Mutagen

<strong>Day 152 - 11:21 AM - Pandan District Hospital, Salvacion (Tariwara), Municipality of Pandan, Cantanduanes</strong>

At the base of the Neutral Faction of the rebels, the people looked tired. Most of them had not gotten any sleep since yesterday. However, it could not be helped.

It would only take a glance at the northern part of the base, and anyone would know what happened. After all, there was no way to hide the hundreds to thousands of dead bodies that lay there.

The previous night was tough for everyone. It was fortunate that they received a warning from a magical entity before everything happened.

"Wew... I can finally take a break." Bert sat down on the pavement by the roadside as he looked at the other men working. "You all take care that there's no infected still alive!"

"We got it, Boss!"

One worker replied with the others in agreement.

Bert Barwel. He was just a lazy fisherman before the outbreak despite secretly being a member of the rebels. Now, he received a pretty high position, allowing him to order a group of people.

It was all thanks to him being the husband of the Madam's sister.

That was why even if he was still feeling lazy, Bert could not let down his men.

"Taking a break?"

Suddenly, a younger man called Bert.

Bert looked behind. It was the man named Marvy, the husband of the Madam.

"Yeah," Bert replied. "Last night is such a mess!"

Bert was complaining. It was confusing as to why too many infected suddenly crossed the gulf to get into the island. Luckily, they were prepared for this kind of situation. If not, they could only abandon this base considering the number of the infected.

"It is good that we bolstered the defenses by the shore long ago."

Marvy said as he took a seat beside Bert.

"It's all thanks to Grace." Bert turned his head towards the piles of dead bodies in front. "This must have been the situation she predicted before. It was lucky that she can read the future using different methods. If not, we're done for."

Marvy could only smile bitterly. His wife had turned into the pillar of this base while he could only stand at the side.

"Any change in last night's reading?"

Bert ignored Marvy's silence and asked.

When they received the warning from the Diwata last night, the Madam, Grace, immediately did a prediction reading using her cards.

The result was undesirable, with the Death card on her Tarot Card Set appearing consecutively.

As a result of her reading, everyone was mobilized to defend against the incoming danger. And because of that, they succeeded with minimal casualties.

"Not even a slight change," Marvy replied. "The death card is still appearing for some reason."

"The situation is still dangerous, then." Bert nodded. "We better keep vigilant."

"Papa!"

A boy's voice was heard calling towards the two.

Knowing whose voice it was, Marvy turned his head to see a chubby boy calling from atop the wall. It was his youngest son, Thaddy. Behind the boy was his older brother, Michael. Looking at his second son that miraculously returned unscathed, Marvy could not help but smile.

"What is it?"

Marvy asked.

"Aunty is calling you and Uncle!"

The boy replied.

Looking at each other, both Bert and Marvy stood up. If the two of them were being called by Grace, it was likely that something major happened.

Marvy and Bert went into the base and met up with Thaddy and Michael. Together, they went to the main building of the compound.

They went straight to the area designated for their family.

Their family was important to this base. This privilege was not unjust.

Inside the quarters, both Marvy's and Bert's family members were gathered. It was their area, after all.

Marvy's eyes fell unto his daughter, Marian. Like his second son, she also returned safely after a long time that she was held up by the Anti-Government Faction.

On the other side, there was Bert's family. Bing, his wife and was Grace's younger sister, and his two young boys, Christian and John.

Aside from their family members, several people were also present. The person leading them all was no other than the leader of the Neutral Faction, Ismael Florencia.

"What is happening?"

Marvy asked.

"Madam Grace just did a reading. She's currently looking into more details."

The one that answered Marvy was Ismael.

Marvy then turned to Grace. She was sitting on the chair in front of a wide table.

On the table, it was littered with Tarot and playing cards, arranged in corresponding groups. At the moment, Grace was writing sets of numbers on a piece of paper. She seemed to be in a full trance as she wrote everything like ghostly scribbles.

In that state of his wife, Marvy fell silent. It was better not to disrupt her in her. The last time she was disrupted while in a trance, she fell unconcious for a few days.

At those times, Marvy could not help but think that Grace's ability to see the future was more of a curse. Before the outbreak, it was not like this. However, as time went on, her abilities were getting stronger since the apocalypse started.

It took about an hour. Finally, Grace let go of the pen in her hand. She looked tired.

Everyone looked at the paper she was writing on. All they could see were sets of numbers, symbols, and lines. The entire thing was incomprehensible.

"How is it, Madam?"

Ismael asked respectfully. Even though he was the leader of this base, they were all relying on Grace for their safety. Ever since the start that she arrived here, her predictions have never missed the mark.

Grace turned to Ismael.

"It is better that we don't contact the military settlement anytime soon."

Her words made Ismael frown.

The Anti-Government Faction was no more. Due to that, the two other factions began communicating with each other, planning to contact the Military Settlement and join forces with them.

Unlike the Anti-Government Faction which planned on overthrowing the Government, the Peaceful Faction only wanted independence. The Neutral Faction sat between the two and would only go with the flow. It was the safest position between the factions.

Now that the Anti-Government Faction was destroyed by some unknown force, it was decided that the Neutral Faction would join hands with the Peaceful Faction.

And with just a few words from Grace, all these plans would end up useless. In the worst case, the Peaceful Faction might turn on them for not following the arrangement.

"Why is that?" Ismael asked. "With what is happening on the island, we better ally ourselves with the military. Even though we managed to survive the previous night, it would be hard for all of us to undergo the same situation several more times."

"Another force is intending to struggle for power in the Military Settlement. It is possible that they would end up controlling the Military Settlement in the near future."

"Then, we are going to ally with them instead?"

Ismael asked.

However, Grace shook her head. Then, she gathered her Tarot Cards on the table and shuffled the deck. Then, she presented the deck in a fan shape towards Ismael.

There was no need to say what Ismael needed to do. It was not the first time that they did this.

Ismael chose a card from the deck and took it. It was the answer to his question.

Looking at the card, Ismael shivered. He then placed the card on the table for everyone to see.

"The Death Card."

Bert said with a low voice.

There was no need for Grace to explain the meaning of the card. It meant that the new force, that was going to overthrow the military, would be extremely hostile to the rebels. Trying to ally with them would end in the worst-case scenario.

Then, what were they going to do? The room fell into silence. Even the three boisterous boys did not dare say anything because of the heavy atmosphere inside the room.

"This card had been around too much these days, isn't it?"

Bert said, trying to break the silence.

"It's because we've been facing deadly situations."

Bing retorted to her husband.

"Is there no other way?" Ismael asked. "We won't hold long like this. Even Terorio's faction is already at wit's end."

Ismael was distraught as he brought the name of the leader of the Peaceful Faction into the talk.

"Wait, maybe we can help the Military defend against the enemy?"

Ismael added the thought that entered his mind.

Unfortunately, Grace still shook her head.

"Helping the military resist the enemy will only lead to us getting eliminated with them," Grace said with all seriousness. "The enemy will be too strong for everyone. In the first place, even if we managed to help the military, we won't be able to avoid the main reason for their defeat."

"What is it?"

Ismael asked.

Grace then turned to Michael.

"Give me your knife."

Michael had a butterfly knife in his belt. He handed the knife to his mother.

Grace then opened the butterfly knife while gathering her deck of playing cards.

Unexpectedly, she threw the deck into the air and threw the knife at the same time.

The butterfly knife dangerously spun in the air together with the cards. It was until the knife fell blade first onto the table.

Unexpectedly, there was a card under the blade which the knife pierced through.

"The King of Spades stabbed by a knife," Grace spoke at that scene. "General Padilla will die due to being assassinated."

And then, by everyone's surprise, a card landed in between the caps of the butterfly knife. It looked as if that card drove the knife unto the King of Spades.

And the knife was the Queen of Hearts.

"Seems like Emellynn did not die and was still alive. She will definitely be the one to kill the General."

Grace said, to Ismael's surprise.

Silence enveloped the room once more, leaving the sound of the cards still falling unto the table.

If the General was killed, the Military on this island would crumble.

Suddenly, Grace spoke once again.

"Look's like the enemy would really take advantage of the assassination."

Everyone turned to Grace, only to see her staring at the table.

A surprise was waiting for them after they turned at what Grace was staring at.

At the side of the butterfly knife that stabbed the King of Spades, a group of Diamond cards gathered. Atop the group of cards was the Queen of Diamonds, indicating the female leader of the enemies, together with her people.

Then, they finally noticed. It was not just the cards around the knife. All the other cards scattered around the table as if running away from the chaos that happened because of the General's death.

"The people loyal to the General would flee the settlement. We can take them in."

Grace said, pointing at the group of spade cards that was blown away the furthest on the table.

"I guess, that is the best thing that we can do."

Ismael decided to heed everything that Grace said. Just the scene of the cards reenacting the whole situation looked like sorcery. It all happened in front of him and there was no way to deny it.

With this, the meeting this time was supposed to come to a close.

However, just as Grace was about to pick up the Death Card that Ismael chose earlier, it was suddenly blown away by something.

It was strange considering that the whole room was closed so that the cards would not get accidentally blown by the wind.

But then, Grace saw the Death Card land on a map of the island of Catanduanes that was pinned on the table as a decoration.

There was a flash in Grace's eyes. She was sure that the place that the card landed was where the red light from last night originated.

But then, as if leaving the island towards the sky, the Death Card was blown away by a nonexistent wind once more.

It was a strange scene for everyone.

The Death Card then fell to the floor. As Grace picked it up, she could not help but notice a few cards gathered on the floor like another group. It was actually the King and Queen of Clubs with a few number cards.

It was strange as Grace could not read any future from that group at all.