Dark Matter Apocalypse
Chapter 37: I never apologised

Chapter 37: I never apologised

"Fuck."

At the last second, Henrick leaps away as fast as he possibly can, but falls short as the fist hurtles at a deceptively quick speed. Electricity subconsciously appearing to protect his body.

The Goliath’s fist slams into Henrick’s chest with the force of a wrecking ball. CRUNCH. An audible collapsing of ribs rings out, making the group wince at the brutal sound.

Henrick sails through the air and slams into a tree, snapping it in half as he tumbles feet over head for a couple of meters. "AAAGHH!!" he screams in agony.

"Bluuurgh..." The soldier then throws up a copious amount of blood as his body struggles to compensate for the damage done to it, ears ringing from the shockwave.

"Henrick!! Watch out!!" David screams as he fires a concussive blast behind the electricity user, clipping his shoulder in the process as it slams into a Fishman.

The Fishman and Henrick both get sent rolling across the ground from the force of the strike, with the soldier dazedly laying there in absolute pain after.

Selene fires bolt after bolt at the corrupted horde while David leaps into the air and rains down concussive blasts onto the Fishmen, crushing and pulverising them.

Alex throws out multiple small sized fireballs in rapid succession towards both hordes, akin to a machine gun. The compact balls of flame explode upon impact, creating chaos on both sides.

Leo sprints to Henrick and gives him as many licks as he possibly can, but the canine is already exhausted from healing Veronica earlier.

The good boy wobbles and collapses on the soldier, but refuses to stop licking. "That’s...enough, boy." Henrick says as he slowly gets up.

Leo complies and leans his head on Henrick’s chest, tongue lolling out in abject fatigue, yet satisfied that his human isn’t dead.

"Note to self...never get hit by the Goliaths." Henrick chuckles weakly as he clutches the tired boy, and drags him back to the relative safety of the group.

Tony notices them both and helps them lean against a tree, nervously glancing at the chaos around them from time to time.

Selene rolls out of the way as a Goliath smashes down at where she used to be, unbalancing Tony and making him scowl.

After ensuring that Henrick is alright, the police officer transforms into a metal being and barrels through the corrupted horde.

The upright Goliath takes notice and swings at the metal man, but misses as Tony sidesteps the attack with surprising agility. He continues running through the horde, one target in his mind.

A Goliath that Henrick toppled earlier, shakily stands back up, its broken limb slowly healing as it roars in anger.

Without slowing down, the police officer slams into the still regenerating leg and completely tears it from its knee.

"Haha! Get some!" Tony shouts as he watches the Goliath collapse once more. So enraptured in his victory, the officer doesn’t see a Brute tackling into him and sending him deeper into the horde.

CLANG. The impact is jarring as the Brute’s spiked bone growths meet metallic skin. Tony screams in pain and anger as he rains down elbow after elbow on the Brute’s head.

The corrupted, however, ignores the blows and bites down on Tony’s arm, managing to dent the metal. Tony screams as he desperately tries to pry the monster off his bicep.

Selene curses under her breath as she sees this and doubles the amount of magical bolts she sends out, but scowls when her bolts shatter against the Brute.

"Henrick!! I need you!" she shouts as she produces a large throwing spear glowing with condensed magical power.

The soldier carefully sets Leo down and grabs the spear, charging it with electricity. With a mighty roar, he throws it with all the force that his healing body can muster.

Swiftly piercing through the air, the spear penetrates deep into the Brute’s head and stops it dead in its tracks. "Tony! Get clear!" Henrick shouts as he turns to check on David.

The metal user uses this chance and picks the dead Brute up bodily, then throws it onto the face of the downed Goliath. The behemoth bites down on the Brute’s corpse, unaware of the danger.

Tony then crosses his arms and braces for the explosion, all the while corrupted try and fail to tear into his metallic flesh.

BOOOOM!!! A devastating explosion rips through the Goliath’s jaw and face as the electrified spear detonates, dozens of corrupted dying in the explosion.

Tony is sent flying but quickly recovers after skipping on the ground a few times. He barrels through the corrupted back to where Selene and Alex are peppering the hordes.

Henrick turns to help Father David, but pauses when he sees the gore and brutality of his one man fight. Crushed corpses and sundered carcasses litter the floor.

"Holy shit, David!" exclaims Alex as he almost loses concentration from the sheer carnage that he never knew the priest could inflict.

The priest is covered in viscera as he loses himself in the slaughter. The Fishmen scream in a guttural language, their faces reflecting their growing fear as they retreat back to the water.

David moves to give chase, but is stopped by a hand on his shoulder. "That’s enough, Father. That’s enough." Henrick’s words make the priest tear up and collapse on his knees.

"Why must we suffer like this?" He asks as his fingers dig into the ground. "I don’t know. What I do know is that we’re gonna survive this. So let’s go help the others." comes the soldier’s reply.

Father David stares at him and nods, gathering his resolve and leaping into the corrupted horde. He unleashes concussive blast waves that liquefy the monsters’ insides.

Selene frowns as another horde of corrupted joins the previous one. "There are more of them coming!!!" she shouts, beginning to feel fatigue creeping in.

Alex pants as the frequency of his fireballs lessen. "I don’t know how long I can keep this up!" he says, his steps starting to stagger and sag.

Elly then appears, shifting right next to Henrick. "Good that you’re here. Bring Leo to the museum first, then Alex, then Tony, then David, then Selene. Got it?"

The little girl panics as she tries to tell Henrick something, but cuts herself off as she sees the severe look on the soldier’s face.

"What about you?!" she asks. "Forget about me, I’m fast." is the soldier’s reply as he throws an electric spear through another Brute’s head, triggering another explosion.

With a nod, she and Leo disappear first. Henrick condenses electric bolts and hurls them towards the steadily increasing number of corrupted.

Elly reappears and disappears with Alex, then Tony. With the exclusion of two fighting members, the horde starts pushing through the bombardment, unflinching at the sight of their dead kin.

The shifter doesn’t reappear for a short while and Henrick turns to the museum in the distance, noting that Elly is bent over forwards and gasping for air.

"Shit. She’s tired. We’ve got to hold on a little longer!" Henrick shouts over the inhuman shrieks.

They slaughter dozens of corrupted as they slowly retreat towards the museum, anxiety bubbling as they realise that a Goliath is still alive.

Selene hands Henrick a magical spear, supercharged with energy. The soldier grabs it and stares into her eyes, a look of guilt in his.

"I realised that I never apologised. For doing what I did to you." he says, charging the spear with electrical energy and throwing it straight into the Goliath’s mouth.

KABOOOOM!!! The resulting explosion blows the monster’s head clean off, its massive bulk crushing multiple corrupted underneath it.

Though none of it registers to Henrick as he notes the brief look of fear on Selene’s face before she masks her expression, no doubt thinking of the hunt he subjected her to.

"You’re helping us all survive. That’s good enough for me." Selene says, though she fails to hide the slight waver in her voice. "By the way, we should have thrown charged spears at the Goliaths instead of you charging in."

Elly holds David’s hand as she appears, swear pouring from her pores as she disappears in a pulse of displaced air.

"I’ll keep that in mind next time." Henrick says, then pulls Selene away as an Assassin appears and slices down at where she was standing.

The elf-like woman scowls and conjures a magical sword that cuts the Assassin’s head clean off, her eyes finding Henrick’s with a look of forgiveness.

Henrick shakes his head as he punches the air, crushing and assassin’s skull and kicking out to snap an assassin’s neck. "I’m sorry." he says, as they get surrounded.

"Hah! We aren’t dying today." Selene shouts, sending out bolt after bolt. Henrick chuckles as he unleashes a torrent of electricity that release bouncing arcs of energy.

He kneels after the discharge, coughing out blood. "Henrick?!" Selene screams as Elly chooses that moment to appear and grab Selene, disappearing with her in a flash.

The soldier clutches at his ribs as blood trickles from the corner of his mouth at a steady rate, his injuries aggravated by the intense exertion.

"Help...me..."

Henrick looks up and sees a man, that he has internally dubbed as a screamer, and scoffs. "Fuck off and scream for me." he says, eyes glowing with power.

"HELP ME!!!!!"

The screamer bellows but, before he can explode, Henrick bursts forward and grabs him by the neck. He spins once, twice, then throws it as far away as he can.

His enhanced strength proves monstrous as the screamer hurtles through the air and detonates high above.

The corrupted all snap their heads up and shriek at the purple energy generated from the explosion. Henrick chooses this moment to run, but collapses onto his knee.

"Fucking...ribs..." he wheezes out, watching in slow motion as the corrupted slowly start looking down.

In an instant, however, he finds himself moving through the air almost instantaneously and appearing in front of the museum with the rest of the group.

Elly clutches at his shirt, pale faced and sweating profusely. Henrick laughs and ruffles her hair as she sits down on the ground.

"Thank you, Elly. I owe you my life."

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END