章 74: Traveling to the First Stop
Day 3 – 5:40 AM – Meadowwood Avenue, Panapaan VIII, Bacoor City, Cavite, Philippines
SPLASH!
The dirty red tinted puddle of rain water let out a splashing sound as the wheel of a Refitted MB Sprinter Armored Van ran over it. The attachments of the refitted vehicle had red splotches dripping on them especially the V-shaped ram in front.
Inside the car, Mark sat behind the passenger's seat while peering through the tinted window. He could see the remains of the outbreak from this side. Despite the fact that the rain water had already washed the majority of it, Mark could still make out the splashes of blood on the walls and the street.
On the first day, Mark had already expected that it would rain. It seemed that the rain started to fall when Mark fell unconscious and did not notice it either as they holed up in the mall doing all the preparations yesterday. The rain continued to fall until past midnight the previous night. He only noticed the fact that it was raining when the military rescue squads entered the basement parking with wet attires and vehicles.
At the time of their departure from the mall, it was easy since the number of infected blocking their vehicle was significantly lower as most of the infected that gathered around the mall went after the military rescue convoy that left before them.
Still, it was not easy for them to go out of the vicinity of the highway. The traffic jam left during the start of the outbreak gave them a lot of headache. They had to slow down pushing the vehicles to the side as they had to traverse four lanes of lined up cars of all sizes. Some of the larger vehicles like buses and trucks were even left blocking other cars and they had to maneuver around these vehicles.
During these times, they had to slow down and of course, they got surrounded by more than a dozen of infected. Even though it was a smaller number than it was supposed to be in the previous days, it was still a large number. That moment, Mark had a practice session with one of the M16 assault rifles given to them and a new partner of his, a larger and sturdier machete he got from the mall storage. The machete he snatched from the gangsters already fulfilled its duty and abandoned back there in the mall as it was smaller and the blades were already filled with nicks and cracks due to overuse.
The guns they got from Capt. Theo were all paired with silencers, perfect for use during the apocalypse. Mark just wished that they had given them a little more variety of weapons or at least newer models. These M16 Assault Rifles were the standard issue in the military and was already overused in the past decades. While other countries were on the path of developing their own weapons and war vehicles, their country was still using these older models and were happy receiving hand overs from larger countries. Mark really found this frustrating.
Mark also hoped that those guys in uniform gave them other military equipment like night vision goggles and Kevlar vests. Even though the Kevlar vests would not really work much against the infected, it could at least lessen the threat they would receive from other survivors who held ill intent. The only things they got from the military were guns and ammunition after all. It looked like that the military were not only lacking in manpower but also equipment. The only thing they had more of was weapons.
After a little bit of trouble and shooting session, they finally managed to get off the highway and entered the branching road just before the Electricity distribution office Mark had been to the other day. At that time, it was brimming with people but now, the front glass walls and doors of the office were smashed and blood and flesh from the edges of the broken glass were obvious.
Back to the scenery the vehicle had driven past, the signs the outbreak left were plenty. There were a lot of abandoned houses and those houses that had windows without railings to cover were broken down. Dismantled body parts and decapitated corpses littered the street. There was also a lot of garbage scattered on the road.
While Mark was peering by the window, there were times he could detect people of some of the houses as they drove through the street. Some of these people were even peering at their second floor windows as they heard a vehicle passing through. It looked like that some of them even had the notion to call for help but held back as to not gather the attention of the infected.
There were also those who actually shouted to ask for help but the people inside the van would not hear their shouts due to sound proofing. Inside the car, only Mark could detect their intentions. Of course, he disregarded their pleas. He did not choose to venture this dangerous world for them but to find his friends. If he started to help one of these people he did not even knew, more and more would come until they were overwhelmed and could not control the situation anymore
That was just how people were after all.
BAM!
A face appeared in front of Mark before getting left by the vehicle. It was not a human or a purposely planned jump scare. It was an infected that got swept to the side by the V-shaped ram in front of the car. The infected was hit hard that its body bounced off the vehicle it hit that they just passed and splattered its face in front of Mark. Of course, the hard to scare Mark did not even put the event in his eyes. His eyelids did not even twitch.
As the scenery of houses they passed by was redundant, Mark grew tired of watching through the window. When he turned back his thoughts into the vehicle, he saw that all of them with Odelina as the driver as the exception was staring at him.
"What's wrong with you all?"
His eyes swept over them. Mei was sitting to his right while Abbygale would not give up her space which was over Mark's lap. Odelina's children, Odette and Siegfried, were sitting on the sofa in front of them. The children were twins both 9 years old. It was also not hard where Odelina found the names for these two children.
"Gege, it's because you're spacing out."
"I'm not. I'm just watching the scenery outside."
"Gege, that's really not good scenery."
Mei smiled wryly. What Mark was looking at was not good scenery but scenes of carnage.
Mark dismissed what she said by patting her head making her stop speaking. This girl really liked being patted on her head other than hugging. He then looked at Odelina's children. He could sense that they were hesitating about something.
"What do you two want? Get on with it."
Siegfried and Odette looked at each other and nodded. Siegfried then spoke.
"We asked mom before why she was calling you "Master" and she said that it was you Uncle who saved her. We wanted to thank you but you're not going to make mom do bad things right?"
"Pfft."
Mark almost laughed. One was because he was actually called "Uncle". But he gave it a sudden thought and actually found it reasonable. Most of his peers had already started to have families and children several years ago. Their children might have been around these children's age already. It was just him who kept on staying single and was aiming to become a wizard.
The other was that he did not even want to accept this self-proclaimed servant of his but she just kept pushing herself under him. Why would he make her do something bad other than killing the infected and humans who would become threat to their group in the future? In the end, he just told the two.
"I won't."
"Then, you have our gratitude."
The two children lowered their heads making Mark and Mei bewildered. Mark looked at Odelina who was driving and said.
"Just how did you raise these two?"
Odelina who was glancing at the rearview mirror saw the spectacle as she drove the vehicle just giggled.
"I already told you before Master, it just run in our family."
"Behaving like servants?"
"Yes, behaving like servants."
Mark and Mei did not know how to react to this. Odelina's children were also confused. It was normal for them to behave like this and did not understand what Mark was talking about.
Abbygale on the other hand was just quietly listening to their conversation snuggling on her Papa's body. Mark looked at her, she looked really bored.
With that, Mark lifted her and made her sit down on his seat.
"Stay here for a bit."
Mei and the children watched him as he made his way to the back of the vehicle and rummaged on the things he brought from the TechZone. Soon, he took out a laptop and turned it on. He then copied several files on five of the phones he brought. After that, he plugged a wireless router on the socket where the refrigerator was plugged in put the router on top of the fridge.
When he got back, he brought the five phones and handed four to Mei and the children. The phone had only one game installed and it was a game released in the 2009 and was kept on being updated even before the outbreak.
Soon, laughter and panicked shouting was heard inside the vehicle as the group was immersed in playing the game where they needed to build things using blocky resources found with the game and battling monsters during the night.
"Papa! Help!"
Abbygale shouted as her character was being shot by blocky skeletons using bows and arrows. Laughing, Siegfried and Odette's characters went to help the little girl while Mark was shooting the skeletons back on top base they just built.
Odelina was glancing at the rearview mirror with envy. She wanted to join in but as the driver, she could not. Ever since the outbreak, she had not seen her children laugh like this making her even more eager to join them.
Mark who started the game knew that he succeeded in his scheme. It was killing two birds, no, four birds with one stone. First was to relieve the boredom brought by the slow travel. Second was to remove the wariness of Odelina's children towards them. For the third was to reduce the stress the apocalypse brought to everyone and the last one was to bring the group together.
Just who said that playing games was just a waste of time?
Still, if other saw them like this, they would think that they were looking at a group of lunatics. This group was actually having fun while others were doing their best to survive.
***
Day 3 – 6:30 AM – Niog Road, Mambog IV, Bacoor City, Cavite
Mark's vehicle stopped by the street.
Before the outbreak, getting this far from the City Mall would only take about fifteen minutes. Now however, it took them about an hour due to the flooded parts of the road, obstacles on the way and turning around to find other ways due to heavily blocked roads.
Mark went down the vehicle and took care of the infected around. The number of infected in this part of the road was way smaller as the area was surrounded by vacant plots of land used for farming and rearing animals.
After dealing with the infected, he finally looked around. He could see how much the world had changed after the outbreak. Like what the military disclosed, even plants were affected by the mutagen and were slowly evolving. The lush green plants at the vacant plots of land were strong evidence. Back then before the outbreak which was just two days ago, Mark saw this plot of land from the road on the other side of the plot since the public transport he rode to the Electricity Distribution Office passed on that road. Before, the plants in these plots had just been harvested. But now, the grass and wild plants were now about to reach his knee in height.
Mark looked past the plot of land towards the wide road going to the east. Far past through that road, several large buildings were vaguely in sight. It was their first destination, The Bacoor City Hall. The nearest person to find in Mark's list should be around here.
However, Mark felt that it was dangerous to blindly enter the area. It was the reason they stopped here. The perimeter of the City Hall was covered in overgrowth of plants and right where the main building of the City hall was built, there were a large tree towering over the buildings. The roots and branches of the three even stuck out of the walls of the building.
The City Hall was a four story building and the tree was one or two story higher.
"This would be tricky. I just wish that she's still alive in there."
Mark muttered as he observed the place using a pair of binoculars.
クリエイターの想い 
Exallion
Exallion The first target location was in sight but is seemed that the difficulty in the area was harder.
Just what in the world is that tree anyway? Is it a naturally evolved tree or a tree infected by a Z-type pathogen?
章 75: Found Her
Day 3 – 6:35 AM – Niog Road, Mambog IV, Bacoor City, Cavite
While Mark was observing the perimeters of the target location, Odelina and the others also went out of the vehicle.
They were looking at the huge tree in the distance with amazement. Odelina though thought the same as Mark.
"That looked dangerous is it not?"
She stood beside him and asked Mark. It was not just the tree that she was talking about but also the number of infected in the area. As the City Hall, there were many people in this place before the apocalypse. Among all those people, everyone knew that the Majority of these people already turned into Z-types. They could even see some of the infected wandering aimlessly at the entrance of the compound.
"Just get back in the car first. I have a plan."
When everyone was back inside the car, Mark remained outside and opened the back of the car. He pulled out a large box and brought it inside.
The box contained the camera mounted drone Mark brought. He immediately set up the drone with the help of the others and connected the video feed into the large monitor mounted on the back of the car along with the entertainment system.
It took them about half an hour to set it up and Mark went out to launch the drone. He then went back in the car to see the feed while controlling the drone.
***
Day 3 – 7:10 AM – Bacoor City Hall, Molino Boulevard, Bayanan, Bacoor City, Cavite
A white quadcopter with a camera mounted beneath it was circling the perimeter of the tree while checking if there was any danger in approaching it.
After the quadcopter finally figured that the tree did not seem to be dangerous, the drone went closer and went to check the city hall in a clearer view. As the quadcopter was creating noises, it could not be helped if that it attracted the Z-types around. To evade the pursuit of the infected, the drone flew up and descended in another area to continue the reconnaissance.
The traces of devastating events that happened within the past two days were left in the open. Rows of vehicles were left in the parking lots while the glass walls of the mail building were broken into pieces. The government vehicles were left in the middle of the roads. It was obvious that they tried to escape but the traces of blood on the vehicles showed how they failed to do so.
Around the compound, a large number of infected gathered. Many of which were wearing uniforms of government workers while there were also quite a number of infected in police uniforms. But what stood out among the infected were those odd looking ones. Their movements were very slow, even slower than the Z-Type b which was the Eaters. What made them very noticeable was their skin that looked like the bark of a tree. The eyes of these infected were also green colored compared to the normal counterparts which had pure white pupils.
***
Back inside the car, Mark and the gang were watching the monitor. Even the docile Biter they brought along and was tied in the very last seat at the back was looking at the monitor. When they saw the infected that had tree bark skin, they all thought that the reason for this mutation was that huge tree in the middle of the compound.
Mark controlled the drone and the scene at the back of the main building was revealed on their eyes. It was then that they saw it. It was an eight or nine foot humanoid that had a body made of a tree and was even shaped like a tree. It even had leaves on its head and hands and roots for its foot. Rather than a zombie, it more looked like a treant from fantasy stories. If not for the figure of a person plastered on the center of its body, Mark would have really thought so.
The figure looked the same as the tree bark skinned infected at the previous location. The person's back was connected and was hanging on the wooden body and arms through root like veins. When the figure moved, the wooden body also moved mimicking the movements of the figure. As the wooden body was stiff, it walked like a penguin swaying side by side as it moved.
The huge mutant then stopped and the person looked up to the drone monitoring it. Then it decided to ignore the drone and looked up to the huge tree as if it was waiting for something.
The people inside the car gasped at the appearance of the mutant. It was fortunate that Mark decided to scout the area using the drone first rather than blindly driving into the compound.
Looking at the figure, a sudden thought entered his mind and it even made him mutter.
"A Level 2."
"What did you say, Gege?"
Even though he muttered the words softly, Mei who was always sticking close to him heard his voice.
"Nothing."
Mark decided to not say what had just entered his mind as it was not confirmed and he did not know where the thought came from either. It was as if someone whispered the idea to him.
As the Mutant was behaving strangely, Mark decided to control the drone and look at what the mutant was looking at. There, he saw a single nut shaped fruit on a branch of the huge tree. The fruit seemed to be the same size as a baseball and was emitting a faint golden glow.
Seeing the fruit on the monitor, Abbygale and Odelina gulped for some reason.
"What's wrong with you two?"
Mark noticed the abrupt change in the mental fluctuation of the two and asked.
"Papa, I want to eat that."
Abbygale directly said without any thoughts. Odelina on the other hand explained what she felt briefly. She was red in the face though as she knew that she lost her composure in front of everyone.
"Master, I don't know why but something tells me that that fruit is edible and highly beneficial to us."
Hearing what she said, Mark looked at the screen. He controlled the drone once more and looked at the huge mutant that continued to stare at the fruit.
He then decided.
"All right, we'll try to get that later."
With what he said, Abbygale and Odelina felt delighted.
While Mark was controlling the drone, he noticed some commotion on the highest floor of the City Hall.
Mark made the drone fly closer to the windows and saw people inside. The people were also watching the drone with hopeful expressions. The drone flew across the row of windows and stopped at a certain spot.
"Found her."
Mark said.
What was shown in the monitor was a twenty-four year old female. Her looks were above average and could be considered beautiful to certain standards. Now however, she looked really dispirited, thin and weak. She noticed the drone flying by the window and she only stared at the spot she was sitting and did not bother to stand up.
Looking at her, Mark felt his heart being torn. Was it really the lively girl he treated as his little sister before? It was then Mark remembered. This girl had type-2 diabetes and she had been taking medicine ever since the time he knew her and her older sister. Since she was trapped here, it was likely that she had not been able to take her medicine in the past two days! It was also possible that she had not been eating well these previous days!
"Is she who you were looking for, Master?"
Odelina asked and Mei also had the same question. Their eyes were filled with pity. If that woman was who Mark was looking for, then, they should take her as soon as possible. Looking at her figure, her condition was not looking good.
'I need to contact her.'
That was what filled his mind. Mark made the drone look around through the window once more. The number of people inside was about 30 or lesser. There were also a few men wearing police uniforms. Among the people, he saw someone familiar. It was the current congresswoman of the district-2 of Bacoor. Along with police and a few men that looked like her bodyguards, she tried to approach the window the drone was peering through.
Mark felt that he should not be bothered with these people and made the drone fly away. He needed to scout the place thoroughly and find the entrances and exits before going in for the rescue. He also planned to lure the infected away using the drone to make the rescue easier.
He made the drone enter the Main building from the broken glass windows of the second floor. Luckily, the ceilings were high or else, the drone might have already been caught by the infected. The whole place was a mess. The tables were overturned, papers and office wares littered the hallways and rooms and there were bloody mess in every place.
He soon found the stairs which was the main access to the all the floors. He then found out the reason why the infected was not able to enter the higher floors leaving the third and the fourth floor fully intact. It was because the large roots of the huge tree were blocking the stairs going to the higher floors. This meant that they would also not be able to use the stairs to pick her up.
Mark made the drone leave the building and find another way. The camera then panned towards the sides of the city hall. Both the northern and southern part of the third floor had a suspended pathway that connected the city hall to the Gymnasium at the north and the Bacoor Police Command Center at the south.
These places were the only ways they could find in order to enter the third floor of the City Hall. Mark made the drone fly to the entrances and saw the doors which were locked. It was no problem for Mark as he could just bust their way in as long as he manage to access the buildings.
Circling the City Hall once more, he finally found an entry to the into the building for the drone. It was a large open crack at the ceiling on top of the building where the huge three had grown.
Mark made the drone enter the building. It was kind of tricky but Mark's years of accumulated experience in playing games came in handy as he used the controller skillfully.
Soon, he found the area where the survivors gathered.
It seemed that the people inside were alarmed as they heard the buzzing sound coming from the propellers of the drone. The police and the bodyguards had even drawn their guns and were ready to shoot at any moment they notice something wrong.
***
The people inside panicked as they heard the sound coming from the hallway and was entering their resting area. Even if they said that it was their resting area, it was actually the waiting area in this floor and could be openly accessed from the hallway.
As they heard the buzzing sound, the non-combatants started to scurry away while the police and the congresswoman's body guards were ready to fight.
There was one exception though. It was the 20 something year old woman who was far too weak to move. She was just by the entrance and if any danger was really in the hallway, she would be the first to be implicated.
The woman was also frightened when she heard the sound but she was really weak to move and it seemed that the people around did not even bother to help her. She was about to cry. She just came to this place to renew some of her papers for employment when the outbreak happened. It was lucky that she was able to escape and survive until now. Right at the moment, she was feeling the full brunt of her illness as she was not able to take her insulin shots since the outbreak started. She actually brought some when she came to this place. She always brought a bottle everywhere she goes. Unfortunately, she lost her bag along with all her belongings when the apocalypse came.
Without any energy to move, she resigned herself to her fate. She heard the buzzing sound stop in front of her as she closed her eyes. However, she waited but nothing happened after a few seconds. She then heard a voice.
"Geez, you already managed to survive this long. Don't you dare give up on me."
It was a familiar voice but she could not remember whose voice this belonged to anymore. She opened her eyes and looked up and saw the thing that was creating the buzzing sound and the voice. It was the drone she saw from the window. Underneath the drone, there was a camera which was obviously filming her. Just behind the camera, there was a small radio taped on the drone.
"I'll land the drone so take the radio underneath it."
She heard the voice once more and the drone slowly landed in front of her. In her confusion, she followed the instructions and removed the radio from the drone.
"Good."
The voice said coming from the radio.
"Uhm, who are you."
She spoke on the radio. There was no answer.
"I can't hear what you are saying. Push the button at the side of the radio when talking."
She followed the instruction and asked the same question. Then the answer came.
"I'm hurt. Well, it's been a long time. About seven years I think?"
'Seven years?'
She thought. Then the image of a person entered her mind. He was the person who cherished her at those times. Due to some deep reasons, he avoided them and they lost connection with him.
Tears welled up in her eyes, as she asked on the radio.
"Big Brother?"
Then a snicker came from the radio.
"It's good that you still remember me. Anyways, I came to pick you up, Charm."
クリエイターの想い
Exallion
Exallion
Hmmm. A very tricky mission.
First and Priority objective was to get Charm.
Second was to get the Fruit.
Third would surely be about these guys as they had a politician with them.
Anyway, thanks for Love2Read26 for the first suggestion in the game I started. Your mutant had appeared so I report! Using the mutant tree's bark as catalyst, the woodmen infected came to existence!
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