Mutagen

While Mark was fighting with the Mutant, Ange was running towards the parking entrance trying her best not to turn around for another time.

At that time Mark's helmet was slashed, Ange saw it happen. She had the urge to run back and help him but she firmly held to what Mark told her to do, to let her brother and men for reinforcements.

She could hear the sounds of a shotgun being fired and the booming sounds every time the mutant woman hits the concrete floor and ceiling behind her. There were also sounds of metal being slashed and car windows being smashed. Several car alarms also began to sound. All those sounds gave her the urge to turn back but she managed to hold it in.

Even if she managed to turn and head back, Ange knew that she wouldn't be much of help right now. Even if she had trained in taekwondo and karate, it won't be enough. At that attack that she saw, it was not beyond her cognition but she knew that she still would not be able to react to it. She even started to wonder how Mark was able to fight with that mutant without being killed easily. She also have a gun but she doubt that she could do any damage to it when Mark's shotgun could not.

When she arrived at the parking entrance, she saw the metal shutters that were blocking the way while she started hearing sounds of assault rifles from the other side.

She took out Mark's phone from her pocket and called her brother while she started running towards security booth in the middle of the entrance.

The call connected.

[Angeline!]

"Brother! What's the situation outside! I'm already on the other side of the entrance!"

[What! Ho-! No. You got here too quick! Are there no infected or people inside?]

"Answer me first!"

Ange shouted at the phone while she tried to open the door of the security booth. It's locked. She won't be able to open it with force as it was made with metal. She started to look for another way in.

[The infected are already surrounding us! The fireworks attracting the infected already stopped moments ago!]

"What! Why! Wait! I'll ask them!"

Ange picked up the radio holstered on her waist and called while she made the phone and radio face each other.

"Uncle Bernard! Uncle Calvin! Are you there!"

There was static for a few seconds until someone replied.

[We're here!]

She heard Bernard's voice but it was noticeable that they were panting hard.

"Did something happen?! The fireworks stopped!"

[We had to run! There's a mutant on the roof running on all fours and can climb walls! Fernan was scratched and Calvin hurt his leg since he had to jump halfway on the ladder to escape!]

"What! OK! Are you guys safe now?!"

[We just managed to enter the stairwell in the west wing and jammed the door. We're bringing Calvin and Fernan back first.]

"Alright! I'll end the call! I'm also in a hurry!"

She holstered the radio once again and spoke on the phone.

"Brother! You heard that?"

[I did!]

"Ok! I'll hurry up and try to open this damn entrance!"

[Don't hang up and just let the call run. And stop cursing or father will scold you later!]

"Now is not the time for that!"

Ange put the phone in her pocket but did not end the call. She already ran around and found no other way in but through the window. Unfortunately, the window was equipped with a reinforced glass!

Without any choice, she held her revolver pistol forward and shot towards the window.

BANG! CRASH!

The ear-piercing sound of glass shattering echoed after her pistol was shot as the tough reinforced glass shattered into pebble sized pieces.

After jumping into the window, she immediately found a control panel on the table along several office supplies and coupon sized printed papers.

There was a smile in her face as she pushed the buttons on the panel but her smile grew stiff and her face grew dark. After pushing the buttons, the only thing that moved was the security gates on both sides of the security booth and not the shutters at the main entrance!

Ange started searching inside the security booth and found nothing that looked like something that controls the shutters at the main entrance!

"Shit!"

She was sure that her brother heard her say that as he started shouting on the phone.

"BROTHER! NOW IS NOT THE TIME!"

She picked up the phone after jumping out of the booth.

[I know! I just want to hear the reason you are cursing!]

"The control to open the entrance is not inside the security booth!"

[Then it should be inside the main security room or the control room of the mall! It was there most of the time we had operations in other malls before!]

"Just where in hell can I find that room! We don't much time to search for it!"

[What's wrong? You're very agitated!]

"Mark is fighting against a powerful mutant right now! He might get killed if we take too much time!"

[What?! Tsk. We have no choice! We'll abandon the vehicles here outside first! Angeline! Go inside the employee entrance and remove the barricades behind the door! The entrance should be on the west side of the entrance.]

"OK!"

Ange saw that door immediately ran towards it. She readied her gun and busted in. There were several zombies inside the room. She was no hesitation in her eyes anymore. She immediately shot the zombies whether it was a Biter or an Eater.

After dispatching the zombies, she immediately shut the opened door on the south west side of the room which led into a hallway that also had zombies running towards her.

She then started to remove the chairs, tables and other heavy stuff that were cluttered into a barricade on the front door.

***

Mark was panting as he ran in between cars. He already disregarded his state after this battle as he used his Adrenaline rush in full throttle. Still, his chances to attack were getting lesser and lesser. If not for this ability, he might have already turned into minced meat already.

This parking lot was the mutant woman's domain. She was like a fish in the water while he was shackled by his physical limits. The mutant woman could use the ceiling and the walls, could jump over and topple cars while he could do nothing but run and dodge with almost no time to counter attack!

Several cars already started to make noises as the alarms installed went off. Broken glass windows scattered on the ground while the smaller and lighter vehicles were already toppled.

Mark was also pushing his mental abilities to his maximum capacity. He was trying to resist the pressure this mutant was inducing and detect her emotional fluctuations to monitor her attacks and when the woman's conscious was able to resist for a moment.

He already noticed that even if the mutant woman was fast and strong, it was not her full strength at all. As if she was holding back.

Using the emotional fluctuation, knew that the woman was still there trying to resist but whatever the cause of what was happening to her was eating her inside slowly, physically and mentally.

He started to understand that what was happening to this woman was different to the Eaters and Biters. Using his assumptions, Fat Mutants mutated after turning into a Biter while mutated Eaters changed after they became Eaters. The woman he was fighting right now started mutating while not turning into one of the two. He did not know the reason but he was sure that it was the case.

BANG!

Mark managed to make an opening by hiding behind a parked van near a wall. He jumped towards the wall and propelled himself unto the roof of the van. The mutant, who was not expecting what he did, as it tried to chase him, was caught off guard. He managed to shoot her open back.

Blood gushed out of the woman's unarmored back and she screamed in pain.

The woman staggered as Mark detected her human consciousness tried to hold off her uncontrollable body. She turned towards Mark while the remaining half of her human eye was tearing up with blood.

"Please, Kill me… I can't hold on anymore."

The bone armor started to grow once more. Though it was visibly slower, it was still growing.

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