Mutagen

Karlene had already asked similar questions like this for the nth time after they left the airport. She was currently staring at the strange looking woman that came out of that pod from the airport. Although she already confirmed herself that the woman could understand her, she was still in doubt.

Her doubt was reasonable. The infected, even the Biters that still had vital signs, were considered dead by the military. Failed Mutators were also the same. It was because they already lost the ability to live lives similar to their past selves due to the lack or change in ego. Now however, a living example of an infected that managed to regain her memories of her life as a human appeared. The common sense she cultivated since the apocalypse started shattered into pieces.

"Can you snap into reality already?"

Mark complained with a sigh. He was already getting tired of her questions. Mei on the other hand also looked interested but rather than asking questions, she was trying to get closer to Miracle instead. It looked like she could not accept Miracle being shy towards her more than an infected regaining her memories as a human.

At the side of the church, Edzel was checking his weapons. Although he had the same interest as the two girls, he knew that it was better to wait for answers to be given than asking for it. As a subordinate, he unknowingly gained the ability to observe what his boss like and dislike. From his observations, Mark would get more annoyed if someone was to pester him about something. The good example was Karlene in her current antics. If she continued with this, it was very likely that Mark would stop paying attention to her.

And… It already started.

"Hey!"

"…"

Mark stopped paying attention already and instead, he stared at the female infected he brought.

The almost three meter tall woman was silently sitting at the side. She sat while curling her tentacles backwards in order for her tentacles to not bother anyone and get on the way. She was currently holding the stone Mark took as if it was a treasure. In front of her were several sheets of old rusty colored paper and a water based black marker.

Although she could understand Mark and the others, she could not speak and thus, he came up with this idea. It was hard to find markers since most found were permanent ones that had already dried up and luckily, he managed to find a water-based one. That was not the end of struggles. Due to her large hands, she was not used to writing with them and she ended up writing almost illegible letters.

Aimee Florencia… That was her name. She was a pregnant woman on a departure flight when everything started. Due to everything happening too suddenly, she and the other passengers were trapped inside that airplane that got stranded in the middle of the runway. They would have survived in that airplane for some time but there was a problem. The other passengers did not manage to stay put and opened the hatch after a day. That was the worst thing to happen when the number of mutated infected in the airport was increasing for some reason.

Unable to escape their fate, all the passengers of that flight became infected and obviously, she was not an exception. She was bitten on her hand but managed to hide inside one of the comfort rooms inside the airplane. After that however, she had no recollection of what happened.

The next thing she knew was that… She woke up inside the pod submerged with an unknown liquid. Although she saw herself looking horrendous, she found it that it was natural and did not think much of it. The thing that had most of her attention was the sphere stone that was under her body when she woke up. Although she did not know why, the first thing that entered her mind when she saw that stone was the child that was supposed to be in her womb.

When she boarded that plane, she was eight months pregnant. With a month that had passed, she should have given birth already if the outbreak did not happen. The bulge in her stomach was gone and she found that stone instead. It might not be logical but there was a possibility that she was not wrong either. After all, the [Blood Children] were also born from the infected even though they were cultured in a sense.

"Alright! I won\'t ask about her anymore… But, are we really staying here?"

Karlene gave up asking about Aimee and decided to ask about something else.

One of the worst places to go and stay at in a zombie apocalypse was churches. First, many people would try to go there to pray for salvation and places with churches were usually crowded with people. The other reason was because churches had too many openings where infected could pass through or see people inside.

In fact, when they arrived at this church, there was a lot of rotting dead bodies on the floor. The floor was also painted with blood here and there. The chairs were in disarray and the stained glass windows were all shattered into pieces. Fortunately, they managed to sweep corpses out easily with Aimee\'s tentacles and used the chairs to block the unnecessary entrances and windows.

Normally, Mark would also not choose a place like this as a temporary base. However, aside from the church being surrounded by parking lots that could make it easier to detect intruders, they needed a big place that could fit Aeimee, Chaflar and the Alpha. Normal buildings and houses would not be able to accommodate their large bodies and keeping them outside was a no go especially for Aimee.

Mark found a new creature and she was an interesting one. Of course, he would treat her with care. She was an infected that managed to regain consciousness. Anyone would be interested in her. Well, if they did not attack her on sight. After all, her current appearance was just hideous in human sense.

"It\'s fine here already. We have a lot of advantage in this place."

Mark replied.

The compound of Baclaran Church was literally beside Bay City with just the width of twelve lanes of roads which belonged to the Service Road and Roxas Boulevard. In fact, the compound was located just at the area directly between the north and south district of Bay City.

Due to this place being too near to Bay City, the infected in the area had been mostly dealt with and all those that would wander around would go directly to Bay City that was bustling with people. Another advantage was that even though this place was close, the front area of the compound which faced Bay City was covered with quite a large number of trees and plants which masked the main church from the eyes of the guards in Bay City.

The most advantageous thing was that they would be able to come and go without problems and Mark could immediately return if there was an emergency while he was outside. It was very convenient since he wanted to sneak in and out of Bay City.

"Gege…" Mei who finally had Miracle sitting on her lap spoke. "Is it possible that Aimee is the same as Janette?"

"Possible."

Mark nodded as he also had the same idea.

Aimee\'s appearance was like a mix of multiple things. If she was the same as Janette that seem to have the ability to absorb abilities of Mutators they ate, it was very possible. As for how Aimee was able to regain her consciousness, it was still debatable.

It could be that Aimee already ate enough Mutators for her to gain consciousness since Janette was also gaining hers after she ate the Mutator from the gang at Firenze. Or her mutation inside the pod was heavily influenced by the spiritual energy the Great One released.

Unfortunately, even if Mark wanted to experiment, only the first circumstance could be tried out since they needed the Great One for the second theory.

"Is your injury okay now?"

Mark turned to Aimee and asked.

Right now, she was wearing some curtains draped unto her body. Due to her upper body\'s size which was more than double of a human\'s it was hard to find something that would fit her and could only use those curtains. However, she did not really seem to mind being naked. Probably, being an infected changed this mindset. From the time she got out of the pod to the time that they reached the church she did not have a problem with it.

To Mark\'s question, Aimee touched her ribs and nodded. Although her regeneration was not as strong as Mark\'s, it seemed that her body was able to heal on its own.

A problem came up and Aimee was always looking down instead of looking straight at anyone. It was because even Aimee found that her dozen eyes looking at someone kind creepy after looking at a mirror.

***

Day 48 – 12:37 PM – Military Residences, Bay City, Pasay City, Metro Manila

"Mom, cheer up. The young miss should be fine."

Odette handed a glass of cold juice while trying to appease her mother. Siegfried was also in the room looking at his mother with worry.

Since when Odelina returned last night, she had been in a bad mood. Learning what happened, everyone in their group who was left in Bay City had their hearts in turmoil. It was not because Mei was the central figure of the group but because Mei was close to everyone here especially the women. And even if she was not, a sudden disappearance of a comrade would leave anyone devastated.

Among everyone here, Odelina had it worst.

It might just be her reigning trait as a Mutator, her deal with Freed or because of her upbringing. No matter which reason, she already committed herself to be Mark and Mei\'s servant. She always stood beside Mei, Abbygale and Iola more than she was with her children although she did not neglect her duties as a mother. A bad mother would not be a good servant to her masters and she knew that.

Together with Abbygale and Iola, they protected Mei from her fears, especially from other men with ill intentions. Yesterday however, she failed to protect Mei and she was taken away.

The worst part of it, she heard that Senator Estrada was using Mei\'s abduction to start harassing the military for their incompetence. Mei had been an icon in Bay City due to her beauty and prowess. Her being abducted was a huge blow to the trust the people had towards the military.

Odelina wanted to leave and search for Mei and did not care about the senator anymore but there was no way she knew where to start. There was also no way for her to leave Abbygale and Iola that was under her care.

Thinking about all those things, her mood worsened. Her appetite was even impacted that she had not eaten anything until now. In the least, she was drinking the juice Odette and Siegfried gave her from time to time.

After their mother drank the juice, Odette and Siegfried left the room. The two knew that their mother just need time to sort her mind alone.

The moment her children left and closed the door, Odelina sighed. She knew that she should not be behaving like this but she could not help it.

"Young Miss… How am I going to face Master now?"

She murmured.

That was when…

"Odel…"

She froze before shaking her head.

"I must be getting crazy. I\'m starting to hear the voice of the Young Miss."

She murmured with a bitter expression.

And then…

Odelina felt to hands wrap her body from her back.

"Sorry Odel. We made you suffer for our plans."

Odelina slowly turned her head to the side to see Mei\'s face leaning on her left shoulder.

She was about to shout when Mei blocked her lips with her finger.

"Don\'t shout. We sneaked in secretly."

When Mei said "we". She pointed behind.

There, tears came out of her eyes. For a long time, she saw the person he vowed to serve. Since Mei told her not to shout, she could only bow her head. In her mind, she shouted.

\'Master!\'