Chapter 57: Trapped Between Them

5:04 AM

The Underground Casino in the suburbs was still buried in darkness. Only a faint gray glow filtered through the ventilation shafts, hinting that dawn was approaching.

Daisy suddenly opened her eyes.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

Within the range of her Mental Ability, a dense mass of emotions was surging beneath the walls.

It wasn’t the mindless aggression of zombies.

It wasn’t the greed and territorial hostility she’d sensed from mutant creatures either.

This was different.

A wave of intense panic mixed with hunger crashed through her senses, growing stronger by the second.

"Sister, wake up!"

Daisy sat upright and immediately shook Debbie Miller awake.

"There’s danger. Protect Nina. I’m waking everyone else."

She jumped out of bed and rushed from the room.

The moment she stepped into the corridor, she nearly collided with Rose Lynn, who had just emerged from another room, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

Daisy grabbed her hand.

"Sister Rose, use your Ability. There’s something inside the walls!"

Rose didn’t have time to ask questions.

She immediately activated her Plant Growth.

Pale green energy flowed from her fingertips and seeped into the wall.

A thin root pushed through a crack between the bricks.

Then came a sharp crack.

The root suddenly disappeared.

Something had bitten straight through it.

The severed end of the root trembled against the wall.

Rose’s face went pale.

"It’s alive."

She stared at the wall.

"They’re chewing through it."

"Pack everything. We’re leaving now."

Daisy’s voice was calm, but there was no room for argument.

"Take whatever you can carry. Sister Rose, you and Sofia go first. Debbie, take Nina and Haley in the middle. I’ll cover the rear."

Sofia and Haley were already awake by then.

The moment Haley heard the words chewing through the wall, she grabbed the back of Rose’s clothes in fear.

Debbie quickly secured Nina in a baby carrier and handed Haley a backpack stuffed with compressed biscuits.

"Stay close to me. Don’t fall behind."

Rose immediately activated her Plant Growth again.

Roots and thick vines burst from the walls on both sides of the corridor.

Within seconds, thorn-covered vines twisted together, forming a dense barrier across the passage.

It was the strongest defense she could create.

Sofia hurried toward the entrance.

She raised both hands, and ice spread across the gaps around the iron door.

A thick layer of ice formed around the frame, reinforcing the entrance and buying them a little more time.

"Move!"

Daisy led them through the corridor.

They moved quickly, one after another.

But Daisy’s Mental Ability remained focused behind them.

The mass of emotions was getting closer.

Much closer.

They had barely made it outside when a loud crack echoed from the Underground Casino.

Everyone froze.

That wasn’t the sound of bricks breaking.

It was the unmistakable sound of something hard being gnawed apart.

They turned around.

The iron door of the Underground Casino was slowly deforming.

Tiny black shapes were squeezing out from beneath the layer of ice.

Then the cracking sounds multiplied.

Crack. Crack. Crack.

The ice shattered.

A flood of red creatures poured through the entrance.

They were ants.

But they were far larger than ordinary ants, some nearly the size of rats.

Their hard shells reflected the faint morning light with a metallic sheen. Their mandibles snapped open and closed as they swarmed over the iron doorway.

Wherever their jaws touched, deep grooves appeared in the metal.

Sofia’s face drained of color.

"Mutant Red Ants..."

Rose’s thorn barrier was useless.

The moment the first ants reached the vines, they began tearing through them.

Thorns were shredded.

Vines were severed.

Within seconds, the entire barrier collapsed into pieces.

"Run!"

Daisy didn’t wait for anyone to argue.

The group sprinted down the mountain trail.

Behind them, the relentless cracking of the ants followed like a countdown to death.

Daisy glanced over her shoulder.

The entrance to the Underground Casino had already disappeared beneath a sea of red.

The swarm spread rapidly along the trail, following the path they had taken.

"They’re following us!"

Rose was already breathing heavily.

Sofia suddenly stopped.

She spun around and thrust both hands toward the hillside.

Ice spread across the ground.

A half-meter-high wall of solid ice rose between them and the approaching swarm.

"That should slow them down!"

Sofia’s face was pale.

She had already used her Ability several times, and the exhaustion was beginning to show.

The ants reached the ice wall almost immediately.

Their mandibles began tearing into it.

Hissss!

Ice shavings scattered across the ground.

But the wall was nowhere near as durable as the reinforced iron door.

Within thirty seconds, dozens of holes had appeared across its surface.

"We need to keep moving!"

Daisy turned and ran.

The others followed.

They didn’t know how long they had been running when the cracking sounds finally began to fade.

Only then did they slow down.

Daisy climbed onto a large boulder and looked back.

The entire slope leading toward the Underground Casino had turned red.

Even the trees halfway up the mountain were beginning to wither.

Their branches drooped as the leaves fell.

The ants had apparently chewed through their roots.

But that wasn’t the worst part.

The red mass was still moving.

Slowly.

Steadily.

Toward them.

"They haven’t stopped."

Daisy’s expression darkened.

"We need to get out of here."

Rose suddenly remembered something.

Her face changed.

"Ethan doesn’t know."

She looked at Daisy.

"If he comes back and uses the Space Anchor Point to return here..."

Her voice trailed off.

The consequences were obvious.

If Ethan appeared inside the swarm, he could be surrounded before he even understood what was happening.

Even his Space Ability might not be enough to escape an entire colony.

"We need to find him."

Debbie tightened her arms around Nina.

"Let’s head toward the city center."

Daisy nodded.

"That’s our priority. We find Ethan and warn him. If we can’t find him..."

She paused.

"...then we have to trust that he’s careful enough not to come back here blindly."

Sofia suddenly looked down.

"Ants!"

Everyone followed her gaze.

Several red ants had managed to slip through the cracks between the rocks.

Their metallic shells reflected the morning light, and traces of green sap clung to their mandibles.

Sofia reacted instantly.

Ice spikes shot from the ground and froze the ants inside blocks of ice.

For a moment, they stopped moving.

Then tiny cracks began spreading across the frozen surface.

The ants were still chewing.

From inside the ice.

"They’re not stopping!" Rose shouted.

Daisy kicked the frozen block away.

"Move!"

The group set off again.

Daisy kept her Mental Ability extended in both directions, constantly monitoring the surroundings.

Rose used Plant Growth to force weeds and thick roots out of the roadside soil, creating obstacles wherever possible.

Sofia continued launching ice spikes behind them.

Debbie remained in the middle, repeatedly using her Healing Ability to restore the others’ strength and keep their bodies from giving out.

They pushed onward.

Another hour passed.

Then Daisy suddenly grabbed her temples.

Her face went pale.

"They’ve sped up."

Everyone looked back.

Far below the ridge, the red swarm was spreading rapidly through the bushes.

It looked like a river of blood flowing across the ground.

And at the front of the colony stood something much larger.

A giant red ant perched on a rock.

It was roughly the size of a small piglet.

Its antennae moved constantly as it surveyed the area.

Rose stared at it.

"That’s the Ant Queen."

Her voice trembled.

"It’s controlling the colony."

Daisy’s stomach sank.

"They aren’t tracking us by scent."

Rose shook her head.

"They’re following the Queen’s signals."

That was far worse.

A swarm of mutated creatures was dangerous enough.

An organized swarm that could coordinate its movements was something else entirely.

Ordinary zombies could be killed one by one.

But there were thousands of ants behind them.

Even bullets wouldn’t solve the problem.

"Faster!"

Daisy gritted her teeth.

The group pushed themselves harder.

Their Abilities were steadily draining.

Their breathing became heavier.

Their legs grew weaker.

Their faces became paler.

If they couldn’t lose the swarm soon, they would eventually collapse from exhaustion.

Another kilometer passed.

The swarm was still only fifty meters behind them.

And the distance continued shrinking.

They couldn’t keep running.

"Stop!"

Daisy, who had been covering the rear, suddenly shouted.

Everyone stopped.

They turned toward her in confusion.

Daisy wasn’t looking behind them anymore.

She was staring straight ahead.

Her face had gone completely pale.

The others followed her gaze.

Their expressions changed instantly.

Twenty or more Mutant Vipers were spread across the road ahead.

They varied in size, but one immediately stood out.

The largest was thick enough to rival the width of a bowl.

Its dark body slid slowly across the road as several smaller vipers moved around it.

Everyone froze.

A swarm of Mutant Red Ants was closing in from behind.

A group of Mutant Vipers blocked the road ahead.

There was nowhere to run.

The women looked at one another.

Their bodies had already been pushed to their limits after hours of running and constant Ability use.

Now they were trapped between two groups of mutated creatures.

One wrong move could get them killed.

For the first time that morning, none of them could see a way out.

And the Mutant Vipers were already moving closer.