In plain sight, a prey stalked its predators. Alex caught up to the zombies and her weapon, fairly quickly. Her blade was lodged in the head of one of the greater zombies, somehow this particular zombie had survived the hit with the tip deep deep into its head. Fortunately for Alex, the tenacious creature was bound to die soon, considering it lagged behind the others and continuously lost a substantial amount of its inner fluids.
Therefore, Alex was patient: by allowing her target to succumb to its injuries, she had one less unnatural ability to deal with. Although this meant her planned order of dispatching the creatures would need to be modified.
' Even with my enhanced speed and strength, I lack any sort of ability to rely on. I have to be careful...And of course, kills are much sweeter when they're free.'
Soon enough, the tiresome wait was over. The other zombies did not have any sense of companionship: they did not even realise that they had abandoned their sluggish member. All Alex had to do was ensure she did not enter the zombie's awareness zone, and that she did.
As a precaution, Alex waited for a few minutes, staring at the fallen zombie metres away. When she ascertained that the amount of blood lost was sufficient, she dashed towards the zombie before methodically pounding her on-hand wakizashi into the zombie's already wounded head. With ardent fervour, she repeatedly thrust her weapon into the creature before dragging it out again, cheerfully mutilating its already hideous visage.
Now certain, she plucked out her second weapon and stashed the zombie's crystal into her pocket. Thankfully, her outfit's trousers resembled cargo pants, except they were less baggy and easier to move in, though that was only a perk to Alex. The two front pockets had enough space for 20 crystals in each.
The others had not strayed too far, they were marching at a humble pace, pathetic in comparison to Alex's speed actually, so she was not worried.
She had chosen her next target from their visual representations, opting to leave the most malformed of the creatures for last.
Two zombies out of the remaining five had special compositions: the one closest to the centre of the group was exaggeratedly hunched, and the other carried its head in its left arm.
The last three appeared as normal as zombies could be, which Alex did not consider as a main factor for strength, but those with special features she had faced were not at all easier. She would just rather have the weirdest-looking ones as the final course.
Her desired enemy was positioned at the edge of the group as well, however, it was dangerously close to another greater zombie. Alex still insisted on trying that one instead of the zombie at the other edge that was closer to the weirder-looking zombies.
Tentatively increasing her pace and entering the presumed awareness zone, she managed to agitate the wanted zombie. It sharply twisted its grey neck towards her before letting out a sharp hiss. The zombie next to it spun around wildly, facing her as well. It made no sound, unlike the vast majority she had previously faced. This one formed a playful grin, well, it attempted to. Instead its dirty stretched lips only added to the repulsiveness of its entire face.
Alex refused to make the first move, the others had not gone far and she would not want to attract any more greater zombies. That would be unsalvageable.
The previously hissing zombie, her original goal, spread its legs apart, adopting some sort of stance with its arms also stretched at its side. Then, it began to take in quick, sharp successive breaths from its mouth. Its pace and the amount of air ingested increased with each breath, and so did its round belly. The strain exerted to take each daunting breath was obvious as its bones shook, but it did not pause, only ever increasing the strain.
Alex would have loved to end the creature, hindering the conclusion of its unsightly attack, but the other zombie was yet to move. Its gaze was trained on hers and its grin only became crazier by the second, stretching farther than lips ever should.
The other zombie was solely focused on preparing its attack. Every breath stole greater amounts of air and its body struggled to keep up. Then it simply opened its lips wide; a suction force formed, and air rushed into the zombie's stomach with frightening velocity. A sandy tempest erupted, threatening to consume Alex entirely.
She stood her ground, not minding as the sands knocked against her skin and the winds raged with unabating ferocity. She knew the moment she moved so would that smiling zombie. She discreetly pushed the button on one of her weapons, her eyes never leaving the swelling balloon.
The howling tempest swirled and twirled, drawing in enough sand to be a sandstorm. Then, it closed its mouth. Squatting, it prepared to unleash a surely devastating attack. One Alex was not ready to see. She took advantage of the fledgling sandstorm that had lost its momentum. Sand hindered both her vision and the zombies'. She threw her right chakram at the position of the smiling zombie before dashing forward at full speed to the swollen balloon.
Her face appeared, precariously close to the almost erupting balloon, which -past its puffed cheeks and squeezed lips- leaked a disturbing green liquid. Alex used both arms to drive her remaining wakizashi deep into the taller creature's forehead. She didn't stop at that; she used the balloon's shoulders as a pivot, pressing both hands on it and then throwing herself upwards and above the creature.
She landed carelessly but continued running the moment her feet touched the ground. In a straight line, she ran at top speed for another two seconds, until she was hit by a powerful shockwave.
She fell face flat into the sand and her world went black.