Mutagen

Day 36 - 2:39 AM – Fami-Real-Infanta Road, Barangay Gumian, Infanta, Quezon

The military convoy Mark was driving with had already left the highway end turned southward in this smaller main road. As the end of the Markinia-Infanta Highway was in Infanta itself, it was a huge detour just to turn several kilometers south after driving northward on the highway. Still, it could not be helped as the military settlement was in the Port of Real which was more than five kilometers away south from the exit of the highway.

As Mark drove his motorcycle, he had a lot in his mind.

Not knowing, he had not only two but three reasons to go to the crime district in General Nakar, Quezon. When Jones informed Mark about the [BloodChildren] washed away downstream to that settlement, it also gave Mark the chance to ask about the hideout of the outlaws and finish his business with them.

Unexpectedly, there was no hideout nearby but just some temporary outpost. The main headquarters of the outlaws was the Death Valley Settlement itself. These outlaws were not just outlaws but also slave traders and their victims were the ones being sold there as slaves. According to Jones, these outlaws had been operating on the highway since more than a week after the outbreak. Their operation had cut off the arrival of survivors that were going to the military settlement in Port of Real and the private settlement in the Eastern Infanta Coast and that was the reason why Jones was sent to investigate undercover.

Since there were also spies within the Military Settlement, the higher ups were secretly planning an attack to stop the outlaws and were going to move in several days but they did not expect that the Major's daughter would get caught in the new scheme of the beasts. This forced them to move today but still, Mark had beaten them to the punch.

As for the treatment of the [BloodChildren] there, it was the worst. Since they did not have Mark's method of taming them, the [BloodChildren] they caught were all aggressive and were put into cages, aquariums and fishbowls and were kept as ornamental pets. Unlike cats and dogs or even evolved animals, these strange creatures had higher value but lesser cost to keep as pets not to mention that unlike dogs, the [BloodChildren] did not make noises like barks that could attract enemies and the infected.

Retrieving the [BloodChildren] from their poor environment became another important thing for him to do. Of course, it was not only in Death Valley but there were also [BloodChildren] being kept in the other two settlements. In the Infanta Settlement, it seemed they were also being treated as pets but the treatment was better while in the military settlement, the [BloodChildren] were being kept as specimen for study.

Either way, he planned to retrieve them all. Under the hands of everyone else, these were just unknown creatures with no purpose but for him, they were his close kin that could help him in many ways.

"Yawn~!"

Someone's yawn disturbed his line of thinking. It was not coming from Amihan who was sitting behind the windscreen of the motorcycle but the woman who was riding on his back, Karlene.

When he received the signal Ivy let out, it seemed that it caused quite a disturbance when he suddenly stopped and jumped down the slope of the highway. To prevent him from doing so once more or at least, inform the other vehicles of the reason, Jones and Karlene volunteered to ride on his motorcycle.

He was quite displeased with the arrangement but as it was to prevent miscommunication since it looked like he suddenly tried to leave before. Due to that, he could only acquiescence and chose Karlene over Jones. Rather, he would never try to ride in one vehicle with Jones since he found him really annoying.

Of course, Mark choosing Karlene caused some silent protest from Joash but it could not be helped. Mark would not trust some unknown person to ride behind him. Besides, aside from behaving like a spoiled brat, Mark approved of Karlene's personality. Still, Mark was having a hard time gauging whether Karlene was a powerful person or not. After all, she managed to find him on the roof before without effort and she was also the first person to notice him in the highway. Not to mention that she even managed to outrun other soldiers and even Jones when they chased after he jumped down the highway.

Well, what was good was that Karlene did not talk too much from behind him. It seemed that she knew how to read people and saw that Mark was not really fond of talking. That was why, aside from a few mild questions, she was silent almost the entire time.

Still, it was kind of problematic. Karlene was holding too close on his back. The motorcycle was already built for a single rider anyway and that was why the seat was short in the first place. Since she was riding behind him, Mark had to put his backpack in front to be able to accommodate to riders comfortably. Mark felt it rather uncomfortable though. There was two soft mounds pushing on his back from time to time and the glare he was receiving from Joash on the other vehicle was intensifying overtime.

The woman in question however seemed to find the way Mark was feeling uncomfortable rather amusing and she was sometimes pushing her front on her own just to see how Mark would react. She was almost caught and played with several hours ago but she was doing something inviting right now. Mark could not help but think of how women were more of strange creatures than the [BloodChildren]. It was still uncomfortable though.

"Can you stop that?"

"Why? Other men should be smiling from ear to ear but you're not."

Karlene said in all innocent curiousness.

"Then, you should have made those dirty guys this afternoon smile. Maybe, it's a mistake to help you back then."

Mark said in a tone that as if he was regretting saving her group.

"NO! I'm not that kind of woman!"

"Then, what are you doing now?"

"It can't be helped! The seat is too short!"

Mark sighed. Of course she was lying. He could tell as she was basically touching him since she was holding on his waist. In the end, he decided to just ignore her.

Leaving the other thoughts behind, Mark could not help but admire the countryside scenery here. Even though it was still dark, the outline of the farm fields at the road side and the old styled houses were giving an atmosphere far more different from the cityscape. It was a pity that there were no crickets and fireflies anymore to bolster the ambience. It would have been great if those insects were present in their normal sizes.

If the fireflies and crickets were present this time however, it would surely be a disaster since most insects had grown unreasonably larger now.

The way to the Military settlement was not without peril. Since the road was just on the eastern foot of the mountain ranges, evolved animals lingered on the road looking for prey which was the infected. Unfortunately for these animals, these parts of Quezon were almost cleared of infected since the total population in the area was small in the first place.

Due to the lack of infected in the main roads, some of the animals switched to attacking the survivors that passed through this area while some animals moved to more populated areas.

Unfortunately, one of the most populated areas here in Quezon was actually, the Port of Real. Due to that, the military settlement that was still struggling to reduce the number of infected near the settlement was also receiving attacks from evolved animals day and night. Although it gave the settlement a secure source of food, it was also dangerous. When they were unlucky, losing a dozen of people was not surprising in a large scale attack.

During the time Mark was following along the military convoy, they received several attacks from enlarged dogs and bats. The animals were dealt quickly and the carcasses were brought back by the soldiers to increase the settlement's food supply.

Almost an hour and a half passed after they exited the highway, the Port of Real could be seen off the coast.

The majority of the town was built in a small peninsula branching off the east coast of the Barangay Ungos, Real, Quezon. Only less than a fourth of the peninsula was connected to the mainland which was the south western part. As for the rest of the border of the peninsula, it was surrounded by water. The military built tall walls on the south western part which separated the entire peninsula from the threats coming from the mainland. The entirety of the peninsula now belonged to the military which was just a kilometer in length and was just two hundred meters in the widest part.

The military convoy passed through the only bridge on the western side of the peninsula. Since the bridge was also broken off from the mainland, the convoy waited for the movable metal bridge to lower down before the whole convoy was able to enter the settlement.

Upon entering, everyone was subjected to inspection and were checked if they were not infected or bringing an infected inside the settlement. The only exception was the vehicle that was carrying Tyson and Alana who were both unconscious and was driven away immediately. Even though the weapons were not confiscated, every weapon was still checked by the personnel on site. The soldiers were not subjected to this but since Mark was not, he had to bring his weapons and backpack in the checking area.

It should have been just a checking of weapons and checking of his belongings which Mark was not against but when he took out the contents of his bag, it suddenly turned into a circus as the gallery around the checking area, whether soldiers or not, were watching him.

The reason was of course, the fairy on his shoulder, the three [BloodChildren] and the whole set of [DarknessShade]. Even the crossbow on his arm and the katana on his waist became a debate to the onlookers.

Mark found it both annoying and amazing when he dumped the [DarknessShade] set in front of the soldier checking the weapons. The soldier looked at the shield hiding the other weapons inside and turned back to Mark in confusion as if asking what in the world was Mark making him check.

The personnel for checking the non-weapons was a young female cadet and she shrieked out loud when she opened the container that had the three [BloodChildren]. Since the container was opened, Oracle and Crimson who had no idea what was going on outside sprang out of the container scaring the hell out of the poor female cadet. Luckily, she did not push away the container and the [BloodChildren] or it would not have ended peacefully.

Amihan on the other hand was clinging too hard on Mark's neck. Since she was an unusual but beautiful creature, the stares on her were too much.

Mark sighed. It was one of the things he hated and expected in a settlement owned by the military. The place was busy and noisy. Even though it was still late in the evening and morning was still hours to go, the place was brimming with people.

"Is everything fine?"

Major Alfonso approached Mark with his daughter who seemed to be scolded since she was somehow behaving better right now.

To his question however, Mark sighed…

"You think we're fine?"

The major looked around and shook his head since there were a lot of onlookers in the vicinity.

"Everything you are carrying is very unusual so it's expected to gather this much attention."

Mark did not reply but the displeasure was apparent on his face. Due to that, the Major could only tell his men to drive away the onlookers and forced the personnel on the desk to do their job faster so that the convoy could move on. Finally, the entry was finished and it was a true entry.

For the first time after the apocalypse commenced, Mark finally stepped into an Official Survivor Settlement. Not just a temporary one like the elementary school in Bacoor, Cavite but a real settlement designated by the government.