Mutagen

Day 5 – 9:40 PM – 2nd Grade Building, Queens Row Elementary School, Queens Row Area A, Bacoor City, Cavite

Odelina watched in shock of what she had just witnessed. After the apocalypse, not only her but people with superhuman abilities appeared because of the effects the source of the outbreak, Mutagen, caused. When the soldier which her Master called Alderick vanished in front of them, she thought that it was an ability of another Mutator. However, she now knew that she was mistaken. She was also mistaken about that ability her master displayed and used when treating Failed Mutators like her.

The two men in front of her were actually the beings they called Espers.

Even in the olden times, topics, rumors and information about Espers existed. Still, this became mere speculations and nonsense to the eyes of the populace due to various reasons.

Espers were people who had supernatural abilities that revolve around extrasensory perception. Telepathy, Clairvoyance, Psychokinesis and Precognition were said to be the four types of extrasensory perception and were branching further to multitudes of abilities from pyrokinesis to psychometry.

However, Odelina's knowledge about these kinds of things was too little and she did not know what abilities her Master and Alderick had were called. After all, her Master did not mention anything about it to her.

Since their enemy was already caught, Odelina approached though she did not dare remove her armor without her Master's orders. Even though Alderick's legs were injured and he could not stand anymore, who knew if he could do anything else with his ability.

However, it seems that her worries were baseless. She could see that Alderick could do nothing but clutch his head while his eyes and nose continued to bleed.

"Are you willing to answer my questions now?"

Odelina heard her Master speak to Alderick while kicking the soldier's assault rifle and combat knife away. He also removed the pistol on the soldier's waist.

However, as a response to her Master's question, Alderick suddenly showed a regretful look for a short moment before biting something hidden inside his mouth. Blood spurted on his mouth and he lay motionless on the concrete pavement behind this two floor classroom building.

***

Mark frowned while looking at the dead body in front of him. Actually, even though there was a huge chance that what he deduced was true, there was still an allowance of it to be a mistake. Yet, since Alderick decided to kill himself with poison hidden in his mouth, it showed that there was no doubt for his assumptions anymore. He never expected for Alderick to suicide though.

However, there were a few things bugging him.

"Odel, drag this guy into the room where I treated Captain Dela Rosa's son. Wait for the captain to return. I'll get something from the car. I'll be back shortly."

Mark ordered Odelina while contemplating.

"Yes, Master."

Odelina replied and proceeded to pick up the dead body and made her way back to the secluded room.

Mark on the other hand left and hurriedly returned to their vehicle.

The area was not too far from the parking area compared to the building the military used as barracks. Due to this, it did not take long for him to arrive.

The scene around the parking lot, the school square, the vacant area around the principal's office and the open covered court of the school were different from the time they arrived this morning. A large number of vehicles filled the place from public utility vehicles like passenger vans, jeepneys and multi-purpose cabs to larger vehicles like freezer vans, military trucks and even dump trucks.

There also a lot of soldiers pacing back and forth while quite a number of people who seemed to be dressed with working clothes were working on modifying some of the vehicles.

Sounds caused by gas powered electric generators and power tools overwhelmed the sounds of gunshots echoing at the borders of the settlement.

Mark noticed that the soldiers and workers working on the vehicles had unfamiliar fluctuations. When he walked around the settlement this morning, one of the things he did was to familiarize himself with fluctuations of the people inside the settlement. It finally dawned to him why it seemed that it was planned for the 11th squad to join up with them. Likely, this squad was tasked of searching to surviving workers, might be construction and iron works workers from the industrial areas nearby.

This way, not only that the soldiers could make up with their lack of man power, they would also be able to modify vehicles that would be used to transport the refugees.

Ignoring the busy scene, Mark made his way to their vehicle. The soldier on shift to guard the vehicles under the order of Captain Dela Rosa saluted to him. Mark did not spend too long inside the MB Sprinter and left going back to the area where Odelina was waiting.

Something has been bugging him when he felt the energy he felt from Alderick when he activated his ability. From what Mark knew, Alderick's ability should be Photokinesis. It was the ability to control light around the user according to his will. By controlling bending the light away from his body, Alderick was able to erase his body from the recognition of the sense of sight of his enemies. To the energy Alderick used to control the light around him, Mark could not help but feel a certain familiarity.

When Mark entered the dimly lit room once more, Captain Dela Rosa was already there waiting. When Mark noticed Alderick spying on them, Mark told Captain Dela Rosa to return here immediately after escorting his son away before he feigned his leave. Surprisingly, it seemed that the squad captain was not bothered about the death of Alderick who supposed to be one of his men.

"You already heard of what happened?"

Mark asked the squad captain after he closed the door.

"I did. To think that I'm also right."

Captain Dela Rosa replied.

"You already suspected it?"

Mark asked once more and the captain nodded.

"Alderick is not really part of my squad but supposed to be stationed in Bay City as one of the guard troops. Furthermore, he was part of another military faction that goes against General Perez. Another thing is that Alderick seemed to have connections with the upper brass which was said to have contributed to his sudden rise in military rank. Strange enough, he was relocated to our squad in the last minute after we received our mission order to search and escort Professor Chervil Sandoval safely to Bay City."

"So, it's likely that he works for one of the officials in the senate or even higher right?"

"Yes, unfortunately, no one knew who he worked for. To think that he even went to court Irene when he's actually working against us. It's likely that he used it as excuse that to obtain information."

Captain Dela Rosa said with displeasure.

"You're wrong with that."

Mark interjected which called the attention of the other two inside the room.

"What do you mean?"

"This guy had really fallen for Irene so he's filled with regret that he had to kill himself in order to not let the cat out the bag. Still, I'm caught off guard. I didn't think that he actually had poison in his mouth like how I read about spies in novels."

"Is that so? Nevertheless, I'm not fond of him pestering Irene. She's like a daughter to me and it's obvious that she had feelings for my son. It's just Keene is as dense as a rock."

Captain Dela Rosa mocked.

"About spies carrying poison, it's a common practice even in the modern days. It is one of the reasons why dealing with these kinds of people is the most troublesome thing for us soldiers to do."

"But why would they want a spy to go infiltrate your squad?"

Odelina asked from the side making the two men look at her.

"There could be a lot of reasons but this time, it is surely because of Chervil."

Mark said making the captain nod in agreement.

"Right now, the government officials lost most of their power due to Martial Law and their current positions being unstable. That is why the people of the upper brass are looking ways to maintain or gain more authority even starting to back up militant groups.

Right now, not only the people, the infected and the animals are changing. Even plants are affected by the Mutagen. Since that is the case, a botanist like Professor Chervil is very crucial for future agriculture and other fields that make use of plants. If they can rope in the Professor under their wing, they will get the monopoly in such field and fortifying their position in Bay City. Not to mention that there are several plants that already showed signs of mutation these past days.

Unfortunately, Bay City lack experts in such field since they prioritized Epidemiologists, Microbiologists and scientists in similar fields in hopes of looking for a cure and this is the reason why the study about the mutating plants was too slow. It is also likely to be the reason why the one behind Alderick sent him."

What Captain Dela Rosa said gave crucial information about the current state of affairs in Bay City. It was really good that he managed to gain the favor of General Perez and gained the allegiance of Captain Dela Rosa. Right now, the most powerful faction not only in the Bay City but in other government established settlements was the military. Since they had the backing of the military, it was less likely for them to get disturbed by the other factions.

"What are you going to do with this guy?"

Mark asked pointing at the dead body in front of them.

"Don't worry about him. I'll send some of my men to throw his body out later. If my subordinates were to learn that this guy is a spy, they will be glad to do it. We can leave anytime."

Captain Dela Rosa replied with his voice filled with contempt for Alderick.

"In that case you can leave first. I want to check out something with the body. Send for your men to clean up later. Also clean up the blood behind the 2nd grade building in case that someone would be able to see it tomorrow."

Mark said while signaling Captain Dela Rosa to leave already with his hand.

"Alright then. Before I forget, here."

Captain Dela Rosa seemed to want to ask what Mark wanted to do but decided not to. Instead, he handed Mark a small metal case about the size of a playing card and as thick as a pocket book.

"While gathering gasoline and vehicles, my subordinates killed hundreds of Mutated Infected but they only found those. Alright I'm leaving. I'm sure the Keene and Irene are waiting for me."

Captain Dela Rosa left not waiting for Mark to open the case. When Mark opened it, he saw seven nail sized pebbles exuding strange energy which made his eyes light up. If the ratio was fixed and two of these pebbles could create a single pale purple crystal, then he could create three for these with a single pebble as extra. However, it was not the right time to think about these pebbles.

The confused Odelina watched by the side why her master wanted to stay but never voiced any question.

Mark on the other hand stored the metal case in the pocket of his jacket before taking out a folded handkerchief. Opening the handkerchief, inside was a marble sized deep purple colored crystal that was now exuding a faint light across its surface.