Mutagen

Day 147 - 9:04 PM - Port Area, Catanduanes Settlement, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes

Twenty minutes after the ordeal started, there was still no sight to its end. At the beach area around the port, hundreds of bodies of the infected had already piled up.

Gunshots and explosions continued to echo. The ranks of the infected had been broken and reformed several times. Their bodies bled riddled with holes. Limbs were twisted or missing from the impact of the explosions. And yet, the infected continued to march forward, stepping over the dead bodies of their fallen kind.

"General, the situation is not looking good."

One of the General's trusted soldiers monitoring the situation beside General Padilla could not help but say.

"We can only persevere," The General replied with a frown. "How is the ammunition supply?"

"Pretty bad, General." The soldier replied exasperatedly. "We already used up a fourth of our current reserve. At the current pace, we might end up using more than half in another hour or so."

That was not a piece of good news. The ammunition reserves were very important, especially since the settlement was facing different threats recently.

Although they already managed to set up a small manual ammunition factory, its rate of production was not exactly optimal. At this rate, ones a large confrontation between the military and the rebels or another attack at this scale ensued, they would not have enough ammunition supply.

"What about the west side?"

The General asked.

"Let me inquire, sir."

The soldier replied, rushing towards the command center. It did not take long, and he returned with a bad expression.

"General, the situation was not any better." The soldier reported. "There was already quite a number of casualties."

In certain aspects, the situation in the west wall was worse than in the port.

At the port area, the sandy beach itself was a natural barrier to slow down the infected. Unlike solid soil, the beach sand was way softer. For the infected that had a bad sense of balance, it was a great obstacle. The only issue they had here was the intelligent movements of the infected and their number.

On the west wall, however, the infected were stepping on solid land. It would be easier for them to approach the walls and deal some damage to the personnel stationed there. Not to mention that while the intelligent movements of the infected were hard to deal with, it was predictable to some extent. The infected on the west wall, on the other hand, moved erratically and was hard to predict.

"Tsk!"

The General clicked his tongue. It was getting harder and harder to choose which area they should reinforce.

'Should I recall our forces stationed at the east and northeast areas?'

The General was contemplating. However, he was not ignorant of the threat that it might ensue, considering that the rebels might use this opportunity to conduct a surprise attack.

"Should we deploy the aerial units?"

General Padilla murmured.

"General, you can't!" The soldier beside the General reacted immediately. "The aerial units are reserved for emergencies."

"But isn't this an emergency?"

The General said, making the soldier unable to reply with any words.

The aerial units they were speaking about was nothing too extravagant. This settlement had four helicopters, of which three were used for aerial combat support while the last one was a supply helicopter for carrying cargo over the mountains.

Unfortunately, due to fuel constraints, these crucial vehicles could only be used during the worst times. There was no way that the military would be able to procure jet fuel when the world was already overwhelmed by the infected. Furthermore, these helicopters shined the most on battles in the middle of the mountains where land vehicles were useless.

The General looked around him. The other soldiers also seemed to be against the idea. After all, the walls were still holding on. And the most important part, these aerial units could be used to flee once there was no hope left for the settlement.

The General sighed. Nevertheless, they also had a point. Still, what could they do to improve the current situation?

But at this time, cries of surprise could be heard, not only from the soldiers but also for the uneasy people of the settlement.

Even General Padilla the soldiers beside him spotted the reason immediately.

There was no way that they would not see it, considering the flashes of light in the darkness of the night sky.

A gigantic bird with a body that was the size of a minivan and had wings span twice the length of its body flew over the settlement clad in flashing lightning.

What did everyone felt the moment they saw that?

Amazement? Yes, anyone would feel amazed to see such a creature clad in lightning.

Shock? Of course. It was shocking to see such a creature.

Nevertheless, those two emotions were not what the people felt at this moment.

It was fear. Although there was the fear of the unknown included within, everyone was more scared of the possibility that this unknown creature would attack the settlement while it was currently facing a dire situation.

What if this creature was drawn here because of the battle and attack? What if it was able to shoot those lightning bolts like some yellow rat?

There were a lot of possibilities.

Unfortunately, none of them thought of the possibility that it was an ally.

After all, everyone was bound for another shocking event as they watched the lightning clad bird in the sky.

With the roar of thunder and loud crackles, the gigantic bird in the sky bloomed with light.

And like the strike of judgment from the heavens, pillars of lightning rained down from the sky. And to everyone's shock, the rain of lightning went straight towards the meatshields of the horde.

The soldiers in defense watched the scene with awe.

One by one, the [Armor Types] that led the horde fell, oozing with the unpleasant stench of burning rotten flesh.

Bullets might not be able to penetrate their armor properly and explosives could do less damage. Electricity, however, could enter their bodies directly and fry their brain.

There might be a chance where the infected could adapt to it and mutate further. However, the high voltage of those pillars of lightning did not give that opportunity.

Furthermore, it did not end there.

Ignoring the settlement, the gigantic bird flew above the horde, circling in the sky while raining pillars of lightning over the horde.

The unbelievable scene in front of them made the soldiers stare widely. Then, their frustrated faces slowly turned into smiles as they started to cheer for the unexpected help.

Without the [Armor Types], the horde became faster but easier to fell. They had no protection while running at the beach, and the bullets buffeted their fragile bodies.

The battle suddenly became much easier, and the gigantic bird in the sky continued to fire pillars of lightning towards the horde.

General Padilla and his entourage were confused for a short period of time. They questioned where the bird came from, and why it was helping them. But then, they remembered the event this afternoon.

"General! It's that man earlier! The one that tried to save General Seguerra escape!"

Andrew came running to tell everyone his findings.

"Are you sure?"

General Padilla asked.

"General, I can't be mistaken. You know what ability I have."

Andrew replied, pointing at his eyes shining with a golden color.

This was Andrew's ability and his pride. Among the soldiers, here, in terms of night combat, his eyes were unparalleled. During the day, he could see far away, while the darkness of the night could not hinder this ability in any way.

Because of this ability, he was able to see Berrak atop the Thunderbird. If Andrew's attention was not focused on the horde they were fighting, he might have spotted it far earlier.

Hearing that affirmation, everyone cheered. This help came really unexpected.

General Padilla immediately grabbed the radio.

"To all the troops defending the Port, that gigantic bird is an ally. I repeat, it is an ally! Do not shoot and concentrate on the horde below!"

The words from the General lifted everyone's morale. Their desperation turned into hope as they valiantly fought the infected with greater vigor.

But then, as Andrew paid attention to Berrak once more, he froze.

"What the hell..."

Andrew murmured. He rubbed his eyes, thinking that he was hallucinating. But what he saw never changed at all.

"What is wrong Andrew?"

The General asked as everyone around noticed his strange behavior.

"It's that Mark and that wife of his."

"Hey, we know you had beef with the guy but why are you mentioning them now?"

One soldier jeered at Andrew.

"Shut up!" Andrew lashed out. "What I'm saying is those two is flying towards the bird right now!"

Everyone froze.

Flying? Did they hear Andrew correctly?

"You guys don't believe me? Why not use some thermal or night vision binoculars?"

Andrew insisted as he pointed in a certain direction.

Being in the command center, they had such equipment ready. As such, they immediately saw what Andrew was talking about.

"A-are they Mutators capable of flight?"

A soldier stuttered in surprise.

Mutators capable of flying was very rare, after all. In this settlement, they had none, but the rebels actually had two within their ranks. They also heard about it from the reports from other settlements. Who would have thought that Mark and Mei were actually among those rare people?

General Padilla, on the other hand, was not that surprised. This piece of information was in the letter that was given to him about Mark. What he did not expect, however, was for their group to move and help. From the letter, Mark would ask for payment if they wanted him to help.

Well, it was not like General Padilla would deny such a request. Right now, it was anyone's help that they needed the most.

General Padilla continued to command his army while paying attention to Mark and Mei. When the two approached the gigantic bird, it stopped for a bit before continuing to attack the horde.

To the confusion of the General and his entourage, Mark and Mei flew past the horde but not that far that they could not be seen by the binoculars. It was about half a kilometer away from the edge of the port.

But it was when they saw balls of light flying around Mark.

Suddenly, the dark night had grown even darker.

Like the end of the world, thick black clouds came swirling in the sky.

Once more, the whole settlement was enveloped in chaos.

All of the sudden, the soldiers defending the settlement were baffled.

The horde that was supposed to charge towards their walls started to turn around, running back at the sea.

At this time, a piece of crucial information came from the radio.

"General!" A communications soldier cried out. "The infected in the west walls were also changing their route!"

The General and his entourage could not help but feel strange about the situation. Nonetheless, they seemed to have the same thoughts of what caused this.

However, not only that as another soldier in charge of communicating with the south and east areas reported at the same time.

"General, rebel activities were detected at the southeast edge! But..."

"What about the rebels? Don't cut your report halfway!"

The General reprimanded the soldier.

"General, it was just strange. The scouts said that the rebels were spotted, but they vanished soon after."

The report made everyone that heard it confused.

A strange situation after another. Just what in the world was going on?

Unfortunately for them, it was not the end of the surprises.

"GGRROOOAAARRR!!!"

A loud roar echoed causing pain to everyone's ears.

Every person's attention was pulled to the direction that the roar came from.

Their eyes turned wide.

"What in the world is that!"

Andrew voiced out the very question that was in everyone's mind at the moment.

At the sea, a gigantic creature, about thirty meters in height, surfaced with that ear-piercing roar.

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