Mutagen

"Ugh!"

Two men released painful voices as their bodies heavily crashed unto the wall of the main hall of the building they were in. Their agonized gurgles intensified further after their heads were stepped on by some people.

Unexpectedly, these two same men were the ones that led the attack at Audubon High School.

"King, please... Mercy..."

The older brother pleaded, looking at the man sitting at the center of the main hall.

It was a ballroom hall, cleaned with everything else, and was refurbished. Now, it looked more or less like a throne room for a king with expensive displays and decorations. Even the throne that was placed at the center of the all was made with gold. Who knew where they got something like this.

On the throne, a man sat arrogantly. With his blonde hair, blue eyes, and a handsome face, he looked like a prince from a fairytale. The difference, though, was his expression that was similar to that of a slaughterer\'s.

He looked coldly at the two brothers that were being heavily punished. If not for their abilities, he was more inclined to kill them immediately.

"You want mercy?" The man on the throne spoke. "Returning here with your tails between your legs and wasting a lot of our people? I wouldn\'t have minded it even if they lost their lives as long as you two brought back good news. But what? Not only the two of you, failed a small task, you two even sacrificed our manpower to escape? Now, what mercy do you want?"

WAP! WAP!

p "ARG!"

The two brothers let out more painful noises as the two women wearing black clothing whipped their bodies.

"My King, remember not to cripple them. Their abilities still have some use."

A woman entered the hall. Her curly blond hair and gray colored eyes looked alluring. Not to mention that she was wearing a pink bedlah, showcasing her body figure that could make the mouths of men water. The clothes she wore were laced with gold and silver along with gems here and there.

The woman walked straight towards the King and sat at the left armrest of his throne.

"Do not fret, my queen." The King spoke. "I don\'t plan to kill them. But I can\'t just let this failure alone. They wasted quite a number of our people."

"Are they all dead?"

The Queen asked.

"I sent Ellse to watch over them." The King turned to the slender looking man, standing at the side of the room.

The slender man had a pale face but an attractive appearance. Even though the King was handsome, this man\'s visage seemed to have been taken out of folklore stories. His deep blue eyes had long eyelashes, and he had a shiny white hair. And because of his long hair, no one would notice immediately, but he had pointed ears.

"Greetings, My Queen."

Ellse stepped forward and greeted the woman.

"Tell me what happened."

The Queen commanded.

Thus, Ellse narrated what he observed without forgetting a single detail, once more. He already told this to their King, but he did not mind repeating it again to the Queen.

"Why did you not help them?"

The Queen asked Ellse, pointing at the two brothers sprawled at the floor.

"My Queen. My King only tasked me to observe. And even if I wanted to, I dare not."

"Why not?"

"The enemy that appeared is someone unfathomable. I can\'t tell what it was, but there is a disturbance in a wide area with that person at the center. I dared not step into that area without knowing what it was. I even had to immediately retreat when I noticed it. Fortunately, I managed to not get caught in it."

"Hoh..."

It seems that the Queen\'s interest was piqued.

"Seems like some strange people entered our territory."

The King voiced out.

"It is as you said, My King. Ellse replied. "Furthermore, with that man around, I won\'t be able to infiltrate the school."

"Because of that disturbance, you are talking about?"

"Yes. Unfortunately."

While the three were talking, the older brother that was sprawled in pain looked up.

"My King. Shouldn\'t we take revenge?"

The older brother spoke.

"Who told you to speak?"

The King glared at the older brother.

"But King... This might be our fault. However, the enemy is also strong, as Ellse said. The King\'s reputation is at stake here. If we don\'t take revenge, what would the others think?"

"My brother is right, My King." The younger brother chimed in. "Those soldiers might start thinking highly of themselves if we don\'t take revenge. They might think that we are already hiding in fear, including you, My King."

"SILENCE!"

The King shouted in anger. A strong gust of wind blew inside the enclosed hall causing the two brothers to fly back and crash unto the wall. From the force of the impact that the two were thrown, they immediately lost consciousness, leaving the cracked walls as they fell down.

"You should Calm down, My King."

The Queen alluringly said as she hugged the King\'s head unto her stomach, letting her ample chest rest on top of his head.

The King took a deep breath. He was already riled up by the two brother\'s failure, and yet, they had the audacity to talk back. Since when did they have the courage?

After regaining his calm, the King turned to Ellse.

"Don\'t you think that these imbeciles are behaving oddly?"

"I also thought the same, my King. Should I check them?"

Ellse replied humbly.

"Do it."

"Yes, My King."

With that order, Ellse approached the two unconcious brothers. The other people around gave way for him as if they feared him.

Closing unto the two, Ellse bent down. Both his hands touched the heads of the two. No one could see it, but his hands had an invisible force prying into the minds of the two.

It took about five minutes for each of the two before Ellse stood up.

"How is it?"

The King asked.

Unexpectedly, Ellse shook his head.

"There seemed to be nothing wrong, my King," Ellse replied as he went back to his original position. "All I can say is that the two were too bent on taking revenge that it swallowed their rationality. They might have felt humiliated after that battle for them to become like this."

The King frowned, though the frown relaxed after a while. What Ellse said was quite reasonable. In fact, it was the first time that these two brothers failed with their mission. It was not wrong to feel humiliated after being pushed around by the enemy to the point that they had to flee.

Anyone in this circumstance would be hell-bent on taking revenge.

The King grew silent, so as the whole main hall.

Then, a pat on his head was felt by the King. He looked up, and the Queen was smiling at him.

"Think about this later. Let\'s eat lunch first to cool your head."

Seeing that lovely and alluring smile, the King nodded.

"Everyone is dismissed. Drag those two away." The King pointed at the unconcious brothers. "Ellse, you stay."

With that order, everyone in the hall immediately moved, leaving the three inside.

But then, Ellse suddenly turned his head towards somewhere.

"What is the matter?"

The King noticed Ellse and asked.

"My King, My Queen, can I leave for a bit?" Ellse bowed. "It seems my little cat had returned."

"Is that so?" The King nodded slightly. "Then go. Return after you finish immediately."

"Yes, My King."

Ellse bowed once more, this time, his right hand was on his left chest.

Then, with a cloud of white mist, Ellse\'s body disappeared like a mirage.

***

Day 129 - 11:35 AM - Haddon Lake, Audubon, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America

Haddon Lake, it was a beautiful place to spend time back before the apocalypse. There were a park and other spots to stand by around it. The vegetation was nice looking and properly maintained. There were also fishing and sports areas that people could go to.

Now, the park was empty. Only the remains of dried skeletons after their flesh was eaten clean remained.

Fortunately, the place was mostly devoid of the infected. It was because the survivors and the military use the water in the lake and also to fish. Thus, they had to conduct a sweep every now and then to preserve their water source.

Earlier, there were people around as they procured water to wash away the remains of the battle this morning. As the cleaning was finished, it was supposed to be devoid of people.

Yet, there was a woman sitting on one of the benches alone. She seemed to be in deep thought about the things that happened to her earlier.

She was no other than Elise, Felicia\'s younger sister.

Well, that was the title she had and hated the most. She never ever liked it, to be called Felicia\'s younger sister.

In most cases, it was the youngest child that would get the attention of their parents. It was especially the case when the youngest and last child of the family was a different gender than their older siblings.

Everything they had was new. Requests were being given to them with little resistance.

Unfortunately, Elise had an older sister. That was Felicia. Although there was not much difference with the emotional affection their parents given to each of them, Felicia had more privilege.

Felicia would mostly have new clothes, while her old clothes would fall to Elise. It was not like she did not receive new ones, but more of her clothes and things had once belonged to her older sister.

Things might have been better if Felicia and Roan changed places. Felicia was the oldest child, and Roan was the second.

But it was all family matters. Even though Felicia grew up a bit spoiled, it did not mean that much to her as she did not mistreat Elise.

Things got worse when she entered school, the very same school that her older sister studied in.

Elise had hidden circumstances. Because of this, she could not concentrate on her studies or take care of herself better.

Thus, the very smart and popular Felicia, her older sister... Elise was being compared to her.

Felicia was always among the ranking, while she had mostly average grades. She was also known by almost the whole school.

Once they learned that Elise was Felicia\'s younger sister, the people that knew Felicia would start to compare Elise to her.

Elise\'s confidence became lower and lower. And her hidden circumstance made things worse. Soon, she was branded as a weird kid that always talked to herself.

She was never bullied physically, but the emotional damage was just as worse.

All of that continued till highschool. It was until Felicia vanished from her life.

She thought that things would be better. But it became worse as her parents spared no effort in searching for her older sister. Most of the house\'s budget and her father\'s retirement benefits were spent on funds for finding her missing sister.

It reached the point that they even had to reduce their food expenses. Elise almost dropped out of school. Luckily, their older brother was already working at this point, and he supported her school expenses.

Fortunately, it ended after two years that her sister was missing. Her life got back on track. Her parents started to treat her better since Felicia, who was hogging everything, was gone.

But now, the older sister she despised the most for being the cause of most of her ordeals in life suddenly returned. What other reaction could she make?

She did not want to be nothing but FELICIA\'S YOUNGER SISTER once again.

HAHAHAHAHA!

Annoying laughter echoed in her ears. It was as if scorning her for her current state.

"STOP LAUGHING AT ME!"

Elise shouted, covering her ears. But the laughter never stopped.

Several wisps of light could be seen dancing around her, mocking her.

But then, a cloud of mist covered the place, causing the wisps to scurry away in fear.

"You\'re here again. What is wrong this time?"

A gentle voice entered her ears. Elise immediately raised her head.

In front of her, a man with a handsome face and green eyes stood. He looked like a human, though he had an ethereal air around him.

"Ellse!"

Elise called out.