Mutagen

Day 201 - 12:59 AM - Meeting Area, White Snake Gang Base, Northern Slums, Corregidor Military Settlement, Island of Corregidor, Province of Cavite

Mark was wanted by the government. It would be a lie if Mark said that he did not think of this possibility to happen. After all, he did kill some people in Bay City, or at least, turned them into a state that they would rather die instead.

Those people were the ones that schemed against Mei and the rest of his group while he was gone. And, of course, they deserved it. Even so, what Mark did was a crime and should be punishable by law. It was an act of vigilante justice that any country's government looked down upon. However, with Bay City's state of affairs, they could not care less about Mark's acts. It benefited the settlement too. And without the military needing to dirty their hands.

However, the help that General Perez and the entire Bay City Military Settlement received from Mark's group far outweighs those crimes. If not for them, many more would have died when [Auraboros] attacked Bay City. In the worst case, the entire Bay City would have been taken over by [Auraboros] or might have been destroyed there and then.

And thus, no criminal punishment was given to Mark.

Here, however, was completely different.

This was not Bay City, and the people ruling it were completely different individuals. Not to mention that they were trying to preserve the past government within those walls.

But with all these reasons, Mark had a hunch that it was not all.

After all, if it was just because of the criminal acts, the blood-thirsty gangs of this settlement should be wanted for the very same affairs.

Yet, they still roam free, terrorizing the settlement's survivors.

"Is it because of me turning you guys into [Mutators] and [Evolvers]?"

Mark asked the people in front of him, causing a pause of silence. They had yet to answer, but it was already apparent.

And there, Carren told what happened.

Before Mark's group left Bay City to transport soldiers and, especially, Professor Sandoval and Emika's family, Mark did one final thing to ensure their survival.

On the last night, before they left, Mark turned those who were close to him into [Mutators]. Then, their family members into [Evolvers]. And yes, the children in their family were not exceptions to this. Even Carren's son was turned into an [Evolver].

It was all to ensure that they would survive, or in the least, not die too easily.

Mark did not request it, but everyone knew that they should hide the story behind it. Well, as much as possible in the least. After all, it would be easy to deduce what happened with very careful thinking.

And soon, it was revealed. Those who suddenly turned into [Mutators] and [Evolvers] were connected with Mark in one way or another. It even included General Perez's daughter and her best friend, that was also tied to that person.

Envy, jealousy, and regret. These emotions burned in the hearts and minds of those that ignored Mark's existence at that time.

And once they relocated here in Corregidor Island, the story circulated the same.

And, of course, reached the upper echelon of the current government.

How did they react, though? What did they feel? Was it hope? Unfortunately, no.

They felt regret and blamed General Perez for letting go of such a valuable person.

Of course, General Perez and those that knew Mark personally knew that he was not a person who could be tied forcefully. However, the other government officials were having none of it.

And after digging up Mark's deeds, the warrant of arrest was issued. Turning Mark into a wanted fugitive.

"Are they stupid?" Mark frowned. "What made them sure that I will even go here for them to issue a warrant?"

"Well, it's not like they're wrong." Markron chimed in. "You're here."

"Just who are you siding with here?"

Mark looked at his friend with half-closed eyes.

Returning back to the topic, Mark turned to the others.

"So, they wanted to arrest me so they can make use of my skills, right?"

Mark asked, making everyone agree.

"So, you better not expose yourself to them."

Carren spoke.

"It's not like they can do anything even if I expose myself."

Mark shrugged.

"Yeah, we are not afraid of you getting caught by them," Carren said. "It's the bloodbath you will create once that happens because those idiots won't just back off unless you do so. You should know that the ones going to chase you isn't those useless politicians but the police and the soldiers. They were also the ones protecting the settlement, so getting them killed will cause the settlement's defenses to be weakened too."

That was the awful truth here. Although the ones high in government positions who wanted to make use of Mark's abilities, the ones that would end up chasing him would be the armed forces that barely knew anything.

It looked like Carren was telling Mark not to kill the soldiers. If he wanted to do anything about the problem, go to the source instead.

"What about you guys?" Mark asked. "None of you got in trouble because of me, right?"

"There were some hiccups, but nothing major," Carren replied. "You should have realized already, but there's only some of us here because the others were already inside."

Mark already thought of that. Here, there were only a few of the people Mark knew. For example, Charmaine's sisters were not present. Since Mark gave all of them inhuman abilities, more should have survived. However, he could not sense them nearby.

"So, they're inside?" Mark asked. "What for? To make sure you guys don't do anything stupid against them?"

"Not exactly," Carren replied. "They were already inside before the arrest warrant came up. Because you just arrived, so you didn't know, but they are gathering [Mutators] and [Evolvers] inside the walls as much as they could. Many were bought by the safety of the walls since their families are also allowed inside if they go."

"And the catch?"

Mark knew that it was not that simple.

"They had to work for the government, making use of their abilities once the government called for it."

Markron answered.

The question now was why did the others go inside.

"Sis..." Charmaine chimed in. "She decided to enter because she had to take care of several children."

Elsa, the older sister of Charmain, was a teacher even before the apocalypse. She continued working as a teacher even in Bay City, being paid by the military. However, during the calamity, Elsa watched most of her students die, only being capable of saving a few. Those she saved, however, ended up as orphans. Their still living parents were buried by the earthquake.

And now, Elsa was taking care of those orphans and decided to enter the walls for their safety.

The youngest of the three, Cielo, followed Elsa inside. She did not want to be baggage to Carren and the others, who had a mission given by General Perez to manage the northern slums.

The others had similar reasons and followed inside. All of them were taken under the protection of General Perez, however. After all, the inside of the walls might be safe, but it was a mess on the political side.

With the others entering inside, however, it became a leash to Carren and the others once the arrest warrant for Mark came up. It was not like those inside were prisoners. They could still go out and meet up from time to time. However, the separation between the tall walls was far enough as a shackle.

"The messenger we took down might look like a member of the Powder Gang, but he might be someone directly working for the government to monitor us."

Carren said, revealing why they did not have any remorse on dispatching the guy.

If that messenger ended up as they thought, they might deduce Mark's identity even without evidence. Worse, the military might come and storm the place, searching for Mark.

"Still, many people saw us entering the gates and being called here," Mark said. "The news will still reach them, and they will still suspect it."

"We know." Markron nodded. "In the least, we have some leeway compared to letting them receive it directly."

"So, should we leave immediately?"

Mark asked.

In the first place, Mark and his group only came here to check on their friends. Now that he knew what happened to them and they were safe, they could leave. Although he was interested in the settlement, it was not worth the trouble staying around and trying to provoke this so-called government.

"Not so fast," Carren replied. "General Perez will come tomorrow. At least, meet him."

Those words were accepted by Mark in agreement.

This marked the end of the discussion for the problems. There was nothing that they could do with them at this moment unless they wanted to cause trouble.

And finally, the actual reunion began. Telling stories of what happened after they separated while binging on snacks and drinks that Mark took out. It had been a while since the people in front of Mark had fun. It was quite unfortunate that even if Miracle was present, she could not join in and eat food. The little girl was not human, after all. It was a pity since Carren and Charmain wanted to feed her.

Well, it was not like they could not. However, it was not food that the two could feed Miracle, but their blood.

***

The small celebration ended, and everyone went to sleep. Everyone still had a long day ahead tomorrow.

Well, Mark did not feel like resting. With Miracle having a shuteye on his lap, Mark sat on the highest roof of the base of the White Snake Gang. It was the main building in the compound, having four stories, despite being made of only wood and metal sheets. It was quite sturdy too and was not swaying with the wind.

Apparently, the wood used as the building's foundations were from mutated trees that Carren and Markron procured outside the settlement.

Because of its height, it was a perfect place to look around the vicinity. The only thing higher nearby was the walls of the fortress, city. That was while Mark could see the surrounding slums nearby, he could not see anything inside the fortress walls from here.

"You two won't sleep?"

Mark said, sensing two people trying to make their way up without alerting other people.

Of course, it was Markron and Carren.

"Don't underestimate us." Carren blurted out haughtily. "We can spend several days without sleep watching anime, playing games, and reading manga."

"Don't apply that logic here. Back then, there was barely anything to do. Now, you can't even have proper rest." Mark reasoned before turning to Markron. "And Markron, stop agreeing to her."

"What's the problem?" Carren frowned. "We just want to spend more time together."

Mark shut up. There was nothing to argue about that.

Soon, the three sat together, mulling over the past. Mark kept silent, however, thinking about something.

"What are you thinking?"

Carren said, noticing Mark's silence.

"Well, I guess it's time, huh."

Mark said, making the two confused.

"I just want to say sorry to you two."

Mark continued before the two could even say anything.

"Back in college, I'm too childish to realize. Childish and stupid. I gave you two a whole lot of trouble with my shenanigans. And now I remember everything... I sure never gave you two a single apology."

There was some silence after Mark said those words.

Mark was what exactly he said in the past. And, definitely, he gave the two quite an amount of trouble.

Well, it was not Mark's fault alone. The two also have their wrongdoings towards Mark, which caused the already childish guy to lash out more.

More importantly...

"So, you finally remember everything," Markron said. "Seriously... I'm surprised when you came to my house, not remembering the people I'm talking about all of a sudden, especially when you were around with them just the past day."

"Yeah, I remember that." Carren chimed in. "Markron just went telling everyone about you losing memories, you know? We are surprised. I'm sure I remember some of our group going to you and asking you if you remember them. Then returning awkwardly because you're just staring at them like some stranger just went in front of you and came asking if you know them."

Mark fell silent. There was that event in the past.

"Well, it's my fault." Mark opened his mouth. "I'm having quite a mental breakdown at that time, and none of you seemed to have noticed it despite you two having a part on why that is happening to me. I just wanted to end it all and succeeded ending it by wiping out my memories. Well, I never realized I did, though. Although I suspected that there are lapses in my memories, I really never tried to remember them."

"In any case, I gave you two a lot trouble," Mark continued. "And that's why I'm apologizing right now."

"No, we should also say sorry," Markron replied. "I did realize that you were behaving oddly at that time but ignored it and gave you some trouble too."

"Yeah, me too." Carren followed. "It's my fault neglecting you after meeting new friends. Well, who can help it? That guy had the looks."

"Haah..."

Mark sighed while Markron had a troubled look at he stared at Carren.

"What? It's already in the past." Carren said. "I had already gotten over the troubles you made after acting up. I had a lot of faults too, so just call it quits."

"Besides," Carren continued turning to the sky. "You helped us more in many ways during the apocalypse. Small troubles could not be compared to our lives. Rather than us receiving your apology, it's you who should be receiving our thanks."