Chapter 641: Chapter 641: Fight Harder (Part 1)

Back on the rooftop, urgency had fully taken over.

Don and K-4 moved quickly between the scattered equipment and broken structures, dragging whatever remained useful into place.

Metal carts scraped loudly across concrete. Loose piping clanged against ventilation units as they forced makeshift barriers together with brute speed rather than planning.

Neither bothered trying to make the defenses stable anymore.

Only obstructive.

Only enough to buy seconds.

Sweat rolled down Don’s neck as he shoved another reinforced panel into position near the roof’s western side.

His hearing still hadn’t fully stabilized. Sounds came unevenly now—some distant noises suddenly too loud while nearby impacts arrived dull and muted.

The vibrations beneath the building continued growing worse.

The horde was climbing higher.

Fast.

Once the last section was shoved into place, both men split immediately to check opposite sides of the rooftop again.

K-4 moved left.

Don moved right.

His boots struck hard against the rooftop surface as he crossed between ventilation systems and rows of damaged solar panels.

Wind shoved smoke across the roof intermittently, carrying ash and the distant stench of burning flesh through the air.

He reached the first edge.

Nothing immediate.

Only scattered horde members, lower down the building.

A few climbed awkwardly between shattered windows and exposed concrete, but their numbers remained thin there.

Not the main threat.

Don immediately turned and sprinted toward the second edge.

The moment he looked down—

His eyes widened.

The larger horde had nearly reached them already.

Bodies flooded upward along the side of the neighboring tower in violent clusters, fingers digging into concrete while others smashed through glass to create direct paths higher.

Several carrying abilities moved drastically faster than the rest, overtaking the ordinary ones without slowing.

One launched itself three floors upward in a single jump.

Another climbed sideways along the structure like an insect.

They would reach the rooftop long before the rest.

Don didn’t hesitate.

He spun around instantly, eyes snapping toward the unused rooftop equipment behind him.

He rushed toward it, grabbed the first heavy object he could—a broken generator casing half torn from its mount—and dragged it toward the edge with both hands.

Concrete groaned beneath the weight.

Then—

He heaved it over.

CRAAASH—!~

The metal casing slammed directly into two climbing individuals near the front. Their bodies folded instantly under the impact before all three crashed backward through lower climbers.

Several lost grip entirely and tumbled down the side of the building, smashing into windows and exposed steel supports on the way down.

But it changed nothing.

More surged upward immediately.

Filling the empty space without pause.

"Damn it..."

Don grabbed another object.

A broken solar frame this time.

He hurled it downward again.

K-4 had already begun firing from the opposite side.

CRACK—CRACK—CRACK!~

Controlled shots.

Every bullet targeted the closest climbers nearing rooftop level.

Several dropped instantly, collapsing backward into the horde below them. One superhuman among them lost half its skull and still clawed upward for another few seconds before finally falling.

But even that barely slowed them.

They just kept coming.

Relentless.

Don grabbed another piece of debris and looked down again—

Then saw them.

The first stood out immediately.

Female.

Or what used to be one.

Her limbs had warped grotesquely into long claw-like structures that resembled the legs of a spider more than human arms and legs.

Bone protruded beneath stretched skin along the joints, splitting flesh open in bloody sections where movement had clearly outgrown the body’s original shape.

Yet she still retained human skin.

Barely.

Blood coated most of her torso and lower jaw while strands of hair clung wetly against her face as she climbed.

Fast.

Too fast.

She didn’t bother using windows or footholds properly. Her clawed limbs punched directly through the glass walls lining sections of the tower.

KRRSHH—!~

Each impact left massive holes spiderwebbing outward behind her while shards rained downward across the streets far below.

Another climbed beside her.

A hunched man.

Short legs.

Massive upper body.

Its arms looked grotesquely oversized compared to the rest of it, thick muscle bulging unnaturally beneath torn flesh while blood smeared across its chest and shoulders.

The thing climbed by driving its huge hands directly into the exterior wall Don and K-4 had scaled earlier.

Chunks of glass exploded outward every time it pulled itself higher.

The spider-limbed infected dodged the next projectile Don threw by twisting sideways unnaturally against the building’s surface.

The hunched one simply smashed another incoming object away with one massive arm before continuing upward without slowing.

Don immediately backed away from the edge again and rushed toward more debris.

His breathing had become noticeably heavier now. His arms burned faintly from repeated exertion, but he ignored it and grabbed another metal support beam from near the ventilation systems.

Then he turned back—

But it was too late.

The spider-limbed infected had already reached the rooftop.

It climbed directly over the makeshift defenses in a blur of violent movement, clawed limbs stabbing into the metal barricades before vaulting over them entirely.

Its mouth hung open unnaturally wide.

It screamed nonsense at him.

Broken sounds.

Fragments of words buried inside animalistic noise.

Don reacted immediately.

He hurled the metal beam directly at it.

The creature snapped one clawed arm outward and deflected it violently aside.

KRRANG—!~

The beam spun off into the rooftop structures behind them.

Then it leaped.

Straight toward him.

Don rushed forward at the exact same moment.

No hesitation.

No retreat.

He accelerated hard enough for the rooftop beneath him to crack slightly under his step as he forced himself directly into its close range before its limbs could fully extend.

The creature tried to strike downward.

But it was too slow.

Don was already there.

Right in front of it.

His fist pulled back.

Then drove forward.

BOOM—!~

The punch landed directly into its upper torso with enough force to visibly cave the woman inward around the impact point.

Blood exploded from its mouth as its body launched backward violently through the defensive setup behind it.

Metal barriers bent apart instantly.

The woman crashed through them and hurtled off the rooftop edge entirely.

Several infected climbing behind it got struck as well, all of them tumbling downward together in a twisting mess of bodies and broken debris.

But Don barely had time to register it.

The hunched infected arrived immediately after.

It launched upward from below with horrifying force, massive upper body twisting violently while its head shook erratically side to side in crazed motions.

Drool and blood sprayed from its mouth as it descended toward him.

Don didn’t move back.

Didn’t flinch.

His eyes tracked its posture.

Its weight distribution.

The oversized arms.

He already knew how it would strike.

Instead of retreating—

He planted himself.

The rooftop cracked beneath his stance.

The infected slammed downward with both massive arms swinging toward him like piledrivers.

Don raised both forearms instantly and met the impact directly.

KRAAAASH—!!~

The collision blasted air outward across the rooftop.

The force drove Don half a step backward, boots grinding hard against concrete while fractures spread beneath him in jagged lines.

Pain shot through both arms immediately from the sheer weight behind the blow, but he held.

The man screamed directly into his face, spit and blood spraying outward while his massive limbs pressed harder against Don’s guard.

Behind them—

The rooftop trembled again.

More were climbing over the edges.