Mutagen

3:30 PM – City Mall Bacoor West Wing, TechZone

Inside a store, Mark sat on a wheeled high-back chair. In front of him, it was a long counter table what was supposed to be used when attending the customers of the store. There were six laptops placed in a row on the table. Interconnected cables were lined on the floor. Some cables were plugged into extension sockets while the others were connecting the other five laptops to the one he was currently using with a router.

The screen on the laptop he was using kept switching and every time he did something at the current screen, the screen of one of the other laptops would also change. Mark was using the laptop in front of him as the server and controlled the other laptops by remote access.

What was he doing? Mark was downloading a lot of things with haste, Anime, Offline Games, Softcopies of Novels, Movies, and etc. using the other five laptops. Other people who would see what he was doing would say that it was stupid and unnecessary but to him, these are the few things he would not let go.

He knew that these things would be gone for who knows how long or might never even return as the apocalypse ensued. He was an Otaku after all.

Satisfied with how much he did, he extended his hand upwards and stretched his back. He sat here for about an hour already so his body felt stiff.

Mark looked outside the store. The people who survived the massacre that happened inside the TechZone were proactively cleaning the place.

***

When they finished killing all the zombies in this place more than an hour ago, including the zombies stuck inside some stores, the people inside the closed store voluntarily went out of hiding. There were only twenty-three of them. They had been watching all what transpired inside the TechZone through the gaps and holes on the steel shutters that protected them.

As the survivors stepped out of the store they hid at, many of them found their own places and vomited while the rest had pale faces as they looked around. When they were hiding, what they could see outside was limited and that was why they had extreme reactions after seeing the whole scene. That was just how nauseating the aftermath of the event inside the TechZone was.

It was then that the shutters in front of another closed store were pulled up and fifteen people came out. Surprisingly, the ones who came out were survivors that came from the floors below.

Mark expected it that there were people hiding in that store but what startled him inside was the two people among that group. One was the man wearing a suit and sunglasses before, though the sunglasses were missing now. The other was a man in his twenty's who had a shaggy short hair, raised nose and sharp eyes, wearing a dirty-yellow uniform and black slacks. He remembered that this guy was among the group of college students he saw before, together with Ange and Paula.

When that student saw Paula, he ran towards her and gave her a tight hug. Paula was startled and she immediately pushed the man away. Paula's face really looked bitter and sad. Still, the man did not stop on trying to talk to her. Even if he did not receive any reply.

Seeing what was happening and since the place was already cleared of zombies, he decided to fetch the girls left on the rooftop.

As Mark walked back into the TechZone along with the girls, he could see some of the survivors crying beside some of the bodies while some of them were looking around checking the bodies one by one.

When Reyah followed Mark and entered carrying her daughter, her face immediately paled and she covered her daughter's eyes. She then saw the dead children inside. By reflex, she hugged her daughter tighter as negative thoughts entered her mind. Seeing her reaction, Mark led her to one of the clean stores to sit down and bring her daughter away from the gruesome scene.

Ange also paled when she entered but the pale color of her face turned red when she saw Paula being pestered by the male student. She immediately stood between the two protecting Paula behind her. The male student did not immediately recognize Ange as she came wearing her armor and helmet so he protested and question who she is. When she removed her helmet, the male's face turned pale but he still tried to argue back.

He was then flung away by a single right straight from Ange to his face. If Paula did not stop her, she might have done more than just that.

Mei on the other hand had no reaction on what she saw inside. She even stared at the mangled bodies a few times while following behind Mark.

By this time, Mark already removed his helmet as he felt suffocated after wearing it for a long time. Because of this, they could see his face not showing any emotion as his gaze roamed at the dead bodies.

Ange noticed that Mark and Mei who were walking around without changes in their faces while looking at the nauseating scene around them. She then said something, though not loud, was enough to be heard by Mark. He then coldly glared at Ange making her hide behind Paula.

Ange just dubbed the two as the "Broken Couple".

Well, who would not think of that after seeing their unchanging expressions?

Still, many of the males inside could not help but glance or even stare at Mei. She could only move closer to Mark and held his left arm as she tried to shrink away from those gazes.

Feeling her insecurity, Mark immediately brought Mei out after bringing the mother and daughter into a store. He also called Paula and Ange who followed without a second thought. They only wished to find a reason to get away from this lecher. Still, the male student tried to follow the two.

That time though, it was Mark who blocked him. Mark did not call him so there should be no reason for him to follow. The student tried to argue with him flaunting his relation to the two girls. Apparently, this guy was Paula's boyfriend.

As Mark was already irritated with this guy as he also threw gazes at Mei before and his gaze was a very unpleasant one. So, Mark went for a harsher move.

He pulled his shotgun from his side and shoved the barrel at the guy's forehead and said in a very cold voice.

"I ONLY CALLED THE TWO OF THEM AND NOT YOU. SO, SCRAM."

The male student paled and his back was drenched in cold sweat. He gulped before he nodded and backed off slowly.

When the hindrance was gone, he brought the girls at a storage room of a certain store. Inside, there were a few round containers of mineral water, cosmetic products like soap and perfume, there was even a set of gel plaster, and looking around, the large storage room had clothes, lots and lots of women's clothes.

Ange and Paula immediately understood what Mark wanted them to do. The two looked at Mei then to Mark and nodded. He did not have to say much about it. Mark told them what clothes they needed to choose using a zombie apocalypse perspective before he stepped out of the room. Outside, he leaned on the wall beside the door and stood there guarding the room.

While waiting, Mark fiddled with his phone and checked if the mall's free Wi-Fi was still working. There, though as slow like a snail as usual, he still managed to connect to the internet. Seeing this, he felt happy. He would be able to proceed through his plans and gather information at the same time.

He then opened the social media account that he rarely opened and logged in. While reading the posts of his friends online, it seemed many of them were trapped on their work places or at home. Some were even calling for help. The desperation was present with a few of them that they even posted their addresses online despite the danger it could bring.

At that time, Mark realized that he had to change some of his plans.

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