The man walking into the camp with fiery eyes is a feral ghoul, and due to the powerful tribes nearby he lives off grave robbing. Forced to nibble of freshly buried corpses for any residual life force remaining within to scrape by. Being a lowly ghoul, and having so many weak humans nearby presented an opportunity. Devouring their life force could allow him to increase his strength, and he could start fighting some of the solo warriors.
'This is the exact moment I've been needing' The ghoul smirked dashing forward.
Brian already had his gun drawn the minute he saw the ghoul, and the others were now huddling together. No one knew what the man said, but the look in his eyes sent chills down their spines. Brian put three shots into the charging feral's chest as blood began trailing down its stomach. The ghoul jumped back feeling a sharp pain in his chest and looked down in irritation.
'Looks like I underestimated them. No matter this is trivial.' The feral smirked.
The bullets slowly pushed out from the ghoul's chest as the wound healed. Everyone stood around in disbelief, and all though filled with fear Brian steadied his hands firing again for the head. The feral was no fool and took notice of the flash appearing from the gun as it took a shot to the shoulder.
'How the fuck can it dodge?'Brian steadied his hand taking aim.
Even if the ghoul couldn't see the bullets fast enough it could watch for the flash, and listen for the bang. Knowing Brian had a dangerous weapon it would use burst in speed to take the shots to places easy to heal. This made the ghoul a formidable enemy, and without destroying the vessel it would continue to heal. The ghoul dashed forward at frightening speeds under the next shot and kicked Brian in the chest.
Blood went spewing from Brian's mouth as he went flying back. The force was strong enough to send him tussling across the dirt disoriented. It was a simple kick, but Brian received two broken ribs in an instant.
As the feral was preparing to walk forward it was stabbed in the temple with a karambit. It went into the ghoul's head but it wasn't deep enough. The ghoul swiftly turned around seizing the man by the neck.
The man being choked by the ghoul was named Denam, and he couldn't believe something could survive being struck that deep in the temple. With his other hand, Denam left a deep slash across the eyes of the feral with his second karambit.
'What the fuck is this thing.' Denam stared in disbelief as the wounds on its eyes began healing.
The feral scoffed at the attempt but heard the sound of Brian rustling behind him. Wanting to avoid another shot the ghoul tossed Denam into Brian. The two were slammed together with such force it knocked the wind out of them both. Everyone around started scrambling in fear, but some were frozen in place trembling.
The ghoul had its sight returned rapidly speeding behind one of the fleeing men and pounced on its back. The feral snapped the man's neck with ease as mysterious light slowly drifted from the corpse. The ghoul opened its mouth as the light was rapidly devoured. Brian recovered enough to take aim firing three shots into the back of the ghoul's head as the feral plopped over onto the ground.
"Are you okay?" Denam asked seeing Brian walking awkwardly
"Maybe a broken rib, but I'll manage somehow. Tha.."
The sounds of the people screaming ensued once again. Brian turned around seeing the ghoul slowly pushing itself up from the ground. On the ground before it, one could see chunks of brain falling to the floor as the ghoul stood up straight. The ghoul turned to display a sinister smirk as the holes in its head rapidly healed. The necklace of bone around his neck began expanding to cover his chest. The feral began laughing as he stared down at the effects a fresh soul could accomplish.
'These ones have no mana yet their souls are so rich. Why is that?' The ghoul jumped up and down feeling the strength flowing.
The feral looked up dashing forward eager to have another sample. Brian unloaded his mag aiming for its head, but each shot narrowly missed. The ghoul continued forward going for the closest person. It was a mother clinging to her child as they were frozen in fear.
Standing off to the ghoul's side was a man named Nathan trembling in place. Looking around some were fleeing, and others were preparing to engage the ghoul but were too far away to make it in time. Seeing the monster encroaching on a child the memory of his daughter appeared.
'Move damn it!' Nathan extended his trembling hand towards a machete.
Nathan screamed as he forced himself to charge forward. He swung down using all his might attempting to decapitate the feral. A loud whack was heard along with a shriek as the machete was lodged into the bone. It wasn't deep enough to kill it, but the ghoul redirected his attention. The ghoul was preparing to rip Nathan in half. Seeing Nathan desperately trying to defend a stranger the others frozen in place could no longer stand by and do nothing.
A man named Zess was already charging their way and swung for the same spot. With the second cleave, the ghoul released his grip. The feral's neck was barely hanging on, but they could see the flesh starting to mend. Zess retrieved the machete as several people tackled the ghoul. Everyone was a stranger and came from different parts of the world, but in a moment of terror, they rallied together. They were piling on top struggling to keep the ghoul down while it shouted in a distorted voice.
"I'll devour all of you!" The ghoul shouted flinging two people off him attempting to get up.
"It's so damn strong!"
"We need more people!"
"Don't let him get up!"
Brian rapidly closed the distance loading the next mag as he racked back the chamber firing another round into its head. The ghoul halted its struggles as its body was forced to heal the head wound.
"Hurry before it starts healing again," Brian said while preparing to fire again if needed.
The sounds of metal hitting bone echoed in the forest with the sounds of a blood-curdling scream. Once the head rolled on the ground the body began flailing uncontrollably. The feral's eyes began flaring brighter than before, and everyone rapidly got away from the body.
An eerie sound resembling screaming people was resonating from the body. Six bright white lights began floating away from his neck before dissipating along with the wailing. Rapidly the ghoul's body aged, and the scarlet color fade from its arms along with the bone-like armor. In a matter of seconds, the body resembled a normal human before turning into sand.
"What the fuck was that?"
"A fucking zombie that's what."
"Zombies die when you shoot them in the head!"
"Zombies aren't real!"
"This is just a dream...I'll be back in class any minute."
"It doesn't matter what it is, or what you believe in. We need to get ready for another attack," Zess declared.
"He's right we're wasting time by talking. Everyone who cant fight needs to be at the center and the rest start fastening spears." Brian replied.
One of Ms.Bishop's students stepped forward. He was a senior, and on track to be this year's valedictorian. His name was Jeremy, and he spent most of his free time watching documentaries. One of his favorite series besides planet earth is those regarding war. He was typically nervous about speaking up with so many watching him, but self-preservation was a powerful thing. Jeremy pushed his glasses up nervously walking forward to address the group.
"Something that fast will never be hit effectively by amateurs like us. There's bamboo in the area, and they have tools we could use to start digging." Jeremy stated.
"Punji sticks. That could work, but it heals very fast. Given their strength jumping from a deep hole would be a cakewalk." Wesley replied.
"I know it will only slow them down, but that's what we need. This thing survived being shot in the head multiple times. The traps will be used as a chance to escape by inflicting multiple wounds across the body forcing its regeneration to apply to multiple places. Our goal should be to hunker down for the night and seek refuge elsewhere in the morning." Jeremy declared.
"Kinda hard to deny his logic on that," Denam stated.
"You're a bright one aren't you." Wesley smiled patting Jeremy on the shoulder for the good work.