Mutagen

Day 127 - 6:12 PM - Hamilton Commons Shopping Mall, Hamilton Commons, Mays Landing, Hamilton Township, New Jersey, United States of America

At the westside area of the shopping mall, the laughter of Sir Kesser alongside the cries of a woman echoed loudly. While the laughter was filled with lust and malicious intent, the weeping yells were filled with pain, begging, and despair.

Anyone with the right mind would not be able to bear hearing this kind of cries. Brave ones would not be able to disregard it and try to help while the cowardly would immediately leave despite their conscience.

Unfortunately, there was no one like that in this place. Everyone here was inherently malicious. Although there were also women among the raiders, they did not feel any sympathy towards their victims, even if it was the same gender.

In fact, some of them even enjoyed watching their victims as they suffer.

They were definitely twisted people.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

A knock was heard, stopping the laughter.

"Who is it?"

Sir Kesser asked with an annoyed voice.

"Sir, it's me."

The person outside the room spoke. Knowing whose voice it was, the annoyance was washed away.

"Come in."

The door opened, and a man with a seemingly thin presence came in. If not for the fact that he called out, he might even be able to enter the room without getting noticed. Furthermore, his steps did not make any sound as if it was natural.

This person was called Hyena in the Hamilton Raiders. He was the second of the best scouts in this group. As he entered, the first thing he saw was a fat pig sitting naked on his bed with a teenaged girl, crying while trying to shrink her bruised body as far as she could from the fat pig.

Hyena did not care much about this scene as he was already used to it, being this fat pig's right-hand man. And by the looks of it, this girl would not last and die in a few days at most.

'Seriously, this fat pig better take care of his toys. It's not easy to find one nowadays.'

That was what Hyena thought of before turning his head towards Sir Kesser, who was waiting for his report.

"The people from earlier had settled down for the night," Hyena reported. "They are currently at that police station in the middle of the expressway."

"That police station?"

"Yes, that police station."

Hearing that, Sir Kesser frowned a bit.

"That beast roams around that area, so we haven't really touched that place."

The fat man murmured.

Atlantic City Expressway Station was already out of their territory. There was really no need for a boundary for their activities as there would be no one to complain or go against them in this place. At that commercial compound, however, they decided not to step there unless necessary.

Because there was a very strong beast living in that area. It was not strong enough to kill Sir Kesser or the other mutators alone. However, it was intelligent enough to pick on its targets and prepare ambushes. Confronting that beast might lead to unnecessary casualties. That was why this group of raiders did not dare to fight it.

"Although I left wolf there as a lookout, I think, it is better to just ignore them, Sir."

However, for the lusty Sir Kesser, women were more important than danger.

"No, tell our men to prepare. We'll move out immediately. We just need to avoid confrontation with that beast."

Hyena did not show any expression. However...

'This fat bastard is only thinking of himself. If not for the benefits you are giving me, I won't even stand here.'

"Okay, Sir. I'll tell everyone to prepare."

Hyena said.

"Wait, send someone to take this girl back to her cell. Tell that no one can touch her. I'm not done with her yet."

Sir Kesser said with a grave tone. It seemed like there was a precedent incident before this.

***

At the central area of the mall, Lady Amelie was eating dinner together with the other closer members of the group. That was when someone came in and whispered a report to her.

Receiving the report, Lady Amelie could not help but frown.

"Is it Kesser again?"

Hawker, who was sipping the stock from his bowl of boiled meat soup, asked.

Hearing that, Lady Amelie nodded.

"What is that fat pig up to now?"

"Kesser is targeting that group we saw this afternoon."

After saying that, Lady Amelie turned to Gregor, who was slowly eating beside her.

"What do you think, Gregor?"

That question made Gregor slowly turn his head towards Lady Amelie. Then, he slowly shook his head.

"Will... Die..."

Everyone around saw surprised by the bold declaration. Sir Kesser, after all, had the strongest physique and defense among everyone here. He might even be able to stop tank cannons with his body. However, those here knew that Gregor was never wrong in this kind of assessment.

Then, just how strong were those people if the assessment was like this?

VROOM!

While discussing, they heard the rough sound of vehicle engines.

"Looks like they're going out already."

One of the men said. It was clear that the sounds were coming from the vehicles used by Sir Kesser's faction.

However, after about a minute or two, they felt strange.

It was because the sound of the vehicles never left the front parking of the mall.

They could not help but feel strange. Lady Amelie and the others wanted to go to the rooftop of the mall to see what was happening while keeping a safe distance if there was danger.

However, as Lady Amelie was about to stand and pulled Gregor's chains, she froze. With Gregor still staying put, there was no way for her to pull him with her.

"Gregor, what is wrong?"

Lady Amelie asked. The others also thought that Gregor was behaving strangely. Although he was already an odd person from the start, he would always follow behind her. This was the first time that Gregor did not want to follow.

And to Lady Amelie's question, Gregor looked straight at her for the first time in a very long time.

"Dangerous."

Gregor told everyone in a very deep, unsettlingly serene tone.

Then, they suddenly heard a plethora of gunshots echoing in their territory.

***

A few minutes back, Sir Kesser and his men were all ready to go. Equipped with guns, more than what they thought as necessary, they jumped unto their vehicles.

There were motorbikes, awfully modified with unsightly decorations. The other vehicles were rather common but each of them was modified to their unsightly tastes. One even had human skulls hanging at the roof of the vehicle.

The most eye-catching, however, was the military jeep at the center of the group.

Sir Kesser jumped into the back of a military jeep. It was something they plundered before. The vehicle creaked just by the sheer weight of his body but in the least, this car was built to withstand heavy load.

They started their vehicles to warm up the engines. The temperature was getting cold after all.

Still, the mood was very high.

Everyone was excited. After all, survivors were very scarce nowadays. For them, the feeling of plundering other people and bringing them misery was exhilarating. If possible, they wanted to do it over and over.

With everyone aboard their vehicles, they were about to leave.

However, when they moved just a few meters from the initial spot, the lights of their vehicles spotted someone standing in front.

Normally, they might have just run over the person, thinking that he was an infected shambling around their base.

However, everyone stopped. They could see the eyes of the silhouette glowing red and violet. It was not something that an infected could display.

Then, one with keen ears among the men heard a murmur.

"I didn't think that they had properly maintained vehicles. I would have attacked earlier if I knew. We wasted time walking for nothing."

"What are you all stopping? Just run that over."

Sir Kesser shouted at his men.

"Sir! It's not an infected. I can hear him murmuring something."

The man in a motorbike decorated with an animal skull spoke in a loud voice.

"So what? To stand in front of us, he's just seeking death! If none of you want to run that bastard over, just shoot!"

Sir Kesser shouted in anger. He was annoyed at how his men were too slow to adapt to the situation.

On the other hand, Hyena was frozen stiff. After all, he was one of the two people that went out today to follow that group of survivors.

And the person standing in front, he would not mistake it. He as one of them. The man that led that group.

"Sir! It's the leader of our targets!"

Hyena shouted which caused everyone to be surprised.

What was one of their targets doing here?

But still, if it was really one of their targets, then, what were they doing? Was it not easier for them if they dispatched this guy now that he was alone?

"Hahaha! I'll do it!"

One of the men shouted as he readied his assault rifle.

"No, I will!"

Another man shouted.

All of them readied their gun. They were having a contest on who would kill that man before them. In fact, anyone who would see thins would think that it was overkill. A whole group of fifty people, where twenty-five of them were pointing their guns at a single person. Anyone would think that the man was done for.

BANG! RATATAT! BAM!

A plethora of gunshots was heard. They did not mind whether they were wasting bullets or making too much noise. It had been a while that they killed someone. They wanted to have the pleasure at this moment.

The flashes of their guns blinded them because of the darkness. However, continued firing several times at the man's direction.

They expected to see a dead body afterward.

Nevertheless, after the first volley of gunshots. To their shock, the man was still standing. Furthermore, he did not even move from his spot.

They felt shocked, there was also a tint of fear of the situation that they could not understand.

When the man started walking towards them, they fired once more. This time, there were more shots and they fired their weapons for a longer time.

Despite the rain of bullets, the silhouette continued to advance. His body would turn hazy like a ghost and he was not seen to deflect the bullets either. It was as if the bullets were passing through his body.

In fact, they started to notice their bullets made after hitting the things behind the man in front of them.

"G-GHOST!"

One of them shouted, causing more disarray within their hearts and minds.

"BASTARDS! Ghosts don't exist!"

Sir Kesser shouted as he pulled the pin of a grenade he had in the car.

Without hesitation, he threw the grenade towards the man.

BOOM!!!

The explosion illuminated the front as everyone took cover from it. From the last thing they saw, the man was engulfed by the explosion.

Before they could see the aftermath of the explosion, however...

"Ghosts exist though?"

A questioning voice was heard behind Sir Kesser.

Everyone looked behind and saw the very same man standing on the military jeep, behind Sir Kesser.

"Don't try to fool us!"

Sir Kesser shouted as he waved his left arm towards the man behind him.

However, he hit nothing. The man already jumped off, avoiding the very fast and strong swing. That made everyone frozen even more. Although it was dark, there was still enough visibility for them to see.

That attack from Sir Kesser was as fast as a bullet. None of them were able to see it. If it was aimed at them, their bodies would be able to avoid it even if their reactions were fast enough to do so.

And yet, the man avoided it like nothing.

"I guess, that's enough probing. You people are worthless."

The man said as his body vanished like a ghost.

As the first snowflake fell, it was the same time that blood started to spill.