Mutagen

Day 376 - 2:23 PM - East Plains, Gilimanuk, Melaya Subdistrict, Jembrana Regency, Bali, Indonesia

Mark, with his eyes closed, looked up at the sky. He listened to the terrifying roars that would give average apocalypse survivors a heart attack due to extreme fear.

The agitated roars that would bring chills to the bone echoed from everywhere. It was clear that Mark's experimental method to lure the [Infected] worked splendidly. However, he was also sure that the effect was outside his expectations.

Mark watched as the [Infected] emerged from the nearby hills and forests. They ran like rabid animals who had starved for years, and the first food they saw afterward was their favorite. While the [Infected] sure were an aggressive bunch, this kind of agitation was, without a doubt, abnormal.

"Haha..."

Mark snickered. The roars and the [Infected] rabidly running in the distance made him feel like an exclamation symbol with the prompt, "Here they come..." appeared before his eyes. The only difference was the number of [Infected] variations present.

While having all that gamer nonsense in his mind, Mark turned his head, looking straight toward the town. Compared to the [Infected] from other directions already rushing towards him, the ones inside had a bit of a delay. It was not surprising. The [Infected] inside the residential area would need to traverse buildings and structures. Not to mention, the wall and the moat would block their advance.

Or so what Mark had thought...

When Mark was about to focus on the [Infected] coming from other directions, humanoid figures rushed over the wall. There were around seventy to a hundred of them, one after another, jumping out of the town's confines. Around half of them immediately fell into the moat just a meter from the wall. However, the rest, using their powerful limbs, jumped over the deep waters and reached the other side.

But these feral figures were not the end of it. After them, silhouettes could be seen erratically poking out from behind the wall.

The [Predator Types] was one thing, but Mark was confused about what was happening on the other side of the wall.

As such, Mark opened his wings and soared to the sky.

There, Mark saw an unusual but pretty familiar scene. It was the scene of the [Infected] piling up and climbing over another. Since the other [Infected Types] did not have the agility and limb strength of the [Predator Types], they could only resort to a different method to scale the walls.

And that was what was unusual.

The [Infected], aside from some rare individuals, lacked intelligence. They could only crowd of locations they could not traverse, but not pile over each other like the ones in that movie said to be a flop. Even if one managed to climb over, it was mostly by accident or if it was a more intelligent [Infected].

But what was happening right now was outright strange. It was not just one. The [Infected] from inside the town were pulling each other to the ground and using the bodies of the fallen ones as a foothold to climb the wall.

The [Infected] horde soon reached the point of overflowing outside the wall. Most fell onto the ledge outside the wall and got knocked down by the impact. Some [Infected] ended up slumped onto the ground after another [Infected] fell onto them. On the other hand, some fell straight into the moat.

"That moat won't be able to stop all of them."

Mark murmured.

If the [Infected] horde behaved like this, they would also end up filling up a part of the moat, creating a bridge made of [Infected] bodies.

"It's a good thing, I guess?"

Mark nodded.

If the [Infected] were rushing out of the town, then only a tiny percentage of the horde would be left behind to clean up inside.

Mark then looked below.

The first ones were about to arrive.

Since luring the [Infected] away from the school zone was Mark's role, it would be fine for him to leave now. He already succeeded in his part, after all.

But leaving this place now was never Mark's intention.

Without warning, Mark swooped down to the nearest [Predatore Type] that came from a nearby forest. The [Mutated Infected] did not expect an attack from the sky. As Mark passed above it and spun in the air once, the [Mutated Infected's] head fell off as inertia threw its lifeless body, tumbling and rolling forward.

The death of that [Predator Type Infected] was noticed by the others as the strong smell of blood spread out.

At the same time, Mark landed before them.

The target now shifted to Mark. All the [Infected] close enough came rushing towards him.

And Mark, with eyes that held no emotion, showed a blank smile.

It was time to clean this place of anything moving.

***

On the roof of the building outside the school zone, the rest of the investigation group were getting ready.

"The horde is gone. Has everyone recovered?"

Edge asked everyone. With his current abilities awakened, he was the fastest to recover from whatever Mark did.

"I'm still dizzy..."

Kana complained.

Fortunately, aside from Kana, everyone pretty much recovered.

"What is going on?"

General Wijaya spoke as he held his two-way radio.

"Sir Mark isn't answering."

Knowing it was Mark's doing, General Wijaya tried to contact him. However, no response came from Mark's side of the radio.

"It's Mark, so he should be fine,"

Edge replied.

"We should hurry to rescue the survivors."

Everyone nodded at Edge's words. They all rushed off the roof, intending to cautiously make their way to the shelter.

"I'll wait for the truck here. You all go ahead."

Feng Zhiruo said, fulfilling her role in this rescue mission.

Everyone gave her a nod as they entered the now-empty premises of the school zone.

The group hurried into the closest building from the entrance. It was where the survivors were holed up. However, one thing stopped them from entering the building.

"This guy is still here?"

Kana could not help but blurt out as they all saw who stood in their way.

It was the very same [Infected] man standing guard in front of the door.

"GRRRRR..."

Seeing the people in front of him, the [Infected] man growled as a threat.

Nonetheless, it was an [Infected]. There were only two things to do with him. They could either kill or capture the [Infected] man.

But before any discussion happened about the strange situation, Edge stepped forward.

"We are here to HELP them. SAVE them. Can you please make way?"

Edge spoke as if the [Infected] would understand.

Surprisingly enough, the [Infected] man stopped growling and looked at Edge. It stared at Edge's eyes for several seconds.

And to surprise everyone even more, the [Infected] man showed a smile of relief.

Then, like a puppet with strings cut, the [Infected] man's body slumped while standing. It was as if he lost all strength.

However, it was not something to be relieved about. As the [Infected] man abruptly raised its head, it showed a feral ferociousness that everyone was familiar with.

"GROOARR!!"

The [Infected] man lunged at the closest person, Edge, trying to bite him.

"Your mission is finished, huh. You are a fine warrior."

Edge said with a smile as he poked a hole into the [Infected] man's head, finally killing him.

After catching the lifeless body of the [Infected] warrior, Edge carefully put it to the side.

"Let's give this guy a proper burial, shall we?"

Edge asked everyone.

After seeing what happened, there was no way any of them would disagree with it.

With the obstacles out of the way, it was time to rescue the survivors.

***

A few minutes ago. Inside the shelter.

RIIINNNGGGGGGGGG!

The ringing sounds echoed into everyone's minds. The survivors could not help but try covering their ears to no avail.

Uli endured her dizziness as she made her way to the children.

The sleeping children were woken up by the ringing in everyone's ears. If that was the case, the children would likely start crying. After all, it was a sudden and frightful event.

And if the children began crying, the [Infected] horde outside would likely hear them all. It would be the end of them.

But to Uli's confusion, the event she feared never happened. The children sure were surprised as they abruptly woke up while holding their ears. However, instead of crying, they looked around, searching for the safest place to be. Finding Uli, they all rushed to her in silence and huddled around her, filled with vigilance in the surroundings.

It was odd. It was not only the children. Uli also realized that while she was afraid, she was relatively calm and feeling cautious. It was really strange.

Then, the survivors flinched.

The agitated roars of the [Infected] filled their surroundings. Almost all the adults could not help but reach for their weapons and silently waited for any incoming danger.

Uli hugged the children around her, making them feel as safe as possible. Still, what was going on? This was the first time they all experienced this.

But as time went on, they noticed something.

No attack happened to the shelter. In fact, the agitated roars were getting further and further away.

Realizing the strangeness of the situation, one of the men carefully approached the covered window and looked outside through one of the holes. The man was utterly surprised.

"There's no [Infected] outside,"

The man whispered.

"They all went away."

Unable to believe the man, the other adults began to peek through the holes in the covered window. However, what they saw was what the man had just said.

There was not a single [Infected] in sight. It was as if the [Infected] all went somewhere else.

But...

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

Everyone flinched as they heard a loud thumping sound.

The thought of the [Infected] trying to break through from the doors below immediately entered their minds.

It was when...

"THE SURVIVORS INSIDE! PLEASE OPEN UP! WE ARE HERE TO RESCUE YOU!"

A shout came from below.

It was an unfamiliar voice. However, for everyone here who had been holed up for more than a week without hearing anyone's voice but theirs and the growls of the [Infected] outside, that stranger's voice sounded heavenly.

"I will check."

One of the two only combatants among the survivors volunteered to check.

"Be careful."

The other combatant said to the other.

With an assault rifle with a magazine only half-full of bullets, the combatant made his way to the first floor, climbing over the barricade on the stairs.

The combatant, a man in his mid-twenties, carefully approached the door, trying to listen to the voices outside. But the man was surprised as the voice outside called out to him.

"We know you're behind the door. Please quickly open up so we can evacuate. We don't know how long the [Infected] would be kept busy."

The combatant was not a fool. Those words by the stranger meant that they lured the [Infected] away to rescue them. As such, the man resolved himself and slowly opened the door.

To his surprise, he saw a group of people. There was even a foreign woman and a blue-haired girl. Most importantly, the oldest of the group was wearing a military uniform. Most of them were armed, but none of them looked ready to start a fight.

And then, before everyone could start the conversation, the loud sound of a vehicle could be heard approaching the vicinity.

"Looks like the truck is here."

The man in military uniform spoke. It was a different voice from the one speaking earlier.

"The transport is here,"

The familiar voice came from the man who was standing closest to the combatant.

"Please call everyone out. We'll take you all to somewhere safer."

"Y-yes!"

The combatant replied. All of his cautiousness went down the drain as excitement took root in his heart.

Without uttering another word to the group outside, the combatant rushed inside and climbed the stairs. Without even climbing over the barricade, the combatant shouted to the survivors inside.

"Everyone! Get ready to leave! Rescue is here!"

The excited voice echoed not only inside the building but also outside.

It looked like the combatant was so excited that he had already forgotten to lower his voice.

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