Mutagen

Irene sat at the back carrier of one of the Humvees while hugging her assault rifle. As there was not much danger after the syndicate was eliminated in Citta Italia, things that she did not have time to think of before started entering her mind that she could not concentrate too much on shooting even after they left. Every single one of the soldiers and police were obligated to participate in defending the convoy but with all the thoughts in her mind, she could not effectively.

"What are you thinking?"

Keene who was paired with her finally asked. The guy was really dense that he did not notice that there were something weighing her thoughts. If not for her suddenly sitting back after firing a round of gunshots at the infected charging at them, he would not have noticed.

"A lot of things…"

Irene sighed. She know that the thoughts she had right now was unnecessary but it was really bugging her.

What was right and what was wrong? How evil could a person get?

Back at the settlement when Mark suddenly shoved them into the Multi-cab, she felt annoyed but after witnessing the horror the swarm of flies brought to them, she was shaken. She was shaken not only because of fear but because she actually felt relief that she was not among the people who died outside. She saw several soldiers and people stung by the flies and turned into infected. At that scene, she somehow felt happy that she was not in their shoe. It made her feel conflicted.

She was a soldier and she should be one of the people protecting them but was it really alright to feel happy that she survived and the people she was supposed to protect died?

The next thought came to her when the soldiers started to burn the remaining members of the syndicate alive. At that scene, was it really alright that she saw those men not as human but animals? She could not help but ask herself how those people were able to commit such devilish acts.

According to the hostages and what Jumper confessed, aside from Jumper, every single one of them was a devil in human skin.

The hostages came from two sources. The first were those who were caught while they were evacuating while the second ones were those who were found during the supply runs of the syndicate. Nevertheless, both face the same kind of torment. The able ones mainly composed of men were forced to work on their base building defenses and fighting the infected. For the women, they became a means of entertainment for the members of the syndicate.

The main problem and the cause for the soldiers to burn those animals alive were due to the point that the syndicate did not share their supplies to their hostages. On the head count, there were one hundred twenty-three hostages and even more than that before for sure. With that large number of people, how were they fed? The hostages did not know it and only knew that they were fed with boiled salted meat. On Jumper\'s confession however…

The source of that meat was not something that humans in the right mind should consume. It was fortunate that the meat did not come from the infected but it just made the whole thing even darker.

The hostages would likely lose their mind if they learn about the source of that meat.

Jumper on the other hand seemed to be appreciated by the hostages. It seemed that he did not touch any of the women and even incurred the ridicule of the other members for taking in the children saying that he had a weird fetish. The children however were all fine and by the looks of it, Jumper rather took good care of them. Now that the threat of the syndicate, Jumper let the children return to their relatives. It was unfortunate that some of those children had no relatives to return to anymore.

When Jumper was asked why he did that when he was a member of that syndicate…

"Do all of you really believe that I wanted to join them? I just had no choice."

That was how he answered.

Irene told her thoughts to her childhood friend. Unexpectedly, Keene laughed.

"What\'s funny? I\'m serious here."

"Just don\'t think too much. What those thugs did was wrong but what\'s wrong with surviving? Don\'t think too much. Just follow what you believe in just like before."

"What I believe…"

"That\'s right! As long what you believe isn\'t wrong, it\'s fine. If you really care for those who died, then live for their sake and perform what they could not anymore. That simple."

Irene lifted her head and looked at Keene incredulously. What she received from him was a straightforward and brainless answer but she could not refute him at all.

Irene sighed, she should think over this once more later and ask someone else more experienced.

***

Day 6 – 6:23 PM – Emilio Aguinaldo Highway, Talaba, Bacoor City, Cavite

About another two hours passed once more after they left Citta Italia. They had already left Molino Boulevard and entered the highway but their speed horribly suffered. If it was before the outbreak, the distance they traversed from Citta Italia till their current location would just take about half an hour with the normal rate of heavy traffic considered.

Now however, the blockade of vehicles at the exit of the boulevard started their current headache. Even though the dump trucks still managed to get them out of the boulevard, it was because the vehicles blocking the boulevard exit were smaller vehicles with freezer vans as the largest ones. After entering the highway however, it became harder for them to move that even the military trucks started to help in pushing the smaller vehicles aside.

Another problem was the increasing number of infected they needed to defend the convoy from. This area was too close to a large street market, several malls, fast food chains and more enclosed markets. These establishments caused the population influx in this area. Even though the infected that was left here was a smaller portion compared to the whole population that frequented this area, it was still enough to give everyone a huge headache.

If the infected attacking was not handled effectively, it could spell disaster. It was more apparent with the constant appearance of Mutated Infected. The rather most common among the Mutated Infected were the Dozers. There were also infected animals from time to time and some new kinds of Mutated Infected appearing in the area.

RATATATATA!

Mark jumped unto an abandoned vehicle and killed several infected charging towards him. He was hired to escort the convoy and he had to participate in thinning the number of infected. Together with him, he could see Abbygale running about fast like the wind. In terms of kill count, she could not compare to those who had guns but with physical kills, she had the highest number.

From time to time, Mark would also use his machete to save a few bullets but the kill speed was rather insufficient to keep up with the stream of incoming infected. He had no choice but to use his gun. His presence on the battlefield however caused to lighten the load on the soldiers in one way or another.

Not only that the number of infected the soldiers had to kill lessened but also the pressure the on everyone fighting the infected decreased significantly. It was due to the Mutated Infected charging towards him every single time despite how close they were to another person.

The other members of his group also joined the fray since earlier due to the slow movement of the convoy through this heavy blockade. Nikky and her other group members defended the southern side while Jason and his group defended the northern side. Mark and Abbygale on the other hand move from place to place helping where the highest congregation of infected were located near their position.

Not only Mark and his group but the other soldiers had already moved out of their vehicles to help. Captain Dela Rosa and Major Lopez could also be seen fighting the infected near the front of the convoy. It was the same for Chief Mallari and his police force.

Mark looked at the passenger seat of their vehicle where Mei sat. He told both Abbygale and Odelina not to tell anything about what Chameleon said. It was not because she should not learn about it but it was better for her to not know. Besides, he himself could not remember what happened that night. If what Chameleon and Black Devil said was true, then it was not him who did the killing. For all he remembered, the first human or at least, looked like human, he killed in real life was the infected security guard at the mall.

As for who did it, it could not be any more obvious. He also suspected it when he woke up at home after all those things happened at that time. He would also not forget that time. It was because of those injuries that he started to completely disregarded the outside world and stay within the confines of his house as much as possible.

He was sure that it was Freed who did it.

What for? Why did he save Mei that time?

Mark had no way of asking Freed for answers. Even though the two of them may be sharing the same body, it was impossible for the two to meet face to face and clear everything.

Sighing, he shot the head of another infected he was facing.

Mark looked at the road ahead. Seeing the scene in front, he could not help but shake his head.

It seemed that this parade of abandoned cars would last till the exit of the highway. Furthermore, it looked like that the convoy would still move at its current speed till the end due to the large number of city and provincial busses that blocked the road.

Mark took out his phone. Seeing the current time, he frowned.

They were running late.

It was already almost seven and they were still stuck here.

\'Did anything went wrong?\'

Mark started to contemplate.

As Mark did not know anything about what would happen before the scene in his premonition started, he just followed every circumstance in a normal way.

\'Then, why?\'

Mark started to have a bad feeling about this.

***

Day 6 – 7:58 PM – Cavite Expressway Toll Gate, Parañaque, Metro Manila

They spent some more time on the highway and even lost several soldiers and policemen in the process. Mark could not deny that the constant fighting within about four hours was tiring.

After they entered the expressway however, the convoy started to move faster as the number of vehicles in the expressway decreased in numbers.

It did not take too long though and the convoy had no choice but to stop.

The dump trucks could push smaller cars effortlessly and push larger vehicles like busses and trucks with quite a difficulty. Nevertheless, there was no way for it to push a whole collapsed building blocking the expressway.

Blocking the middle of the road…

It was the whole toll ticketing booths structure that fell to the ground.

The whole heavy roof of the structure was still intact and it looked like that the metal supports were bent to the ground.

Everyone was in a dilemma.

Mark however, started to get ready for another life and death encounter.