Indeed, Menil was already trying to get away. From the top of the roof, he threw himself towards the ground, some four storeys below. Halfway down he spread his wings and avoided landing hard in the garden. However, the wound in his chest was worse than he imagined, so he ended up falling to the ground, without much energy to move.
Moments earlier, while Leonard, Menil and Noah were planning the ambush, Adam was on the ground floor, trying to get back into battle. This entire floor was empty and dark, so combined with the noise of the nearby battle, Adam couldn't help but feel uncomfortable.
He advanced towards the stairs with his nail gun in his hand. He hadn't had a chance to use it much, but so far that night he had fired it more times than he could count.
As he moved forward, the mini-computer on his wrist kept emitting annoying beeps indicating the presence of enemies. The noise had long since become a background sound. Which was why he did not notice a signal, much fainter than the others, approaching him.
Shadow materialized abruptly beside him and tried to tear at Adam's neck with his fingernails. Against any other human it would have worked, but Adam's level was too high and he managed to react in time.
Before he realized what he was doing, his hand was in the way of the attack. Sombra's nails dug deep into his flesh, piercing through the leather glove he wore, but missing the bone. Adam felt a sharp pain, but ignored it and raised his nail gun. The zombie returned to the shadow world, but not before taking two nails in the stomach.
All was still around Adam, who endured the sharp pain he felt as he surveyed his surroundings. He himself was surprised to be alive, as he considered evolved zombies to be far more powerful than humans of the same level.
However, the zombie hadn't hurt him much despite how powerful and abrupt its attack had been. It had penetrated the thick leather glove as if it were mere cloth.
Still, he could not be confident. His left hand was useless, so he would have to defend himself with only one hand, and the damn zombie was nowhere to be found.
Without warning, a dark arm came out of Adam's shadow and tried to tear at his leg. Adam wasn't able to dodge, but simply fired his nail gun again quickly.
The zombie disappeared into nothingness again, leaving Adam with a flesh wound on his leg. Adam knew he couldn't go on like this, so he started running with all his might towards the outside, towards the slope leading up to the car park.
There he looked for the spot where the first Berserker they had faced had fallen. The grass growing on the hillside had turned to ash several meters around him and, more importantly, the only shadow on this spot was his own. The shadow of the superblock was cast on the other side of the building, while that of the bridge was reasonably far away. Adam stopped there and pulled out his flamethrower.
Without giving much thought to the possible consequences and guided by his [Ingenuity] skill, he shot flames into the grass outside the ash perimeter he was in and set everything on fire. His idea was to make most of the shadows shrink with a large amount of light. However, he was surrounded by an inferno, so Adam doubted whether it had been a good idea.
Meanwhile, Shadow was taken by surprise. The flames distorted the shadow world in a way he had never experienced before. Fire has no shadow of its own, so it was completely invisible in that world. In addition, the excessive light from different directions caused the shadows around Adam to shrink in size, while simultaneously creating a thousand tiny shadows in the surrounding area that danced to the rhythm of the fire.
The zombie was in Adam's shadow just as the fire started, so the world around him grew larger and larger as the shadows decreased in size. The speed with which this was happening was so fast that the reality around him became distorted, splitting into hundreds of fragments, like a broken mirror.
Sombra was forced to leave that world suddenly, as he sensed great danger. Back in the real world, he found himself surrounded by a ring of fire. Adam immediately fired at him, but Shadow managed to dodge it.
The zombie watched the powerful human carefully. His presence was undoubtedly the most powerful in the entire area, so he was sure he was the leader. He had sensed it on his previous visit, but now that he was close to him he could understand that he had a lot of power.
Adam watched his enemy carefully, no doubt it was the zombie that had contacted Menil. Adam cursed himself at that moment for not asking him more about the zombie's abilities.
Adam fired again, but Sombra dodged both shots and quickly closed in on Adam. He stepped back a few paces and dived into the fire he had created. His [Pyromancer] ability allowed him to control what burned his fire, so he expended some energy to prevent it from burning him and his equipment.
Inside the flames the heat was unbearable and the smoke was most annoying, but Adam ignored all this and turned his attention to the Zombie. The flames were still not very high, so he could still see his enemy trying to get closer.
Adam continued to use his nail gun with one hand as he continued to clumsily hold the flamethrower with his injured arm. However, Shadow was moving too fast to catch him.
Just when Adam thought the fight would come down to a dull exchange at a distance, the zombie suddenly attacked. To Adam's surprise, the zombie leapt at great speed in his direction and when it reached his side it disappeared without a trace.
The fact was that Adam was not able to completely eliminate the shadows. There is always a space in which they can exist, even in the middle of an inferno. Shadow disappeared into the shadows between Adam's clothes and his skin and moved swiftly. This thin space in reality became a wide space in the world of shadows. The zombie could still see the distorted reality outside, which was already beginning to stabilize after such an abrupt change. Satisfied that he was safe, he continued on his way at full speed.
Without two people to carry, his speed in that world was simply incredible. Sombra climbed up to the shadow on the back of Adam's neck and materialized. The fire around him affected him, but he was ready to strike another deadly blow.
When the zombie disappeared, Adam immediately knew he was in trouble, so he used his new ability: [Rock Grenade]. It generated a chunk of metallic rock that could explode at Adam's command.
When Sombra materialized behind him, Adam could feel his sudden materialization. Without thinking, he threw the grenade into the air and set it off immediately. The resulting explosion severely wounded Shadow, who was unable to successfully complete his attack. Shards of burning metal penetrated his skin, causing him to scream in pain. The zombie fell to the ground, where it burst into flames. In desperation, it bolted in the direction of the shadow under the bridge where everyone else was fighting and disappeared.
Adam ended up only slightly better off, as he covered his face with his wounded arm in time, which ended up with several pieces of metal embedded in it. In addition, his brand new armor ended up covered with holes, from which some blood was oozing out.
Adam endured the pain and put out all the fire around him. He had survived, but he feared that things had only just begun, that zombie had managed to escape and he was sure it would be back. He had no time to relax, however, as a horrible sound from a nearby building dominated the area.
Adam had been in a hurricane only once in his life and it reminded him of that experience. The terrifying sound of the wind seemed to roar all around him. From where he stood he couldn't see what was happening clearly, but a tornado seemed to have risen through the sky.
Despite all his injuries, Adam still felt strong, so he hurried back to the superblock to find out what was going on.
Zack, meanwhile, watched in terror as the tornado appeared in front of the superblock. The Breeder was still feeding it with all its power.
"Get back, everyone inside an apartment, now!"
His group, along with Marlen, backed up at full speed. He, due to his limp, was the last to enter the nearest house. He slammed the door shut and then grabbed the handle.
The tornado rushed at high speed over the superblock, causing all the survivors to tremble in fear. In its wake, no windows survived, and even some weakened doors came crashing down.