Mutagen

Odette uttered as she gazed at the cloudy sky.

Standing beside the girl was her brother, Siegfried, and their cousin, Hannah. Not far in front of them was their mother, Odelina, who was still fighting a couple of infected.

The City Park was about two hundred meters southwest of the warehouse. This place was not within the directions where most of the infected were coming through. Nonetheless, it was too close to the warehouse for them to ignore. As such, Odelina took her twins and her niece here to get some battle experience. It was hitting two birds with one stone since they also eliminated any threat that might come to the warehouse.

With Odelina holding the line of the infected, Hannah with a composite bow, and the twins both with crossbows, they were doing well. The children missed a lot of shots with their crossbows, and their shooting speed was also quite slow. It was not surprising as they were both children. And to say, they were already better than most children their age.

Hannah, on the other hand, was very good with her bow. Her posture and behavior as she released her arrows showed that she was trained well with this weapon.

As they were about to finish, that was when the UFOs flew up the sky.

All of them saw the clusters of unidentified flying objects soaring up the sky. The children felt a mix of fear, amazement, and confusion. After all, it was a strange and horrific sight to behold.

BAM!

Odelina, with her fist covered with bone armor, bashed the head of the last infected to the ground. With a loud cracking sound, the infected stopped moving.

Odelina looked around, ignoring the dozens of dead bodies the lay before her.

Seeing that there was no moving infected in the immediate vicinity, Odelina gazed at the sky. All she could see was the holes left in the clouds after the UFOs pierced through in sonic speeds.

"The aliens are leaving... Are they going to cut off their connection to the US government and other countries?" It was a question that Odelina could not help but wonder. "Once they left Earth, allowing it to face disaster on its own, it will leave a scar on their relationship to Earth\'s countries."

And then, Odelina shook her head.

"It\'s not the time to wonder about these things. It is not within my business anymore. Besides, those aliens leaving in a hurry is not a good sign."

Odelina surveyed the surroundings. There were still some infected in the distance. All of them were [Eaters] as they moved slower than the ones they just killed. There were even some that seemed to have been attracted to the sound of fighting.

However, the remaining infected did not seem to pose any immediate threat to the warehouse.

"We\'re stopping here," Odelina said as she approached the three. "Let\'s return to the warehouse."

Hearing that they were done here, Odette and Siegfried sighed in relief. Their mother was quite the spartan if she was training them. The two could not help how their cousin, who was just a few years older, could keep up with their mother.

What the twins did not know was what their mother was thinking. Odelina thought of making the children help with the supplies. Carrying a few boxes of food up the mountain was a good way to build up their stamina and sense of balance.

***

Day 154 - 1:30 PM - Norfolk Southern Reading Yard, Reading City, Pennsylvania, United States of America

The Norfolk Southern Readin Yard. It was a rail yard located within the central areas of Reading City.

Now, however, instead of parked trains, it was flooded with infected. It was also where the tower of flesh was rooted.

Five meters wide at the base, a meter wide at the top, and about forty meters in height. That was how large and tall this tower of flesh was. Appearing like it was made of a pile of disgusting pulsating meat, one would wonder how it was standing up that high.

In the sky near the location of the tower of flesh, a silhouette of a woman was surprisingly present. With wings like a pigeon\'s, the woman flew around, surveying the vicinity of the rail yard.

"Au---- ca--- *SHHHHKK!"

Suddenly, the radio strapped to the woman\'s belt sounded. The sound transmission was broken. Thinking that she was outside the range of the radio, she flew back.

"Audrey! Can you hear me! Audrey!"

The radio sounded loud and clear as she finally established contact.

"I\'m here. Please, Sir Huey, don\'t shout." Audrey replied to the radio. "The signal was unstable earlier. Maybe the tower is outside the range of the radio."

She was Audrey Ocampo, one of the three people capable of flight within Mark\'s group. The other two were no one else but Mark and Mei.

She became a spy of Death Valley Settlement after her younger sister was caught by the criminals. After the attack of the infected horde in Real Militar Settlement, she was tasked to rile up the survivors and mutators together with another spy, only to get caught by Mark.

With her younger sister, Tullia Ocampo, rescued by Mark and joining his base, Audrey was also brought back and loyally served Mark\'s group ever since. Being the only other person in the group capable of flight, she was mostly tasked with reconnaissance through the sky.

Now, her task was to recon the tower of flesh. As it could possibly be the cause of the unusual behavior of the infected in the city. She was also the one in charge of scouting the waves of hordes that were behaving oddly.

Hearing what Audrey said, there was a slight pause on the radio. Finally, Huey replied.

"That should be impossible." Huey retorted. "The radio we are using right now had a maximum range of about twenty-nine kilometers. Even if the signal diminished because of the obstacles like buildings, we should be able to establish clear contact since that tower should be just around two kilometers from the warehouse."

"Did you do something different this time?"

Huey added.

"Nothing..." Audrey mulled. "Wait, I flew closer to the tower than yesterday. That is why I thought I flew out of range. Maybe it had something to do with the tower?"

Audrey could not help but look back at the tower as she spoke to the radio.

"Possibly," Huey replied in a serious voice. "Is there any change with the tower?"

"Seems to be the same since it appeared," Audrey replied.

"Good then. At least, we can predict that its only hordes that will come to us." Huey seemed to be a bit relieved. "You should return now and just scout around the warehouse. Miss Odel told everyone to return and get ready to leave."

"Got it."

Audrey replied as she took one last look at the tower of flesh before flying back to the warehouse.

***

Day 154 - 1:42 PM - Trekking Path, Mt. Penn, Reading City, Pennsylvania, United States of America

The people under Mark diligently carried the supplies from the warehouse up to the mountain. The refugees that stumbled across the base, the slaves who were freed from Death Valley Settlement, and even the members of the tribe that joined following a prophecy. All of them worked altogether in unity.

Among all those people carrying supplies, there were three young adults. Together, they pulled and pushed a large cart up the mountain.

"Aaron, pull the cart properly." Naomi, who was pushing behind the cart with Tullia, reminded Aaron who was pulling the cart. "If you slipped or let go, we might get crushed here."

"I\'m doing my best, you know?!" Arron complained. "Just push better if you don\'t want to get crushed."

"As if I\'m not doing it properly!" Naomi complained back and turned to the woman pushing beside her. "Right, Tullia?"

Tullia, on the other hand, could only shake her head and sigh. Both Naomi and Aaron were on another bickering spree. They were always like this, even back at the time when they were still slaves under the criminals of Death Valley Settlement.

"As usual, Tullia is just staying silent," Aaron commented on Tullia\'s behavior. "You better smile more, or you\'ll not find a man to marry in the future."

​ "I\'m not keen on finding one, so just shut up."

Tullia glared at the man pulling the cart in front, making him shiver.

"Alright! Alright! Don\'t glare!" Aaron sighed. "Seriously, you\'re glare gives me shivers."

"Hahaha! You\'re such a wimp." Naomi laughed. It was a kind of laugh that none of them would expect to see back in the days that they were still slaves.

"Anyway, it\'s hard carrying all these supplies up the mountain." Naomi shifted the topic. "Miss Spera can just open a portal inside the warehouse, right?"

"Apparently, they can\'t," Aaron immediately retorted. "I don\'t know the specifics, but there seemed to be a reason."

This made Naomi turn to Tullia.

"Hey, do you know why? You\'re closer to Sir Huey and the others than us. You and your sister are even joining Sir Huey\'s group when doing thins outside."

Pushing the cart, Tullia sighed.

"It\'s not really a secret, so I can tell you. But still, don\'t spread it unnecessarily."

"Okay. Okay. Why?"

Naomi curiously asked.

"They said that it had something to do with their magic and psychic power," Tullia explained. "I was there when Boss Mark told Miss Spera not to carelessly open portals in places the infected can easily access afterward. He said that their magic and psychic powers leave magical residue in the surroundings when used in large amounts or for a prolonged duration. And the infected might absorb that residue and mutate into something outrageous."

"Something outrageous?"

Aaron asked.

"Yeah. Something like an infected with magical powers. For Miss Spera\'s case, an infected jumping through portals."

Tullia\'s words made Naomi\'s and Aaron\'s spines shiver. An infected jumping through portals? Might as well kill them now.

Then, something came into Naomi\'s mind.

"Then isn\'t it bad that we are using the illusion magic of the Tikabalang\'s to protect the base and the Pagoda?"

She asked.

But the answer from Tullia, who also participated in clearing the area on the other side of Chiyo, the Night Everred Spirit Tree, was something that Naomi and Aaron feared.

"I think the illusion magic didn\'t really matter," Tullia said. "Infected Tikabalangs already exist, so... yeah, it didn\'t matter."

"Geh..." Naomi groaned, only to hear Tullia add more salt to the wound.

"Also, other infected folklore creatures exist. Like infected Sylphs remember? Miss Aephelia had a few under her control, and all of them can use wind magic. Only not to the extent that Miss Amihan could."

"Well, at least, those ones can be guarded against as long as one is careful." Aaron sighed but understood what Tullia was saying. "An infected jumping through portals is another huge issue. No one will expect that, and it will be able to easily destroy survivor settlements. No wonder they were being strict with Miss Spera\'s psychic powers."

"Haaahhh..." Naomi could not help but give out a long sigh. "Mutated infected, magical infected, folklore creatures, and now, even UFOs. The Earth we know before no longer exists, huh. I wish I can go back to the time when I\'m just a college student unnecessarily studying physics and algebra."

"There\'s no point crying over spilled milk, Naomi."

Aaron said, causing him to receive a glare from the back of his head.

It was when they suddenly heard the voice of something talking through a megaphone.

"Everyone, those heading up with supplies, that will be your last trip. Those that are going down to the warehouse, please turn back and return to the Pagoda. We will be leaving ahead of schedule. I repeat. We will be leaving ahead of schedule."

And then, the shadow of someone with wings flew across the path.

"It\'s your sister." Naomi turned to Tullia, who was staring at the woman that flew by. "Seriously, I also wish I had wings like her."

"You better not." Aaron suddenly interjected. "Who knows what you will do with your wings."

"You!"

And there, Tullia could only sigh as her two close friends started another round of bickering. With this scene here, no one would think that the three of them were mistreated slaves that almost died before.