Mutagen

<strong>Day 59 - 12:16 PM - Perpetual Help Medical Center Compound, Alabang-Zapote Road, Barangay Pamplona Tres, Las Piñas, Metro Manila</strong>

A makeshift wagon after another, Mark and his group slowly emptied the contents of the Blood Bank. It took a relatively safe process except for a few infected stragglers and the initial disgust seeing the vicinity of the nest inside the hospital.

Everyone helped with transporting the blood bags out of the hospital except for Aephelia and Odelina. The two stayed behind outside to guard the front alley of the compound.

While it was quite safe while they transported the blood bags, they felt quite creeped out with the infected babies. Unlike the normal behavior of the infected, these babies did not make any hostile moves against them. Although their eyes still let out the same ferocious glint, they stayed in a safe distance instead of attacking.

They did not attack. Nevertheless, seeing all of the infected babies watching while hiding behind corners, crawling on the walls and hanging on the ceiling, made everyone feel creeped out.

Not to mention that the appearance of the babies was straight out of a horror movie.

"Are these babies not hostile?"

Karlene curiously asked while rubbing her arms because of her goosebumps.

"Just ignore them and don't approach. They are still hostile and will attack at any chance. It's just they are afraid right now."

Mark warned her.

"Afraid of you?"

"Maybe? These little guys are smarter than the ones outside so it's harder to predict their actions."

He answered in a mysterious tone as they brought out another batch of blood bags.

"Master, the amount of blood bags is too much. We can't fit any more inside the car."

Odelina spoke as everyone returned outside.

Since both the blood banks of the university and the Medical Center were placed in a single storage, the quantity was too many than they expected. Nevertheless, it was in Mark's favor. There was also the fact that the university had done a blood donation drive just before the outbreak. Their current stock was a whole lot than they usually had.

Initially, he planned to go on several trips to other places if what they gathered here was not enough. But by the looks of it, however, what they had here was way more than what Mark needed.

"Yeah, I know."

Mark replied while looking at the pile of blood bags that were placed beside the vehicle. Even if they placed a temporary carrier above the vehicle, it would not be enough without making something too big that could tip the [Exceed: Personnel Carrier] to the side.

He then looked at the [Blood Children] jumping around doing anything they could to pass time.

"Maybe we can make a wagon."

Mark had the idea they could use. There was also the large-bodied Gifre that should be able to carry enough load. The was no problem for them at all. That was how convenient Mark's and the [Blood Children's] abilities. Just give them enough blood to play with and they would be able to make anything.

With the idea in mind, Mark let the [Blood Children] do the frames of the wagon while they continued to empty the Blood Bank.

Every time they went back, they could not help but notice that more and more infected children were watching in the shadows. For the most part, they were blocking the stairs leading up to the maternity ward. It was easy to realize what they were doing. They were protecting their mother in any way possible. If Mark or any of the people in his group tried to take a single step up the stairs, these swarm of infected babies would surely not hold anything back and attack.

However, since both groups had no opposing goals, for now, a clash did not happen. It was even though Karlene was having a hard time as Karla wanted to take control of her body and fight the infected babies. Mark had to help her out to avoid unnecessary conflict.

***

Day 59 - 2:01 PM - Perpetual Help Medical Center Compound, Alabang-Zapote Road, Barangay Almanza Uno, Las Piñas, Metro Manila

It took them about two hours and they finally got everything they wanted out. Not only the blood bags but they also managed to raid the medicine storage near the emergency room that Miracle found by accident. The curious girl had been opening closed doors to see what was inside and she stumbled into a small room filled with medicine cabinets.

The frame of the wagon was already done and Mark was just in time to do the more complex parts like adding wheels from an ambulance nearby to the wagon and also the bearings and such. With the simple minds of the [Blood Children], they would not be able to do those things properly.

While doing that, however...

"Mei'er, Odel."

Mark called out to the two which they replied to without another word.

"Gege."

"Master."

"See that gas station on the other side of the road? Check if you two can get gas from there, as many as possible. If they have kerosene and LPG tanks, prioritize that. Odel, you already know how to check right?"

"Yes. I still remember what you did back then."

Odelina replied with a smile but was also confused.

"What are you going to do with a large amount of kerosene? I don't think you can use that for anything aside from burning things. Your car also uses diesel as fuel, right?"

Karlene could not help but ask.

On the other hand, Mei nodded in understanding.

"Gege is going to burn the hospital."

She said.

Everyone looked at Mark in both surprise and bitterness. Although a part of the Medical Center had already turned into an infected nest, burning the whole building might be unnecessary.

"If we fight them upfront, it will be easier for them to escape. Those little critters are smart and if the [Breeder Type] ordered them all to escape, it will be chaotic to chase them all. Although the guarantee that they will all die after burning the hospital is not a hundred percent, it was way better than letting a whole bunch of them escape."

His argument was reasonable and they could only agree. Besides, it was very unlikely that anyone else would want to use this building after it was housed by an infected nest.

Mark on the other hand only had this idea because he did not want to waste more time. He already had the materials he needed and wanted to return already to build the other vehicle.

Furthermore, dealing with those infected babies were more of a hassle than it looked like. Mark had no way of detecting the infected, unlike humans. His empathic abilities would not help him wipe them all out. The only thing to secure that it would be hard for them to escape was burning the building from the outside towards the insides, trapping everything inside without a way of escape.

Thus, all of them continued to work.

The first group was Aephelia and Amihan that kept the place secure. Mark and the [Blood Children] were among the second group who worked with the wagon. Everyone else made up the third group and ransacked the gas station on the other side of the main road.

While everything in the hospital alley was fine and secure, the gas station was a mess. It was an open area and to follow Mark's orders, they had to deal with the infected at the same time.

It was not easy but they finished the job done. When they returned, Mark already attached the large carrier wagon at the back of the [Exceed: Personnel Carrier]. The only thing left was to arrange the remaining blood bags inside it.

After they returned, it was time for Mark to enter the hospital once more. This time, however, he made a different approach.

Opening his wings and carrying a gallon of kerosene in his both hands, he flew up to the roof.

From there, he pried open the door to the rooftop and poured in the contents of the gallons into that door letting the kerosene make its way down unto the floors below. He did that a few times until he was satisfied and closed the door once more even locking it with his [Blood Metal].

He then smashed the windows of the rooms around the building and splashed gasoline inside. He even went far to put a tank of LPG in some of the rooms.

Following those, he entered the hospital while scattering the mixed gasoline around. He flew around the halls of the hospital repeating the process, especially at the parts of the building occupied by the nest. To avoid arousing any suspicion from the infected inside, he hid his figure with [Optical Camouflage].

Lastly, he entered the center of the nest. The nursery room where the [Breeder Type] was located.

He stared at the grotesque looking woman with a bitter smile. As he inherited some of the memories of Rihanna, he recognized this woman.

This woman was checked in here because of her pregnancy having complications. Rihanna was the nurse assigned to this woman during her shifts. Unfortunately, this woman did not make it and instead turned into this abomination.

Rihanna was quite close with this person and the two even met before chaos descended in the hospital.

However, that was not only the reason Mark felt bitter.

"Unfortunately, the location you mutated and created this nest is far from my base."

He murmured.

These infected were smart. More like animals that could be domesticated. Unfortunately, the state of the nest and the [Breeder Type] could not be separated. How the flesh membrane pulsated and how she was stuck in this wall, it was likely that there would be implications if this woman was removed from this place.

Furthermore, Aephelia already had her slots filled with Gifre and Logan alone. There was no way for her to control this one.

It was a pity. Mark wanted to observe how these smart infected would grow.

Although he said that they might become dangerous, that was only when they were left alone. He actually wanted to keep them in captivity.

If this nest was only found near his base.

"Hah..." Mark sighed. "At least let me bring one back."

If anyone was to hear that he wanted to raise an infected baby, they would surely say that he was a lunatic. However, it was quite true in a sense.

He looked at the umbilical cords sticking out of her stomach. Most of them had an unsightly shade of color while only two had a healthy-looking color.

Leaving the nursery, he followed the cords and saw both babies the birth cords were connected to.

"Both are males huh?"

Mark murmured. Nevertheless, it seemed that he could only pick one of the two. It was because only one of the two looked more like a normal baby. The other looked like someone stepped on his face with his eyes bulged and nose caved in.

As Mark made the final touches, the babies became restless. Not only that one of the babies was detached from his umbilical cord without the mother knowing how, but there was also an unsettling stench that started to permeate the whole hospital.

"Everyone ready?"

Mark asked as he saw everyone waiting for him when he went out.

"Gege, everything is ready. We can leave anytime."

Mei replied while looking curiously at the metal box Mark was carrying. They knew that something was moving inside as they could hear the metal being knocked violently. There was even the faint voice of an infant coming out of the small air holes of the box.

"Alright then, let's go."

Mark said as everyone boarded the vehicle.

As the vehicle drove out of the alley, Mark opened the door one last time. He was holding flam as he moved half of his body out of the window.

With a wave of his hand, Flam released a ball of fire with was hurled unto the entrance of the Medical Center.

Immediately, the front entrance ignited in flames which spread fast because of the flammable fumes trapped inside the hospital. It did not take long and the whole hospital burst into flames accompanied by explosions here and there.

Along with the loud sounds of flames, however, the faint cries of babies burning to death could be heard.