Horrific Shorts: Zombie Edition
Chapter 887 - 887: Story 887: The Mind That Hungers

The Hollowborn was not dead.

The black sludge that remained after the explosion shifted, reforming itself in the moonlight. From the remains of the Apex Devourer, something worse had emerged.

It wasn't just a predator.

It was intelligence.

The Horror Reconstructs

Mia's breath came fast. The thing should be dead. There was nothing left to kill.

But the sludge began to rise, writhing and reshaping into a new nightmare.

It twitched and pulsed, its form no longer humanoid but something stretched, unnatural. Its brain was exposed, a sickening web of shifting nerves and tendrils, pulsating with an eerie purple glow.

And then—it looked at them.

Not with rage, not with hunger.

With understanding.

It knew them.

Leon raised his rifle. "What the hell… is it thinking?"

The Hollowborn's mouth unhinged, revealing a whipping, elongated tongue covered in barbed hooks. It dragged its claws across the ground, carving symbols into the asphalt.

Symbols that made no sense.

Evelyn's voice was barely a whisper. "It's… learning."

And then it spoke.

A horrible, layered voice that sent shivers down their spines.

"I… hunger… for knowledge."

The Devourer's Mind

The Hollowborn moved impossibly fast. One second, it was crouched; the next, it was inches from Mia.

She barely dodged as its tongue lashed out, whipping past her face and slicing open a concrete pillar like it was butter.

Reaper unloaded his shotgun, but the pellets stopped mid-air, hovering for a split second before melting into black mist.

Evelyn's stomach dropped. "It's manipulating matter."

The Hollowborn twisted its head, studying them. It wasn't attacking at random.

It was testing them.

Understanding them.

Then, it whispered a word that froze them all in place.

"Evelyn…"

A cold dread filled her chest. It knew her name.

Leon grabbed her arm. "We need to run. NOW."

But the Hollowborn wasn't done. It touched the ground, and the entire street pulsed.

Buildings shuddered, and the air rippled.

It wasn't just evolving.

It was infecting the world itself.

The Escape

Lucas was barely conscious, blood dripping from his wound.

Reaper hoisted him onto his back. "We're leaving!"

But the Hollowborn blocked their path, its massive claws digging into the pavement.

It smiled.

It had never smiled before.

"Run." It whispered. "I will find you."

Then, it blinked away.

Vanished.

Leaving behind nothing but the sickening feeling that it had already won.