Infinite Terror: Infinite Reversal

Chapter 24: The Last Three Minutes
Hearing James's shout in a daze, Mu Xiang looked up and saw that James and Ryan had already gotten up and were about to rush over. Gritting his teeth, Mu Xiang grabbed his rifle and followed.

As soon as I entered, I heard JD yelling and cursing... It seems he's still alive.

As the bright light gradually dimmed, the three men found the Licker and JD on one side of the carriage. The Licker was clinging to the wall, his tongue wrapped around the man's right shoulder, but he was convulsing and almost fell over.

[It really works! A little sound and light show to give this thing with weak vision and sensitive hearing a shock...]

With a roar, Ryan plunged the gun barrel into the Licker's head and opened fire. James and Mu Xiang weren't to be outdone, unleashing a barrage of fire at close range into its brain... This was its most obvious weak point; the Licker hadn't even recovered yet, and if they didn't exploit it, it was doomed.

A moment later, the Licker's brain was smashed into a yellow paste all over the floor and walls, half of its head was gone, and it finally fell to the ground, dead beyond any doubt.

JD couldn't even open his eyes, but he managed to roll to the side with all his might, otherwise all that disgusting liquid would have sprayed all over him.

Mu Xiang felt like a brain had flown onto his face, making him feel nauseous and want to vomit, but now wasn't the time to clean it up... Even with the risk of infection, he wasn't afraid. As long as he could escape the hive, the God of War could easily heal him. This was also why Mu Xiang was now much braver facing the monsters from "Resident Evil"... If it weren't for the worry of getting infected, who would be afraid of you?

Of course, when dealing with Lickers, you also have to be careful not to get killed by them alone... These things are much more lethal than zombies.

Turning their gaze back to JD, the man was still unable to open his eyes for the time being, almost collapsing to the ground, though it was unclear whether it was from the Licker or the flashbang. Ryan supported him, and Mu Xiang noticed a large gash on his right shoulder from the Licker's bite, almost severed.

"Go back to the front, there's an antidote, you'll be fine!" Mu Xiang shouted to JD, supporting him on the other side. James looked around the carriage, making sure there was nothing else amiss before following.

[If someone is infected by licking another person, the normal course of infection would be the T-virus... Matt's rapid mutation is related to his own physical characteristics, so he's a special case, right? He should have been able to receive the antidote in time, so it wouldn't be considered "infection."]

Mu Xiang grabbed the black bag and took out the suitcase inside. But the suitcase had a combination lock, set by Spence... He didn't know.

Spence stared at Mu Xiang, looking at the box in his hand, then suddenly remembered something and burst into laughter: "Can you even open this box?"

"So you're indirectly admitting your crimes?" Mu Xiang sneered, handing the box to Alice who had walked over.

Alice held the box, remained silent for a moment, and finally pressed a few keys on the combination lock, and the lid slid open.

While watching the movie, Mu Xiang was curious about how Alice closed the box at the end, but then took out the antidote in the next shot. But now was not the time to get to the bottom of it. He only knew one fact: Alice could open it in the movie, and she could probably open it now too.

Mu Xiang took the box and loaded the antidote into the syringe. Ryan helped JD tie a tourniquet and held his arm down. Following the method in the movie, Mu Xiang injected the entire contents into his vein.

"It should be fine... Of course, this only works once," Mu Xiang said with a smile.

Kaplan glanced at his watch: "We've been driving for six minutes... We'll be there soon, I need to get back to the driver's seat."

The mercenaries all nodded. Mu Xiang stood up, glanced at Spence, who was handcuffed to the side and looked ashen-faced, and walked towards the Samsara Squad.

Zhang Jie seemed unaffected by the flashbang. He patted Mu Xiang on the shoulder: "You're really brave, kid, charging to the front lines like that in the very first round." Mu Xiang gave a wry smile: "Making money is nothing to be ashamed of." He had just killed the Licker with James and Ryan, and these two mercenaries certainly wouldn't share his reward, so the 100 reward points ended up in Mu Xiang's hands. However, compared to the rewards from other side missions, this was practically nothing.

Zheng Zha grinned at Mu Xiang, clearly still recovering from the effects of the flashbang: "I admire you. I didn't expect you to be so amazing... Truly, heroes have always emerged from among the young."

“Brother Zheng Zha, you’re making yourself sound like an old man,” Mu Xiang said with a laugh. As he spoke, his gaze met Zhan Lan’s, the bespectacled young woman who gave him a thumbs up.

Li Xiaoyi was in some pain; he was still somewhat blind and deaf, completely caught off guard by the flashbang. While he wasn't incapacitated, he was still somewhat disoriented. Mu Xiang, looking at this person who seemed to be a transmigrator, couldn't help but wonder how quickly this guy would die if he didn't know the plot…

Just as he was lost in thought, a scream came from the driver's cab. It was Kaplan's voice!
"Damn it!" Mu Xiang cursed and rushed towards the driver's seat with James.

[So there really was more than one?!]

Rushing into the driver's seat, they found Kaplan's neck gripped in a sharp claw, his other side bitten hard by the newly appeared Licker. Kaplan stared at the two in despair; his trachea had been torn open, and he could no longer speak…

James's eyes widened in fury as he raised his gun to shoot the Licker in the head. The Licker, hanging upside down, remained calm and collected, lifting Kaplan and using him as a shield between Mu Xiang and James's guns.

Kaplan reached for the grenade at his waist, but the Licker wouldn't give him the chance, throwing him off the hood. With a fading thud, Kaplan disappeared into the darkness, clearly not alive. The Licker then retreated back onto the roof, leaving James and Mu Xiang helpless.

"Damn it... did you see that? There's a clear bullet hole in its head. That's the one we drove back at the beginning," Mu Xiang said viciously. "It's been lying in wait on the roof, while the other one has circled around to the back!"

James cursed, "How many of these damn things are there?!"

"Judging from the current situation, there are only two ends. It's probably unrealistic for anyone else to have managed to get on the train and come this far... A monster is a monster after all; it doesn't have that kind of willpower." Mu Xiang pushed up his glasses, his hand covered in a sticky, foul-smelling yellow liquid. He cursed under his breath and wiped it on the wall.

"Let's go back first, that thing might have changed its target again." James looked at the road ahead and said, "We'll adjust our speed later."

Mu Xiang shook his head: "No need, the key is to deal with that thing... Kaplan has already activated the warning braking system, it will stop by itself." As he spoke, he gestured with his chin toward the "RAB SYSTEM" that was displayed as "ON" on the control panel.

After locking the driver's cab door again, the two returned to the carriage and took a headcount. JD was seriously injured; although he had been given an antidote, his wounds were still there. Kaplan, on the other hand, was practically dead. After confirming whether the others were injured, Mu Xiang announced that they would arrive at the station in about three minutes. They were aware that there was still one Licker remaining, which might launch an attack, so everyone remained vigilant.

James instructed everyone to maintain a safe distance and ordered Ryan and himself to watch out for the empty carriage behind them. The door between the two carriages was gone, and if they weren't paying attention, the Lickers could easily break into that carriage.

[Did that thing go back to the roof and wait? I can't hear any obvious movement now... Something feels off.]

Mu Xiang walked up to Zhang Jie and whispered, "Brother Zhang, do you remember how they dealt with the Lickers at the end of the movie?"

(End of this chapter)