Mutagen

"Ouch..."

Padua complained, holding his growling stomach while facing the dark ceiling as he lay down on the cold floor.

His whole body was aching too much that he could not move. On his face and hands, bruises could be seen. Just by his current appearance, there was no need to ask what happened after that commotion.

It was a great offense for Padua to shoot another soldier, even before the outbreak. What was worse was that the guy was one of the lackeys of the unreasonable Captain Zacharia. The right-hand man, in fact. Since Padua shot him out of rage, they were punished.

Well, it was more than a one side beating than an actual punishment. Held by two other soldiers, Padua was pummeled with punches and kicks by several other soldiers. And the captain in question was watching at the side filled with satisfaction on his face.

The two were already fortunate that they were not killed. From the personality of that fat bastard, it was not far off. They were lucky that they were still a part of the soldiers under him. If two people suddenly died because of this, even he would have a hard time keeping his current post. After all, they were soldiers. Their punishment needed to come from the higher-ups. It was unless they resisted, which did not happen upon their arrest.

If they resisted, being shot on the spot was not surprising.

Still, they were not put in detention scot-free, and that resulted in Padua\'s current state as the perpetrator.

At the corner of the room, Geronimo sat, sighing at the current state of his friend.

"Just why did you have to shoot that guy? You could have just given them that food. It\'s just food, not worth exchanging your life for."

"I don\'t know, dude." Padua raised his head slightly to look at his friend. "I don\'t know. I just did it. My sight just grew dark. The next thing I knew, already shot the gun."

Padua\'s voice was a bit weak, and there was a bit of air in between his words. His body pain right now was not a joke. His cracked lips made it even harder to talk.

"Not only we didn\'t get to have even a bite, but I got beaten up instead. That fat bastard will have his day in the future."

"I wish too."

Geronimo sighed.

Unfortunately, the two were not expecting that to happen any time soon. This guy had close ties with one of the higher-ups, after all.

If not, there was no way that someone as incompetent as that fat bastard would be posted in this encampment to lead the soldiers.

If not, the other soldiers would not be afraid of him.

If not, it would be easy to throw that fat guy off the deck.

There were a lot of ifs. Unfortunately, it would remain as ifs.

"I wonder what will happen to us now?"

Geronimo said, wondering about their future.

"Probably, forced into labor. That\'s where are those who broke the law are going these days."

"But I didn\'t do anything," Geronimo complained. "You did."

"You are seriously saying that?" Padua glared. "Want me to give you the same bruises I have?"

"Go on. Do it. You can\'t even stand up from there."

Geronimo taunted.

Then, there was silence...

Before the two burst out laughing.

"Ouch! Don\'t make me laugh! It hurts!"

Padua complained, holding his stomach in pain.

"Really? It hurts?" Geronimo approached his friend and started poking on his bruised arm. "I don\'t feel anything."

"F*ck! Stop it!" Padua pulled his arm away. "Seriously, if you are like this to other people, you won\'t get bullied."

"They would probably punch me, so, no."

"Sh*t."

The two went on their antics, trying to forget the predicament they were currently facing.

Soon, silence enveloped the dark, cold room once more.

"Hah..." Geronimo sighed. "Dad will surely punch me if he knew that I got detained as a soldier."

Padua looked at his friend before looking back at the dark ceiling.

"Your family members are dead already. Get over it."

"Want to sit down?"

Geronimo asked.

"F*ck you."

Padua cursed his friend. His whole body was in pain, and the cold floor was helping him reduce it a bit. Besides, it would ache more if he sat down.

Geronimo then went and lay down on the cold floor like his friend.

"We are here, protecting other people as this country\'s soldiers, but when our family needed us, we are not there to protect them. Now, we are here being treated like this. What\'s the point?"

Like most soldiers on service during the outbreak, these two young soldiers lost their families to the infected.

Once more, silence enveloped the room covered in darkness.

But then...

"Why not leave the military, then?"

A voice from the dark made the two young soldiers jump. Well, only Geronimo. Padua could not even move from the pain. Nevertheless, the poor soldier did not need to lift himself up at all.

The two soldiers were surprised. They did not hear the door open at all. It was impossible not to notice it as it was a cranky metal door that barely had maintenance. Even just opening the lock would create too much noise.

Despite the surprise, the two could not help but squint their eyes. Even if their eyes adapted to the darkness already, it was still hard to see a person\'s face.

But then, like magic, a crystal appeared and floated above the shoulder of their guest. It illuminated the room, making their eyes hurt a bit.

As their eyes adapted to the light, rather than the floating crystal, the person itself surprised them further. Out of all people that could possibly appear here, it was actually the man that gave them the fried food earlier. It was the person that introduced their group as messengers from the military settlement in Infanta.

They could not believe it as there was no way that anyone not a member of the military stationed here would be allowed to enter this place. Well, not even the soldiers not close to their fat captain. And considering what happened earlier, there was no way that this person would be allowed here at all.

"How did you..."

Geronimo asked in wonder.

"Does it really matter how I got here?"

The person asked back.

"I don\'t think it matters anymore, but just who the hell are you, really?"

Padua replied.

"Aren\'t I a messenger from New Infanta Settlement that came here to deliver a package?" The man replied. "If you\'re asking for a name, then just call me Mark."

The two soldiers stared at Mark like a weirdo. Well, that was not wrong either way. Compared to all the people they met before, Mark was giving them a mysteriously weird vibe.

"What do you need from us?"

Geronimo stopped thinking about how Mark managed to enter this place. What was more important was why he was here talking to them.

"Hmm..." Mark tapped his chin. "Because I owe you two a bit?"

Those words made the two very confused. Mark did not mind their expressions. And out of who knows where? He took out another plastic box.

"You two haven\'t eaten a single bite yet, right?"

Mark approached Geronimo and handed the thing in his hand. Unexpectedly, the contents of the plastic box were another serving of that fried food.

This made the stomach of the two young soldiers grown without control. But then, it finally entered Geronimo\'s mind.

"You did it on purpose, didn\'t you?"

"Dude, what are you talking about?"

Padua asked his friend. However, Geronimo\'s eyes were focused on Mark.

"Giving us food in front of everyone... You did that on purpose. In the first place, it was strange that you also called Padua. I won\'t be that surprising if you called me and gave it to me alone but calling him... It\'s as if you knew that we are close friends."

Geronimo was now glaring at Mark. The more he thought about it, the more things became clearer. Well, at least in some parts. After all, he could not think of how Mark knew that he and Padua were friends. Even his intention was a huge question mark.

And Mark...

"Yep, I did it on purpose."

Did not even deny it. It made the two soldiers look at with frowns on their faces.

"Don\'t look at me like that. That\'s why I said that I owed you two a bit."

"You owe us? Look at Padua right now!"

Geronimo stood up in anger.

"Are you really going to shout like that? You want to get the attention of that fat guy?"

Mark said with a shrug.

"And so?"

Geronimo replied. He was really angry at Mark for putting them into this mess.

However, it seemed that Padua was calmer than Geronimo at this moment.

"Dude, calm down," Padua called out. "This guy can enter this place without being caught. Your shouting might not matter to him at all. Instead, we will get in more trouble for making too much noise."

The words of his friend made Geronimo pipe down a bit.

"If you are angry at me because of his injuries, then make him drink this."

Like before, Mark seemed to be taking things out of nowhere as now, he held a sealed test tube-shaped vial. He then threw it to Geronimo, forcing the soldier to catch it.

"What is this?"

Of course, the soldier would ask.

"One of the things I\'m supposed to deliver."

"What?"

Of course, the two were surprised.

"Don\'t worry. That\'s mine. I didn\'t touch the contents of the package at all. I already said at the gates earlier. The case had a passcode." Mark explained. "As for what that is, just make your friend drink it, and you will see. It\'s not harmful and even though the production is quite slow, that liquid is already being used in Infanta."

Geronimo stared at Mark for a bit. However, he could not tell whether Mark was lying or not. In fact, it felt like the things he was nothing but the truth.

The young soldier looked at the item in his hand before turning to his friend.

"Want to drink this?"

"Just let me drink it." Padua gritted his teeth as he forcibly lifted his body up. With Geronimo\'s help, he drank the contents of the test tube.

And there, the magic ensued.

Padua\'s face slowly eased as the pain in his body started to vanish. His bruises started to heal at an alarming rate. Even his cracked lips and gums healed perfectly. Well, he was still feeling some muscle aches at the parts that were rather heavily injured.

"See? It\'s not harmful." Mark spoke. "It can immediately heal light injuries. Heavier ones will take time, though. And it can\'t heal fatal injuries, unfortunately."

"To give us something this valuable..."

Geronimo looked at the empty vial in his hand. He definitely knew the value of this thing in these times where a single scratch might lead to death.

"Just why are you doing all of this?"

Geronimo asked.

"I have my reasons," Mark replied. "But for now, I want to ask you two some questions."

"What questions?"

Padua asked this time.

"About the current situation of Catanduanes. The information I have is quite outdated. Also by the looks of it, there are some things that are not reported at all. I want to know everything you can tell me."

At Mark\'s request, Geronimo and Padua looked at each other.

Geronimo was still angry at Mark for using him and Padua. However, since Mark went ahead and gave them valuable medicine, he had no choice but to comply. There was nothing to lose if what Mark only wanted was information.