Mutagen

It was one of the places where Mark\'s group passed by, and some of the survivors from Atlantic City split up from the group.

The place still managed to hold up against the dangers of the apocalypse.

Well, that was the circumstances of the past.

The supposedly secured school was now brimming with the infected. School grounds used by the soldiers to train, or the school building occupied by the survivors, all of those places had ceased to exist.

"How did it come to this..."

Captain Morrison, the leader of the soldiers that occupied Audubon High School, could only mutter as he leaned his back on the barricaded door.

The Audubon High School Settlement was no more.

Just yesterday, a horde of infected wandered into the area. No one knew where these infected came from, but these infected all moved here from the west.

It was no news to the occupants of the high school that the infected tend to gather in areas where there was a human presence, especially if it was a large group of survivors. Every time that an infected wander around the high school, or any settlement, the survivors had no choice but to deal with the threat before it grew bigger.

But in yesterday\'s case, fighting the horde was the worst decision the survivors of Audubon High School could make.

The horde they saw was only had around a hundred infected. In the face of the soldiers armed with heavy guns, it was nothing. Even if the infected had mutated ones with them, the soldiers could dispatch them while hiding behind the walls.

What they did not expect was another massive horde following the first one. The sounds of the battle attracted the incoming infected.

The massive horde of infected came like a raging tsunami.

It was a horde that possibly had more than a thousand infected, with a sizable percentage composed of mutated infected.

The survivors were caught off guard without preparations or chance to abandon the school.

They tried to resist, but the firepower and defenses of the survivors were far from enough.

Audubon High School was overrun by the infected in less than an hour. Most of the survivors died, leaving only thirty lucky people that managed to reach the rooftop.

Among these survivors, there were only five soldiers, including Captain Morrison.

"Captain, do you have any plan in mind?" A disheartened soldier asked Captain Morrison. "Although we managed to salvage some food and water from the supplies, it can only last us three days at most."

It was the worst problem. Even if the number of survivors severely dwindled, the supplies they managed to save would not last them long. Most of their food and water was stored on the first floor of another building. Even their weapons and ammunition were the same.

But who would want to go down?

Captain Morrison stood up and took a peek below the school building.

It was a sea infected, with numbers more than when the horde arrived yesterday.

They were lucky that there were only a few infected that could climb walls. Captain Morrison also blew up the stairs leading to the rooftop. It was because of this that they managed to survive.

But going down there? There was no need to mention returning with supplies in hand. One step in the floor below would likely kill them all.

p "I\'m sorry, but I had no idea either."

Captain Morrison replied, disheartened. It was a hopeless situation for them. Either eaten by the infected. Due to starvation and dehydration. Or by their own hands. Everyone would die here.

Unless a miracle happened.

Some of the survivors could not help but wish that the UFOs that passed by had taken them instead.

***

Day 154 - 3:25 PM - Atlantic City High School, Great Island, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States of America

"Damn it! That Alston!"

Major Samuel McGuire slammed on his desk the moment he returned to his office.

The military research institute built to monitor and study the infected in the now isolated Atlantic City. It was what this place stood as.

But, now, the whole place was in turmoil.

It was already shocking that they saw a bunch of unidentified flying objects leaving Earth. The worse thing was, in front of everyone, Professor Alphfa Alston was beamed up into one of those motherships.

Thinking that the Professor was being abducted, it was not surprising that some of the soldiers opened fire at the alien ship. It was fortunate that the aliens aboard the ship did not even care about the bullets and just left without retaliating. Nonetheless, it was a grim experience.

After the unsettling event, Major McGuire immediately led the investigation inside Professor Alston\'s office. It was a place that was off-limits since the start. There was no need to explain as Professor Alston had the same standing as the other two heads of this research institute. Not even Professor Alston\'s assistant was allowed in his office.

Only to find out that all of his research was gone.

The documents, the data inside his computers, and even anything that could store information. None of it was present. It was as if everything was snapped out of existence.

No.

Did those things exist in the first place?

The whole office appeared to be mostly untouched. Aside from the footprints and the cleaned-up desk, there was no trace that anything inside was used by anyone. Some even accumulated dust on them.

It was as if Professor Alston never really used anything inside his office and just stayed there just because the office existed.

And the truth dawned into Major McGuire.

It was likely that Professor Alston was not abducted. Instead, he actually returned to where he belonged.

"Sh*t!" Major McGuire sat down on his chair in dismay. "Just what the hell is the government thinking? Why did they allow an alien to lead the research here?"

Of course, it was not surprising that Major McGuire would think as such. In the first place, it was suspicious that the government sent a young scientist, not to mention placing him in a position equal to his.

As someone that came from a long-standing family of soldiers, Major McGuire was a bit privy to the hidden connections of the American Government. Unfortunately, his current standing was not enough to know the specifics, although he was given hints by his late father, a military general in the past.

The information about the US Government cooperating with extraterrestrial beings was not new. But who would have thought that Professor Alston was one of those outworlders?

BAM!

While his heart was in turmoil, the door of his office was burst open.

"Major McGuire! What in the world is happening? Professor Alston was taken by those aliens?"

A roaring voice of a woman followed the sound of the door violently opening. It was the second in command in this facility, Captain Sherry Yorkshire. She was personally overseeing the mission of her troops. But had to return as soon as she could after the sightings of UFOs.

And immediately after returning, it was the news of Professor Alston being abducted by the UFOs that entered her ears. Being the head scientist in this facility, the Professor\'s value was far exceeded everyone here. If Professor Alston was gone, all of the things they did since the start would end up useless.

Ignoring Captain Yorkshire, Major McGuire turned to his secretary.

"Did we manage to establish contact with the HQ?"

"Hey! Don\'t ignore m-!!!"

"Wait for a second."

Captain Yorkshire tried to complain about being ignored, but she was faced with the Major\'s hand and his grim, serious expression.

Taking the silence as the cue, the secretary finally managed to answer. Nonetheless, it was not a positive answer.

"Unfortunately, Sir, all forms of long-distance radio communication are facing interference. Even our top-notch radio equipment could only achieve clear communication within a one-kilometer radius. Any distance further would cause a decline in transmission until nothing could be transmitted and all that was left was static."

"F*ck."

Major McGuire cursed.

A few days ago, they lost communication with the HQ. At first, they thought that something happened there until they realized that it was equipment failure. Still, it was strange that all the radio equipment they had was facing the same issue. There was definitely something happening around the world at this moment.

***

Day 154 - 4:02 PM -  Chestnut Neck Boatyard, Old New York Road, Port Republic, New Jersey, United States of America

A good and popular place for boat owners and enthusiasts of water activities. Their service was pleasant, and their staff was friendly. It was what the Chestnut Neck Boatyard was known for.

Now, of course, it was nothing but a dilapidated place that became a graveyard not only for boats but also for people.

After quite a long time that the place had nothing but roaming infected, two people moved in.

"Lady Amelie, you should eat some fish."

Hawker spoke as he handed a grilled fish pierced with a metal pick to the woman in front of him.

"Fish again... Can\'t we have something else today?"

Lady Amelie complained as she stared at the barely appetizing fish held by Hawker.

"Lady Amelie, I know you\'re sick of this, but we can\'t really splurge on our supplies. We don\'t have the luxury anymore."

Hawker tried to convince Lady Amelie.

With a sigh, Lady Amelie took the fish dejectedly.

"Don\'t call me Lady anymore." Amelie decided. "I\'m no longer the leader of the Hamilton Raiders."

The Hamilton Raiders, a ragtag band of lawless people that stationed themselves in Hamilton Commons. It was until they provoked a monster that led to the death of all but three members of the group.

Now, the three surviving members had no choice but to live in this remote place, twenty-three kilometers away northwest of their former base. It was a place away from most of the dangers of the infected but not too far from a few towns where they could get supplies.

"Are you sure?" Hawker asked. "That\'s the only thing left from when the time you are leading us."

"It\'s just a title." Amelie harrumphed as she took a bite of fish. "The group no longer exists. Besides, sooner or later, it will collapse. Being divided by factions wanting to take over won\'t make it last that long. Although I did not hope for it to end this way."

Amelie had the plan to leave the group when the friction between factions got too severe. She planned to at least take a good amount of supplies with her when she escaped with Gregor.

Unfortunately, not only they had to escape sooner than planned, but they also took nothing with them aside from a few guns and several magazines of ammunition. Amelie could not help but reminisce the time she could enter a room filled with weapons, from guns to swords.

"If it\'s just a title, then... Don\'t call me Hawker. It\'s Randy."

Randy also decided to throw away the title he had. It was nothing but an Alias that was given to him because of his ability as a Mutant.

"Randy, huh?" Amelie took a strange look at the guy. "Your request came in too random."

"I\'m just copying you."

Hawker retorted.

Amelie shook her head and turned towards the river. There, a bulky man was busy catching fish. He was not using any tools but only his bare hands. Yet, the fish he targeted had no choice but to get caught by those hands that moved at insane speeds.

"Gregor! That\'s enough. Join us and eat. Our lunch is already late!"

Being called by Amelie, Gregor meekly nodded and hauled in his catch.

At that scene, Randy could only wonder how Amelie managed to tame the Jersey Devil.