Mutagen

Day 127 - 6:32 PM - Atlantic City Expressway Station, Hamilton Township, New Jersey, United States of America

By the time that the first flakes of snow fell, Mark already started the one-sided fight against the raiders. Mei, on the other hand, was left with the role of guarding the [Queen Type], [Empress Spider], and the survivors from Bally's Casino.

And for some reason, Arnold and the others were quite troubled by this.

Although they had noticed it before, with Mark leaving them this time, the issue became more apparent.

Mei was not interacting with them at all. At first, they thought that the issue was the men in their group. However, she was also not paying attention to Felicia and Sandie.

The most that she would do was to smile at the three children with them. Aside from that, there was nothing else.

Of course, she was diligent in following what Mark said for her to do and was keeping guard on them and the surroundings.

Still, Felicia and Sandie wished that Mei would at least sit near them.

Before the snow even fell, the temperature of the surroundings was already decreasing. At this time, the cold started to become a little unbearable. Being in a place surrounded by forests added further to the coldness of the night.

Felicia and the others already huddled around the fire, while cooking dinner. Mei, on the other hand, was sitting just behind the door of the police station, not minding the cold. They could not help but worry.

Unfortunately, they did not know that Mark and Mei were Blood Demons.

Blood was one of the main factors of the body to keep the right temperature. And for Blood Demons that had innate abilities related to their blood, regulating their body temperatures was already a reflex.

Mei was not feeling cold, and that was why she was fine sitting there. Nevertheless, she looked like a maiden sadly waiting for the return of her husband that had gone to war.

"Miss... soup."

Sandie bravely came to Mei to give her a bowl of soup they cooked for dinner.

"Thank you."

Mei replied and received what Sandie gave her.

And there, Sandie could only retreat with a sigh as no interaction followed after.

Mei ate the soup while looking at the snow falling outside the broken glass door. Unlike Mark, it was not her first time seeing snow. Coming from a well-known business family, they spent vacations and holidays out of the country.

Unlike before, however. This time was different.

She was not feeling cold anymore.

The night was silent as the snow gently covered the surroundings. Or that was how it was supposed to be.

Now and then, Mei had to come out. It was because their presence in the police station was attracting some of the infected to roam the area. With her guarding the place, the infected could not pose a threat at all.

And since she had nothing to do, after every time she had to go out, she would wipe the blade of her sword clean with a cloth.

Aside from the infected and a few feral evolved animals, there was no other threat that they would expect around here.

That was what they thought.

Just twenty minutes after Mark left, they heard a loud sound.

BUUUZZZZZZZ!!!

It was only coming from a single creature. Nevertheless, the sound was getting louder and louder, closer, and closer.

The group of survivors from Bally's Casino could not help but become alerted. They immediately readied themselves if there was a need to fight.

Mei also prepared. Taking out Oracle from her bag, the clear-colored [Blood Child] turned into her armor.

BAM!

All of them fell silent. Even Mei immediately hid once the loud sound in front of the police station echoed in their ears.

Peeking out from hiding, Mei warily stared at the beast outside.

"A dragonfly..."

Mei murmured.

Outside the police station, a gigantic and strange-looking dragonfly landed.

Nevertheless, unlike most of the evolved animals and insects they had seen today, this one looked threatening, even more than the [Queen Type] infected.

Its sheer size could make anyone feel threatened. Just the dragonfly's head was already as large as a human's torso. Its thorax was as large as a family van. Including its tail, the whole body of the dragonfly was as long as two and a half provincial busses.

Not to mention the span of its wings that was longer than its whole body.

Just the size of the beast was already frightening.

But its appearance could make anyone flee.

The dragonfly's black-colored mandibles looked-like it was steel. Its two forelegs looked like black claws of a mantis. A black, spiky, and sinister-looking armor covered its whole thorax like a robe. The end of its tail looked like a scythe, ready to behead its prey. And unlike a regular dragonfly, its tail was moving sideways like a serpent's body.

As it landed, the snow blew everywhere because of its wings. The cold wind entered the police station. Nevertheless, everyone could only stay silent as much as possible.

Even though it was cold, they did not hesitate to extinguish the fire they had. If it could make things safer, a little cold was nothing.

Mei warily watched the beast outside the police station. It wandered the place, looking around. When it saw nothing else, it walked towards the dead bodies left bleeding on the snow.

Sure enough, it was attracted to the smell of blood from the bodies.

The gigantic dragonfly started to eat the dead bodies. It looked like it would not go away anytime soon.

After all, there was quite a large number of corpses outside. Aside from those that Mei killed, some were the ones they eliminated when they arrived in this place.

Mei watched while trying to hide as much as she could. However, there was some lingering feeling that there was no need to hide at all.

It was as if...

Mei looked up, she froze.

The dragonfly was also looking at her.

...The dragonfly was aware that they were inside the police station.

However, why was it not attacking?

And there, Mei thought of something ridiculous.

Readying her sword, she came out of the police station.

"MISS!!!"

Felicia and the others could not help but panic.

Mei came out.

The dragonfly looked at her for a second. Then, it continued eating. Using its mantic like forelegs to grasp the dead bodies, it bit off the corpses and swallowed piece by piece.

Mei sat down at the steps in front of the parking area. Watching the bloody scene in front of her.

Without a doubt, this insect was intelligent. As long as there was food around it, it would not incite conflict.

Besides, Mei was not prey, but also a predator.

The loud buzz of the dragonfly's wings alerted more infected and feral animals to come to this place. As they had no capability of thinking, they blindly charged towards the two predators.

Mei killed the ones coming after her.

The dragonfly, on the other hand, only needed to wave its long flexible tail to dispatch the attackers.

With the two around, the enemies were eliminated quicker.

But then, the dragonfly could not help but look at Mei. It was because she started dragging the animal corpses. 

Then, she piled the corpses in front of the dragonfly. Afterward, she sat back at the stairs.

Since then, aside from the sound of tearing flesh and blood splattering to the ground, there was silence.

Mei blankly watched the supposedly threatening dragonfly. She did not even realize that snow started to pile on her head.

Her job right now was to watch out for any threat. But with the appearance of the dragonfly, there was barely anything left for her to do.

The dragonfly ate fast and soon finished eating. It then used its large feet to grab unto some of the remaining corpses. With a last glance at Mei, it flew away, sweeping the snow away from the area once more.

As it left, Mei went back inside. And like before, she would go out from time to time to kill the infected outside.

Everyone inside the police station managed to breathe in relief. While the dragonfly was present, they could feel like their hearts were in their throats, especially when Mei went out. If something happened to her, just how were they going to face Mark?

Soon, they heard another loud sound.

VRROOOOOOMMM!!!

This time, it was the sound of a large vehicle.

As the sound stopped in front of the police station, they all came out to check. Well, Mei was already ahead of everyone. As always, she knew if it was Mark without seeing him.

In front of the police station, a Toyota Hi-Ace Minibus was parked. 

Mark came out of the driver's seat. No one around had seen how, but Mei was already embracing Mark, welcoming his return.

"Welcome back."

Mei said, receiving a pat on her head from Mark.

Felicia and the others could not help but notice.

Mei only looked alive if she was with Mark.

"Did something happen while I'm away?"

Mark asked.

Even if he did not want to, he would notice a large amount of snow swept away from the front of the police station. The things around the area were covered with snow in a very odd way. As if the snow was splattered on the faces of the walls instead of falling on top of it.

"Yes. A large dragonfly stopped by to eat."

Mei replied.

Mark wondered about what Mei said. After all, there did not seem to be any damage to the area. At least nothing that could compare to the scale of the snow that was swept away in the surroundings.

"Tell me the details later." Mark smiled. "I brought back someone."

Mei tilted her head in curiosity.

Mark knocked on the passenger door of the vehicle.

Receiving Mark's signal, Hannah alighted from the car.

Mei tilted her head even more.

"Odel? No... It's not Odel."

Mark could not help but snicker at Mei's first impression of Hannah. That was what he also thought when the filth was removed from her face.

Hannah looked a lot like Odelina. The difference was that Hannah looked younger and naive. If Odelina was like bamboo, hard to push down. Hannah was just a patch of grass, easy to trample. 

Mei was really confused. Nevertheless, the stories should be told inside the police station and not outside where it was snowing.

Mark brushed away the remaining snow on Mei's head and beckoned Hannah to follow him inside.

While following, however, Mei could not help but notice something on Hannah.

The way she followed behind Mark was the very same manner as to how Odelina did. It was like she had been trained to do so.

Relighting the fire, they heated the remaining soup they had for Mark. Luckily, there was more leftover, and Hannah was able to have her share without needing to cook more.

While eating, the stories from both sides were shared.

When Mark heard what Mei did from Felicia and Arnold, Mark could not help but look at Mei with a reprimanding look.

"It did not attack."

Mei replied while pouting.

"I... I wonder if that is the beast that the raiders were talking about."

Hannah said, warily joining the conversation.

From what Hannah knew, there was a beast in this area. Anyone that saw it would not be able to leave alive. That was why there was no clear description of what it looked like.

If that was the case, however, the dragonfly might be a different one.

While they were talking, however...

BUZZZZZ!!!

The familiar buzzing sound, accompanied by strong gusts of wind, was heard.

Hannah and the others flinched, while Mark became alert. Mei, on the other hand, was quite curious.

The sound stopped a bit in front of the police station. However, before any of them could go out, the buzzing sound echoed once more and left.

By the time they went out, the only thing they could see was the silhouette of the large dragonfly flying towards the south.

However, they noticed something lying in front of the police station. Everyone was sure that it was not there when they entered.

Mark picked it up. It was a green-colored sphere with two red spots. The thing looked like gelly, but it was as hard as metal.

Nevertheless, there was one thing Mark was sure about.

It was an egg of a dragonfly.