The van pushed through downtown traffic until it couldn't go any farther. Civilians were flooding the streets, running past emergency vehicles and police trying to hold what little control they had left.
The driver slammed the brakes. "That's as far as we go."
Caden didn't wait. He and Renn jumped out first, the rest of the squad right behind them. They broke into a jog toward the center of the chaos, sirens fading behind them, replaced by the sound of destruction up ahead.
The deeper they went, the worse it got.
Cars were flipped and burning. Storefronts blown out. Entire sections of buildings torn open like something had ripped through them without slowing down.
Caden slowed and raised a hand. "Alright, this is far enough. Set up here."
The squad moved fast. A portable command post went up in seconds, folding table, comms array, signal relay. One of the operators immediately got on the line back to HQ.
"We're gonna need backup," Caden said, scanning the streets.
Renn stood just off to the side, watching, not stepping in, just observing. "Spread your perimeter wider," he added calmly. "If this thing's mobile, you don't want it slipping past you."
Caden nodded. "You heard him, expand coverage. Lock down every block in a two-block radius."
Teams split off, moving with purpose. Streets were cleared. Positions taken. The city was slowly being boxed in.
Then it came.
A deep, heavy thud.
…Then another.
The ground trembled slightly under their feet.
Caden froze, eyes narrowing. "You hear that?"
The squad went silent.
THUD.
THUD.
The sound grew louder, closer.
Then something massive stepped into view at the end of the street.
Caden's voice dropped. "…No way."
A towering, mutated beast pushed through the smoke.
A T-Rex, but wrong. Way too big. Nearly seventy feet long, standing over twenty feet tall. Its body was lined with jagged horn-like spikes, and its eyes burned with a deep red glow.
It let out a roar that shook the entire block,
,and then fire poured from its mouth, blasting down the street in a wave of heat and destruction.
The squad instinctively backed up.
"…Alright," Caden muttered under his breath, gripping his weapon tighter. "That's new."
Renn tilted his head slightly, almost analyzing it like a problem.
"Not just a demon," he said calmly. "That's engineered… or altered."
The beast took another step forward, crushing a car under its foot like it was nothing.
Caden exhaled slowly, then clicked his comm.
"All units, new target confirmed. Giant-class. Fire-breathing. Stay spread out, don't bunch up."
He glanced at Renn.
"…Any advice?"
Renn gave a slight smirk.
"Yeah," he said. "Don't let it hit you."