Leave The Monster Alone

"Looks like the trouble started. Any idea who did this?" well, Mark had one and only one. Shiro made these bombs so she had to know what this was.

"The resistance did this" and he had proof as well to back his claim. Now they were talking.

As soon as the first zombie breached the quarters, so did the others but those were not that friendly. At least not to Mark and the others. They seemed as if they would bite and it would hurt a lot. 

"Someone do something," Mark asked and realised that it was a foolish thing to do. Kuro jumped at the person but the last minute 'don't kill then' deterred her in a new direction. Just in time to avoid a gunshot as well. 

"What the heck is wrong with these people? Except for mind control that is. They are freaking me out" Fidi asked, his body going through a mock shiver. It was easy to see why he felt. Uncomfortable with the current situation. 

The first person who went down was starting to stir now that the uncomfortable feeling had been lifted off of the group. Also, since the group's attention was focused on these mobs, they missed a crucial fact - Nathan was nowhere in sight. 

"Curse that old man. So, does anyone have any ideas on how to get out? And why are these zombies coming after us? We're part of the resistance too" It was odd indeed how these zombified people targeted Mark and the group explicitly. Some were even ignoring every other direction except the groups which were freaky to them. 

"Maybe Shiro knows what's going on but we will need to find her first. I cannot seem to get a handle on her location though" There were too many locations that held her energy signal, just like this place they were currently at which held almost 10 such signals of varying intensity. 

It was safe to assume that every zombified human should be carrying at least one of her essence. Then did Mark carry it as well? 

He had to have been since he felt the pain as well but unlike the common folks, he did not get taken over. A blessing in disguise or a curse to be feared, Mark did not know which one it was yet. 

"Should we split up? We can cover more areas like that" The situation had escalated more than they could have imagined so their earlier place was put to rest. Now they had to come up with a new one that did not include kidnapping. Still, if they did split up then their cover would be blown and that was one thing Mark did not want to happen yet. More so because of the resistance and their paranoia. 

Besides, whatever prompted Shiro to do this one on an open scale had to be a big thing because otherwise, she would not have risked the base like this would she? The only way to confirm this was to confront her anyway and this was what Mark was going to do. 

"In the pair of two, one of us with one of you to maintain the illusion of capture and kidnapping? I'll take the kid" That was a sensible way to split up but also dreaded by Mark who was not looking forward to having someone else in his personal space. At least not someone like Fidi. 

"Can we change partners? Alan can take the snake" The child gave him a  betrayed look but Mark did not feel sorry for the other. He wanted to work through it all in some peace and quiet after all. 

"Gees, thanks. I'm really feeling the love now" The snake muttered but was promptly ignored by everyone else. 

"Can't since I'm not sure I will not end up killing him. It's better if he goes with you" So the kid did not want that responsibility? Mark could work with it, not happily but he could. Did not mean he will not be bitching about it all for the time being. 

"Are you angry with me?" Fidi asked and now he was just trying to be annoying, wasn't he? Not that Mark should have expected anything different but still, the other was like a leech with his prey. 

"Shiro should ideally be in the resistance base. If not then someone there should know where she ended up at" This was a gamble but a safe one. The people at the resistance would either know where Shiro was or they would not. 

Surely they won't attack Mark as well right? Not without any purpose or cause like these people, no, Zombies here. And how much did Zeno know about all this? Did he know everything and chose to look the other way or was he the instigator of all this? Mark really did want to ask the other this.

But before that, they had to make it to the resistance building which was looking rather difficult right now with all these people in-between. Not to mention, these people attacked any living and breathing person and could still kill them if they did not fight back.

That was another thing that conflicted Mark a lot, - to attack them or to not attack these zombies. On one hand, they were already brain dead for the time being and being controlled against their will.

But on the other, their conscience might just be trapped and not wholly one at this point. So they were as much a victim of this all as Mark and Fidi were which did not make it the right choice to kill them, much less hurt them. And this was where the whole conflict began for Mark.

Fidi though had no problem serving the head from the zombie's body and Mark could not ask the other to stop. The other was doing all this in self-defence after all and to stop him would be to condemn him to his death. 

"This s not working out that well. Unless I kill them all they would not let us pass through the corridor and I don't think that is something you want me to do" no, of course not. That would be a tragedy looking to happen.

There were more than 200 people outside their corridor and not everyone was from the normal base. Mark could spot some low-level members of the resistance as zombies and remembered that the bae was not the only thing to be affected.

To give away their own people like this, how ruthless was this actually. And Zeno had actually agreed to all this? Mark found it hard to believe but the proof was right in front of his eyes. 

"It's a mess. Come, I have another way we can potentially sneak around the base" Mark had the advantage which many others did not have - the base map which he had shared with Alan as well. He pinned the other to this message as well before he started looking for the back door.

"Kuro, I need you to slide inside and cut the green wire. The door should open once you do that" Kuro, who was pacing at the said with a worried expression hurriedly came toward him. Her small form was a blessing as she was able to slide inside the door without any problem.

There was a sizzling noise and the door finally opened for Mark and his companion. With a final look behind them to confirm the position of those zombies, they went off to the resistance. 

There was no thought in their mind about any of the other members of the joint council and at this point, it was too late. But they had Liam and a lot of knowledge which would make them safe.

Most of the actual base was empty by now, the units already shifted to another base and now only a handful remained. According to Liam, they were all expendable and Mark did not fight the other when he said this. 

He did not have enough energy to argue with the other when he himself had a ton to do. Everyone who was contaminated was left behind. Luna's team should be escorting everyone else to the base.

The door on the other side opened with a hissing noise and their vision was faced with white of the snow.

No, not the snow but powder and a very familiar figure.

"Looking for me? I knew you would. So, what can I do for you gentlemen?" Shiro asked, looking at them with her dead eyes but they also held a little light. For the first time, Mark actually felt afraid of her. At this very moment, her aura dominated the whole space.

"Well, another one? I was not aware that resistance had another one of you? You were not here last time, were you?" Fidi asked with interest and Shiro turned toward him. Her dead eyes show with interest now and there was also a crackling noise in her laugh.

"Well, I guess"