Chapter 274: The White Tide

The mass pushed through the collapsed buildings and spilled onto the lower platforms, spreading across the settlement with horrifying speed.

It looked almost liquid from a distance, but every part of it moved with purpose. Thick white strands crawled over stone, wrapped around wooden structures, and squeezed through gaps between buildings before merging into a much larger mass.

The Hive Mind had reached the surface.

Someone behind Kilian whispered, "What is that...?"

Kilian tightened his grip around his rifle. "That’s the thing from mine."

The Pathfinder’s face went pale. "You mean the parasite?"

"No." Kilian watched as another section of the white mass climbed over a building. "The parasite is inside that thing. I think that’s the hive mind..."

He turned to them, his eyes sharp, "Listen, all of you need to go as soon as possible, use the old gate on the south side if possible. Western side has collapsed. Tell everyone if you are able to contact them.."

The Pathfinder nodded fast, "I will try to contact Ronan,"

They led the civilians with them, toward the south as they turned around, including KIlian.

’I hope they are okay, shit. I should bring them with me.’ he thought as he remembered his men he left behind..

He bit his lower lip until he could taste copper. it was a suicide to turn back now. But he trusted them, he knew they were already running now. They should

The Hive Mind continued spreading. It didn’t simply move toward the nearest people.

One part crawled down toward the lower roads while another climbed the canyon wall.

A third section slipped beneath a building and emerged on the other side, cutting across one of the routes the civilians had been using only minutes earlier.

Then the screams began. People who had been too far away to see the explosion started running.

Some shouted warnings. Others simply ran without knowing what was chasing them.

Kilian raised his rifle and turned toward the civilians.

"Keep moving toward the southern side! Don’t stop here. There is an old gate there. Our men should be able to open it!"

The Pathfinder beside him immediately began shouting the same order, trying to push the frightened civilians down the narrow route.

Then something struck the platform behind them.

A white strand whipped across the wooden boards so fast that Kilian barely saw it. It wrapped around the ankle of a man near the back of the group.

The man screamed.He fell hard onto his stomach and clawed at the boards, desperately trying to grab anything that could stop him. His fingers caught the edge of the platform for only a second before the strand tightened.

"Help me!"

Two people reached for him but they were too late.

The white strand dragged him backward with such force that his body slammed against the steps before disappearing beneath the growing mass.

Another scream came from farther up the route. followed by another in the same desperation and chaos.

Kilian turned and saw more of the white growth pouring over the buildings behind them.

It moved like an avalanche.

The Hive Mind spilled down from the higher platforms, flowing around buildings and across staircases as countless strands pushed through every opening they could find.

Some crawled along the stone walls while others dropped from above, reaching across the narrow walkways and wrapping themselves around anything unfortunate enough to be in their path.

People began running faster. Some stumbled over the stairs.Others pushed past them without even looking back.

"Shoot it!" one of the Pathfinders shouted.

Kilian raised his rifle and fired. The others followed immediately as gunshots erupted across the canyon.

Bullets tore through the white mass, ripping holes through the thick strands and sending pieces of it splattering across the stone. For a moment, it looked as though they were actually slowing it down.

Then the torn strands began moving again.They crawled toward one another and fused back together. More of them poured over the buildings behind the soldiers.

"Fuck!" Kilian fired again until his magazine was nearly empty."It isn’t stopping!"

"I know!"

The situation got worse as a sudden explosion thundered from somewhere below making he entire canyon shook.

Kilian nearly lost his balance on the narrow steps as a deep boom rolled through the settlement. Snow and dust fell from the buildings around them.

He looked down toward the lower platforms.

"What the hell was that?"

One of the Pathfinders stared over the railing. "That came from below! It must be from the Mercenary Guild! those men are insane!"

Another explosion followed.This time, the effect was bad enough that several sections of the Hive Mind recoiled violently as fire erupted beneath them.

The white growth shrank away from the flames, its thick strands curling inward as if they were being burned alive.

For a brief moment, Kilian thought they had found a way to hurt it.

Then his expression changed because the burning mass began breaking apart. Instead of falling like dead tissue, the white strands dissolved into thousands of tiny golden particles that rose into the air.

Kilian stared at them. His instincts screamed that something was wrong.

"Shit! That’s, that’s the spores!"

The Pathfinder nearest to him turned. "What?"

"Don’t use explosives!" Kilian pointed toward the golden cloud. "And no fire! Whatever that is, don’t burn it again!"

The Pathfinder looked confused. "But it was working!"

"No, it wasn’t!" Kilian snapped. "Look at that!"

The golden particles were drifting through the air, spreading farther than the flames had.

Kilian remembered the strange things they had already learned about the Hive Mind. It could infect people. It could manipulate perception. It could learn from the infected and the possibility that it was from the spores were high, just like any parasitic aberrants in the Senduro High that have ability to spread through spores.

"Just run! Those spores could infect us!" he shouted. "Forget about killing it! Get everyone to the southern gate!"

The Pathfinders didn’t argue this time.They turned and started pushing the civilians forward.

Kilian followed, firing several more shots behind him whenever a strand came too close.

The route had become a nightmare.

People were stumbling down the narrow canyon steps, grabbing railings and one another as they tried to keep their balance.

The Hive Mind was spreading across the settlement behind them, spilling down from one platform to the next as though the entire canyon had been turned into a waterfall of white flesh.

Kilian heard a Pathfinder raise his radio.

"Ronan! Ronan, do you copy?"

Only static answers. The Pathfinder tried again, louder this time.

"Ronan! We need assistance on the southern route! Do you hear me?"

Nothing.

Kilian looked back. The white mass had already reached the platform they had been standing on less than a minute ago.

They were running out of space.

"Keep moving!"

Yeah, I’d make the child’s voice emerge more naturally from the chaos rather than stacking short fragments:

A scream suddenly rose from somewhere below them. Kilian turned toward the sound, but then he realized it wasn’t an adult screaming.

It was a child.

"Help!"

The small voice echoed through the narrow canyon steps, followed by a frightened sob.

"Please! Somebody help me!"

Kilian looked down between the people rushing past him.

A little girl was standing several steps below, completely separated from the main group. She had fallen on the stairs, and one of her legs was trapped beneath a broken piece of wood.

Behind her, white strands were crawling over the edge of the platform.

Kilian looked at the girl and realized he couldn’t just leave her. He didn’t think much and jumped down the steps.

He landed hard, nearly slipping on the snow, then rushed toward the girl. The white strand snapped forward just as he reached her.

Kilian grabbed her and pulled her against his chest.

"Hold on!"

The strand slammed into the stairs where she had been standing.

Kilian turned and ran. For several steps, it worked. He carried the girl tightly against him while climbing toward the others, ignoring the burning pain in his legs and the gunfire behind him.

Then something suddenly wrapped around his ankle.

Kilian’s body jerked backward, and he looked down just in time to see a white strand coiling tightly around his boot.

"Shit!"

He kicked at it with his free leg, but instead of loosening, the strand tightened around his ankle. Another strand immediately shot across the steps and wrapped around his other leg, pulling him off balance.

Kilian crashed onto the stone steps, instinctively twisting his body so the girl remained protected beneath him.

"Take her!"

He shoved the girl toward the Pathfinder waiting above.

The Pathfinder immediately reached down and grabbed her arm, pulling her upward. But before he could get her clear, more white strands surged over the stairs and spilled around Kilian.

One wrapped around his waist while another caught his arm.

Kilian grabbed the railing with his free hand and held on as hard as he could. The force dragging him backward was incredible, slowly pulling his body down the steps despite his desperate grip.

"Go!" he shouted.

The Pathfinder finally managed to pull the girl away from him.

Kilian’s fingers tightened around the railing until his knuckles turned white. For one desperate second, he thought he could hold on.

Then the railing cracked.The wood snapped beneath his hand, and the Hive Mind immediately yanked him backward.

"Kilian!"

His body disappeared beneath the mass of white strands.

The Hive Mind swallowed him.