Rewrite the Apocalypse dream (by Dee Cari) novel Chapter 183

Chapter 183 Level Two Mutated Dogs

Finished

The physical space inside the armored truck was tight, but the cabin heating struggled against the freezing wind. Hoping to completely defuse the tension between the billionaire and the soldier, Joanna glanced into the rearview mirror.

“Hey, Commander,” Joanna called out over the engine’s roar. “We’ve been running together for a while now, but I realized something. You always just go by Briggs. What’s your actual first name?”

Briggs sat like a stone block, unblinking, his cold military posture taking up two-thirds of the bench space. “It’s classified.”

“Oh, come on,” Jolie chirped from the far back, bright and sunny as a summer morning. “We’re a team! We share everything! Is it something cute? I bet it’s Bartholomew.”

“It is absolutely not Bartholomew,” Briggs grunted, his jaw tightening.

Julian sat in the middle row, crossing his arms and fixing Briggs with a brooding, superior stare. “Statistically, men who hide their given names are compensating for something deeply embarrassing. I’m guessing it’s Percival. Or perhaps Barnaby.”

“Keep guessing, CEO,” Briggs muttered, looking out the window.

“You both are reading too much into it,” Rachel said, her face expressionless and all-business as she looked up from mapping their approach coordinates on a tablet. “He just has the aura of a man named Eugene. You look like a Eugene, Commander.”

“Hey! Eugene is a respectable name,” Jake called out from the driver’s seat, a rare, quiet smirk tugging at his lips. “But my money is on Norbert. Definitely Norbert.”

In the back corner, Caleb gave a soft smile, looking weak and profoundly nervous, but he wanted to be included. “Um… what about Francis?” he spoke softly. “Like the little talking mule?”

Briggs slowly turned his head to glare at Caleb, his face entirely deadpan and cold. To emphasize his irritation, a tiny, glowing spark of pure fire suddenly danced across the knuckles of his tactical glove-a subtle display of his awakened fire-type superpower. “One more mule comment, dreamweaver, and I’m incinerating your boots.”

Julian scoffed softly, entirely unimpressed by the pyro-display. “Fascinating. The combustible soldier is throwing a tantrum. Is it because your real name is actually Archibald? Or is it Cornelius?”

“If I wanted to hear a billionaire whine, Julian, I’d check the stock market,” Briggs shot back, the flame on his knuckles flaring into a bright, snapping orange tongue of heat before he snuffed it out with a fist. “My first name is Commander. End of tactical briefing.”

“Fine, keep your secrets,” Joanna chuckled, shaking her head.

“Exactly,” Jolie agreed, beaming. “Besides, if he won’t tell us, I’ll just have to choose a nickname for him! How about Sparky? Or Cuddles?”

Briggs looked genuinely horrified, his stone-faced facade cracking for a fraction of a second. “Do not call me Cuddles.”

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Chapter 183 Level Two Mutated Dogs

Finished

Joanna burst out laughing, the mental image of the lethal, fire-wielding soldier answering to “Cuddles” completely breaking her serious exterior. She was just about to make a crack about it when Jake suddenly

med on the brakes.

The heavy tactical beast screeched, its massive tires grinding hard against the asphalt, throwing everyone forward against their seatbelts.

“Hold on!” Jake barked, his knuckles turning white on the steering wheel.

Joanna gripped the dashboard, her laughter instantly vanishing as her eyes locked onto the highway ahead. Right in the middle of the road, blocking their path into Dillon, was a gruesome sight. A mangled, rusted sedan sat flipped on its side, surrounded by a pack of massive, snarling wild dogs. The beasts were viciously tearing at the doors, feasting on the dead people trapped inside the cabin, their bloody muzzles snapping in a frenzied hunger.

RJ’s face went completely pale as she leaned forward, staring through the reinforced glass. “Boss, those aren’t normal strays. I sense they are each as strong as the Zombie at Pharmatec. Those are level two mutated dogs.”

Joanna’s eyes narrowed as she took in the beasts. They were the size of small bears, their hides thick, hairless, and oozing a sickly dark fluid, with jaws wide enough to crush concrete.

Glancing back at the trembling seer, Joanna barked an order. “Caleb, stay in the car! Do not open these doors!”

“Gladly!” Caleb squeaked, diving into the footwell of the back row.

“Briggs, Julian, with me! Jake, RJ, Jolie, cover our flanks!” Joanna shouted, throwing her door open.

The moment their boots hit the asphalt, the pack of mutated hounds caught their scent. Leaving the carcass, five massive beasts sprinted toward them, their claws gouging deep tracks into the road.

Briggs moved first. Stepping forward with a cold, lethal glare, he thrust his hands out. A torrent of white-hot flame erupted from his palms, engulfing the lead dog. The beast shrieked, its flesh sizzling, but its mutated stamina kept it moving through the fire. Julian blurred past the burning animal, his hands crackling with arcs of blinding blue lightning. With a dominant roar, he drove a high-voltage palm strike directly into the second dog’s skull, the electricity exploding outward and liquefying its brain instantly.

Behind them, a massive hound leaped from the top of the flipped sedan, aiming straight for Joanna’s throat.

“I don’t think so!” Jake yelled. He slammed his hands onto the hood of the Beast. Using his metal- manipulation powers, he ripped a jagged sheet of steel right off the flipped car and hurled it through the air like a massive buzzsaw. The metal sheet sliced clean through the leaping dog’s midsection, showering the asphalt in dark, mutated blood.

Joanna didn’t waste a second. As another hound lunged at her from the side, she ducked beneath its snapping jaws. Upgrading her physical stats to the absolute max, she drove her hunting knife upward through the bottom of its jaw, piercing straight into its brain stem. She ripped the blade out as the heavy corpse crashed into the ground.

“Behind you!” RJ warned, using her sharp perception to dynamic-track the remaining beasts.

The last two hounds flanked them, their red eyes glowing with malice. One surged toward Jolie. Instead of panicking, the sunny prepper slammed her hands into the dirt at the edge of the asphalt. “Thorny vines,

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Chapter 183 Level Two Mutated Dogs

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