Mutagen

"I don\'t think that it\'s the worst situation yet." Mark suddenly spoke as he walked side by side with the Major. "If it is Jones that is standing as a proxy, it means he\'s still receiving orders from General Faustino. I don\'t think the crocodiles would allow a mercenary to replace the General to command the military."

With a sigh, Major Bautista nodded. Although Mark did not seem to be trying to console him, he was stating facts.

If General Faustino certainly was in an unrecoverable state, those crocodiles would be racing on which puppet would take the reigns of the military.

With those thoughts in mind, the group continued walking. Karlene was staying quiet this time and was not pulling any childish antics. In the least, she could read the mood of her father. On the side, Karla was curiously looking around the surroundings while holding onto Mark\'s hand. Chaflar followed behind the group like an obedient dog. Lastly, Spera, who was still on Chaflar\'s back, watched the surroundings meticulously.

By the time they arrived near the clusters of tents, soldiers were already waiting for the group. In the lead was Jones Galley, who was now standing as the General\'s proxy.

It was not surprising since Chaflar could be seen in the sky as he landed no matter where a person was in the settlement.

If Chaflar appeared, Mark and his group should be there. And if they were safe, then it was also likely for the people that left with Mark the last time he came here to be the same.

Seeing Major Bautista walking beside Mark, the expression of relief floated in the faces of the soldiers. It was undeniable that among the high-ranking officers of the military in this settlement, Major Bautista was the most popular. He was a good-natured soldier and a responsible superior. Not to mention that his daughter was an actress back before the apocalypse began. This fact added to his popularity even from the refugees that knew about it.

Even Jones had an amicable relationship with the Major as he welcomed the latter with a brotherly hug.

"Good to see you back, Alfonso."

Jones said as he tapped the Major\'s back.

"I can\'t say that I\'m not happy too, but..."

Major Bautista reluctantly replied as he glanced in the destroyed surroundings of the settlement. After all, who would feel happy that everything was going fine when he left but was now destroyed with he returned.

"I can\'t say I don\'t understand you. The whole settlement got toppled to the ground. Many died and got injured. But hey, look at the bright side. We are still alive."

Jones replied as he let go of the Major.

A positive outlook. That was what anyone needed the most in these dark times. It was not wrong to wallow in sadness and mourn the dead. But a positive outlook was what was required to continue moving forwards.

"Good to see you too."

Jones extended his hand towards Mark while also nodding to Karlene.

With a sigh, Mark returned the gesture. He did not say anything, though, and had a grumpy look.

Thinking that Mark was displeased about something, Major Bautista pushed the topic.

"What about the General?"

Major Bautista asked.

At that question, Jones shrugged. He also did not mind Mark\'s attitude. It was the same every time.

"Follow me."

The mercenary said.

They entered the settlement, or what remained of it.

Before the catastrophe, the military compound was situated in the elementary school northwest of the settlement. It was to ensure that they could respond to dangers that would come from the direction of the mountains in General Nakar.

Now, the military encampment was built in the southernmost area of the settlement. With the Agos River widened and deepened, the dangers from that direction lessened considerably.

On the other hand, the dangers from the south grew.

There was no only the infected. It was likely that the soldiers also encountered the [Mechids], as the settlement was in a flat land area. And considering how the soldiers behaved as they fought the mechanical shark in the river, they did not only fight the [Mechids] once or twice.

While walking, Karlene caught up to Mark and walked beside him.

"What\'s wrong?"

She asked.

Of course, Karlene would ask. Since they arrived, Mark was oozing with a "don\'t talk to me" aura. His mood was still fine a few minutes ago. Even Karla was confused as she was staring at Mark, forgetting her curiosity about the surroundings.

"Just don\'t mind me."

Mark let out another sigh.

Karlene became even more confused. Mark seemed to be feeling heavy for some reason.

And, of course, it was not surprising that Mark\'s mood would become foul and heavy.

It was because the entire settlement was oozing with negative emotions. This was the worst place for a [Empath] to be going into. The negative energies that Mark was absorbing were too heavy that his trait as a [Mutator], erasing his emotions, was lagging behind.

This atmosphere was not unexpected to a whole place devastated by a disaster. Even if many died, there were still a few thousand people living. The collective negative emotions they all had were too much for Mark to handle immediately. Furthermore, the negative emotions were continuously generated as long as the people felt remorse for their loss.

The feeling was sickening.

Mark\'s state made Karlene and even Spera worry. They had no idea what was going on, after all.

Soon, they arrived at the largest tent in the military encampment. It was not the largest because it was the General\'s quarters. It was because the tent was the infirmary.

Many injured soldiers lay on makeshift beds. There were even those that lacked beds. They could only lay down on sheets of wood and flattened cardboard boxes.

The group entered, and Jones led them to the innermost area of the tent.

There, General Faustino laid on the bed. Since a group of people entered at the same time, the General noticed them immediately. The relief on his old face was clear as he saw Major Bautista and his daughter both safe and sound.

However, Major Bautista\'s face was the complete opposite. He was shaking as he approached the General\'s bed.

The General seemed to be in good condition, albeit seemingly needing rest. Aside from his legs.

General Faustino\'s left leg was all bandaged and even braced with metal sheets. It was tightly tied up from leg to foot, ensuring that it would not be moved even a little.

On the other hand, right leg...

The General\'s right leg was missing. All that was left was a bandaged stump cut about four inches from the pelvis.

"General, your legs..."

That was what Major Bautista first uttered upon arriving beside the General\'s bed.

General Faustino could only sigh as he saw the dismayed face of his subordinate, no, his friend.

"It just happened." General Faustino sighed and shrugged. "I\'m just glad that I\'m still alive to see you in one piece."

It was the same as what Jones said before. The journey might be hard, but even if he was now handicapped, the General chose to move forwards.

"Just what happened?"

Major Bautista asked.

The General had no reason to not tell the incident.

***

Apparently, General Faustino, several military officers, and two squads of soldiers were outside the settlement when the catastrophe struck.

Their scouts found an [infected Nest], just a kilometer south of the settlement. They all went there to assess the situation on-site before taking action. After all, the [Infected] that could cause a nest to appear could not be taken lightly.

They were already on the way back after assessing the situation. They needed to plan the attack and deal with the threat as quickly as possible.

But then, the disaster struck.

From the sky, metallic debris rained after the sound of an explosion.

Many of the space debris rained onto their convoy. The soldiers tried their best to rush back to the settlement, trying to escape the catastrophe.

However, their speed was not enough.

A large piece of space debris landed not far from the road. The impact blew away the vehicles of the convoy, buffeting them with stones as fast and as strong as a sniper bullet.

The military trucks were pushed to the roadside and overturned. The smaller vehicles were blown off the road, rolling and crashing on anything that blocked their paths.

And General Faustino was riding on one of those small vehicles.

The vehicle that General Faustino rode was thrown off to a commercial building. Then, a large piece of metal came flying from the debris, slashing through the vehicle, even causing the building to collapse.

The entire three-story building collapsed on the military vehicle. There was no way that the vehicle would remain intact with all that. Even more for those riding inside the vehicle.

That piece of metal did not only slice the vehicle. It sliced off General Faustino\'s right leg off. It was already a good thing, considering that the four other people inside the vehicle got sliced through their waists. The General only managed to avoid death because he tried to jump off the vehicle immediately after it crashed, despite how disoriented his head was.

Nonetheless, he still got caught by that piece of metal. The building then collapsed onto him and the vehicle. General Faustino was buried alive, bleeding to death. Luckily, one of the foundations of the building shielded the General from being crushed to death. His left leg was not lucky, however. As a  concrete wall fell unto it as he tried to drag himself to safety. The General also received other injuries. His right ear was torn, and he dislocated his left arm. There was also a long gash on his back.

***

"If not for Jones, I don\'t know if I can still be here."

General Faustino said, looking at Jones with gratitude.

***

Jones Galley was also with the General at that time. He was only riding on a different vehicle. It was because the vehicle the General was on was for higher-ranking military officers.

A [Super Soldier] would not die easily from that. He even managed to dig the General out of the rubble and carried him towards the settlement on foot. Unfortunately, the tourniquet that Jones made did not stop the bleeding of the right leg entirely. By the time they arrived, the General was already unconscious.

Upon arriving in the settlement, they made preparations for emergency treatment for the General. He lost a lot of blood. They needed to stop the bleeding as soon as possible.

Jones also rallied the soldiers for a rescue mission. After all, there were still injured soldiers at the site of the accident.

But then, the earthquake came, destroying everything.

Not only did the General\'s treatment got interrupted, but they were unable to conduct the rescue mission.

The only good thing was that the General\'s life was saved, thanks to the [Regeneration Medicine] that the scientists in this settlement developed.

***

"Aside from Me and Jones, everyone else in the convoy is either dead or MIA."

General Faustino said with a sigh.

"And among the military officers in charge of this settlement, there\'s only you and me left, Alfonso."

General Faustino added.

"There are only three officers with you that time, right?" Major Bautista asked in surprise. "What happened to the other two?"

"The earthquake took their lives, unfortunately." It was Jones that replied. "They took shelter inside the school when those things fell from space. Then, the earthquake suddenly came and collapsed the school building unto them. They were just two of many people that got buried inside their dwellings."

"As such, the military, we, are in dire traits right now."

General Faustino declared, panning his eyes to the scene inside the tent.