Mutagen

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Day 67 - 7:49 PM - Maryhill Recreation House, Ortigas Avenue Extension, Dolores, Taytay, Rizal

The terrified scream echoed into everyone"s ears . That scream broke the silence of the night . Even the insects in the surroundings of the retreat house could not help but scatter .

Since it could be an emergency, the soldiers nearest to where the scream came from immediately responded .

There, they saw a frightened woman sitting on the floor, trying to shrink herself as much as possible . She was s.h.i.+vering as if she saw the most frightening thing in her life . A plate of warm soup scattered on the floor and already spilled its contents .

One of the soldiers that responded to the scream immediately recognized the woman . After all, the woman was his wife .

The soldier was young, so as his wife . It was positive that they married after the day of the apocalypse .

While the young soldier pacified his panicked wife, the other soldiers scattered to find whatever the possible cause of her panic was . However, they found nothing .

The soldiers already blocked the rooms with possible entryways that were not in use . Since that was the case, entry without being seen by the patrols was not possible . There was no place to hide either without removing the blockade the soldiers made .

It took a few minutes of calming and several gla.s.ses of water before the woman regained her composure . That was when she started to tell her creepy story .

***

On the second floor, Mark heard the scream rather clearly . It was because he was precisely just above the source of the scream . However, there was no need for him to hurry up and check . He could sense that the soldiers already went to investigate the circ.u.mstances below .

Right now, he needed to deal with something else .

"So, what are you tailing me for?"

Mark spoke as he turned around, facing the direction he came from .

As Mark"s question ended, a silhouette of a person could be seen emerging from a slightly hidden part of the hallway .

When the person stepped a bit closer, the person"s appearance was revealed .

A sixteen-year-old boy who had quite a thin presence . Of course, even without seeing the boy"s appearance, Mark knew who he was . The fourth Mutator in that group of survivors who were rescued in the Munic.i.p.al Hall of Taytay Rizal .

He was the very same Mutator that was hiding his abilities for an unknown reason .

"I"m surprised . You managed to notice me . " The boy spoke . "Those idiots didn"t even realize that I"m missing again . "

He did not have any ill intent, but his voice was filled with both self-ridicule and helplessness as he turned towards the stairs leading down to the first floor .

The atmosphere was then enveloped with odd silence . When the boy looked at Mark, the latter was just staring at him .

"Why are you staring at me?"

He could not help but ask .

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"Because you didn"t answer my question at all?"

Mark spoke with a questioning tone .

The boy felt awkward and scratched his head .

"That"s . . . I"m just curious . Sorry . " The boy awkwardly apologized . "I want to see who is this mysterious leader that those soldiers obey without question . "

Hearing that, Mark raised an eyebrow . He never introduced himself to the survivors . He also told the soldiers not to say anything about him either . It was because he had no responsibility in taking care of the survivors they rescued . The best that they could say was that the soldiers and Mark"s group just decided to travel together to get to Infanta, Quezon .

Nevertheless, this boy managed to point out the one who was actually leading the whole group . Not to mention that this boy was among the two youngest people in their group . The other one being a female at the same age as him .

"Well, then . I"ll be going . Sorry for disturbing you . "

The boy decided that there was no need to tail Mark anymore as he had been caught . Furthermore, he also missed the part where Mark vanished into the mist and appeared on the other side of the hallway . The hallway was dark enough to mask Mark"s usage of his psychic ability .

It"s not like he was hiding it though,

As the boy turned around and was about to leave, Mark decided to ask .

"So, why is a Mutator like you hiding your abilities?"

That blunt and straightforward question made the boy freeze on his steps .

Mutators, the boy had just learned about this word today . They were people who were bitten by the infected but did not turn and instead, they gained superhuman abilities .

He was also one of these, so-called, Mutators . However, he had been hiding that fact to everyone . The question was a total surprise to him .

The boy turned around with a wary expression .

"How did you know?"

"Do you really think that you"re the only observant person around?"

That was an obvious lie . Mark even know that this boy would get it that he was lying . Still, that lie shook the boy up to his core . That answer had told the boy that Mark knew a bit more than just him being a Mutator .

The boy was troubled .

By nature, the boy was an observer . He had a thin presence that despite his above-average looks, he could blend in with the crowd without anyone noticing . It was as if he was a person easy to forget on a whim . That was why he developed the knack to observe people without getting noticed . Because of that, there were many things present around that others could not see .

Upon turning into a Mutator after he was bitten in his escape, this ability to observe grew further . It became easier to notice things around him that others would not notice even for a long time . This very same trait made him realize who was the actual leader of the people that rescued them . It was also the reason why he hid his abilities as a Mutator from his group .

No, he would rather not label himself as a part of that group . For him, he was different . Except for one person he valued there, everyone else was total idiots .

Mark stared at the boy who had quite a lot of things going on his mind . He realized that this boy did not think that he was a part of that group at all . That was good enough . What he wanted from this boy was really his trait . Even if his ability as a Mutator was useless, the trait alone was valuable .

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Since they encountered these survivors in that Munic.i.p.al Hall . He noticed the plethora of emotions this boy was emitting despite the lack of change in his expression . Furthermore, on different things that his eyes saw or landed on, the emotion might change drastically . In his conclusion, this person was observing things around him up to the slightest detail .

This trait alone could make this boy a good detective . It was even applicable in observing and experimenting with the infected .

Mark wanted such a person since he was also collecting information about almost every kind of mutated infected they encounter .

While the silence loomed over the two people observing each other, the sounds of steps could be heard climbing up the stairs .

As the person reached the second floor, the person looked around . It was a girl, in that survivor group that was at the same age as the boy . When she saw the boy, she called out .

"Case! There you are! Aren"t you going to eat?"

While calling out, it seemed that she did not notice Mark as he was blocked by the boy .

The silence was broken .

"You said that no one noticed that you are missing . "

Mark whispered .

Hearing that, the boy was embarrased .

"She"s different . " The boy said with a m.u.f.fled voice before sighing . "Can we talk later?"

The boy said with a resolute expression . It seemed that his mind was filled with questions that would surely prevent him from sleeping .

"Also, please . Don"t tell anyone about me being a Mutator . "

He whispered .

"Case! Did you hear me? Who are you talking to?"

The girl"s voice echoed once more .

"Alright! Alright! I"m coming!"

The boy nodded at Mark before he left .

"Case, huh . " Mark smiled . "What a fitting name . "

As Mark mumbled that, he vanished into the shadows like a ghost .

Case looked back one more time before going down the stairs just to see nothing but darkness in the hallway . He shook his head and turned to the girl .

"Kaira, I heard a scream . What is that about?"

"That . . . " Kaira seemed a bit creeped out . "They said that someone saw a ghost . That is also why I looked for you . "

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"Alone? Aren"t you scared?"

"There are soldiers around the stairs . Why should I be afraid?"

***

From another side of the building, Mark arrived at the area where the scream was heard .

Several soldiers saluted to Mark as they patrolled the area . Even though they saw nothing after the scream was heard, they could not just put their guard down .

Looking around, Mark felt a s.h.i.+ver on his back .

"That scream is not groundless . "

He thought . The temperature in the area was rather low and there was still lingering odd energy that was about to dissipate . A good indication that something had manifested here before .

"Sir!"

A soldier came to Mark . It was no one else but Lieutenant Baller .

"What did that woman see?"

"Sir?"

Mark suddenly asked and the Lieutenant was not able to process it immediately .

"The woman that screamed . She saw something right?"

Mark rephrased his question and the Lieutenant understood that Mark already knew a part of what happened . Of course, these soldiers could not believe the woman"s statement immediately without proof .

"The woman that screamed is the wife of one of our soldiers . . . "

Lieutenant Baller narrated what they heard from the woman .

The woman was about to deliver dinner to her husband who was posted on the opposite side from the dining hall . That was why she was carrying a plate of food through the hallway . However, she felt cold midway and it was uncomfortable .

Following the cold, she saw the silhouette of a person walking towards her from the opposite side of the hallway . She did not think much of it as it could be another soldier or a relative of other soldiers .

For some reason, she found it hard to move .

The closer the figure came, however, the colder it became .

It was until she saw a clear view of the person .

The person was wearing a white frock similar to what the priests wore . She was confused as she did not remember any priest in the convoy . Also, after the apocalypse, they were educated in Bay City about proper attires to prevent being caught by the infected easily . A frock was a bad example of this .

Then, she looked at the person"s face .

She froze .

The head . . .

It was not there . . .

She was totally terrified at the scene .

She tried to run but her feet would not move .

She tried to scream but her voice would not come out .

She tried to move her body but she was frozen .

All she could do was to s.h.i.+ver in fear as the headless figure pa.s.sed by her .

The headless figure pa.s.sed by her shoulder to shoulder .

When the figure pa.s.sed where she could not see it anymore, the place she carried was thrown onto the floor as her body suddenly regained movement .

She slowly looked behind her, thinking that it was gone .

She was wrong .

The headless figure stood facing her .

Her fear overcame the loss of her voice and she screamed . However, she was so terrified to run . She could only curl into a ball at the side of the hallway until the soldiers came .

No one saw the figure . She also did not see how it vanished .

***

"Should we test her psychologically? Maybe, encountering too many dangers in this travel affected her mentality . "

Lieutenant Baller asked as he did not believe what happened himself .

"Why are you going to test her? She"s not mistaken though . "

Mark said .

"Huh?"

The Lieutenant stared at Mark with confusion .

"I mean, I chose this place to spend the night because I know that this place is haunted . "

The Lieutenant froze .

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