The submarine gradually submerged. The low thrum of the engine caught the attention of the "pigs" who were still mid-slaughter near the entrance.

  "Stop it! The one who killed the patrol must be on that boat!"

  The commander shouted while hacking away at the undead. However, his comrades were too embroiled in their own life-and-death struggle to break away toward the vessel.

  "Damn it!"

  Infuriated, the commander accelerated his strikes, snatched a grenade launcher from the ground, and scrambled onto a nearby shipping container to aim at the sub.

  Through the periscope, Ade saw the commander taking aim. She urged urgently, "Dive! Dive now!"

  "This is the maximum diving speed," Sam replied, seemingly unbothered by the looming danger.

  "What weapons do we have on board?" Ade asked breathlessly.

  "Equipped with four torpedoes and one automated machine gun."

  "Aim the machine gun at that pig!" Ade commanded.

  At that moment, the pig commander opened the sights of his grenade launcher. Nearing his eye to the scope, he centered the vessel in the crosshairs, his finger tightening on the trigger.

  Suddenly, a hatch on the bow of the submarine flipped open. A six-barrel Gatling gun emerged, swiveling toward the commander.

  "What the—!"

  Before he could finish his sentence, the muzzles glowed red. Bullets tore through the air at incredible speeds, tracing crimson streaks in the dark like countless taut threads of light.

  The pig's massive body was instantly shredded into pieces. In a final reflex, his finger jerked against the trigger.

  Thump. The grenade spiraled out of the launcher, streaking toward the submarine.

  An explosion followed. The projectile collided with the hull, gouging a deep hole and sending plumes of thick smoke into the air.

  "This is bad!"

  The soldiers screamed in panic as their commander was reduced to a charred pile of mincemeat.

  "Kill them all!"

  Ade said coldly. The machine gun swept across the remaining soldiers. The straight, glowing lines of fire acted like blades, slicing both the zombies and the pig-soldiers into scattered, mangled chunks.

  "Ammunition exhausted!"

  Sam announced as the barrels stopped spinning, trailing smoke.

  "Lucky he missed. Let's get out of here," Ade breathed a sigh of relief as the grenade's impact on the other vessel caused it to slowly founder and sink.

  Ade’s ship dove ten meters deep, silently navigating the channel toward the open sea.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Behind them, the warehouse was a graveyard. Ravenous zombies continued to swarm the pig-soldiers, whose wounded were screaming incessantly. The injured were quickly overtaken by hundreds of undead, and the feast began...

  After escaping the underground base, Ade rested inside the cabin, letting the ship follow its pre-programmed course toward San Diego.

  "100 meters until entering the fog bank!"

  Ade was alerted. Her eyes snapped open, and she leaned forward to check the periscope. Ahead of the ship lay a colossal wall of mist, stretching endlessly like a mountain range bisecting the ocean.

  As the ship drew closer to the fog, Ade’s heart hammered against her ribs. She had no idea what awaited her inside.

  The submarine crept into the gray veil. Ade held her breath; the only sounds were the low hum of the engine and the thumping of her own heart.

  Around them, the world turned a milky white. Everything ahead was thick and roiling like smoke.

  The signal lights began to flash erratically, and the compass spun wildly, catching Ade’s attention.

  "The magnetic storm inside here is catastrophic. If this were a standard metal-hulled vessel, the communication, electrical, and electronic systems would have fried by now," the AI announced.

  "Is that why this ship was built with special components? Its purpose was to enter the fog?" Ade guessed.

  "Highly probable," the AI replied.

  The display showed a travel time of ten days to completion. Ade glanced at it and returned to her bunk, lying back. During this time, she needed to recover her strength to be in peak condition upon arrival.

  She didn't know what waited on the other side, and she couldn't afford to be weak.

  On the fifth day of the journey, Ade was jolted awake by an alarm. She sat up abruptly, staring at the control panel. A red dot had appeared on the radar, moving at extreme speed toward the submarine.

  "What is that? Another sub?" Ade watched the screen, heart racing.

  "Negative. Based on sonar feedback, it is a biological entity. And it is massive," the AI responded.

  "A creature?" Ade gasped as the AI emphasized the word "massive."

  Ade froze, her mind racing. A giant creature was closing in on her with terrifying speed. This was Death coming to claim her.

  "Impact in five minutes!" the AI announced in a flat, monotone voice, showing no sign of urgency or fear.

  "Combat mode. Ready the torpedoes," Ade decided quickly. This ship wasn't fast enough to outrun whatever was out there.

  She hoped the four torpedoes would be enough to fend it off—or kill it.

  The AI immediately transitioned the ship to combat readiness. Instead of fleeing, the sub turned its bow toward the approaching entity, the torpedo tube covers sliding open.

  "Its speed is increasing!"

  "Three minutes to contact," the AI said. Ade kept her eyes glued to the sweeping radar.

  "Within firing range!"

  "Fire all torpedoes!" Ade screamed, her face contorted with tension.

  All four torpedoes hissed out of the tubes, cutting through the water resistance at a depth of 80 meters. Their infrared seekers locked onto the target.

  Boom... Boom... Boom... Boom!

  Four muffled explosions echoed through the depths. Bubbles and flashes of fire illuminated the dark water. The concussive force rippled outward, turning the calm sea into a boiling cauldron.

  "All four torpedoes hit the target!" the AI reported.

  "Is it dead?"

  Ade felt a spark of hope.

  "Negative." The AI paused for a beat before chillingly announcing, "The red dot has reappeared on radar."

  "Oh no!" Ade cried out as the ship suddenly lurched violently, as if seized by a giant hand and slammed from side to side.

  Crash... Thud...

  Ade’s body slammed against the bulkheads. She clutched her head as the vessel was tossed around like a toy in a high-speed washing machine.

  Her head spun; she was losing control. The ship was being dragged by the creature.

  Screech... Creak... Crack!

  The hull groaned under immense pressure, sounding as if it were about to snap.

  "I'm going to die here!" Ade cried in horror. There were no more cards to play. This was a true disparity in power—one that couldn't be bridged by wit or will.

  With a deafening CRACK, the submarine was suddenly snapped in two, like someone tearing a loaf of bread.

  Seawater rushed in instantly. Ade only had time to take one final, deep breath before the water pressure slammed into her, dazing her.

  Before her senses faded, Ade caught a blurred glimpse of the thing before her. The titan that had just broken her ship.

  It was impossibly large. Hundreds of meters of tentacles sprouted from the body of a colossal Megalodon shark, its back covered in jagged, protruding scales.

  Ade’s eyes slowly closed. Before slipping into unconsciousness, she whispered a single word:

  "Kraken!"