Mutagen

A soldier entered the Principal\'s office. He spoke, looking at a military officer standing at the center of the room.

The military officer did not look old. He was just around his early thirties. It was strange as military-led groups of survivors usually would have their older veteran soldiers lead them. He was standing behind a table with a drawn map pinned on it. Around him were several more soldiers with ages not far from the officer\'s age.

It seemed that they were in the middle of a meeting. The soldiers were discussing things while pointing at many parts of the map on the table.

The room fell silent at the arrival of the soldier. They knew that this soldier was among those that were sent to trace the two beasts about an hour ago.

"Speak."

The officer spoke, allowing the soldier to report.

"Sir, it looks like there is no sign of the two monsters anywhere." The soldier estated. "We went about two kilometers east to track them. It seemed that the two continued flying eastward and did not land anywhere close."

Hearing the report, the soldiers inside the Principal\'s Office were relieved. It was a shock to everyone when two gigantic monsters suddenly flew above their settlement out of nowhere. It was fortunate that the two monsters seemed to be in the middle of a chase and were not interested in the humans below them.

Now that it seemed that the two monsters that passed by were not a threat anymore, they could get back to their initial goal.

It was to find out a way to travel north. However, they were unable to because of the hostile settlement on the way.

The drawn map on the table was actually something they made while trying to find a safe route towards the north.

Unfortunately, up until now, they were stuck in this place.

It was already a month since they ended up in this place, unable to continue on.

The soldier that reported already left after finishing his duty. There were other things to be done. He could not idle around.

"Sir! Sir!"

Not long, however, the office was alerted once more. Another soldier came to report. However, as the report was not transmitted through the radio, it might not be something urgent.

"What is it now?"

The military officer asked with a frown, wondering what was going on today. They had been here for a month. Although animal attacks happen, it was nothing to fret about. For the lookout soldiers to report directly to him, there was something unusual that was going on.

"There\'s a group of survivors that arrived at the gate. We let them in and are under surveillance status. Two men, two women, and four children. The man who seemed to be their leader asked for you, Sir."

"Did he ask for me specifically? Mentioning any name or anything of the sort?"

The officer asked.

"No, Sir." The soldier replied. "Their leader only asked to communicate with the person in charge of this outpost. There were also other strange things about the group, especially since it seemed that only one person among them can speak Cebuano. They were using Tagalog as they conversed. They don\'t seem to be locals."

After hearing the soldier\'s report, the officer frowned. He could not help but feel suspicious.

"Had they been checked if there are any infected with them?"

The officer asked.

"Doctor Reyes had already been called." The soldier replied. "She might already be there at this moment. There was one thing to note, Sir. One of the girls might be a Mutator. She had green-colored hair."

The soldiers in the room were surprised. With that, they concluded their meeting and went to check the survivors that arrived together.

***

Inside a heavily guarded house near the gates, Mark\'s group were waiting. Right now, the only ones here were his family, Emika, Edzel, and Pearl. Amihan was also with them but was hiding inside Mark\'s backpack. The rest were left outside. They were told to standby in case that something went wrong.

After all, even if the outpost was run by soldiers, there was no guarantee that they were not hostile.

Mark\'s group approached the outpost from the western area of the road. The school\'s main gate was facing north along the curve of the main road. If they were to approach from the other side, it would be even more suspicious since that direction was heading towards the north where the settlement of Tamawos was located.

Upon arrival near the school, guns were pointed at Mark\'s group. It felt stifling. However, as Mark\'s group did not show any signs of hostility, they were let in with some conditions.

The weapons they carried were temporarily confiscated. It was something that did not bother Mark since the ones they had outside were just for appearances. The weapons they actually use were now stored inside Mark\'s and Mei\'s rings.

Mark\'s group was then brought to this room near the gates. This place was quite strict. The room was heavily guarded. It seemed that the soldiers were too cautious about outsiders.

A few minutes after Mark\'s group was brought to this room, a woman came in with a few soldiers as her guards.

"Hello, I\'m Doctor Janice Reyes." The woman introduced herself while keeping enough distance from Mark\'s group. "Your group must have gone a long journey to find us here. Sorry that we had you all waiting here. They wanted me to examine you all. We needed to assure that none of you are infected."

It was the correct protocol to practice. Mark had no qualms about it. Still, he could not help but stare at the doctor. Unexpectedly, this doctor was actually a Mutator. He could not help but wonder what ability this doctor had.

That was when Mark noticed. Although Doctor Janice just said that she would examine his group. However, he could not see any medical tool on her that would help her do that.

But then, Doctor Janice glanced at the soldier to her right, and the latter nodded. She then turned to Mark\'s group. Her eyes released a slight glow.

Mark could not help but look interested. It seemed that her Mutator ability was her eyes. Was it some sort of x-ray or detecting vision?

Doctor Janice stared at Mark\'s group. All of them were sitting on a row of wooden desk chairs, so it was easier for the doctor to just pan her eyes on everyone.

But then, Doctor Janice could not help but step back. Her face was pale in both shock and fear.

Stepping back, the doctor almost fell.

"Doctor!"

A soldier exclaimed and caught the doctor.

The other soldiers nocked their guns and aimed at Mark\'s group in unison. When considering the doctor\'s reaction, it was reasonable for them to do so.

Edzel could not help but react, putting his arm in front of Pearl, protecting her. Emika also paled. Even if she was a mature-minded girl, having several guns pointed at her would feel frightening. It was only Mark\'s family that seemed to be unfazed about the situation. Miracle was even tilting her head in confusion as to what was happening.

"Stop! Lower your guns!"

Doctor Janice frantically shouted as she saw the action of the soldiers with her. Her eyes fell on Mark, and she gulped her saliva. Mark was just staring there...

Menacingly...

One wrong move from any of the soldiers here and everyone would be wiped out.

Doctor Janice knew that.

"But Doctor!"

One of the soldiers tried to argue.

"PUT. DOWN. YOUR. GUNS!"

Doctor Janice emphasized her words while keeping her eyes on Mark and the girls beside him.

The soldiers hesitated to obey. However, with how agitated the doctor was towards their action, they could only put down their guns. Still, they made sure not to put down their guards. After all, the doctor\'s reaction just now was suspicious.

"What is happening here?"

Suddenly, several soldiers entered the room. They were wearing officer uniforms. There was no doubt that they were the higherups of this place.

"Doctor Reyes, why are you shouting?" The officer then noticed the doctor\'s complexion. "What happened to you?"

"Sir Dela Rosa..." Doctor Janice approached the leading officer and whispered. "Can we talk outside? Let\'s get your soldiers outside first."

The officer seemed surprised. Nonetheless, he trusted the doctor and ordered everyone to go out. Not a single soldier remained inside the room. The only ones left were the ones guarding the door outside.

Inside the room, everyone was left confused.

"Just what happened?"

Edzel asked.

"Who knows?" Mark replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe she saw something that she\'s not supposed to."

Still, it was not what Mark\'s attention was focused on. Instead, he was quite surprised. The group of military officers just now, there were eight people. Unexpectedly, six of them were Mutators. It was a record considering that there were very few Mutators among the military in other settlements he had been to.

***

Outside the room, quite a distance away, Doctor Janice and the officer were talking. The other soldiers were also nearby but only waiting for orders from the officer.

"Just what happened there?" The officer asked. "What did you see?"

The officer was surely aware of the doctor\'s ability.

"That group." Doctor Janice took a deep breath. "The young man and the girl beside him, they were Evolvers. The rest, they were all Mutators."

The officer was surprised. It was a group of powerful people. Still, why did the doctor had that reaction?

"Sir Emilio Dela Rosa," The doctor stared at the officer with serious eyes. "No matter what, do not provoke that group."

Officer Emilio frowned.

"Are they dangerous people?"

The officer asked in urgency.

"I don\'t know." Doctor Janice shook her head. "What I know is that this group had the most powerful Mutators I had ever seen."

"How powerful are they?" Officer Emilio asked. "We also had Mutators here. Don\'t say that we can\'t win. We had more people."

"I don\'t really know." The doctor glared at the officer. "And I don\'t want to know."

The doctor then leaned her back on the wall beside her, facing the room they just got out from.

"They came to our gates despite their strength. Although they might have motives, they might not be hostile. Just make sure not to provoke them."

Doctor Janice strictly warned.

"Their leader called for you, right?" Doctor Janice turned to the officer. "Don\'t be arrogant in front of him. He\'s the strongest among them."

Then, the doctor started to walk away.

"Where are you going?"

Officer Emilio called out.

"My job here is to check if there\'s anyone infected among them, right? I already confirmed that there\'s none. I can go now since I don\'t want to stay any longer. If something went wrong, it\'s all on you soldiers."

Officer Emilio watched the doctor walk away in a hurry. He could not help but want to smack the head of that woman. She just left after giving them something to be scared out.

Nonetheless, Officer Emilio could not ignore her warnings. Doctor Janice was an unruly and jolly person. It was rare for her to be as serious as this.

"Sir, what are your orders?"

Another officer came close and asked after the doctor left with her guards.

"I\'ll meet the leader of that group."

Officer Emilio declared.

"Then, should we prepare or do something as we go back in?"

The other officer asked, only to see Officer Emilio staring at him.

"I\'ll meet their leader. Alone."

"But Sir..."

The soldiers around seemed to be concerned.

"There\'s no need to fret. Doctor Reyes just gave me a bit of a warning. It should be fine. It\'s just better if I meet them alone. You all wait here."

"But Sir!"

Of course, the soldiers did not want to leave their leader alone with seemingly dangerous soldiers.

"This is an order."

Officer Emilio spoke with a stern expression.

Since their leader insisted, the soldiers were left outside as they saw their leader enter the room. Even so, they prepared for the worst as they readied their weapons once something unexpected happened.