The satellite ground station was a large complex encased by a chain link fence. There were a few buildings inside with multiple giant satellite antennas occupying the grounds around the complex.

An armored jeep cruised down a remote and empty road leading towards the ground station.

"Something's wrong here." Donny said as they drew near. "Look."

Will looked to the side where the parking lot was located. There was a large hole in the fence and a few of the vehicles within looked like they had experienced car accidents. He could see a few corpses that had been eaten.

"Get the drone." Will said, stopping the car.

They sat there for a while, scouting the complex with the drone but found nothing out of the ordinary.

They resumed driving, moving past an abandoned guard post and into the complex when movement suddenly caught Will's eye. People had appeared at the second floor window of the main building and were gesticulating at them.

"What are they doing? Are they asking for help?" Donny wondered.

Will drove up to the building, staying cautious and keeping his distance, parking a little away from the main entrance. He immediately noticed that the front door was heavily barricaded.

The people on the second floor opened the window and were still waving their arms around as they whispered something to the two.

"I can't hear what they're saying." Donny said, the two of them alighting from the jeep. "What are you trying to say?!" Donny shouted up to the second floor.

"No!" "No, no!" "Shhh!" They immediately hissed, one person shaking their head, another waving their hands in panic, and another holding a finger to her lips.

Will immediately placed his hand on his holster and scanned the area. He soon heard a crash as the doors to one of the separate buildings burst open and a large humanoid figure rushed out. The figure looked like a hulking man at least 2.5 meters tall, wearing ripped pants and a tattered shirt. The giant looked around before discovering Will and Donny, and without hesitation, dashed towards the two with great strides.

"What in the ever living shit is that?!" Donny exclaimed.

"Run!" Someone on the second floor called out.

Will instinctively dropped his riot shield and halligan bar, reaching for his climbing pick and rope instead. He connected the rope to the pick via the snap hook and shoved it into Donny's hands like lightning.

"Climb! Now!" He directed before getting on top of the jeep.

"Oh, son of a..." Donny groaned as he dropped his own gear and ran towards the building with two climbing axes in hand.

Once Will reached the top of the jeep, he whipped out his pistol and took his time aiming down the sights at the giant's eyes. The constant bobbing movement it made while running increased the difficulty of aiming.

Bang!

"Shit..." Will spat when he clipped it on the side of the forehead, merely causing it to bleed.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Will fired continuously, but after the first shot landed, the giant instantly raised its arm to protect its head.

Will cursed again when he recognized that it had enough intelligence to know to defend it's vulnerable area.

Knowing that he already lost his chance, Will grabbed the smoke grenade, pulled the pin, and dropped it to the ground. He glanced over at Donny to see him reaching the second floor with his two climbing picks and being pulled inside by the people up there.

Will leapt from the top of the jeep the moment the giant reached him—slamming into the jeep with tremendous force. Rolling to his feet, Will used the smoke as cover as he sprinted towards the wall. He used his momentum to carry him two steps up the wall before grabbing onto the rope and climbing the rest of the way, Donny and the others helping out by pulling him up.

"What the hell is that thing!?" Donny questioned with trepidation.

"Shhh! It'll hear you." A woman whispered harshly in admonishment.

A man in a plaid shirt pulled up the rest of the rope and closed the window. "That thing's been stalking us ever since yesterday."

"His name is Matthew." A man wearing glasses said passive-aggressively.

"He actually cracked the window." Donny said incredulously.

"It's amazing that your jeep withstood all that. Is it bulletproof?" The man wearing the plaid shirt asked. "All of our cars were smashed in."

"Yeah."

"Where's the rest of your team?"

"Team?"

"Bill, I don't think they're with the police." The woman said.

"But the..." Bill pointed at the armored car.

"In any case, it's good to see some new faces." The man with the glasses said before introducing them. "I'm Francis, this is Julie, and this is Bill. The rest of the crew is in the other room."

"Donny." "Will." The two replied as everyone exchanged handshakes.

"What's going on out there right now?" Francis asked. "The power grid and cell network are down, and we've been isolated here." He gestured outside.

"It's much the same everywhere else as over here. Utilities and networks down, and everyone we've come across has barricaded themselves inside." Will explained. "We've come here to take a peek through your observation satellites so that we can gather information and figure out what to do next."

"We would have done the same but the problem is the backup generator is out there, along with..." Julie pointed outside.

"Didn't the automatic transfer switch kick in?"

"Well..."

"I'll show you." Francis said, leading them out of the room and to the other side of the building. He pointed out the window at the commercial generator with a huge dent in it. "The noise it was generating attracted Matthew, and now the generator is down."

Will noticed a few figures moving in the trees in the distance, it seemed that his gunshots had attracted attention.

"Can you guys fix it?" Will asked.

"We'll have to take a look to see what's damaged, but yeah, I'm confident we can."

"Alright, then we'll wait for nighttime to make our move."

"Won't it be more dangerous for us at night?" Julie asked with worry.

"I'm hoping that it can't see at night."

"Then we'll wait for it to get dark outside." Francis agreed. "Come, we'll introduce you to the others."

"You guys go ahead first, I need to talk to Will." Donny held back and whispered to Will, "What was that thing...I mean what is Matthew and do you know if it can see in the dark or not?"

"That kind of growth is a common Bloodline ability. It usually manifests in those with giant ancestors, this could happen for people if they had a giant in their family tree or even in animals like a leopard and the sabre-tooth tiger." Will explained.

"Or like an elephant and mammoth?" Donny asked and Will nodded in responses.

"If it really was a Bloodline ability, then there's a high chance it did not awaken an ability to see in the dark, because although those two abilities are quite common separately, the combination of the two very rarely manifests together."

"There's a but?"

"But if it was the result of a type of Parasite then it's likely it could have developed another Bloodline ability."

"What kind of Parasite can cause that?" Donny asked in incredulity.

"I mentioned it before, there's a special Parasite type—a symbiotic Parasite or Symbiote. It has the ability to fuse together with its host. Symbiotes have a higher than usual compatibility rate, so those who fuse with them can display much more of its abilities and traits. But the downside to Symbiotes is that once they fuse with you, it's almost impossible to separate from the host."

The Adephagia Virus in the future could be considered a modified Symbiote that could fuse together numerous hosts.

"Then what kind of Symbiote fused with that dude out there?"

"To tell you that, I would have to explain what a Parasite really is." Will paused and glanced around to make sure no one was around. "A Parasite is, in actuality, an extremely rare Bloodline ability."

"What?!" Donny exclaimed, he held up his hand. "Wait a minute, wait a minute...so you're saying that even humans can..."

"Can awaken the Parasite and it's rare subtype—the Symbiote ability." Will pointed outside. "And it's growth out there could be a result of a human Symbiote fused with another human, since I didn't see any other physical features to prove otherwise. And if that's the case..."

"Matthew could have another Bloodline stacked on top of his already humongous size, and it would be really bad for us if he has the ability to see in the dark." Donny finished.

Will nodded gravely.

"Oh...that sucks." Donny breathed out. "Matthew's kind of an ass. I don't think he'll be working here again."

The two of them followed the others into the other room to meet the rest of the crew. After introductions were done and Will explained the plan. They grabbed a bite to eat before he and Donny were shown to a room afterwards, so that they could rest until nighttime.