Mutagen

<strong>Day 59 - 8:10 AM - Medicine Faculty, University of Perpetual Help System DALTA - Las Piñas Campus, Alabang-Zapote Road, Barangay Pamplona Tres, Las Piñas, Metro Manila</strong>

A new day. Another weekday which meant that any school should be bustling with activities. Even though it was already the apocalypse, it was one of the few things that did not change. The difference, however, it was the infected replaced the humans instead.

While preparing, Mark looked out of the window from the second floor. The university was in a situation worse than before. There was already a whole lot of infected here inside the university, but the battle between the enemy group and the process of capturing Gifre last night called over, probably, all the infected in the area.

Many mutated infected with the ability to jump leaped over the walls into the campus. Meanwhile, those with enough strength destroyed parts of the walls of the university to get in. Those that destroyed the walls around caused even more infected to swarm the place.

It was not that surprising considering the commotion that happened yesterday.

"So much for containing the infected inside the school field."

Mark sighed.

While Aephlia stayed inside the vehicle in the parking area yesterday, she was not idling away. Mark tasked her to manage the infected in the school field and make sure that they would not go out of control.

It was not that hard to do so for Aephlia. All she needed to do was to find the [Leader Type] infected in the horde and control it. The one that she needed to find was a mutated infected at the precise center of the horde. That was how the infected behaved during times they were idle.

Unexpectedly, what she found was a little boy that latched onto the head of another bigger infected. No wonder the infected here were kept in captivity, their leader was not that active. It was in the dormant state all this time which caused the other infected to idle around unless something nearby distracted them.

Even if Aephelia controlled the [Leader Type] the commands she could make to the infected that were not under her control were limited. She could not prevent them from attacking people and the like. However, there was one command that the [Leader Types] could transmit to the other infected with the same effect.

The infected under the command of the [Leader Type] rarely acted towards the personal prey of their leader. With Aephelia marking the area as the [Leader Type]'s hunting ground, the activity of the other infected was limited.

Now, however, the invasion of the other infected broke this rule. Each large horde had its leaders. To contain this large number of infected, Aephelia needed to control the leaders of each horde.

Unfortunately, she would not be able to do that. The number of infected she could control was limited. Furthermore, what determined how many infected she could control was not the quantity but the quality of the infected.

Currently, she could control thirty normal infected. Each of those infected could be regarded as slots. A normal mutated infected would take two slots, a level two mutation could take three to five slots and a [Leader Type] would usually take four to six. The alpha from before took only six but Gifre right now, he was taking the whole nine slots for his own.

Because of that, Aephelia had to let go of some of the infected she was controlling leaving only the [Leader Type] child and its mutated ride, Logan and Gifre.

Aephelia had herself full with just the four of them.

"You okay Aephelia?"

Mark asked the little sylph that was not able to get proper sleep last night. Her face was red and she was fidgety all this while.

"M-master, I'm fine... I guess..."

"Here, relax a bit and take those filthy things in your mind."

Mark smiled bitterly as he let her land on his palm and caressed her head.

"Gege, why is she like that?"

Mei asked curiously. Not only her but everyone here was quite curious.

"Don't mind her. Just some of her innocence was taken away last night."

Mark answered jokingly as his eyes fell on the captured Vem that was now wearing a uniform of this school. As there was no way to contain her for now, Mark left her unconscious using various methods. If he let her wake up he would not be affected but Edzels chastity would surely be in the line.

"Everyone ready?"

Mark asked in which everyone nodded.

Everyone rushed out of the faculty. Mark's group entered the vehicle while Analynn and Terrence made their way back to their group.

Nevertheless, the sight of the gigantic monster beside the vehicle made the two not help it to look back. The two did not know where it came from or how they managed to tame it but knowing how strong this group was, the two would do everything to convince everyone to grab their ticket out of this forsaken place.

***

"We're going to come back for them, right?"

Karlene asked while watching her friend running away on the roof of the walkway.

"I don't mind." Mark replied. "If they join our group, especially your friend, that Edward and also the old man, it will be better."

"I can understand why you want the old instructor but you seem fixated on that Edward. Why is that?"

"Nothing much, really. It's just I find it interesting that he kept a deranged woman near him even though most people will surely find her a liability."

"I don't know about the woman you are talking about but Lynn isn't like that."

"I know, but how about the other people around?"

"..."

In the end, Karlene fell silent. She knew her friend but not the other people around her.

"Alright, enough talk about this. Odel, let's go."

Mark shook his head. Karlene was still childish.

And for the most childish thing around...

"Miracle, Iola. You two should change the game. Gale will always win rock, paper, scissors against you two."

Both Iola and Miracle were surprised. No wonder Abbygale won every time. On the other hand, Abbygale was both guilty and dejected.

"What are going to do with these three."

Mark sighed while hearing the giggles of Karlene. Mei, on the other hand, watched warmly on that scene.

Rather than a group that would storm an infected filled hospital, the atmosphere inside the vehicle was more of a family going on an outing.

***

The vehicle drove at the small road beside the Medicine Faculty. This short road headed to the back entrance of the university where they would let in delivery trucks for their school canteen. Although the gates were closed, it was not locked which made it easier for them to go out.

They exited the school with Gifre and Logan in the lead. Because of the two's strong bodies, it would be easier for them to clear the way for the vehicle. On the other hand, they left the [Leader Type] child and his ride back in the school field. Making the two leave with them would surely end up in a catastrophe after the infected horde in the school field lost their leader.

Driving in the streets beside the school, things got slow. There were too many infected. If not for Gifre and Logan, it would be hard not to get stuck in the middle of all these infected.

Their target was the Perpetual Help Medical Center that was only accessible by the main road, the Alabang-Zapote Road. Unfortunately, there was no way for a vehicle to get there without going out of the university campus. It was already fortunate that from the exit they took and going to the main road was only a stretch of one straight street.

Sure enough, the moment they reached the main road, they were greeted by abandoned heavy traffic.

BAM! BAM!

Loud sounds were heard as Gifre and Logan pushed the abandoned vehicles aside. As infected, their control over their bodies was not that precise. Making them work silently was not plausible.

It did not take too long and they reached the compound of the Medical Center.

The compound occupied the area of eight-thousand one-hundred sixty square meters. It was a compound filled with several buildings of various sizes which included several hospital buildings and even commercial areas.

Mark's group drove into the main alley where ambulances were parked and the emergency room could be easily accessed. It was brimming with infected.

As the vehicle stopped in front of the main doors of the Medical Center, the door slid open with several people coming out. There was Mark, Abbygale, Miracle and unexpectedly, Karlene.

Weilding Flam, Mark charged forwards with a sword enveloped in flames.

FWOOM!

Mark swung the sword leaving a trail of flames in its trajectory. He was aiming for the mutated infected that seemed to be more dangerous than the others. This was a hospital, stranger kinds of infected would surely exist in this place.

On the other hand, Abbygale and Miracle started their rampage in other areas.

The little cat girl transformed and rushed mid-air as if she was running in the air. Every time she landed, a head would either crack or bend in an unsightly direction.

Miracle to the side morphed as tentacles grew out of her body to strangle and pierce the infected around her through their eyes or mouth. Every time blood of the infected would splatter on her tentacles, however, she had an unsightly face as if she had eaten rotten food.

Lastly, Karlene, no, its Karla. Karla had not been out all this time and was itching to sharpen her claws. The number of infected just outside the hospital made her unable to hold back.

Inside the vehicle, Mei, Iola and the others were not idling.

At the sniper dome, Mei took care of the [Agility Types] and [Predator Types] lurking around the place preventing accidents and sneak attacks especially on the two little girls outside.

Spera and Edzel took care of the normal infected trying to swarm the vehicle.

Iola kept her barrier up in case things would go awry.

Infected flew up and rained down as Amihan used her powers to control the wind.

At the entrance of the alley, Aephelia commanded Gifre and Logan to block off the alley preventing more infected to swarm in.

This battle took quite a while. It was because the infected from inside the hospital buildings also came shambling out either through the entrances or even from the windows of the upper floors.

Although many of them fell to their deaths, there were still quite a lot that survived with only broken bones. Even if they were not able to walk or run anymore after the fall, they would still crawl forward as fast as they could.

Mark found it annoying as there seemed to be no end to them. If he could just use his miasma in a large scale, he would love to.

However, it would surely be a risky move. Mutagen was too sensitive and could also develop into new strains due to paranormal energies.

Aimee's case was a good example of this.

Although it was fun for him to create something and, possibly, tame it, it was only when things were being observed by him. He did not want to create something unknowingly and end up creating a catastrophe.

Like how it happened in Eriellis.

A trial that had gone wrong started that world's end as far as Freed knew.

Creating a storm of miasma in a highly infested area was not ideal in any way. Well, unless something like Gar'Vlam appeared. If that was the case, he would have no other options left.

With a more than straight of forty minutes of fighting, the number of infected coming lowered.

Mark did not know whether they already killed all the infected in the compound or not but sure enough, there were too many.

Just the alley right now was probably littered by more than a thousand bodies of infected causing the stench of blood to permeate the area.

It was not an ideal place to work because of this mess.

And thus...

Logan's first personal assignment happened.