Mutagen

Day 376 - 2:07 PM - MTsN 1 Jembrana, Gilimanuk, Melaya Subdistrict, Jembrana Regency, Bali, Indonesia

"Miss Uli..."

A young boy around the age of seven wanted to say something to the woman in front of him. But as he looked at the woman's back and the younger girl she was tucking to sleep, the boy stopped as he rubbed his near-empty stomach.

"What is it?"

The woman named Uli heard the boy's barely audible voice and asked as she turned around to face him.

"No. Miss Uli. It's nothing."

The boy turned and left, joining the other children sitting in front of the wall of the room near the corridor.

Seeing that sight, Uli could only sigh as she turned towards the girl she was helping fall asleep.

It was not just the little girl. Several more younger children were sleeping next to her. Unfortunately, it was not because it was nap time for them. It was for these children to forget their hunger and thirst. And, of course, also to keep them from making loud noises, not that they would do so.

Uli looked at the windows blocked by cardboard boxes and newspapers, with holes poked through to let light in during the day.

With no electricity and just the holes to let light through, the room was dim, although it was still afternoon. Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do. Wanting more light meant exposing themselves to the dangers outside. Those were the exact dangers that kept them stuck on the second floor of this small school building.

Uli stood up and approached the window. Using a slightly larger hole in the cardboard cover, she took a quick peek at the current situation.

"Take care not to be noticed."

A man nearby warned Uli.

"I know."

Uli replied as she took note of the scene through the hole. Then, she let out a sigh.

The situation was not getting any better. If anything, it got worse.

It was not like this before.

The apocalypse came, and the world descended into chaos as the [Infected] spread terror to the people. But as the survivors began to adapt to the new world, things became better in this town. If they wanted to survive, they should be united. It was the mentality the survivors of this town adopted as they faced the new and dangerous world.

Furthermore, Bali was a popular tourist destination. Due to this, about a third of the population of survivors in this town were foreign tourists. The unity they adopted and the difference in mentality and culture allowed them to brainstorm ways to survive from different angles the locals might not have thought. It kept them all alive with minimal casualties as time went by.

Even after the world changed, they adapted quickly. The lack of knowledge and extreme radiation still caused some casualties. Even so, they persevered through and adapted.

When large creatures attacked from the coast, they changed the central hub of the town. When the [Infected] from inland grew more powerful, they laid more traps and created more tactics to fight them. And when the robot aliens fell from the sky, they learned more ways to stay alive.

However, even the strongest pillar would crumble when its foundation became damaged. People changed over time. And scary enough, it was hard to notice. Read the continuation on m_v_l_e_m_p_y_r

Everyone did well until now. That was why many of the people in this town felt complacent that they could survive everything.

The pillar they made stood solid and unblemished outside. It was why no one noticed it was slowly rusting inside.

The rust they called emotions. It was the reason why humans would never become truly united.

Certain emotions might grow and lead people astray. Worse, the person with those emotions would either not notice it or choose to bottle it up and hide it from everyone.

And soon, it would grow far more intense than the amount the person could handle and burst unexpectedly.

Unfortunately, the time those intense exploded just happened to be eleven days ago, at the exact moment when a large-scale [Infected] migration somehow occurred without warning.

The bearer of those emotions lost concentration, opening a gap in the supposedly tight defenses of the town. Instead of filling the gap the person made with more effort, the uncontrollable emotions led him to run away, leaving everyone in danger.

With that gap, the town began to fall, unable to handle the surprisingly large amount of enemies.

While the combatants fought, the non-combatants evacuated. It was the usual scenario. With a few combat personnel guiding them, the non-combatants rushed to the shelter, which happened to be this school.

With the initial defense line falling, the final line of defense occurred around the school perimeter.

But what would happen if the combatants failed the defense? It led to this very exact situation.

The non-combatants were left trapped without any path to escape as the [Infected] began swarming the area due to the lingering presence of humans nearby.

It had been nearly eleven days since Uli and forty-two other people became trapped on the second floor of this school building. Among all of them, only three were combatants. Eleven were children in the range of five to twelve years old. The rest were people either with disabilities or with an abysmal lack of senses required for combat.

Uli was among those with a lack of fighting prowess. It was not like she did not try learning at all. But even compared to the weakest among the combatants, she was still severely lacking in talent.

And there was no need to mention fighting right now. The thought itself was akin to committing suicide. Even if all these forty-three people united to escape, the chance of escaping the horde outside was near zero.

It was not just the forty-three of them who evacuated. The other school buildings nearby were being used similarly. However, considering the lack of communication and the cries for help in the past few days, it would be hard to assume there were still other survivors.

Uli sighed as she left the window and sat down on the floor. She could only slump lower as she felt her stomach grumble.

The problem now was the lack of food and water. Since the evacuees had more children than expected, they did not manage to bring enough necessities during the evacuation. After all, the children could carry little with them using their young bodies. Although they tried to ration what they had as much as possible, it was already running out. It would have run out sooner if not for the sacrifice of one brave man.

During the initial evacuation, there were forty-four of them here. There were four combatants. But after a week of being trapped here with supplies running out, that brave combatant volunteered to find supplies. It was a suicide mission. That was why he insisted on going alone, even though the other combatants wanted to try to help after he volunteered. If he was alone, it would be harder to detect him. And if he was detected, he could run away freely. In case both failed, he would be the only one dying.

Surprisingly, the man succeeded twice and returned with a decent amount of supplies he could carry. This success made everyone confident for his third run.

The man returned for the third time with another good haul on his backpack. But it was also his last run.

It was because the man returned with a nasty bite on his arm. He did not have long to live. There was still a chance of mutation. Other people who were bitten ended up alive due to them mutating instead. But with the chance too low, the man did not want to risk everyone's safety.

The man left, with everyone expecting not to see him again.

But then, a surprise, or maybe a miracle, happened.

The man never left. Even now, they were being protected by that brave man.

"Endro."

Uli muttered with a sigh.

***

Day 376 - 2:11 PM - Central Park, Gilimanuk, Melaya Subdistrict, Jembrana Regency, Bali , Indonesia

"Felicia... Your estimate is wrong. There's nothing near three hundred here."

Sitting on the roof of a tall house beside the central park, Mark complained to Felicia.

"My estimate isn't wrong if we only counted the ones roaming the park."

Felicia replied while scratching her head.

There were not just a few hundred [Infected] in the near vicinity of the school zone. There were likely around two to three thousand [Infected] lurking in the area. Most of them surrounded the school on the northeast side of the park. It was also where the survivors Mark detected were located.

No wonder the streets they walked through so far were pretty empty, with only a few lurking [Infected]. Most of the [Infected] gathered here. Furthermore, it was not just the people who had turned recently. It seemed that the horde that caused the downfall of this town was also lurking around with the new ones.

"Hey... They can't really see us?"

Kana suddenly tugged on Mark's sleeve and asked.

"Yeah, they can't,"

Mark replied, opening his left fist with two glowing crystals on his palm.

"I surrounded us with [Optical Camouflage], so no one will see us outside it. I also blocked our smell. But we can't linger in one place for too long. They can still detect our presence by instinct."

"So, what's the plan?"

Mark then asked the Indonesian members of the scouting group.

The Indonesian survivors were already trying to reduce their reliance on Mark and his group. Since it would not be long before the Evernight leave, it was good for them to start early.

However, it was not the best time for that.

"We have lives to save, so please, we are counting on you."

General Wijaya replied.

"Can you open a path for us to take the survivors to safety?"

"Can't we just kill the [Infected] with a large attack?"

Kana chimed in.

"I'd rather not do that with people trapped in that large horde."

Edge answered Kana's question.

"I agree with Edge,"

General Wijaya nodded.

"We also have to consider other possibilities. The people trapped there might end in unexpected situations if a large fight suddenly ensued outside their shelter."

"What situation?"

Kana tilted her head.

"For the most likely scenario, they would shout and call for help. Then, attract the [Infected] to their location. Then boom, we have no need to rescue them anymore."

Mark said jokingly. Of course, no one laughed. It was not like Mark was entirely joking, either. It was a very likely scenario.

"Then, I'll be attracting the [Infected] while you all extract the survivors from the area. That's the plan, right?"

Mark changed the topic.

"That's the simple way of saying it,"

General Wijaya nodded.

"But we still need to survey the area properly to make the operation as safe as possible."

General Wijaya was a model soldier. As such, he laid out everything to be done before they started.

One was to determine the exact location of the survivors. Next, they needed to find and choose a route to take as they led the survivors to safety. Of course, if possible, the route should be the opposite of the direction to lure the [Infected].

As the group moved closely, they neared the building sheltering the survivors.

But then, when they stopped to observe, Mark noticed something as he pulled out a sniper scope and used it as a telescope.

"Is something wrong?"

Edge asked Mark as everyone noticed his sudden behavior.

"Here,"

Mark handed Edge the sniper scope.

"Look at the door of the white building."

Edge did as he was instructed.

"Huh?"

Edge was also surprised by what he saw.

"What is it?"

Kana chimed in.

Then, one after another, they took turns to look at what Mark saw.

And all of them were a bit confused.

In front of the only entrance of the building, a man wearing combat gear stood still. Since the man stood outside, surrounded by the horde and without getting attacked, it was clear the man was also an [Infected].

However, the man never left his position to wander around aimlessly as the others did. Furthermore, whenever another [Infected] tried to approach the door, the man snarled at the [Infected]. And if the approaching [Infected] did not leave, the man pushed the [Infected] away. Since both of them were [Infected], it did not lead to a fight as the pushed [Infected] wandered off, and the man returned to his position in front of the entrance.

"That's odd, isn't it?"

Mark commented, and everyone around him could only agree.