From Weakest to Building a System That Made the World a Game

Chapter 6: The Swarm

The ferals didn't charge in a wave this time — they swarmed. Shadows uncoiled from broken doorways, claws scraping walls as they scrambled along rooftops and dropped from above.

Kade fired blind bursts, curses tearing from his throat. His shots sparked off stone more than flesh, the beasts weaving low and fast. One darted through his line of fire, and his rifle clicked empty far too soon.

The feral lunged before he could reload.

Kade threw up his rifle like a shield, claws screeching down its frame. The weight of the beast drove him back, boots sliding across broken stone. Its jaws snapped inches from his face, hot spit hitting his cheek.

"Get—off—me!" He rammed a knee into its chest, but it only shrieked and pushed harder. His free hand fumbled for a spare mag, but there was no time.

A shot cracked past his ear. The feral's skull burst, black spray splattering across Kade's uniform.

He shoved the carcass aside and snapped his head toward Sera, who was already aiming at another target. She didn't even look at him.

Kade swallowed, hands trembling as he slammed a new mag into place. His smirk was gone now.

Another feral leapt for her before she could shift targets. Sera rolled back, brought her rifle up — click.

Her stomach dropped. Jam.

The beast was already on her, claws flashing. She swung the rifle like a club, the stock cracking against its jaw. Not enough. Its weight slammed her flat, teeth gnashed a hair's breadth from her throat.

She twisted, straining to keep its maw away, the hot stench of rot filling her nose. Her fingers fumbled along the rifle's body, desperate for the release. One bad slip and those jaws would close on her throat.

A boot crashed down. Owen's kick sent the feral tumbling aside, bones crunching under the force. His pipe followed, crushing its skull to pulp.

"Pay attention, sharpshooter!" he barked, grinning through the sweat.

Sera shoved herself upright, hands shaking as she cleared the jam with quick, practiced motions. Her voice was cold.

"Save your lectures. I'm not the one bleeding."

Her rifle snapped back into place, barrel steady again. The next feral that showed itself dropped in a single, perfect shot — her hands had stopped shaking.

Owen waded forward like a wall of muscle, his pipe swinging in brutal arcs. Skulls cracked, bodies flew but the pack learned. They stopped rushing head-on.

Three came low, crawling like spiders. Another vaulted from the rubble above.

Owen smashed the first, but claws raked across his thigh. He staggered. The second latched onto his back, teeth scraping against his armor plates. He roared, twisting, but the third slammed into his chest, driving him to one knee.

The one from above landed on him with a snarl. For a moment, Owen vanished beneath a writhing pile of limbs and teeth.

"Big man's down!" Kade shouted, his voice strained.

Sera's rifle cracked twice, peeling one off his back. Maya's carbine stitched a burst into another. Still, the last two pinned him, jaws snapping inches from his throat.

Owen planted his boots, veins straining along his neck. With a guttural roar, he heaved upward, sheer strength hurling the beasts aside. His pipe came down like a hammer, splitting one's skull, then smashing the other flat against the cracked pavement.

He spat blood and straightened, grinning despite the crimson running down his leg."Ha! Is that all you've got?"

Sera muttered over comms, voice clipped. "One day, that bravado is going to get you killed."

Owen just laughed and swung his pipe back onto his shoulder.

Tomas had backed himself against a wall, hands trembling so hard the drone controller nearly slipped from his grip. His machine hovered overhead, lights sweeping wild arcs across the ruins.

Warnings blared in his headset — too many signals, too close.

He swallowed hard, trying to steady his breath, but his vision blurred. His fingers fumbled over the console, mistyping the override. The drone jolted, spun out of formation, and smashed into a broken signpost with a metallic crack.

"No, no, no!" His voice came out ragged as he scrambled to reset it. "Not now — please, not now —"

Shadows moved. Two ferals slithered close to the ground, eyes glowing as they stalked him. Tomas lifted the controller like a shield, useless plastic shaking in his hands.

One lunged, only to crumple midair, its skull bursting from a clean rifle shot. The other staggered as Daniel stepped in front of him, blade flashing in a brutal downward strike.

Tomas gasped, almost dropping to his knees. Daniel didn't look back at him, just pushed the boy behind cover with one firm hand.

"Stay down. Let the others breathe," Daniel said flatly, eyes never leaving the pack.

The drone sputtered back to life overhead, its damaged lens strobing light over the ruins. For a moment it swept across the rooftops, enough to reveal more shadows moving above. A warning chirp crackled through their comms.

Tomas clutched the controller to his chest, pale and shaking, half-hidden behind the rubble — yet the machine still watched the dark even when he couldn't.

Maya had held steady the longest — measured bursts, sharp eyes, every shot counted. But the pack had learned her rhythm too.

Two ferals darted opposite arcs, one weaving through rubble, the other scaling a collapsed wall. She adjusted, shifted her aim too late.

The one on the wall leapt, claws outstretched, a blur in her periphery.

Maya snapped her carbine up and fired point-blank. The muzzle flash lit its face as the rounds punched through its skull. But the second beast was already there, barreling into her side. The impact slammed her against the broken wall, her weapon skittering from her grip.

Claws scraped across her chest plate, sparks flying as she shoved back with her forearm. Her breath hitched; her calm precision fractured as the feral's jaws gnashed inches from her throat.

She reached for her sidearm — fingers brushing the grip — but the beast pressed harder, forcing the air from her lungs.

A thunderous crack split the moment. Owen's pipe swung in from the side, smashing the feral into the rubble with bone-splitting force.

"Keep your eyes open, quiet girl," Owen barked, yanking her back to her feet.

Maya exhaled slowly, retrieving her rifle with a tight grip. Her face was calm again but the brief tremor in her hands told the truth.

"Won't happen twice," she said, her voice flat.

Daniel had been everywhere at once. Shoving Tomas clear, covering Owen's blind spots, cutting down stragglers before they reached Sera. He moved like he already knew where each attack would land.

But even he couldn't be everywhere.

A trio broke from the flank, faster than the rest. One lunged straight for him. He twisted aside, blade flashing, splitting its throat in a clean arc. The second rammed into his chest before he could reset. The impact drove him back, boots scraping the floor, ribs jolting under the pressure.

The beast's claws raked his shoulder plate, sparks and metal shrieking. Daniel gritted his teeth, wrestling as its fangs scraped against the edge of his sidearm. He forced it just far enough back. The reek of decay choked him.

The third feral closed in. He saw it coming but pinned as he was, he had no room to move.

Gunfire cracked. The beast's head burst before it could leap. Sera's voice followed, cold and sharp over comms.

"Don't get sloppy."

Daniel shoved the one on top of him aside, driving his knife up under its chin. The body went limp instantly. He rose in one smooth motion, breath hard but steady, eyes locked back on the pack.

"Not sloppy," he muttered, brushing blood from his sleeve. "Calculated."

Sera glanced his way across the rubble, her face torn between amusement and disapproval.

The street was a storm of echoes — gunfire, snarls, and breathless curses. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the chaos ended.

The last feral twitched on the ground, a knife buried to the hilt in its chest. Its death rattle faded into silence.

For a moment, nobody moved. The squad stood in the wreckage, shoulders heaving, weapons slick with blood and dust.

Kade bent over, spitting grit, his hands shaking as he forced a laugh. "Still standing. Told you we had it." His voice was thinner than his grin.

Sera ignored him, her gaze sweeping the shadows. The silence still didn't sit right with her. She reloaded her rifle.

Owen leaned on his pipe, his armor scarred and dented with claw marks, chest heaving. "If that's the worst the Zone's got, I'll—" He stopped, catching Daniel's stare. The big man grinned anyway. "Fine. Maybe not the worst."

Maya was the first to move, weapon raised, eyes scanning the ruins like searchlights. "Don't relax. They scattered, not gone."

Overhead, Tomas's drone hovered unsteady, its light sputtering as if it too was shaken. The boy's voice came through their comms, quiet, trembling. "They… they're still out there. Lots more. Watching."

Daniel stepped forward, wiping blood from his blade. His pulse was steady, his eyes scanning the jagged ruins ahead. "Then we don't wait for them. We hunt them first."

For a moment, the squad's eyes lingered on him — drawn to the calm in his voice, the certainty in his stance.

Then Hart's voice cut in over comms, sharp as ever. "You heard him. Hunt them if you must, just don't lose sight of the bigger picture."

None of them said it aloud, but they all felt it.

The fight hadn't ended. It had only… paused.