Jack headed toward the position Yumiel had pointed out. In his spider form, Jack ran and moved at a speed close to 40 km/h, climbing, jumping, all with great agility.
The streets of London were calmer than during the first days. Some screams and gunshots still echoed through the city, sometimes even explosions and fires. But compared to the first days, it was almost normal and was starting to become routine.
They didn't take long to reach the shopping arcade. Or rather, the immense multi-story building that housed the arcade.
Yumiel and Jack were positioned in front of it, slightly set back. In front of the entrance, there were about ten men standing guard.
« What's the plan, Yumiel? »
Jack was in the middle of melting, detaching all the excess flesh he had accumulated; his repulsive abdomen of flesh fell to the ground, followed by his six legs. All of it happened in a putrid freezing process, like a snake shedding its skin but with fluids.
Basically, to put it more simply, the tissues of his body detached, melting in liquid form. Creating a gel-like liquid, a putrid fluid whose smell could make more than one person vomit.
« The plan, what plan? We're just going to charge in and kill them all. Though you still could've grabbed one of the agents' weapons. »
Jack finished removing all the excess flesh, joining Yumiel as she started moving toward the entrance.
« While you were unconscious, I tried to take one, but they're biocoded. But don't worry, I see a nice SA-80 right in front of me. »
Approaching the men at the entrance, Yumiel didn't waste any time, sending her five daggers slicing through the air and their enemies. They barely had time to react before five of them were already dead under Yumiel's daggers.
Jack simply charged straight in, breaking the limits of one of his legs, landing in front of three of them whom he crushed with ease, disfiguring them forever. The two remaining men fired a few shots at Yumiel, who dodged and killed the last two with her daggers.
« You're not holding back anymore, Jack? »
Jack was in the middle of changing his leg while eating some brain. Around him, he had picked up an SA-80 and still had his Glock in its holster.
« Yeah. I figured since it's our last rodeo for tonight, might as well go all in. And besides, spare parts aren't exactly rare. »
Yumiel tore out the hearts and squeezed them all before moving on. Advancing toward the entrance, she opened her senses. Yumiel tried to detect how many there were. Jack stood next to her, understanding what she was trying to do.
« There should be somewhere between 25 and 35 of them. Otherwise, follow me—I know an entrance. Or you can take the brute-force option. Up to you. »
Yumiel hesitated. She had been more of the charging type lately.
« Naaah, I'll let you go. I'll force my way in—you'll just hit them from behind. »
Jack left. Yumiel prepared to enter the store. Opening the doors, she saw several machine guns, pistols, and other firearms in front of her. The men were positioned up high on railings turned into ramparts, spread across several floors, with others on the ground. Yumiel sent out her daggers and created a wall of blood using the blood she had in her flask.
Bullets slammed into her wall, but none could get through. The daggers massacred the enemy ranks; they could do absolutely nothing. The men changed targets and fired at the daggers, but they couldn't destroy them with simple machine guns or pistols.
Yumiel took time to kill them all. Some ran, others dodged the daggers, or tried to go around Yumiel's wall. Which was a good strategy; however, Yumiel prioritized the men trying to flank her wall—she wasn't comfortable fighting hand-to-hand while controlling her daggers or her wall.
After several long minutes, Yumiel had only killed about fifteen of them, roughly half. The pressure from these men diminished along with their ammunition reserves, their numbers, and their growing fear.
Jack drove the nail in. Emerging from an upper floor, firing at the men on the levels below, Jack eliminated each man floor by floor. It put pressure and fear into the minds of every remaining man, making them doubt. Yumiel seized the opportunity, turning her wall into five more daggers.
Ten daggers flew, slicing through every person in their path. It only took one minute from Jack's arrival to kill them all. Yumiel made sure to squeeze every heart, and Jack ate every brain.
They regrouped afterward on the ground floor.
« Good thing I was there—you looked like you were struggling. »
« Yeah right, I was doing just fine. »
« Anyway, I couldn't locate their hideout, since their hideout is the entire arcade. Their leader also has abilities, like the man said, although I still don't know exactly what they are. The best we can do is search the arcade. »
« Ok, I'll go that way and you go that way. » Yumiel pointed in two opposite directions.
« The arcade is big, sure, but I don't think that— »
Jack didn't even have time to finish speaking before Yumiel was already walking away, holding her walkie-talkie in her hand as a sign that they could warn each other. Jack simply let it go, heading in the other direction.
Yumiel advanced on her side. The arcade she was in was dedicated to clothing, luxury brands, watches, suits—most of them were upscale. With shattered windows and half-empty shops, she occasionally found armed men hiding, trying to ambush her.
Yumiel always had her senses activated, so she saw them coming. Killing them effortlessly. Continuing through the arcade, she grew fond of a luxury watch shop, taking her time as if she were shopping. Yumiel fixated on a blue watch with old mechanisms inside, smashing the display case where the watch was kept, triggering the store's alarm.
« Ah, that wasn't planned. »
Standing still with the watch in her hand and the alarm having just gone off, Yumiel simply hurried out of the shop.