Mutagen

1:13PM – City Mall Bacoor Rooftop, South Wing

Ange and Mei are watching the whole process of Mark's plan which successfully lured out a large number of zombies. Though the two can be described as watching, their attention is fully focused on Mark as the two don't have the guts to watch the gruesome scene below.

Mei worriedly waved her hand when she saw Mark looking at them. Mark waved in reply before cautiously entering the door. Just before Mark fully disappears into the door, the two girls can see him swing his machete at something.

"Why does he have to go alone? It won't be dangerous right? He could at least bring me with him."

Ange grumbled as she saw him enter the door.

Mei on the other hand said nothing but stare at the door with a worried face. If she was left like this, she would probably stay there staring at the door until Mark goes out.

"He said that you're our guard right? Look at Mei, there is no one here that can protect her except you."

Paula who was sitting on a chair just behind the two replied at Ange's grumbles.

"But, aren't we pretty much safe here?"

"He said that it's just in case that something happens."

"Yeah, yeah."

Ange replied while stretching her back and her hands behind her head. She turned around maintaining that position and noticed what Paula is doing.

"What are you reading there?"

She asked while approaching Paula.

Paula sat on a chair seriously reading something. On her hands, a small black colored, leather covered notebook is opened.

"Mark lent this to me earlier. He said that we should read what is written in this."

Hearing that the notebook is from Mark, Ange's interest was pricked and Mei who was staring blankly at the emergency door at the west wing also turned her head and looked at Paula.

"What's written in it?"

The Ange asked as she approached Paula. Mei also stood up and followed. The two girls moved chairs beside Paula trying to see the contents of the notebook.

"You can say that what is written is some sort of a zombie survival guide."

"Really? Did he just write those things earlier? I saw him writing on that notebook."

"Probably not. The ink used is too dry and some parts are already peeled off. And look at this."

She pointed at the date written on top of the page she is reading.

"He wrote these things more than a year ago."

"Then, is he similar to those zombie enthusiasts that we see in the internet often? No wonder the can adapt easily. What did it say?"

"Well, he wrote a list of potential base locations, necessary supplies and some precautionary measures. Like how a rooftop like where we are now is not a very good place for a prolonged time of inhabitation. There are others that are quite the same as we saw in the internet before."

"What's the point of reading that then?"

Ange shrugged.

"No, it's not really what he wanted us to read. I'm just curious so I'm reading this part."

"Turn it to that part he wanted us to read then."

"Sheesh, you're really as impatient as a kid. Still, I wonder why he said that don't let you read that part alone."

"He said that?"

Paula then opened the middle part of the notebook where a page is folded as a marker and started reading the contents that were visibly written not too long ago.

The three girls were surprised.

What is written is vital information. The findings of Mark's observation on the zombies are stated. Mark even started naming the different kinds of zombies in his notes. Currently there are three kinds of zombies in the list, namely, Eaters, Biters, and Fat Mutant (Tentative). They started reading the reading Mark's notes, his findings and his descriptions of the zombies that were listed but…

When they neared the end of how he described the biters, Paula's expression is already grave while Ange is already red eyed and would cry in a slight push.

"No way."

Ange muttered as she started staring at her hands. Paula, who was beside her, nudged her closer and put her in a tight embrace. Tears started to fall from her eyes.

"Paula… I-I…"

"It's fine Ange. It's not your fault alright? It's necessary if you did not do it, then what would have happened to us?"

Paula now understood why Mark didn't want Ange to read it alone.

Mei took the notebook from Paula and carefully read the descriptions written by her Gege.

=====================================================================================

Eater

-Slow but strong.

-Brutally eats its victims.

-The remains of the eaten victims would also turn into an eater

-Their numbers are higher compared to other zombies

-Attracted to human skin and flesh

-More attracted to human voices than artificially created sounds

-Don't react to any kind of pain

-Easy to outrun

-A good example of a living dead

-To turn into an eater, the infected person should die of other reasons other than destruction of head and brain (unconfirmed)

-Bodies that are turning into eaters don't twitch like biters

-Biters can turn into eaters when killed by other means except destroying the head and brain

Biter

-Fast but really clumsy.

-Strong but weaker than an Eater

-They don't eat their victims. They only bite their target and switches target afterwards. It's likely that their only purpose is to infect.

-Highly sensitive to any form of loud sounds

-Highly sensitive to human skin and primarily targets their victims at the parts of their bodies that had exposed skin.

-Can feel pain

-Can die in any way possible and turn into an eater in the brain is not destroyed in its death

-It is likely that they are still alive as there are still signs and habits similar to humans like breathing

=====================================================================================

Reading to that part, Mei understood why Ange started behaving that way. According to what her Gege observed, the biters, although infected, are still living people. If that really is the case… Mei looked at the crying Ange.

Ange was killing living people with her own hands.

Anyone with a good heart that only wanted to survive and killed the zombies without knowing any of these would feel extremely repulsive after learning these things.

Ange is a good example of this. She might be skilled in fighting but she never intended and would never want to kill living people.

Yes, the biters she killed might have attacked them first but it's likely that they are sick and they don't know what they were doing.

"What happened?"

Reyah noticed the commotion and approached to ask and Mei handed her the notebook. Her expression changed when she reached the part that tells that the biters are possibly still living people.

"Is this true?"

"We don't know."

Paula replied and patted Ange's back before continuing.

"But even if it's true, I don't think Mark had a bad reason to tell that to us."

Soon enough, the men also learned about it and are left in deep contemplation.

Later on, Ange managed to calm down but she still felt upset. She can't help it. The main reason she felt repulsive about this is because…

Earlier, at the lower floors, while trying to escape together with Paula, she killed several of her friends that turned into what Mark called Biters thinking that they already died before turning. Like how it happened in some movies she watched before.