west, sending a wave of heat and dust rolling through the broken streets. Andy ducked behind the wreckage of an old transport, his pulse spiking as debris rained down around him. He coughed against the thick smoke, forcing himself to focus.

  Gunfire crackled through the static of his comms.

  “Storm!” Andy barked into his ear-piece, using her call-sign over the radio, scrambling forward through the debris, his boots kicking up dirt and blood as he moved. “Storm, do you copy?”

  Only static.

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  His chest tightened.

  He pushed forward, weaving between fallen structures, the remains of old skyscrapers jutting into the sky like jagged teeth. The further he moved into the ruins, the darker it became—the fires burning in the distance cast long, shifting shadows across the crumbling walls, making everything feel smaller, more claustrophobic.

  A screech ripped through the night, closer this time. Andy whirled just in time to see a bio-mutant lurch from the darkness, its body a grotesque fusion of flesh and metal. One of its arms ended in a jagged, bladed appendage, while its face—half-human, half-machine—twitched and jerked with unnatural spasms. Its red cybernetic eye locked onto Andy, and with an unholy growl, it lunged.

  Andy barely rolled aside as the mutant’s blade slammed into the ground where he’d been standing, sending up a shower of sparks and shattered stone. He fired, a rapid burst of plasma rounds punching into the creature’s side, searing through metal plating and exposed flesh. The mutant screeched, but it didn’t slow. It swung its remaining arm at him, claws raking through the air.

  Andy ducked, twisting his body as he slammed his boot into the mutant’s knee. The creature buckled, its frame creaking under the sudden force, but it lashed out wildly, catching Andy across the chest with a glancing blow. Pain flared as his armor absorbed the worst of the strike, but the impact still sent him staggering backward.

  The mutant charged again.

  Andy shifted his grip on his rifle, his mind racing. He was running low on ammo—his HUD flashed red warnings across his visor. He needed to end this fast.

  As the mutant lunged, Andy pivoted at the last second, dodging just past its bladed arm. He grabbed his combat knife from his belt and drove it deep into the creature’s exposed joint, twisting hard.

  The mutant let out a strangled roar, its movements turning erratic. Andy yanked the blade free and slammed his rifle against its head, knocking it off balance. In the same motion, he reached for the last EMP grenade on his belt.

  Click. Timer set.

  He shoved it against the mutant’s chest and kicked off, rolling away as the grenade pulsed with a sharp, high-pitched whine.

  BOOM.

  A burst of energy sent the mutant convulsing, its cybernetic limbs sparking wildly before it collapsed in a heap of smoking metal and flesh.

  Andy barely had time to breathe before another sound cut through the air—a scream.

  Terra.

  His head snapped toward the sound, his blood running ice cold.

  No. No, no, no.

  He took off running, dodging past burning wreckage and the corpses of fallen mutants. His legs burned, his lungs ached, but he didn’t stop.

  The scream had come from deeper inside the ruins. Past the crumbling archways of an old building—one that might have once been a government structure or a corporate office, long before the Collapse. Now, it was nothing but hollowed-out remains, its walls cracked and covered in creeping vines, the windows shattered like jagged wounds.

  Andy moved quickly, his breath sharp in his throat. The deeper he went, the more the silence pressed down on him. It wasn’t natural. It wasn’t right.

  And then he saw it.

  A cluster of bio-mutants surrounded a collapsed section of rubble, their grotesque forms shifting in the flickering light. The hunched-over bio-mutants twitched unnaturally, while others stood rigid, their cybernetic implants pulsing like dim embers in the darkness.

  In the middle of it all—Terra.

  She was pinned, half-trapped beneath fallen debris, her blades still clutched in her hands, though her movements were sluggish. Blood streaked her forehead, a deep gash trailing down the side of her temple. Her breaths were heavy, her body struggling against exhaustion.

  Andy’s gut twisted.

  They’re closing in.

  Without hesitation, he raised his rifle, lining up a shot—but he was too late.

  One mutant lunged.

  Terra twisted at the last second, driving her blade upward into its throat, but the others were already moving.

  No time.

  Andy moved.

  His plasma rifle barked, cutting down two of the creatures before they could reach her. He didn’t stop to think—he just ran, his boots slamming against the rubble as he closed the distance. One of the larger mutants turned toward him, its gnarled body shifting with eerie, jerky movements.

  Andy didn’t hesitate. He holstered his rifle, grabbing the combat knife once more, and threw himself forward.

  The blade found its mark, sinking into the mutant’s neck. He twisted hard, yanking the creature down with him as they crashed to the ground. Blood sprayed across the broken pavement, the mutant’s limbs spasming violently before it went still.

  Andy wrenched the knife free and pushed himself up, spinning just in time to see another mutant clawing toward Terra.

  She fought back—of course she did—but she was hurt and reacted slowly. The mutant loomed over her, its bladed arm raised—ready to strike.

  Andy fired.

  The plasma bolt struck true, blasting through the creature’s skull. It collapsed beside her, twitching once before going still.

  Silence.

  Andy stumbled toward Terra, his ragged breath and hammering heart showing his exhaustion.

  She blinked up at him, dazed, her chest rising and falling in uneven gasps.

  He dropped to his knees beside her, hands already moving to check for injuries. “Terra—hey, stay with me. You alright?”

  She exhaled sharply, her lips twitching into the faintest smirk. “Took you long enough.”

  Andy let out a breath that was half a laugh, half relief. “Yeah, well. You have a habit of getting yourself into trouble.”

  Terra huffed, shifting slightly beneath the debris.

  Andy just reached out, brushing the blood away from her temple with careful fingers.

  “You good to move?” he asked quietly.

  Terra nodded, wincing as she shifted. “Yeah. Just... give me a sec.”

  Andy reached down, gripping her wrist firmly as he helped her sit up. “Take your time.”

  She let out a shaky breath, her fingers curling around his forearm—grounding herself.

  Andy squeezed back.

  They hadn’t finished yet.

  A screech rang out behind them—another wave was coming.

  Terra exhaled sharply. “We need to fall back to the others.”

  Andy nodded, but he remained focused on her. He had fought beside Terra before, had seen her throw herself into danger a hundred times over. But something about the way she was breathing, the slight unsteadiness in her stance—it wasn’t just exhaustion.

  She was pushing past her limits.

  He reached out without thinking, his fingers brushing her wrist. “Terra—”

  “I’m fine, Rowan,” she cut in, her voice firm, but there was something underneath it—something strained.

  Their eyes met.

  For a moment, the battle faded around them. The distant gunfire, the mutant howls, the chaos—it all became background noise to the silent exchange between them.

  Andy didn’t believe her.

  Terra knew it.

  But there wasn’t time to argue.

  “Come on,” she said, gripping his arm before he could say anything else. “We move together.”

  Andy swallowed hard, forcing himself to push down the growing knot in his chest.

  “Yeah,” he murmured. “Together.”

  As they fell back into formation, Andy couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that something else was out there. Watching.

  Then, just as they reached the safety of the cover, he heard it.

  A sound too rhythmic, too calculated to be natural.

  A deep, mechanical clicking echoed through the ruins.

  Andy froze, his heart hammering in his chest. He turned toward the darkness, searching, but nothing moved. Yet the sensation of being watched coiled in his gut, cold and unshakable.

  Terra nudged him. “You good?”

  Andy forced a nod, but that feeling lingered.

  Something was still out there.

  And it wasn’t done with them yet.

  Last chapter of the week!

  Hope you’re all enjoying seeing Andy put his training to use and getting into more action. It’s been a slow build-up to this point, but I’m excited for what’s next.