The sounds of footsteps mingled with the various noises in the place.

The sounds were what anyone would expect from a sewer, drops of water hitting the floor, water running in some direction, squeals of rats and insects.

But the group could not be distracted by noises so common in the environment in which they are. They needed to stay focused on whatever they were looking for.

There were reports of possibly dangerous creatures in the sewers and they were sent to investigate.

They walked in line through the sewers with Chocolat in the lead, followed by Charlotte and Gyros, Traveler and Onigiri protecting the rear. The narrow corridors of the sewers would make it difficult for them to defend themselves, so they decided to let those who could attack from a distance protect both sides.

For a few minutes since entering the sewers, nothing out of the ordinary has happened, until Chocolat raises her hand, signaling her colleagues to stop. They obey and wait to see what caught the elected leader's attention.

For a moment, the brunette girl doesn't say anything, doesn't make a move, brown eyes focused straight ahead. It was then that she pulled two pistols from her back and fired twice with each one to above.

A huge corpse falls from the ceiling, a cockroach bigger than a person squirming in front of the group. Seeing that the insect was still alive, Chocolat fired two more shots at the giant insect's body.

-Cockroaches. -Chocolat said. -Why did it have to be cockroaches?

-Did you expect a unicorns here in the sewers? -Onigiri asked with a sarcastic tone.

-Not a big fan of insects, are you? -Gyros asked.

-In short, no. I'm not a fan of insects. -Chocolat replied putting the pistols back. -That's why I was so insistent on refusing this mission.

-Well, here we are now so we can't complain. -Traveler said, still looking behind him while Chocolat pulls out a radio communicator.

-Central attention. This is Chocolat from Group 360. Answer, over.

She called but only heard static. Chocolat kept trying to call Central Health Agents, but kept getting only static. Apparently, something in the sewer walls was interfering with radio signals, making communication with the surface from where they were nearly impossible. Letting out an annoyed sigh, Chocolat puts away the radio communicator and decides to keep going until she finds out if they were dealing with an infestation or until she finds an alternative exit to the surface.

If it's just a few mutated cockroaches, they could handle it, but if it's an infestation, they'd have to call for backup.

They continued with the formation, walking in a line but with Charlotte and Gyros focusing their attention above. The sewer ceiling was high and dark, making a ambush from above possible. After some time wandering with no destination through the sewers, they found themselves in a very open space, water dripping from the walls, falling from pipes and being poured into drains, several pipes in various parts on the walls and of course, the terrible smell of something stinking. up in the air.

-It's in those moments that I'm grateful for not be able to smell. - Said Onigiri.

-Or it's because you already stink. -Gyros replied sarcastically, making the group's zombie glare at him.

-Boys, not now. -Chocolat said, making them both look away from each other.

Then, everyone's attention focused on a rodent ahead. The mouse was wary of the invaders, running around without giving the humans a second glance. That's when another giant insect came from above, snapping up the poor rodent in a mere second. The mouse didn't even have time to figure out what happened before it passed through the giant cockroach's throat.

-Ew. -Chocolat said.

The giant cockroach then noticed the humans watching it and let out a screech. A second later, the group noticed more giant cockroaches popping out of the drains and pipes. A few seconds passed and they found themselves surrounded by the giant insectoids.

-That's why I don't like cockroaches. -Chocolat said as she pulled her pistols.

Onigiri followed the leader's lead and drew his own pistols. Traveler, Charlotte and Gyros assumed a fighting stance, with Charlotte holding two wrenches in each hand.

As the insectoids advanced, Chocolat and Onigiri opened fire, killing those coming from the front and rear. Those who came from the sides, some were killed by an electrical blast from Traveler while those who managed to get close, Gyros attacked with kicks and Charlotte used the wrenches as melee weapons.

Gyros first kicked one of the cockroaches in the face, then hit another one from the left with the sole of his foot and with a spinning kick, he hit another one in the side of the head, each kick sending the giant insects flying away.

Charlotte hit one of the cockroaches in the face and drove the wrench into the insect's chest, then threw the insect she stabbed against another, broke another's leg, caught one that came hopping up by the neck, and threw it against another.

While the two dealt with the ones that came close, the other three continued to kill the cockroaches that kept coming from a distance. Yellow blood flew everywhere as the bullets hit several insects at once. Chocolat's eyes swiveled from side to side as she shot in both directions, none of the insects managed to get past her or the zombie beside her.

After a few seconds of that, both her pistols made a clicking sound indicating they were empty, just as one of the cockroaches approached. Discarding the empty magazine from each of the pistols, Chocolat turned and switched places with Onigiri. The giant cockroach didn't even know what caught it when Onigiri, using a huge machete, cut the giant insect in two. The top half writhed in pain as it seemed to try to understand what had happened, not long after Onigiri had put two bullets in each of the fallen insect's eyes.

Chocolat, with her pistols already reloaded, was shooting in the direction the group came. More and more cockroaches came until the enemy numbers seemed to dwindle as the two with guns killed the insects from afar while the rest of the group took care of those approaching.

Chocolat noticed one of them coming from behind and aiming for her head with a pointed, hairy paw, but she focused only on shooting, trusting that one of her partners would cover her rear. The moment the insect attacked, Traveler grabbed the paw and with a strong tug, ripped it from the giant insect's body. Just as the cockroach screamed, Traveler shoved his paw into its mouth, killing it.

Setting the body on fire using electricity, Traveler threw the flaming carcass of the insect against two others, distracting them long enough for Gyros and Charlotte to attack, Gyros crushing its head and Charlotte scattering the cockroach's innards on the walls.

-Remind me to take a shower when we're done here. -Gyros said and Charlotte nodded.

The numbers of insectoids have decreased considerably. From many went to few, some even trying to escape, causing the leader of the group to change the strategy.

-Onigiri. -She called the group zombie. -No longer need to use bullets against them. Let me shoot those who try to run away.

Accepting the idea, Onigiri put away his revolvers and pulled out the machete. Two cockroaches approached him and he cut off what would have been their arms, causing them to scream before they had their heads cut off. Pirouetted in the air, he drops right in the middle of the insectoid duo a fire grenade, the heads wouldn't feel it but the bodies caught fire until they couldn't move anymore.

-Did you have an incendiary grenade? Traveler asked, electrocuting one of their heads.

-The freezing grenade would damage the plumbing. -Onigiri replied.

Back with Chocolat, she pointed a pistol at the head of one of the cockroaches, pulling the trigger and sending a bullet through the giant insect's brain and then, it kept moving to her surprise.

She narrowly dodged the headless cockroach's hairy paw and she was forced to spend half her ammo to take down the headless insect.

-Aiming at the head may not do much good. -She said, not wanting to think about the giant cockroaches running around headless while waving their paws.

Everything seemed to be going well until they heard a sound similar to the flapping of a mosquito's wings.

-Flyers! -Traveler warned, pointing to the flying cockroaches coming from above.

-And more coming from behind! -Onigiri pointed to the exit ahead where more cockroaches were coming.

-Where did they come from? -Chocolat asked and pointed both weapons at the small orde coming from behind, Onigiri joining her and letting the rest of the team take care of the flyers.

They wasted no time and opened fire. The screams of the insects being killed were so loud that they almost drowned out the sound of the firearms as they were rapidly fired. Chocolat's head shot left and right as she tried to aim in both directions while Onigiri just fired sparingly.

They seemed to be doing fine, none of the bugs could get close to them. Then Chocolat heard the sound of flapping wings coming from the left and aimed the gun at the flying cockroach that tried to take her by surprise. Three shots were enough to stun the flying cockroach which was sent flying into the wall by Gyros' kick.

Gyros turned quickly to the right, hitting one of the flying cockroaches in the head, then somersaulting backwards to crush the head of one that tried to sneak up behind him.

-I'll need to wash my shoes after that. -He said to himself before kicking a cockroach backwards, where Charlotte sent it flying with a blow from the back.

Charlotte then swung one of her wrenches so that the tip of the tool made a small cut in the giant insect's neck, not enough to kill but enough to make the insect feel pain. She wasn't an idiot, she knew a cockroach could survive a long time even without its head, so with one more swing of the wrench, the cockroach's head went flying.

With a headless body, the body swung its arms wildly, attacking the other cockroaches around and injuring them. When the headless cockroach was about to get close to Chocolat and Onigiri, Charlotte threw her wrench hard enough to go through the cockroach's body, stopping the body for good.

When the group thought that no more surprises would appear, breaking through the wall came a cockroach even bigger than the ones they were fighting so far, less humanoid looking even if a tiny cockroach became giant.

The cockroach in question raced towards the group with a speed comparable to a racing car, more specifically against Chocolat and Onigiri. But faster than the giant cockroach ran, Traveler blocked the way and grabbed the giant insect by the head, stopping it instantly.

Facing the insect head-on, Traveler unleashed an electrical current at the giant insect, which screamed in pain. Raising his fist, Traveler swung a punch at the insect's head with enough force to send it back where it came from.

Hearing the buzz coming from several sides, he pointed with two fingers and shot at a flying cockroach, but the electric current continued until it hit another, and another, and another, killing several flying cockroaches at once. Some were shown to be alive by writhing in pain, something Chocolat and Onigiri would fix with their weapons. Pointing their pistols at the fallen cockroaches, they unceremoniously fired at the giant insects, killing them for good.

Looking around, it looks like the group was able to deal with all the giant cockroaches infesting the place.

-Well, that was disgusting. -Onigiri exclaimed putting away his guns. -Is anyone there hungry?

-Frankly after that, I'm not really in the mood for something to eat, Onigiri. -Chocolat said putting her guns back.

-Because? -The zombie asked.

-And you still ask? -Gyros asked rhetorically as he shook his legs to get rid of the cockroach blood on his feet.

-I'm out of it too. -Traveler replied.

-Charlotte, are you coming? -He asked the last member of his team, who just shook her head negatively.

-Besides, we need to go back to the enclosure and report on what we found down here.

-You ruin my style. -Onigiri complained, even though he was also curious about how these cockroaches got so huge.