" The Brace of Shadows"

Before them, Storehouse 17B loomed, towering, its exterior battered and overgrown with vines and sheets of rusted metal. The air was heavy around it, that stillness that made the hair on the back of Alex's neck rise.

"This don't feel right," Carter muttered, his eye scanning the area warily.

"You want to go back?" Alex asked, looking at him,tightly clenching his knife.

Carter gave him a dry look. "Do we have such things as food? Water? I didn't think so."

Alex nodded reluctantly and led the way into the storehouse. The heavy doors groaned noisily as they pushed them open, the sound echoing in the large space beyond. The air inside was damp and stale, with the faint scent of rot. Shafts of sunlight pierced through gaps in the roof, illuminating rows of overturned shelves and scattered debris.

"Stay close and wary," Alex said softly, his voice barely heard.

Carter rolling his eyes. Of course, Alex. I'm not that dumb and i would be dead long before meeting you if i wasn't wary of my surroundings

Alex nodding. Indeed! Where was my thinking..

The two went carefully, their footsteps muffled through a layer of dust and grime. It was dead silent inside the storehouse except for the dripping of water somewhere in the distance.

---

As the time lapsed into deeper depth, light would become scarcer. Therefore, the uneasy tension fell upon them. Carter clutched a rusty piece of a metal pipe he'd picked up in advance, his eyes wide with growing dread, while Alex tightly fisted his knife.

They started split a bit, to search more around.

"Anything useful here?" Carter said, rummaging through a pile of debris.

"Not yet," Alex said, studying the map. The markings on the paper indicated that the supply room was supposed to be close.

Then, out of the silence, a faint sound echoed—a soft chittering noise, almost like claws skittering across the ground. Both men froze, their eyes darting toward the shadows.

"You hear that?" Carter whispered, his voice tight. Coming closer to Alex

Alex nodded as one hand tightened upon the hilt of his knife; he peered into darkness, beyond what little could permeate through from the fragmented ceiling.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flicker of movement. Something darted between the shelves, too fast to follow.

"Whatever it is, it's not alone," Carter said, creeping even closer toward Alex.

The chittering grew louder, accompanied by guttural growls. Three pairs of eyes shone in the dark, piercing emerald green.

"Zombies," Alex grumbled, though these differed from any he had ever imagined.

They were lean, muscle-carrying creatures, large patches of pale, mottled skin covering their bodies. They moved with an unnerving feline grace, flesh hunched low as if to pounce any moment.

One gave a blood-curdling scream, the others took it up, and the shriek echoed through the storehouse.

"They're faster," said Carter, going backwards to a beam of sunlight filtering through a slit in the roof.

"Much faster," Alex agreed.

The lead creature sprang without warning, its movement a blur. Alex barely had time to move out of the way as its claws raked through the air where he had been standing. Carter swung his pipe; the metal connected with the zombie's side. It let out an enraged snarl but barely faltered.

"They aren't going down easy!" Carter exclaimed, dodging another attack.

The other two zombies closed in; their movements were well coordinated. Alex toggled on his Agility enhancement; the bracelet activated as energies swept through his body. His movements quickened, became sharper, as with a detached mind he was dodging and countering at exact precision.

Carter stared, at Alex, being quite surprised by his speed but still not knowing any better, as Alex sprang onto a shelf and planted a well-aimed kick in the chest of one of the creatures. It fell sprawling into a patch of sunlight.

The effect was immediate. The screeching zombie, when it was finally writhing in the light, churned and charred it's mass of flesh. In moments, it fell into just a heap that smoked much faster.

"They can't handle sunlight!" Alex exclaimed as his heart raced.

Carter's eyes widened in realisation. "Got it! Let's lure 'em out in sunlight!

With their weakness discovered now about new zombies, the current situation began to turn from disadvantage to advantage, as Alex and Carter used a final and desperate cat-and-mouse game. Taking advantage of the surroundings, they started to move around in sunlight that pierced through gaps taking the two remaining zombies toward patches of sunlight which appeared here and there within the storehouse.

One of them sprang onto a shelf, eyes aglow, and focused on Alex. Alex he started to taunt the zombie as he waited until it pounced, then rolled out of the way, sending it crashing into a beam of light. The zombie it screeched and thrashed as its flesh burned, finally falling in a heap.

The last zombie was relentless, fast, and quick to its aim. It cornered Carter against a wall, its claws poised to strike.

"Alex!" Carter shouted, deflecting the attack with his pipe.

Without hesitation, Alex flipped on Strength and charged. He collided with the creature, smashing it into a fallen shelf. He grabbed a nearby fragment of metal and throwed towards an panel in the roof opening a hole and bathing the place in sunlight.

The zombie shrieked under the engulfing light, its body strongly convulsing before falling to the ground without life.

Being safe for now, their heavy breathing was the only replacement for the silence in the storehouse, as the energy ceased surging through his body; Alex leaned himself against a shelf, powering off his enhancements. Carter wiped sweat from his brow, eyes scanning the charred remains of the creatures. "What the hell were those things? "Something new," Alex whispered. He stared down at the pile of zombies and tumbled into his thoughts: "And a lot more dangerous." Carter came to him and patted his back, thanks for saving my ass there. Alex came out of his thoughts giving a nod. No problem Carter. We are a team so it's natural. They continued to search upstairs and downstairs, until they finally found the supply room. Bingo! A high five was given between them; each wore a smile. To their relief, they found a stash of canned food and a few bottles of water. It wasn't much, but it would do for the time being. As they packed up the supplies, Alex couldn't get his mind to shut down, thinking about those creatures they had faced. Night Hunters were quicker, cleverer, and deadlier than any zombie he had ever seen. And something told him they weren't going to be the last of their kind and must be more and also even different types.