The Last Evolution

Chapter 7 — First Mutation: The Law of Adaptation

An afternoon breeze carrying the scent of gunpowder swept across the empty supermarket parking lot. Max folded Raven's map and slipped it into his jacket pocket.

"Impact Zone... so the source of the outbreak and the changes in my body are tied to that meteor crater," Max murmured.

Beside him, Mia hugged her first-aid bag while glancing anxiously toward the loading bay. The growls of over a dozen undead that had just finished tearing Derek and Chloe apart were drawing closer.

"Max, the horde in the back alley is heading this way!" Mia whispered in panic, pulling her thick jacket tight. "If we stay in the parking lot, we'll get surrounded again!"

"Who said we're walking?" Max replied calmly and pointed to a pickup truck near the security booth. "The keys are still in the ignition. Get in the passenger seat."

Once he tossed both supply packs into the truck bed, Max climbed behind the wheel and turned the key. The pickup roared to life and sped out of the supermarket lot.

"Thank goodness it started right up," Mia sighed in relief as she sank into the seat. "By the way, where are we going? Are you really following that scary woman to the old research facility?"

"That place has the answers and the valuables I need," Max said, keeping his eyes on the road. "If you're scared and want to get out on the curb, I can unlock the door right now."

"N-no! I'm coming with you!" Mia quickly corrected herself and gripped her seatbelt. "Getting left alone on the street is suicide! I promise I won't complain!"

Max let out a quiet snort, though five minutes later he had to slow the truck down. Dozens of charred, wrecked cars were piled up across the entire main highway.

"Damn it, the main road is blocked off by wrecked cars," Mia groaned, her face paling. "If we turn around, we'll have to drive right past the front of the supermarket where all those zombies were!"

"No need to turn back," Max said as he spun the wheel to the left, turning onto a side road between rows of old factories. "The map shows a shortcut cutting through this industrial district."

Rusted factory walls and stacks of steel shipping containers lined the narrow road. Not a single ordinary zombie wandered the sidewalks, leaving the roar of the pickup's engine echoing loudly down the corridor.

Too quiet, Max thought sharply as he spotted mangled pieces of ordinary zombies littering the edge of the asphalt. Something much worse already cleared this street.

Crash!

Drawn by the sound of the engine, a massive shadow lunged out from behind a shipping container and plowed through a stack of iron drums, sending one flying onto the asphalt right in front of the hood and forcing Max to slam on the brakes.

"W-what was that?!" Mia shrieked as the seatbelt caught her. "Why did an iron drum just fly into the middle of the road?!"

Heavy footsteps shook the asphalt from behind the shadow of the container. A giant zombie standing overseven feet tall lumbered out toward the sound of the idling engine.

Unlike the burly zombie from before, thick gray skin hardened like stone plates covered this monster's chest, shoulders, and head.

"Oh God... what kind of monster is that?!" Mia gasped. "It's the size of a bear! Max, back the truck up before it smashes through the windshield!"

"The lane behind us is too narrow to reverse fast," Max said coldly as he grabbed his bent iron pipe and hunting knife. "Slide into the driver's seat, lock the doors, and keep the engine running."

"Wait! You're going to fight that thing alone with an iron pipe?!" Mia cried out and grabbed his arm. "With skin that hard, you'll get yourself killed out there!"

"If I don't put it down now, that thing will flip this truck with you inside it," Max replied flatly, brushing her hand off before jumping out. "Stay inside and keep quiet."

The moment Max's boots hit the asphalt, the giant zombie let out a deafening roar and charged straight at him.

Max darted aside to dodge the initial rush, then swung his iron pipe with all his strength into the monster's ribs.

Clang!

A sharp ring like iron striking concrete echoed between the factory walls. The hardened gray skin didn't tear at all, leaving only a white scratch mark.

"Damn, that's tough!" Max hissed. "Ordinary weapons can't even break through its outer hide!"

Before Max could pull his pipe back, the monster twisted its torso and swung its massive arm. Max raised his pipe and his left forearm to block the blow.

Wham!

The crushing impact sent Max skidding ten feet back across the asphalt, nearly knocking him off his feet. The end of the rebounding pipe grazed his left arm and tore the skin open.

"Max! Get back in the truck!" Mia screamed from behind the window, her face white as a sheet. Insane! A monster that size didn't even flinch when he hit it!

The giant zombie roared again and stomped forward to bring a second fist down toward Max's skull.

Yet under the crushing pressure and the sharp sting in his arm, the bluish veins beneath Max's skin pulsed with heat. His blood pumped hard, triggering a surge throughout every muscle fiber in his body.

Within seconds, the muscle density in Max's arms shot up. His eyes tracked the trajectory of the oncoming fist with newfound clarity as the swing seemed to slow down in his vision.

"You think your hide is the only thing that can get harder?" Max growled coldly.

When the giant fist came down again, Max caught half the force with his denser muscles and deflected the monster's arm straight into the steel shipping container beside him.

Crash!

As the monster's arm wedged into the dented container wall and its head tilted back in a roar, Max spotted a single gap beneath its jaw.

Where the base of its throat stretched tight, the gray skin was much thinner and softer than the armor plating on its chest.

"Found your weak spot," Max muttered.

Using a stack of drums beside the container as a foothold, Max leaped high, level with the monster's shoulder. His left hand slammed the iron pipe into the giant's chin and forced its head back.

In the next breath, Max drew his hunting knife with his right hand and drove the blade hilt-deep into the soft flesh of its throat.

Shhk!

Black blood spurted out as Max twisted the blade and carved through the base of the neck with his newfound strength. The giant monster's roar cut off in a gurgle before its massive frame crashed onto the asphalt.

Inside the truck, Mia sat frozen with her mouth hanging open. On trembling legs, she pushed the door open and stepped out, looking at Max with both awe and fear.

"Y-you really took it down by yourself..." Mia whispered breathlessly. "Your arm nearly broke blocking its first punch, and then your strength multiplied out of nowhere. What are you, Max?"

Max pulled his knife free from the monster's neck as he pieced together how the biological changes in his body worked.

My body evolves biologically every time it's pushed past the limit by a threat, Max noted calmly. The heavier the pressure in a fight, the faster my muscles and reflexes adapt.

Seeing Mia still staring at him with a pale, trembling face, Max turned his cold eyes on her.

"You don't need to look at me like that," Max said flatly as he sheathed his knife. "As long as my head is working and I'm not biting your neck, I'm not a monster."

Mia swallowed hard and gave a stiff nod. "S-sorry. I've just never seen a human as strong as you."

"Help me move that drum in front of the truck, then we're moving on," Max ordered.

When Max rolled up his torn sleeve to wipe the blood from his left arm, he paused at the sight of the bluish pattern on his skin, which looked sharper and more defined now—right as the blue meteor stone in his pocket pulsed with warmth again.