The Nordic warrior uses her secret arsenal against this pack of zombies single-handedly

A/N: This chapter has some explanations to be had after that major cliffhanger from last time if you read between the lines but it is more of a cold open sort of thing because this chapter is also in Karlsson's POV and she had bigger things to worry about during the action scenes than to reminisce about why exactly she has these abilities tied to different types of metals and how exactly it is that the process works but we will get to it in the coming chapters. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the ride and are curious about the narrative implications.

Emily Karlsson's POV

Your combat boots slid across the glass-strewn floor as you skidded to a halt, your heart hammering against your ribs as the next walking corpse stilled and bled as it fell to the floor. The three remaining zombies turned with guttural snarls, their milky eyes fixed on you with predatory hunger. The lone lightbulb overhead flickered, plunging the corridor into brief moments of frightening darkness before snapping back to life...and then back to darkness again immediately.

Swallowing at the poor timing, you tapped one of your tin-minds in response, drawing on the stored eyesight reserves you had accumulated over months of careful practice by allowing yourself to endure the corrosponding periods of poorer eyesight on less urgent occasions. The corridor sharpened before you then, with e very shadow and crack in the walls becoming crystal clear even when the light flickered out...which is how you were able to clearly see the zombies rush forward in a shambling, coordinated charge, their outstretched arms reaching for you with grasping fingers.

Your moved your fingers to brushed against the magnesium link in the bracelet on your wrist in response, tapping just enough to sharpen your reflexes. Combined with the steel-mind reserves of raw physical speed still coursing through your muscles, you slipped past the nearest zombie's bite with an effortless twist of your torso. The rotting creature's teeth snapped shut on empty air where your shoulder had been a heartbeat before.

But you still felt the drain. Your steel reserves were already halfway gone, consumed by that initial burst of speed that had taken down the first two zombies. You couldn't afford to waste any more on prolonged combat.

So, you started tapping your zinc-mind next, accelerating your mental processes to match your enhanced physical speed, reflexes and sense of sight. The world seemingly slowed around you right then and there in response, every detail of the darkened corridor becoming a canvas of tactical possibilities. The zombies appeared to move as if in slow motion, their guttural snarls stretching into low, distorted growls as you processed the situation.

Three threats. Narrow corridor. Walls close on either side. Broken glass everywhere. Dangerous tripping hazzards on the floor in the form of two now fully dead bodies...

Your most viable, immediate options cascaded through your mind with lightning clarity. You could try to take them out one at a time, using your speed to dart in and out of their reach, but that would drain your steel reserves further, perhaps even completely before you were done. You could also retreat back toward the team before they close move fast enough to catch up to you but that would expose squadmates to the threat you had been trying to eliminate yourself...and frankly, now that you were not going to be able to maintain your secret after your impulsive move, you didn't want to feel like this effort was in vain, and as such, you wanted to impress them. Which would be wasted by retreating because she ended up bitting more than she felt she could chew despite her abilities.

But...wait...yes...there was one sure path forward that would allow you to use your stored speed far more economically: a risky maneuver that could be managed thanks to your magnesium-mind reflex reserves. Going through your mental reading of the situation once more at lightning speed, you nodded as you realized that this would indeed allow you to end this quickly.

So, you let yourself slow, just enough to appear vulnerable. You took a step back, then another, luring the zombies deeper into the corridor. They took the bait, their shambling gait accelerating as they sensed weakness. One of them lunged forward with a roar, its hands reaching for your throat.

You waited until the last possible moment...

...then you tapped your steel-mind harder, your body exploding into motion. You ducked low beneath the lunge, pivoting on your heel. The undead stumbled past you, unable to correct its trajectory. The other two piled in behind it, their momentum carrying them forward as you slipped and fell to the side.

They slammed into the wall behind you in a tangle of flailing limbs and snapping teeth. The impact partially cracked the drywall, dust spraying into the flickering light. The walking dead snarled and clawed at each other, disoriented and tangled in their own attempt to reach you.

But you weren't about to give them time to recover.

Thus, you surged forward with your axe raised high. The first strike caught the topmost zombie's skull, the blade crunching through bone with a wet, harsh sound. You then ripped the weapon free and swung again before the creature even finished collapsing. The second zombie tried to rise before it was too late for it, but your enhanced speed meant that you were already there, the axe swinging in a brutal arc that cleaved through its temple with enough might to make him crash on the floor as it fully died.

The third zombie finally managed to free itself from the pile and rose back to it's feet. It turned with a snarl, its milky, probably dead-blind eyes locking with yours in the process. Your grip tightened around the handle as you clenched your teeth and then hurled yourself forward, the axe blurring through the air. Soon after, the blade struck home, splitting its skull open from the right side with a sound like cracking ice.

Silence descended on the corridor right then and there, as the blood started to pool near your boots.

You stood there amid the bodies, your chest heaving as you drew deep, ragged breaths. You immediately ceased tapping all your metal-minds, feeling the rush of power fade as you slipped back into your normal, unenhanced state.

The world regained its usual pace, time and visibility flowing normally to your senses once more. You soon frowned however as you realized that your steel reserves were dangerously low now. There was still probably enough for one more short burst at best but no more than that most likely, so you'd better make it count. Your tin-minds and magnesium-minds were in far better shape though, but you had still consumed a significant portion of your stored eyesight, even if you didn't dip into the reserves of your other 4 major senses. And your zinc-mind, always a complicated one to replenish, had taken a serious hit even if not as heavy as your steel-mind had.

You took a deep breath and began picking your way back over the broken glass, careful not to slip on the blood-slicked floor. It felt like the fight had lasted an hour while you locked yourself in desperate combat and adrenaline-fueled decisions. But as your heart rate slowly returned to normal, you realized the truth.

Your whole skirmish had taken less than ten seconds...

You could then hear them before you saw them: frantic footsteps crunching over the shattered debris, multiple pairs of boots pounding toward you from around the corner. You sighed, turning to face your approaching teammates. You could see the shape of Mills' silhouette leading the charge, Zhang right behind her, and the rest of the team following in disciplined, tight formation.

And so you winced a bit. But in the end, you knew that you had avoided the topic long enough. And now, you owed your teammates a LOT of explanations...you just hoped your Master would find you far more useful now, even if he got mad at you for keeping such a gigantic secret from him.

A/N: Well, I hope you enjoy the ride. As I said, there are more explanations to come soon, but that may have to wait until next week because I will be overloaded with work this weekend. In the meantime, feel free to let me know what you think or if you have anything to add, and I'm looking forward to writing the next chapter as soon as I can.