We Will Never Retreat

Andy and Adam stood in opposite corners of the room, their expressions grim as they aimed their guns at the center.

Before them, they saw a male high school student in green hiking gear kneeling over the corpse of a female high school student, and...

The male high school student, his back to them, was desperately gnawing on the female high school student's body.

The female high school student's legs twitched uncontrollably, suggesting she had died not long ago.

"Tap, tap--" Shawn arrived quickly.

When the sheriff saw the scene before him, he couldn't help but hold his breath.

Instead, the male high school student, hearing the commotion, turned his head and smiled with a blood-soaked mouth:

"Delicious! She's so delicious, you guys... don't you want to try? Come on... it's fresh..."

"Blech!"

Adam finally reached his breaking point and vomited the leftover pizza from his stomach.

"Sir!"

Andy placed his index finger on the trigger and asked, "Do we shoot?"

"Wait." Shawn narrowed his eyes, half-crouched in front of the male high school student, and tried to ask, "Kevin? Is that you?"

"Huh?"

The smile on the high school student named Kevin froze. His previously clouded eyes gradually cleared, and he asked in confusion, "Uncle Patrick?"

Seeing this, Shawn gestured for Andy to remain vigilant, then slowly approached and helped Kevin up, saying:

"Kid, what are you doing? Do you know you're eating (looking at the corpse) Diana?"

"I... I know..." Kevin cried, covering his face and shaking his head.

"But I was so hungry, I couldn't help it, I really couldn't.

It was in my ear, it told me to eat it (his voice grew quieter)..."

At this moment, Adam wiped the drool from his mouth, gripped his gun, and straightened up, saying sadly to Shawn:

"Sir, (looking at the corpse)... sigh, we still have six children waiting for us to find."

Hearing this, Shawn patted Kevin's back, trying to comfort him.

After a moment, he asked, "Kevin, where are your companions? Where are they?"

"No!"

Kevin, whose emotions had stabilized, suddenly broke free from Shawn and ran to a corner of the room, squatting down with his hands over his head and frantically pulling at his hair, muttering to himself:

"I don't want to eat them! I... I don't want to! I..."

The unexpected situation put the three agents back on high alert.

Andy aimed his gun at Kevin, his emotions slightly agitated, "Sir! I told you this kid wasn't right!"

"Sir?" Adam made the same movement, looking at Shawn for instructions.

"..."

Shawn frowned, re-gripped the rifle hanging from his chest, but before he could give the order to fire.

"I want to!" Kevin suddenly roared.

The deranged high school student stopped struggling and slowly turned around.

His teeth protruded and were sharp, and his eyes had become completely clouded.

"ROAR!!!"

He opened his mouth to an unbelievable extent and roared loudly at the three agents.

"Open fire!"

"Bang, bang!"

Three .308 caliber rifles spat dazzling flames, and bullets were unleashed entirely on Kevin.

"Whoosh-crack-" Wood chips and broken bricks flew.

Hit by the large-caliber rounds, Kevin's body convulsed for a moment before he fell face-down on the floor.

"What the f*** is going on! Fuck!"

When Kevin showed no more movement, Andy couldn't help but curse loudly while changing his magazine.

"Sir... what's wrong with them?"

Adam, also having reloaded his magazine, looked at the two young corpses with a heavy heart.

"I don't know, and I don't care," Shawn said with a stern expression.

"The most important task now is to prevent these abnormal phenomena from spreading as much as possible before the Containment Unit arrives.

(Looking at Kevin and the female high school student's corpses) If it develops according to this situation, there should be four more abnormal entities."

However.

"Roar…"

Kevin wasn't dead, or rather, it was never dead.

Its hands and feet began to grow rapidly, its skin gradually turning gray, making it appear even more gaunt.

"Sir, this is a .308! A .308!" Andy's emotions were somewhat out of control.

.308, short for .308 Winchester, is a 7.62 caliber ammunition developed by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company of America.

Its maximum pressure is 62,000 pounds per square inch, which is 5,500 pounds less than standard 7.62x51mm NATO rounds.

It possesses better ballistic stability and accuracy.

It is commonly used for hunting by civilians in North America or as ammunition for precision shooters in the American military.

Hit at such close range by a .308 projectile, an ordinary human or animal would be torn to shreds.

But…

What the three agents were seeing before them could still stand.

This exceeded their understanding, and their sanity's tolerance plummeted.

"Roar!!" The completely mutated Kevin threw its head back and let out a loud roar towards the ceiling.

"Roar—" A faint responding sound came from the corridor outside the room.

It had companions!

Shawn quickly took out a grenade he carried.

"Click~" He pulled the pin.

"Clang~clang~clang~~" The grenade bounced merrily on the wooden floor before rolling to Kevin's feet.

"Go!"

"Yes!" (x2)

"Boom!!"

Just as the three of them ran out of the room, the loud bang of the grenade exploding came from behind them.

"Howl… Roar…" And the thing's mournful cry.

But the three of them didn't have time to check if the thing was dead.

Because in the narrow corridor, the three agents were in the center, with three similar containment objects blocking the way towards the lobby.

Looking back again.

There was also one towards the stairs leading to the second floor.

They were completely surrounded.

Seeing this…

The three agents stood back-to-back, Adam and Andy facing the lobby, while Shawn faced the stairs alone.

With a cursory glance, Shawn had figured out the general situation.

Among the four containment objects, three were wearing modern cold-weather or hiking gear; they must have been the children who had transformed.

The one Shawn was making eye contact with was in ragged clothing, and he could vaguely make out the attire of a miner from the last century.

It seemed that among the thirty miners from fifty years ago, there was actually one 'survivor.'

And through some unknown means, he had caused the eight high school students to kill each other and turn into anomalous containment objects.

"Sir, please give the order," Adam said with a smile.

"Yeah, Sir, we're still waiting to go to the bar!" Andy was still as unreliable as ever.

Shawn, gazing at the approaching 'miner,' curled his lips slightly and said heartily:

"Agents! Our homeland is behind us! Our loved ones are behind us! So we will never retreat!

Hold them off until the Containment Unit arrives!"

"Yes! Sir!" (x2)

"Roar!!"(x4)

"Bang bang!" The .308 caliber gunfire erupted.

"Squelch!" And…

The muffled sound of claws piercing flesh.