Henrick breathes heavily as the day's battles finally take their toll. "So absorbing that purple stuff isn't a cure all." With a grunt of exhaustion, he picks himself up and lumbers towards the supermarket. He enters and grimaces at the smell.
The scent of burnt meat mixed with the unique tang of ozone fills the air as Henrick pilfers through the supermarket. He places a few cans of unspoiled spam, beans, and vegetable soup in a plastic bag. Wincing at his stomach wound, he decides to grab a few gauze rolls and some alcohol.
Henrick finds a secluded space and looks at his wound, noting that it has already started to heal slightly. With practiced ease, he lifts his shirt, disinfects the surrounding tissue, and wraps the wound.
Looking outside, Henrick decides to stay in the supermarket for the night, as a blood red moon rises. Inhuman shrieks shatter the silence as Henrick hears monsters running through the streets, no doubt in search of prey. He ignores them in favour of eating a can of spam, drinking water, and testing out his new abilities.
He looks at his hand and searches for that feeling in his heart. He closes his eyes and focuses on the energy running through his veins and wills them to his hand. When he opens his eyes, he sees electricity arc around his fingers in a chaotic dance. He commands them to move in a certain way and they heed his orders.
Henrick tries to shoot them out like he did when he fought Dominic, but an overwhelming sense of fatigue threatens to crush his consciousness. Henrick places the can of spam down and finds a corner as he throws up from that overwhelming feeling. His body shivers as weakness takes hold. "Damn. So I can't be reckless with the electricity I use. Got it." he says, wiping his mouth and sitting back down on the ground.
Shakily grabbing his meal, he forces himself to finish the can of spam and huddles up in a corner. Sleep doesn't come easy, even in his weakened state, but exhaustion eventually wins.
Waking up a few hours later, Henrick groggily opens his eyes and notes that the fatigue is no more. Instead it is replaced by a feeling of strength coursing through his body. He flexes his muscles and gets prepared to leave the supermarket, when the ground shakes as if an earthquake has hit.
Henrick quickly steps outside and what he sees shocks his very core. There in the distance, is a giant mutated bull bulldozing through buildings. "A bull in the city??" His external projection of his thoughts prove to be a mistake as the mutated bull snaps its head towards him.
There are rare instances when even the bravest of men must admit that they are beaten. In this apocalypse, those instances are not so rare.
Henrick bursts forward in the opposite direction as the bull charges after him. His heart rate spikes and electricity courses through his limbs, instinctively enhancing his speed as he runs for dear life. "FUUUUUCK!!" Henrick shouts as he zooms down the street at preternatural speeds and spots a group of mutated humanoid creatures.
The creatures rush towards him but are barrelled over as Henrick tackles through them and keeps on running. The creatures gather themselves but are crushed by the mutated bull's hooves before they can even let out a screech.
Henrick looks behind him and pales as the bull closes the distance in a mad rush. In desperation, Henrick unleashes two bolts of electricity from his hands that pierce into the bulls eyes. He smiles in triumph as the bull stops and shakes its head in agony. His celebration is cut short as the side of the bulls horn slams into his ribs and throws him through a building.
"AAACKKK!!" Henrick smashes through an apartment complex and slams into wall after wall. Henrick stands after smashing through 5 walls and coughs out a small amount of blood. "How the hell do I kill something this big? It's 2 stories tall!" he says as he clutches his side and watches the bull continue its charge, smashing all the buildings around it.
Henrick's eyes widen with an idea as he watches the bull weaken a particularly large building. Without wasting any time, Henrick throws out a few more bolts of electricity at the bull's face. He guides it back to that large building and grins as the bull nears it. The bull's eyes open, revealing bloodied eyeballs as it charges forward with reckless abandon. Henrick rushes towards the bull and slides underneath it as it continues its charge.
It slams into the building and trips as hundreds of tons of rubble and rebar collapse on top of it. A grim satisfaction courses through Henrick's body as he hears the crunching of bones and tearing of muscles. As the dust settles, Henrick steps closer and sees the bull's head sticking out of the ruined remains of the building. Its eyes have rebar sticking through them, and its horns have snapped. It moo's weakly as it hears the approaching man.
Henrick grabs the metal sticking out of its eyes and unleashes a lethal current of electricity that rapidly carbonises the surrounding tissue. "MOOOOOO!!!" The mutated bull screams in pain as it thrashes, but Henrick's superhuman strength holds the bull's head steady in its weakened state.
With the strength of a cornered animal, the bull throws Henrick off and laboriously rises from the rubble that it's buried under. Blood pours out from its eyes as its breaths come out sharp and shallow, but that doesn't stop it from leaping into the air towards the direction of Henrick's impact.
Henrick crashes into the rubble and quickly rolls to the side as the hooves of the mutated bull stomp down where he once was. With a bellow, he smashes the bull's joint with a lightning enhanced elbow that topples the giant beast.
Unable to get up, the bull resorts to kicking out in random directions in its blinded state. Henrick dodges and weaves through the random strikes and leap into the air with a burst of superhuman strength, landing on the mutated creature's head.
He grabs the rebar and, with a twist, Henrick plunges the piece of metal even deeper into the bull's skull. Its breath suddenly hitches as blood spurts out from the wounds and its struggles abruptly stop as it collapses bonelessly. Dark purple mist rises and enters Henrick's body, strengthening his bones and muscles, as they flow through his veins and transform into an electric blue colour as it reaches his heart.
He lets go of the rebar and sits as he catches his breath. Henrick looks around at the devastation caused by one mutated creature and shakes his head tiredly. "That's just one of them. How many are there?" he says, his nerves feeling as if they were stretched thin.
He stands but freezes as he sees a human hand sticking out of the rubble of the ruined buildings. Henrick takes a deeper look around him, and realises that there are a lot more people that were buried under the rubble. No doubt from his confrontation with the bull.
Henrick looks on grimly as he picks himself up. "I'm sorry." Unfortunately there is no one alive around him to hear the apology. A sense of fatigue hits him again, but to a lesser degree this time.
Shrieks and roars fill the air as mutated creatures rush in from the distance. Henrick looks at his tattered clothing and picks at the pieces that easily rip off as he searches for shelter once more. He searches carefully, while avoiding mutated creatures.
Finally, he sees a surprisingly undamaged skyscraper and enters it quietly. He takes the stairs to the higher floors and settles for the 10th. He stealthily moves throughout the entire floor and secures the perimeter as swiftly as possible. Then he takes a seat on a chair and calms his nerves.
"My abilities give me a certain level of security, but these things are way too strong. Huh, I'm even talking to myself, I must be going crazy." he muses to himself as he decides to remove his tattered shirt. A sudden elevator ding catches his attention, however, and he swiftly moves behind cover.
Exiting from the elevator is a group of five, lead by a bald muscular man. "Let's rest here for now. I don't know what caused the damage outside, and I don't want to find out anytime soon." The bald man speaks and the rest of the group nods in acceptance as they move clumsily throughout the 10th floor and pick their own corners.
'Clearly not a close knit group. They didn't even bother to check for hostiles. They'll die quickly at this rate.' Henrick thinks to himself as he stands to his full height when the bald leader passes by.
He follows the leader to the window as the bald headed man speaks to himself. "What in the Lord's name is happening to this world? God, have your children sinned so much that you would do this?" he asks as he looks to the sky, clutching a cross on his necklace. Prayers leave his lips as he tilts his head downwards and closes his eyes.
Henrick suddenly speaks amidst the man's prayer. "I don't think this is God's work." The bald man suddenly twists and sends out a concussive blast. Henrick ducks out of the way and raises a hand out in a placating gesture. "Calm down. I'm not an enemy." Henrick quickly says, but the bald man keeps his palms out. "What kind of normal person sneaks up on somebody and says they're not an enemy?!" he shouts with righteous indignation.
Henrick scratches his head as he looks away awkwardly. "I'm sorry about that, force of habit." He extends a hand for a shake and introduces himself. "I'm Henrick." The bald man narrows his eyes and lets out a breath as he grabs Henrick's hand and shakes it.
"I'm Father David."
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END