From the Abyss of Stars

019. Attack

019. Attack

Boom—

The door of the shelter was blown off, and snow and sand rushed inside, hindering the guards who came to block the way. The security personnel of the Remnants of Humanity barely had time to raise their guns and use holographic sights to target the figures in the snowstorm before a screw whizzed through the sights, piercing a skull and carrying brain matter and blood with it.

Thud.

The body fell to the ground, followed by a burst of gunfire as the security personnel of the Remnants of Humanity were suppressed by the fierce firepower.

"Anton—damn, where did these enemies come from?!"

"The alarm has been sounded. The doctors will be here to support us soon. Just hold on a bit longer!"

The security personnel encouraged each other, taking cover behind the shelter's walls and using the terrain to counterattack the enemy. After a while, the gunfire from the other side noticeably thinned out.

"They're out of bullets!"

The security personnel of the Remnants of Humanity felt a surge of relief. It seemed the attackers didn't have as much firepower as they had thought. Since they were indoors and not affected by the snow and sand, it looked like repelling the attackers wouldn't be too difficult.

Just as they were about to regroup and counterattack, a low, hoarse voice emerged from the icy sandstorm:

"Zonia, you go."

The next moment, through their sights, the security personnel of the Remnants of Humanity saw a strange scene: a small, thin, frail figure slowly walked out of the freezing storm.

It was a girl of about fifteen or sixteen, wearing a thick military coat, walking barefoot, her feet covered in frostbite and purple bruises. The exposed skin was wrapped in dirty bandages. She walked slowly into the shelter's corridor, her right hand clutching the coat's collar, while her left sleeve hung empty, indicating she was an amputee.

She raised her head, her face tightly wrapped in bandages, revealing only a pair of lifeless, hollow eyes. As her gaze focused, the security personnel of the Remnants of Humanity saw her eyes turn from black and white to red and black, filled with violent rage. At the same time, a suffocating power seemed to brew in the air.

"She's—an infected!"

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!

The security personnel of the Remnants of Humanity finally reacted, pulling the trigger instantly. The dense line of bullets turned the girl into a sieve. Some reacted quickly, switching to armor-piercing incendiary rounds, and the girl's body was instantly riddled with holes by modern technology. The impact of the bullets made her body sway like a boat in a storm, manipulated and controlled by the power of science.

Click—

After a round of concentrated fire, the girl called Zonia knelt on the ground, her body full of holes. The yellow bullet casings were squeezed by her muscles, steaming from the residual heat as they popped out of her thin frame.

What was shocking was that no blood flowed from the numerous bullet holes, as if the girl in front of them was just an empty puppet. Even more unsettling was that the suffocating pressure in the air didn't dissipate with her fall but instead became almost tangible, turning into black shadows that poured out of Zonia's body!

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, bang!

The shadows struck instantly, ignoring cover, piercing the exoskeleton armor of the security personnel with the force of a train, slamming several of them against the walls. Before they could scream, their heads were crushed by the irresistible force, turning into gruesome pulp against the wall.