My 100th Rebirth a day before the Apocalypse novel Chapter 430

"Shit!" One of the warriors exclaimed, panic surging through his chest like ice water.

"Move! Move up!" Duke barked, urgency lacing his voice.

He gestured for his team to climb the ladder leading to the roof of the building, which was only about five floors high.

As Duke’s command echoed in the cramped space, the warriors sprang into action, urgency overriding their fear.

They scrambled up the metal stairs, their hearts pounding with adrenaline.

Just as they began their ascent, the mutated rats surged forward, flooding the window beside them with terrifying speed.

With a deafening crash, the glass shattered, sending shards flying in all directions.

The rats poured through the broken window, some tumbling down into the raging fire below, but their instincts were singular and relentless—they seemed utterly unconcerned with their own demise, fixated solely on reaching Duke and his team.

Screech!

The air filled with the shrill cries of the mutated rats, their desperation echoing off the walls, a chilling reminder of the danger that pursued them.

Duke felt a surge of determination. There was no room for hesitation.

They had to reach the roof before it was too late.

"Keep going! Don’t look back!" he urged, his voice cutting through the chaos.

The warriors pushed themselves harder, fueled by a primal instinct to survive.

With each step up the ladder, they could feel the heat of the fire below mingling with the overwhelming stench of the rats, a putrid reminder of what lay in wait should they fail.

They could hear the rats clawing and screeching behind them, a cacophony of fury that threatened to swallow them whole.

But Duke knew they had to hold their ground; they had to outlast this wave.

He couldn’t even begin to estimate how many waves of these mutated rats were still lurking, waiting to strike.

If his instincts were right, he and his team had already taken down hundreds of them, swarming out from the sewers in relentless attacks.

Yet, the thought of how many more could still be hiding in the labyrinthine sewer system sent a surging headache.

It was hard to imagine the full scope of the infestation.

These creatures were like grotesque—landbound piranhas with ravenous hunger, tearing through anything in their path.

In a strange twist of fate, he almost felt lucky they’d encountered the rats while on outside on a mission.

If these monstrous vermin had reached their base unnoticed, the outcome would have been catastrophic.

Caught off guard, the entire base would’ve been defenseless, overrun by the horde of these mutated rats.

Not only would the infected have risen as zombies—just as Kisha had warned—but the base itself would’ve crumbled, becoming nothing more than a feeding ground for these voracious creatures.

The very thought made Duke frown deeply.

Even Kisha, their most knowledgeable person because of her experiences from her past lives, hadn’t predicted the surge in the mutated rat population festering underground.

It was a terrifying realization: the threat was far greater than any of them had anticipated.

This had to be why Kisha’s mission classified these mutated rats as a major threat.

It wasn’t just an oversight or a minor concern—these creatures represented a looming disaster waiting to happen.

They were fortunate, for now, that the rats hadn’t yet made the decision to swarm out of the sewers and launch an assault on their base, something Duke had feared from the very beginning.

The threat was real, but they still had a window of opportunity.

Right now, they had the advantage.

The rats were still confined to the sewers, biding their time in the shadows.

If they could act swiftly, they might be able to eradicate these pests before the rats made their move.