The road to the west was no road at all. It was a ragged wound in the world that never seemed to heal. Mike moved through the fog less like a traveler and more like a lingering infection. It felt like hours since the struggle with the Alpha Wolf though time had a way of losing its shape in the Wilds. It was no longer measured by the ticking of a clock but by the heavy rhythm of his pulse and the sharp bursts of violence that broke the long silence.

  The scenery was changing. The cracked asphalt and concrete had given way to something older and more hungry. Steel beams jutted from the earth like the ribs of some buried titan and they were covered in moss that pulsed with a faint violet light. The air was thick and tasted of battery acid and old blood. A light drizzle began to fall. It was caustic and sizzled against his bare skin but it did not cause him pain. His skin was hardened now and pale as old parchment as it drank in the toxins like fuel. Every breath of the glowing fog was like shoveling coal into a furnace.

  Mike paused at the base of a collapsed communication tower. He was breathing heavily though it was not from the effort of walking. He felt overcharged. An electric current hummed just beneath his skin and kept his fingers twitching with a restlessness he could not name. He knew the path ahead. He did not need to point or gesture to his companion because Grim was already there. The rat moved as a grey shadow that flowed over the jagged metal edges with a new predatory grace. He had grown since they left Sector 4. The muscles beneath his coarse fur were hard and dense like knots of wet rope and there was a new weight to his stride.

  Something stirred in the darkness beneath the tower. A wet slurping noise was followed by the clicking of chitin against iron. Three creatures crawled into the dim light. They were shaped like cockroaches but had grown to the size of a trash can. Their shells were oily and iridescent and a cluster of tentacles dripped with slime where a head should have been. These were Scuttle-Crawlers. They were scavengers and little more than a nuisance to anything with a pulse. Mike watched them and felt a smile touch his face. It was an ugly expression that felt too sharp in his mouth.

  "They are food," he said.

  The struggle was brief and brutal. The first insect rushed forward with its tentacles whipping the air but Mike did not step aside. He met the charge and gripped the forelegs with his bare hands. He ignored the barbs that tore at his palms and he ripped the legs away with a grunt. It sounded like a dry branch snapping and the sound echoed through the ruins. Yellow blood sprayed across his chest. He used one of the severed legs as a makeshift spear and drove it deep into the soft belly of the beast.

  Grim was already on the second one. He did not bite at random but went straight for the nerve cluster behind the neck. The insect collapsed into a fit of convulsions. The third creature tried to flee but Mike was faster. He took three long strides and vaulted off a rusted plate to land on its back. The shell gave way under his weight and he drove his bone spur through the armor.

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  Silence returned to the Dead Zone once more. Mike stood atop the carcass with his chest heaving as he wiped the yellow slime from his eyes. He licked his lips and tasted copper and ammonia. He knelt down and carved a piece of the spongy meat from the shell before shoving it into his mouth. It was vile and tasted of sulfur and rot but he felt the heat spread through his belly immediately. His body was breaking down the poison and turning it into raw strength. The system flared to life in his mind with text that was sharp and aggressive. It was the color of a warning light or the shade of fresh blood.

  He closed his eyes and let the power wash over him. He no longer felt like a human boy trying to survive. He was part of the ecosystem now. He was a monster among monsters. New text scrolled across his vision as he felt a pulsing headache.

  [ LEVEL UP ] [ LEVEL 12 ] [ NEW SKILL: ADRENALINE GLANDS ]

  Mike opened his eyes and focused on the words. The skill promised to overclock his heart and stretch his perception of time but it came with a warning of a high metabolic cost. He could feel the new organs now. They were small nodes sitting deep in his chest near his heart and they felt pressurized like loaded guns waiting for a reason to fire.

  A sharp whistling sound broke his concentration. He looked up. A piece of jagged plating had been dislodged by the wind from the tower above. It was spinning as it plummeted toward him like a guillotine blade. It was falling from a height of perhaps thirty feet and it was moving too fast for normal reflexes to handle. Mike did not think. He reached for the new power within him.

  A physical thud hit him from the inside of his chest as if he had been kicked by a heavy boot. The world slowed to a crawl. The sound of the wind vanished and was replaced by the thundering boom of his own heart. He looked up and saw the metal plate hanging in the air. He saw a drop of moisture detach from the edge and rotate slowly as it fell. He could see the light reflecting in the rust and could count the rivets on the steel. The air felt thick as syrup.

  Mike moved. His muscles screamed in protest and it felt like a burning fire in his thighs but he was faster than thought. He took a single step to the side. He saw his own hand moving slowly in front of him. In the stretched time he reached out and plucked a fly from the air next to the falling metal. He watched the wings beat with a languid motion before his fingers closed over it. He completed the step and waited for the world to catch up.

  Reality snapped back into place with a violent crash. The metal plate slammed into the ground where he had been standing and sent up a spray of mud and sparks. His heart slammed against his ribs and his vision grayed out for a moment. He stumbled back and gripped a rusted beam to stay upright. His lungs burned and sweat broke out over his skin instantly. It was a brutal and painful sensation but it was the most powerful thing he had ever felt.

  Grim skittered over to the impact site and sniffed the metal before looking at Mike with beady questioning eyes. Mike forced his breathing to slow.

  "I am fine," he said and his voice was raspy. "I was only testing the limits."

  He looked at his hand and saw the fly he had caught. He crushed it between his fingers and wiped the mess onto his rags. He had moved faster than any human should be able to move. They needed to find cover. He looked at Grim and noted that the rat needed to grow as well. They turned away from the tower and moved deeper into the fog.