Templars of Steel

If they were going to defile the dead, then she wasn't against it either. From the body of the zombie that formed before her, she formed an entire set of armor. Maybe, this might conceal her scent, or physical form, allowing her to move somewhat unnoticed amongst the group. Taking up her Tube Launcher, she began to formulate a plan, a plan that, again, would include not dying.

Maria decided it might be a good idea to check the map again. Maybe she could get a good idea of how far she had to go. The map did show her the way. On the bottom floor, southwest direction was the reactor room the Drakel scientist mentioned. If she could get there, maybe all of her problems could go up in smoke and flames. If only the camera feed hadn't gone out. She could have gotten a good grasp of how many zombies there were.

Without further relenting on the past, she managed to open the door again. Stepping out into the hall, she strained to hear any signs of the creatures. Nothing. If she was going to make her move, it was now. Silently, she took off down the hall. They were nowhere in sight or earshot, so as far as she was concerned, she was home free.

Suddenly, the floor before her exploded, sending a flurry of metal shards into the air. Two zombies burst from the hole, and stood before the Guardian. She reacted by leveling her weapon at the creatures, but they didn't move. They just stared at the girl with a perplexed look (About as perplexed looking you can get missing your lips.) Surrounded by a false sense of security, Maria lowered her Tube Launcher. No sooner did she do this, that one took a swipe across her chest with it's claw. She jumped back in enough time to dodge the majority of the blow. This action propted the first zombie to emit a screech of aggitation. The Guardian silenced it with a bash over the head with her empty weapon. The head of the creature popped off like a volitile explosive and smashed into the opposite wall, smearing the metal a sickly teal-brown. The body simply slumped to the ground and entered a series of convulsions before finally going still. The second zombie danced its glace from Maria to its buddy.

It chose poorly. That decision was to attack Maria by making another swipe at her, this time, slicing clean through her new look, almost making contact with her skin. This time, it followed up by lashing out with its whip arm, taking a firm hold around her midrif. With her arms caught up as well, she could do little to resist the creature's pull. However, she was never one to be against squirming. Something she did very often, very well. So, brain empty of any plan, she began to writhe and contort her body in odd angles in order to try to break the zombie's grip. For an undead monstrosity, it sure had one hell of a death grip. No pun intended. It was pulling her in closer, probably trying to position her for the kill. She had to think fast.

Sucking in her pride, she reared her head back, opened her mouth, and sunk her fang-like teeth into the creature's arm. At first, it did nothing but flich slightly, continue to reel her in like some rabid fish, but as Maria bit in harder, it slowly began to release it's grip. So these bastards can feel pain. After she had dug her teeth in far enough, the beast opened its mouth and screamed the same scream from before, only louder and far more enraged. In one burst of muscle contractions, she tore a huge chunk out of the beast's tentacle and spat it out. Blood began spilling out of the wound like water from a river. The zombie reeled around on one of it's heels screeching before finally dying from blood loss. Without anymore wasted time, she took off back down the hall.

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Somewhere, deep within the Drakel City, a gigantic mass of creature began to stirr, awakened by this new food source, however small and vicious it may be. It sent a command to all the zombies under its command.

Kill the living one who has entered.