The pilot shifted the camera again.
A second infected circled above the industrial blocks.
Its upper limbs had changed into wide, uneven wings. The body hung beneath them at an awkward angle, legs drawn close while the wings continued beating against the air.
It was larger than an ordinary infected, though still far smaller than Raptor One.
The pilot's expression changed.
"Now that one is actually flying."
The creature banked toward the aircraft.
Its movements were unstable but deliberate. Each wingbeat carried it higher, and its head remained pointed toward Raptor One.
The Radar measured the closing distance.
The pilot increased altitude slightly.
The flying infected followed.
"Persistent bogey too."
He adjusted course. The creature turned with him, though its speed remained nowhere close to the fighter.
The pilot could have destroyed it before it came within a kilometer.
His hand remained away from the weapon controls.
