GTS Syndrome Vol 2 Ch 4: Ruin Bodies Of The Corrupted!

I grabbed my sword and planted myself right next to the towering inferno Penelope had so helpfully made.

Yeah, because a bonfire made from tree trunks in the middle of a dead land wasn't going to attract attention. I should've known better. I did know better. Fires in the wild were like ringing a dinner bell for everything with teeth — especially a fire this big.

The wails grew louder, closer, echoing off the stone around me until it was a vibrating hum in the air. And then—

Silence.

I tightened my grip on the hilt of my sword. Nothing good ever followed that kind of quiet.

Peering into the dark, I caught sight of them. Tiny white dots — glowing — floating there like sick little stars against the night.

"Shit," I muttered.

Without warning, a figure launched itself out of the shadows. It smashed against the rocks nearby with a disgusting thud and rolled, barely missing me. I jumped back, heart pounding like a war drum in my chest.

Before I could catch my breath, another shape came flying down from the top of the boulders, its limbs stretched out like some kind of twisted bat. I ducked low as a third figure burst out from the spiny bushes.

Rolling across the dirt, I scrambled to my feet. Five. There were five of them, circling me now.

Their skin was a dark grey, like weathered stone, and their bodies were thin — bones sharp against paper-thin flesh. Veins pulsed under their skin like rivers of glowing white light. Their eyes shone the same way, wide and wild. Their clothes were barely scraps, ragged and stained, clinging to their mangled bodies.

"Corrupted," I breathed. Dammit.

They moved all wrong — jerky and fast, more animal than human. Their fingers curled into claws as they charged, mouths snapping open to reveal sharp, broken teeth. I didn't wait for them to get closer. Swinging my sword, I slashed at the first one that lunged, feeling the blade bite into its arm. Thick, dark blood sprayed out, hissing as it hit the dirt.

I hated this.

I hated hurting things that looked human — even if they weren't anymore. But what choice did I have? If they got a bite in, it was over. You got bitten, you became one of them. No going back.

Another one came at me from the side. I slashed low, cutting across its legs. It dropped hard, screeching.

But for every one I knocked back, two more were on me. Their movements were frenzied, desperate. They didn't seem to feel pain, and they didn't care about dying. They only cared about ripping me apart.

I grunted as a pair of clawed hands grabbed my shoulders, shoving me down hard against the ground. My sword clattered out of my grip, landing just out of reach. I kicked and struggled, trying to break free, but the Corrupted on top of me had the strength of ten men.

"Get off me!" I shouted, but it was useless.

The other four were closing in fast, snarling, their teeth bared. I kicked harder, panic setting in. I couldn't get bitten. I couldn't.

The corrupted on top of me pinned my arms down. I twisted my neck, trying to reach my sword with my foot or something — anything. I could see the others getting closer, see their dead eyes locked onto me like I was dinner served on a silver platter.

And then—

BOOM!

The ground shook so hard I thought the world was ending. Dust and pebbles exploded into the air, blinding me for a second. The corrupted on top of me screamed — a horrible, wet gurgling sound — before its body was yanked upward into the sky.

I coughed and rolled over, blinking the dirt out of my eyes. When I looked up, towering over me like a goddess of wrath, was Penelope.

One massive boot still pressed into the earth, the crushed remains of a corrupted underneath it. In her hand, she held the one that had been pinning me — squirming and screeching like a trapped rat.

"Penelope..." I gasped out, stumbling to my feet with a shaky smile. I wiped the blood (not mine, thankfully) off my face.

"You okay?" she asked, her voice a deep rumble from up high. Her brown hair framed her face, still mussed from the quick fight, and her green eyes (still brown, thank god) were locked onto me in worry. "No bites?"

I patted myself down quickly, checking. My jacket was torn in a few places, but my skin was whole. I held up a thumb.

"Yeah. Lucky this time."

Penelope's gaze hardened. She turned her attention to the corrupted she held.

The thing clawed at her fingers, screeching loud enough to rattle my bones.

With a low growl, Penelope squeezed.

I heard the sickening crunch of bones snapping under her fingers.

The corrupted's chest collapsed inward like a kicked-in drum, its glow flickering weakly. It screamed, a high-pitched, pitiful sound.

And then Penelope brought her fingers together fully, tearing the creature's body apart like it was made of paper.

The broken halves of the corrupted tumbled to the dirt, twitching once, twice — and then went still.

Penelope dusted her hands off like she had just squashed a bug.

"Good riddance," she muttered, disgust plain in her voice.

I swallowed hard, feeling the weight of what had just happened.

Penelope might act cute most of the time, but there was no mistaking it now — when she wanted to be, she was a monster.

I stared at the ruined body of the corrupted on the ground, the others scattered around the firelight, and I tried not to think about how close I'd just come to joining them.

Tried not to think about how easily Penelope had crushed that thing.

Tried not to think about how, if she ever really lost control —

There wouldn't even be enough left of me to scrape off her boots.