Mutagen

Day 38 – 8:11 AM - Moutain Base, Mount Malabito, General Nakar, Quezon

Mark panned his eyes at the people in front of him.

Killing people, he was not new to it. At the very start of the apocalypse, the government collapsed and the laws of the country lost its importance. Lives of people became cheap due to various reasons and a person killing another was not new.

He did not mind if these people killed others. What he minded was for what reason they killed.

When Mark asked that question, he immediately knew who among them had their hands stained with blood. It was also not hard to distinguish who were those that killed for their desires and those who killed for self-defense. He was an Empath after all. He did not need overly troublesome measures like psychological tests or lie detector tests.

Unexpectedly, one of the fluctuations indicating that he killed someone came from one of the children, the boy from the two siblings.

'Interesting…'

Looking at the boy, it seemed that he was just nine or ten and his sister seemed to be just seven. The sister was currently hiding behind the brother while the brother was looking at Mark without any shred of fear. Rather, his fear was all suppressed by his resolve to protect his sibling.

Even though he was just a child, his resolve already gained him and his sister the entry to his base.

"You two, come here."

Mark called the two.

The couple that was taking care of the two children seemed to panic since they could not fathom what Mark called the two children for.

After being called, the sister seemed to hesitate but the brother gently pulled her and walked towards Mark.

"Your names?"

"Marcus."

"C-Chesa."

Mark asked their names and the two answered with contradicting expressions. He then looked at Marcus and asked.

"Who did you kill before?"

Both children were surprised. Chesa could not help but tighten her grip on her brother's clothes. Marcus however inhaled and calmed himself.

"Our father."

This answered surprised everyone. Who would have thought that his young child had killed someone before? It seemed that even the people in the group knew nothing about this.

"Why?"

"To protect Chesa and mother."

"And your mother?"

"We don't need her."

Marcus showed hate in his eyes. Chesa then hesitatingly interjected with a very small voice.

"Mother abandoned us."

It was a story even before the outbreak for sure.

"What if something happens to your sister?"

Mark asked with a stern voice.

Hearing that, Marcus' countenance changed and his eyes became fierce. As if he was tearing the person he was looking at from the inside. It was the eye of a predator.

Then, the two children felt a hand on their heads. Both of them were surprised that Mark was patting them.

"Huey."

"Boss."

"Take these two inside first."

"No." Marcus interjected. "Aunt Martha and Uncle Joaquin are still here. We can't just leave them."

"Alright. Let's just make the others enter in one go."

Hearing that, everyone from the group outside sighed in relief. However, Mark suddenly spoke.

"Don't be relieved yet. Not all of you are going to enter."

"Why?!"

A man spoke but Mark ignored him. Mark then pointed at the three families, the four women and the three weak hearted men.

"All of you I called. Wait in front of the gate."

They all did not say anything and just walked. The girls however were looking at eight men that were left behind with eyes filled with grudge.

"What is the meaning of this?! Why are we left out?!"

It was the bald man that asked. He was furious but the confusion in his face was apparent. His men was scattered among their group but all of them were separated from the others by Mark.

"Well, I don't need criminals in my base after all."

"What do you mean? If you are mentioning criminals, then what is that boy?"

One of the men yelled and pointed at Marcus.

"And all of you! After we protected all of you all this time, we will be left out here?"

The man also yelled at the others. However, the same woman that tried to speak earlier when Mark asked the bald man the first time yelled back.

"Protected? You say that you protected us?! What kind of joke is that?"

Tears started to flow in her eyes.

"You animals treated us as cannon fodder! You all used us like toys! Phillip… You bastards killed Phillip…"

Mark looked at the girl.

"What's your name?"

"A-Althea."

"What do you want to do with these animals?"

"Ki-kill them! I will do anything! Please kill them!"

"Anything? That's something you shouldn't say to a man you know."

"I don't mind! Please, I want to see them dead!"

Althea then kneeled in front of Mark. The others tried to stop her while their eyes were also at the verge of tears due to sympathy but she did not relent. She looked at Mark with hope of fulfilling her revenge.

The others seeing this sighed with remorse. They were all present when those events happened. Those men were a bunch of animals that would not even spare the children. In order to protect the young girls from their lasciviousness, the older girls presented themselves. Even the wives were the same and their husbands were not able to do anything.

As for Phillip, he was Althea's fiancé before the outbreak. He resisted when the beasts tried to take away Althea. Due to that, he was beaten to death. It all happened in front of Althea who was tied up that time.

Mark smiled and looked at the eight men.

"Shit! Run!"

The bald man yelled and the eight men turned around and tried to run away. However, when they turned around, they saw a black mist passed between them and exploded at the direction they were about to run to. The mist then materialized and their eyes became wide in horror. The one blocking their way was Mark. Some of them turned their head back and saw that Mark actually vanished from his initial spot and they were not just seeing illusions.

"There's actually no need to say so but…" Mark smiled sinisterly. "I apologize but you already saw my base. I can't leave any of you alive even if she did not request for it."

Mark then released the spear, [Blader] then, the layered blade of the spear elongated and curved before it rotated to one side. The spear turned into a reddish black scythe, the symbol of a grim reaper.

BANG!

The bald man drew his pistol and fired. However…

PANG!

Mark blocked the bullet with the blade of the scythe in his hands.

Like a ghost, Mark appeared and disappeared and instantly beheaded two of the men that were close to him.

The bald man knew that they were cornered. Even if they were able to fight Mark, there was still the dragon that they saw yesterday. Since it was a fight to death, he decided to bring other people with him. His eyes landed on Miracle who was left beside Huey.

He then pulled back his arm and punched as hard as he could. Normally, he would only hit air but he was a Mutator. His arm stretched forward and even reached a dozen meters. The punch he released instantly arrived in front of Miracle.

He smirked but it did not last long. He felt his body got pulled forwards and flew towards the little girl. In an instant, he saw a small hand in front of his face. He did not remember anything else. A hole was bored into his head and Miracle's had got stuck in his skull. With a wriggle, the little hand was deformed and was retracted freely.

Every one near Miracle, except Huey and Althea, stepped back when they saw the dead body of the bald man.

At Mark's part, the battle already ended. More than fifty outlaws with ten Mutators could not even hold a candle against Mark. A group of eight beasts in human flesh and two Mutators would only need a few seconds to deal with.

Mark's and Miracle's display of prowess was very surprising to these new people. Different expressions were apparent on their faces but one thing reigned in their minds. With a powerful person like them in this base, this place was safer that any other.

"Baby, are you okay?"

Mark said to Miracle and patted her head.

"Un!" Miracle nodded with a smile but frowned as she tried to remove the blood on her hand. "Father… Blood taste bad."

"Give me that."

Mark took out a cloth from his pocket and wiped Miracle's hand. It seemed that the little [BloodChild] was actually disgusted with the bald man's blood.

"Boss, sorry I wasn't able to react."

Huey apologized for his incompetence.

"It's fine. You don't specialize in battles but reconnaissance. Still, you better work on that."

"Yes Boss."

Althea then approached. Her expression seemed refreshed.

"Sir… No, Boss. Thank you."

It was a heartfelt gratitude.

Mark turned to her and everyone behind her.

"I allow you all to join my base but there are rules you should all follow."

Mark stated the rules he had thought beforehand.

First was to contribute within the base. There were a lot of things to be done and more hands were needed, whether it was construction, farming or gathering supplies.

Second was that once a person deserted or betrayed the base and had gone against its interest, the person would be sentenced to death.

Third, no one was to divulge the base and its location outside without proper reason. This was a mountain base, not a refugee camp. And as such, its existence must remain a secret as much as possible.

Fourth, it was fine to leave the base in the future but the second and third rule still applied.

Fifth, within the base, any form of crime would be a move against the base and proper punishment would be practiced.

"As long that as all of you can follow those rules, all of you can freely live in this base and be protected in its walls."

Everyone nodded and exhaled in relief. There were no rules restricting them at all. At last, they escaped from the hands of their oppressors. Some of them never though that this day would come so suddenly.

The city was a mess and the forest was also filled with danger. If this place was really safe, there was no reason for them to not contribute to everyone's wellbeing.

​ "Huey, gather the bodies later. Leave those two in the inner chambers while give two bodies to Chaflar."

Mark pointed at the bodies of the two Mutators. One was the bald man who had stretching arms while the other was a guy

"Yes Boss. I will send for Ed and Ron to gather them."

"Alright, everyone follow us inside."

Mark led the group of people inside the gates. Most of them looked timid as they looked around.

The people were brought at the northwest side of the base where several houses were built. These houses had [Blood Metal] as foundations with wood and clay as walls, a kind of survival house commonly seen in videos in the internet. Although it was just made with those materials, the house was built sturdy and was looking good with an architecture graduate like Huey around.

Althea looked around her. It was a new environment, a new home for them. Furthermore, the people in the base they saw were all in good shape, clean clothing and happy smiles in their face as they greeted them.

It was the place to start anew. Although the past would not be forgotten that easily, at least, they have a future to look forward to now. They endured a lot in the past month. Although the struggle for survival was still not over, they were now in a better start.

Volume 4 END