Leave The Monster Alone

"Are you here to eliminate us?" the female asked, her face showing fear over her face which was understandable. If Mark was in her position, then he would have likely been terrified too.

The one behind the pair, the one who seemed to have lost its rationality, made more weird noises that could not be understood by anyone present on the scene. It was likely that his vocal cords were too heavily damaged to be able to produce any recognizable sounds. 

Mark did try to pay attention to him but the feeling of pain and wrong and hurt was too thick to penetrate through to get this real thought so he gave up. There was no need for him to put himself through such a troublesome task just for someone so forgone anyway.

The other female, the one who looked to have been in the middle of her metamorphosis seemed to be taking it far better than her companion. The feeling of discomfort and wrong was not that prominent but the extra appendages growing throughout her left side did not invoke confidence in Mark.

She was slowly but surely transforming into a monster too and it should not take long before she would join her friend in his misery. 

The tried one though, the one who looked completely human could not be read by that feeling at all which made Mark suspect that she had not taken that Vial yet. She was likely still human which put her in all the more dangerous.

"Putting your companion out of his misery would be mercy for him at this point. There is no way he's going to come back from this" it was best to deal with the bigger problem first.

Since the bigger, mutated female stoll had her wit, she was not really a danger yet. But should she snap, she would be put down by Mark.

His words were not met with the appreciation they deserved and it was a given that they would not be. After all, no one wanted to harm someone they had a bond with in such a situation where their loved ones could be counted on one hand.

But the wrong female lost her composure.

With a small knife clenched tightly by white knuckles, the human charged at him with speed he had not been expecting. And yet the female was doomed to fail her assault because she was all but a civilian.

Even at her best she was no match for Mark who had been trained by the circumstance and obstacles he faced till now. The female went down, her eyes rolling into the back of her head and then there were two.

If the monster behind them seemed to be agitated before then he seemed enraged now, his body trying to break through the bounds he was held within and the struggle was real.

"Are you going to resist too?" Mark asked the female who was still conscious, her black eyes dull and lifeless. It was clear that she was more than aware of how hopeless this situation was. Even if she managed to escape, her survival of humanity was no longer guaranteed.

"Even if I do escape, it won't be of any use. My elder brother is already gone and I'm a liability to my younger sister now. But you know the funny thing? Despite all this, I don't really want to die. There is a voice inside my mind screaming for me to eliminate all my competition and secure my place as the strongest" she seemed to be suffering, that much Mark could tell.

"I'm sorry it came down to this but you should not have bought unknown substances and more so when they had not been announced by the base chief" her face seemed to twist at his words and her eyes blazed with a fury that seemed to scorch the target.

"It was in a great shop so how were we supposed to know better? By the time that announcement came, my brother had already emptied that vile and we were afraid. Why? Why is it our fault?" The female seemed to be on the verge of a breakdown and Mark averted his eyes from her. Emotions did not mesh well with him, his own too out of touch with him.

He had no reply for her since she was right. It was not their fault at all, but rather that of that teen who betrayed them all. Mistakes were made and innocent people had to pay the price for it all.

"I understand, you have no answer for me do you but it doesn't matter now. I don't think they will have an antidote for us anytime soon and my brother will not hold that long anyway" the female was observant, that much Mark could tell.

His silence was all the confirmation she needed to know that he had been right in her assumption and a humourless laugh escaped her throat. It was non-human, almost too high pitched to be heard and sounded vaguely like cricket in cry in the summer.

"Your sister is still human though" Mark reminded her and her face turned blank before she gave him a small nod.

"She is and she will not survive for long in the wild without any protection. What do you want from us in exchange for her safety?" Her last words seemed to be decorated and difficult to force out of her throat. Clearly, it would not be long before her consciousness would cease to exist which was a shame.

"My mission is to eliminate you but the science team wants your remains to experiment on" a flash of horror seemed to overcome her features before her eyes closed and all the fight left her. Behind them, the other monster took advantage of her weakness to free himself and charge Mark. 

But before Mark could shoot him, the female bound the other once again. And unlike last time, the binding this time came in the form of a cocoon without any openings to let oxygen inside that cocoon. That monster would die of suffocation.

"The toxins inside that cocoon will make sure nothing is left of my brother's body. I'm sorry but won't allow anyone to disrespect his body but you can use mine instead. I just ask you to take care of my sister for me. We only had two of these Vials anyway" The female seemed to have made up her mind and Keito respected her for that. Not a lot of people would make that sacrifice for the sake of someone else, even for their family. 

"I understand. I'll make sure Liam and everyone else is aware of your sacrifice" Mark would own it to the other and the female was aware of it too. Her expression was almost peaceful once she went down. 

________________________

Mission update: success

Action taken: eliminate the risk factor (reward) or ignore (chances of being attacked) 2/2

Rewards: deposited in the inventory

________________________

Mark had no intention of checking them right now. He was far from happy but he did what the situation called for. In the end, the female chose to do what was right.

Backup arrived almost instantly which meant that they had been on standby already. Had this been something they had expected to happen? He would not put it past Liam to consider this outcome.

He made his way toward the neglected human female who was still knocked out. It was not good for her to be laying down on the floor like that, especially out here.

Her open eyes almost frightened Mark enough to make his heart stop. They seemed to be staring at the place where the dead body of her sister was being mutilated and being transported away from. Her outstretched hand clearly indicated that she wanted to stop those people.

"Your sister did her best for you and for humanity. Please honour her sacrifice and live a happy life in the future" Mark was not sure if his words were reaching her in such a state or not but he sincerely hoped that she would be able to overcome it all.

Liam had pinned him back a while ago to inform him that he had a place for her to already prepare and he would listen to her one wish in favour of her sister's sacrifice. 

Medics came near him to pick the female up, their gaze not meeting his own which he did not mind. After all, this was not about him but about her. This was about something bigger than it all.

He did want to accompany her inside with the medics but he had other things to do for now.

Out of the five list Vials, only two had been accounted for now. Three were still out there and Mark was sure that those would not be as easy to obtain the location of as these two were. 

And once again, he made his way back inside the lower living quarters to check for those vials and he hoped others had not been this foolish in their endeavour.