David exits the employee room to see Selene's eyes open but dazed, as the pain is no doubt still reverberating throughout her body. "F...father? How am I..." Father David simply ignores her, dreading the result of Henrick's decision.
He sits on the floor and clutches his hands in prayer, shaking while muttering under his breath. The tense silence is broken when Henrick steps outside, blood all over his hands.
The priest stands abruptly, his eyes seeking confirmation. "Is it...done?" he asks, preparing himself for the answer. The soldier looks at David in shock as blood drops down onto the floor, dripping on his pants and feet. "... he's better." Henrick says, his face still set in bewilderment.
Father David closes his eyes and lets out a tear, sadness radiating from his form. "Yes, he's in a better place now." Henrick looks up at his words and shakes his head, a smile starting to form on his lips. Without a word, he opens the employee room door and out comes the large golden retriever.
Leo's muscles have become more defined and his frame has enlarged, standing at nearly four feet at the shoulders. David's eyes wide. In astonishment as dark purple energy flows through the canine's veins, turning into a vibrant green when it enters his heart.
Henrick kneels down, after wiping the blood of his hands onto his pants, and pets Leo gently. "He looks more like a wolf now, doesn't he?" he says, noting the elongated snout, larger fangs, pointer ears, and predatory eyes that still seem to radiate warmth.
"He's still a good boy, aren't you?" Leo perks up at those words and leaps onto Henrick, his bulk significantly heavier than a normal golden Retriever. David opens his eyes and beams, a wide smile playing on his lips as he watches Henrick lift Leo off the ground.
The good boy licks Henrick's face as his tail wags furiously. "How? I thought..." says the priest, wiping the tears from his eyes, a hand tentatively rubbing Leo's fur. "I was going to end his suffering, and I think he wasn't ready to go. He stood up and started evolving in front of me." Henrick says as he places the canine down with a laugh.
"He spat out a scary amount of blood, and I thought he was gonna mutated into a monster. Until the growths and pustules receded, and he turned into what you see now." Henrick explains as Leo starts getting rowdy, obviously happy at this chance at life.
David does the sign of the cross as he looks up with a smile. "Ok, ok, keep it down." says the soldier, giving Leo a sharp command, the canine immediately laying down in silence. David and Henrick both look at Selene, who stares at them with a question in her eyes.
The soldier expels air roughly as he sees her disabled form, a frown marring his face. His blue eyes roam over her form, making him wince at her state, regret once more making its way to the surface. Leo sniffs the air and moves closer to Selene, his hair standing on end as he approaches.
"She isn't a threat, boy. Leave her alone." The canine perks up an ear at the command, but continues to stalk towards the woman with his tail low. Henrick crosses his arms at that and watches intently. David tenses, ready to intervene if necessary.
Leo sniffs Selene's cheek, once, twice, then gives her a hearty lick. Selene pulls her head back in surprise, but gasps as a green energy suddenly washes over her body. The soldier immediately leaps towards her and roughly covers her mouth as a scream rips out of her throat.
Her wounds rapidly heal as the green glow melts into her skin, spreading through her muscles and bones. Her eyes almost roll back into her head as the pain rips straight through her soul.
A few minutes pass as Selene convulses and her body heals. Henrick removes his hand, which now bear bite marks, and looks at Leo with wide eyes. "He can heal people? That's incredible!" says Father David as he gives Leo a belly rub, the canine all too happy for the attention as it stretches on the floor.
Though his eyes suddenly droop as his movements slow. "It looks like there's a drawback." observes the soldier, joining in the belly rubs with David. Selene shakily stands, her limbs still raw from the severe pain. She looks at Henrick while clenching her fist and takes a shaky step towards him.
"Why didn't you kill me?" The soldier looks at her with sympathy and stands to his full height, looking down at Selene with understanding. "I know what it's like to lose a brother. I won't forgive you, but you owe me. What matters is that we survive." he finishes as he looks out onto the street.
The earth shakes as an earthquake suddenly starts, collapsing distant skyscrapers and exciting the mutated creatures. "KRAAAAAAAAA!!" shouts a heavily mutated muscular monster, similar to the one in the subway, as it suddenly charges through the storefront.
Henrick steps in front of the rampaging creature and stops it dead in its tracks with pure strength. The ground fractures and cracks as the two engage, David already preparing to unleash a blast. The contest of strength is interrupted as Leo viciously clamps onto the Brute's knee, his fangs piercing straight through the bony protrusions and plates.
With a shake of his head, Leo tears through skin and bones as the Brute's balance is broken from losing its leg. Henrick capitalises and pulls the Brute in for a devastating electricity enhanced knee to the face, breaking the bone plating and liquefying its brain. It collapses in a lifeless heap, its bulk thudding heavily on the ground.
"How? How did it find us?!" asks Father David as he watches other monsters approach the store, sweat starting to build around his brow in fear. "It was probably the green glow from when Leo healed Selene." replies Henrick, already rushing out and unleashing bolts of electricity that almost instantly kills the mutated creatures.
Selene steps outside and unleashes bolts of magic, and cuts down any monster that gets close with a magical sword. David keeps them at bay with timely blasts of concussive force, while Leo chomps at their necks.
The group tear their way through the growing horde, their confidence having grown with Leo's presence. "We need to head up after we lose them! Follow me!" Henrick shouts as he claps his hand together, unleashing an electrical shockwave that stuns the monsters for a split second.
He sends out a supercharged bolt of electricity into the horde, satisfied when the bolt results in a deafening explosion. Looking around, Henrick waits for when the ground starts rumbling before he turns away from the horde, who are now recovering.
He then takes off towards a nearby alleyway, his electricity enhancing his speed allowing him to pull away from David and Selene. The soldier reaches the alley, smiling as he notices that Leo easily kept pace with him. With a leap, he grabs onto a fire exit ladder and pulls it down.
David and Selene make it to the alley a few seconds later and immediately climb, making sure to pull the ladder back up before climbing the stairs to the roof. They reach the roof and see Henrick running across it, jumping across a large gap and landing easily on the opposite building with a roll.
Leo jumps right after him with an almost nonchalant attitude, his tongue lolling out as he flies through the air. The canine lands and circles Henrick in excitement, as if to ask him to do that again. "Good boy!" Henrick praises as he beckons for Selene and David to hurry.
"Damn it." Selene curses under her breath as she watches the horde bury their fingers into the wall, and rapidly climb after them. She looks at David and notices how nervous he looks at the jump. "We have to go now, Priest. Come on!" Father David is knocked out of his thoughts by those words and nods.
The magic user gathers her courage and speeds up abruptly, her breathing becoming heavy as she nears the edge. She leaps across with all of her strength, and lands heavily onto the other building, rolling on her side across the entire length of it.
David jumps right after her, but doesn't use enough strength in his fear. The world slows for Henrick as he rushes towards the edge, hoping to catch the priest. David's face falls when he realises that he wouldn't be making the jump, and instinctively gathers concussive force underneath his feet.
Without even realising it, he pushes out with his legs and gets propelled forward. His large bald head slams into Henrick's chest, sending the soldier flying with a cough. "Oof!" Henrick spits out as he flips backwards on the floor of the roof and stops himself from going over the opposite edge.
He looks up with a smile, running over and grabs the priest's shoulders, shaking them with excitement. "You can double jump in real life!! Hahaha!" Henrick laughs out, happy that his companion is still alive and slightly jealous at the new application of his ability.
Selene rolls her eyes at Henrick's outburst and looks worriedly at the building they jumped from. "I don't think the gap is large enough for us to lose them like this!" she shouts, preparing bolts of magic on her fingertips.
Henrick unleashes bolt after bolt of electricity that stuns the ever growing horde. "I'm not planning to lose them like this." he replies to Selene, his eyes lighting up in manic glee as the reptilian-like monster bursts through the building behind the horde.
The reptilian beast, in its blinded state, is attracted to the loud impacts of electric and magical bolts. It climbs the building and randomly swipes out with its claws, slaughtering dozens of mutated humans at once. The mutated humans, sensing the threat, try to overwhelm the reptile with numbers.
"Everyone! Hit the base of that building with all you've got!!" Henrick shouts as he points at the precariously swaying structure, the combined weight of the monsters proving too much. The group then gather their strength and release their abilities, crushing the building's base while Leo lets loose a howl of moral support.
The building tilts to the left as the monsters stay caught up in their battle, too heated to notice their predicament. It slams heavily into an adjacent skyscraper, attracting the rest of the horde towards that direction. Father David nods his head, impressed with Henrick's quick thinking.
Suddenly, the earth trembles again as the earthquake returns with a vengeance. The already destabilised skyscraper tilts towards their direction, the concrete and metal groaning ominously. The group freeze as they watch the skyscraper stop tilting, seeming like it wouldn't fall. That is, until it starts collapsing towards them.
"RUN!!"