Mutagen

Day 126 - 1:32 PM - Hotel Tower Rooftop, Bally's Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States of America

Mark and Mei returned to the rooftop with the incapacitated [Queen Type] in tow. This action caused the spider-latched infected to turn berserk, rushing up the building as fast as they could. They all growled and roared in unison, making loud noises unpleasant to anyone's ears.

Unfortunately, it would not be easy for them to climb up once more without using the maze-like interior of the building.

Almost no one noticed, but most of the windows and walls at the lower part of the hotel tower already turned to rubble.

Everyone was interested in and focused on Mei's fight that they did not notice that Mark aimed for the destruction of the lower parts of the hotel tower. The damage was not severe. However, it was almost impossible for the infected to climb up using the face of the building.

That was why even though they returned on the rooftop, Mark was not worried about being disturbed by the minions of the [Queen Type].

Nevertheless, it did not make the whole situation safe for anyone.

From the rooftop of the hotel tower, anyone would be able to see the situation. The infected all over the area, and possibly, the whole city, were gathering around the casino. It was not a big city, after all. There was no need to mention the entire situation. Just the last attack Morgan used was enough to shake the whole place after he collapsed a large part of the casino.

And now, all sorts of infected could be seen everywhere, whether it be on land, air, or water.

That huge cat that Mei had taken down just now was just one of the fastest infected in the city and one of those that arrived earlier than the others.

From the eastern coast, a human-sized octopus emerged, dragging its unstable body to cross the beach towards the casino.

From the northern suburbs, a small horde of charred-looking infected was stumbling towards the area.

There was a horde of one and a half meter tall dogs running from the south.

Aside from those, there were more than five thousand infected that were rushing towards the area. It was more than enough to make the faces of the few people left at the tower pale.

It was clear that there were only the fourteen of them left from the one hundred and fifty people that were initially in their group since this morning. Fighting against a few hundred infected was already impossible for them. None of the would ever dare think of facing several thousand.

And thus, they could only look at the two people that flew back to the roof. They felt scared that the two brought back the infected woman. Nevertheless, to escape the current situation, these two were only their hope. Furthermore, the man clad in a cloak of black smoke had already saved them once.

Still, the group could not fathom how the two could have a relaxed attitude despite the situation.

"Hmm..." Mark tilted his head as he examined the [Queen Type] a bit. "Mei'er, you overdid it..."

Mark could only shrug. Many bones of the [Queen Type] broke from the battle. It was no wonder why it was so much in pain. As the consciousness of the Queen was still vigorous, it was not dying. However, it was questionable if it would recover.

"Sorry..."

Mei could only meekly apologize. She knew that she lost control because of the things in her mind. Luckily, she did not end up killing the [Queen Type] by accident.

Mark patted her head without any hint of anger. It was not like Mei did not do anything good for the situation.

Mei's sudden arrival might be too sudden. However, it helped Mark in one very crucial thing. It was to keep his cards hidden from the multitudes of eyes that were currently watching.

It was more than easy for him to dispatch the infected that was swarming the building in one go. However, it would reveal his abilities in the eyes of dangerous beings, especially from the likes of Professor Alston.

They might be cooperating with the U.S. government. Nevertheless, no one would be able to tell the true goals of these extraterrestrial visitors for coming to Earth.

With Mei's appearance, even though she failed to hold herself back, it was better than him showing what he was truly capable of.

If they were enemies, even if they managed to gauge Mei's abilities from her display earlier, they would still hesitate to do any move against him since they knew less about him.

"Alright, we have to move out. This place is going to be a mess soon."

Mark said as his eyes panned towards the survivors waiting for him and Mei.

"Well then..." Mark spoke. "I saved all of you here because you passed my criterion. We will leave this place as soon as possible. But all of you have to listen to my instructions."

Hearing those words, although they were all confused as to what criterion Mark was talking about, they could only nod. After all, Mark and Mei were their only ticket out of this place.

"You see, we can't take all of you out of this place in one go. So others have to wait here."

Before Mark could continue, Arnold spoke.

"Then, please, take the children and the women first. Us men can wait."

Hearing that, Mark smiled.

This guy was truly fitting as their leader. Unfortunately, only a few people from his group were fit to be under him.

"That's what I'm planning in the first place."

Mark looked at Mei, and they nodded at each other. He was about to lift the [Queen Type]. However, Mei beat him up to it. Mark wanted to laugh though he could only shrug his shoulders.

He then looked at the three children he saved earlier. Unexpectedly, the three approached him without hesitation. Picking the three and Morgan, who was still unconcious, they flew to leave the area.

With that arrangement, the ones left behind hid inside a utility area on the roof while they wait for Mark to come back. Because of the transition of the abilities the two used to fly faster, the people they brought felt a bit dizzy. Still, they held on tightly.

They did not leave the city but flew just past the collapsed bridges. Past the main island, the number of infected considerably decreased. They chose a wide empty parking area to land. There, Mei was left to guard while Mark picked up the other survivors.

It took a maximum of fifteen minutes. Finally, the rooftop of Bally's Casino was empty.

Even so, the whole place looked like a festival with the number of infected gathered in the streets. Even a needle would have a hard time falling to the ground.

At the last flight Mark did, even his scalp was tingling with the infected that gathered below. Since the majority of the infected were mutated ones, many of them had the appearance that was enough to make everyone puke. Mark did not see these infected earlier which meant that they could have come from other areas.

Unknown to Mark and the survivors of Bally's Casino, the situation gave way for the other survivor groups to have the opportunity to leave the city.

The infected in the city left in hordes towards the eastern coast, leaving the other parts almost devoid of the infected. If they did not leave the place now, they would never be able to in the future.

It became a wide migration of survivors. Inside the whole city, there were about four hundred survivors divided into several groups. They were all struggling to survive and many of them already died. There was no way for them to let this opportunity go.

Still, the unfortunate thing was that... Now that they had the opportunity to escape this hellish city, their true colors came out.

Many of the mutators left their groups alone and rushed to escape. Some left unnoticed, using the ones they left behind as bait for the remaining infected.

Many of them only bonded as a group because they had to. They could not survive alone in this city. Now that they could leave, there was no need to stick with the weaklings.

One of the things that led to this was... The hope that only this city was enveloped by the outbreak.

Since many witnessed when the military bombed the bridges and they lost communication with anyone outside the city, many of them thought that only this city was affected by the outbreak. They thought that the bridges were bombed to contain the infected in one place.

Their unstable minds and emotions made them believe those things...

Outside the city, there was the military, the government, the living people...

Outside the city, they would be safe...

But when first Mutators managed to reach the bridge and used the remains of it to cross.

Their eyes were opened wide by the awful truth.

From the forests, evolved animals that were living there rushed out to the survivors. With four months that the place was devoid of humans, these hungry beasts saw them as prey.

A bloody battle ensued for those that were able. For those who were not, they could only run in fear as they tried to escape the slaughter.

Along the way, Mark managed to detect one of those scenes. However, there was no reason to stop. He brought Arnold, who was last to leave, towards the waiting point.

As everyone arrived, many of them had tears at the corner of their eyes. They never thought that they would be able to leave the city alive, after all. The current situation was no less than a miracle for them.

"Now then..." Mark spoke. "I will give you people two options."

Hearing Mark speak, everyone listened carefully.

"First, I can bring those who wanted to our base. In a condition that all of you will follow and live under my rules."

"Second, those who want can leave now. I won't stop them. I'll give everyone five minutes to decide."

Murmurs ensued across the group. After all, even though Mark had saved them and brought them out of the city, it was not easy to trust people.

Then, Felicia asked a question.

"What about him?" She pointed at Morgan. "There is no way that he will be able to choose in that condition. Are we going to choose for him?"

There, Mark tilted his head.

"No. Whether any of you like it or not, we will take this guy back with us."

Everyone froze. But considering the display that Morgan showed earlier, it was possible that Mark wanted him because of that.

"Are you going to exploit Morgan?"

Felicia asked with a fierce glare.

"I'll ask you." Mark sneered. "Do you think we need to exploit anyone?"

It was a proud and confident declaration that sounded too annoying to hear. Nevertheless, even if they wanted to, they could not retort.

After all, they saw what Mark and Mei were capable of.

And it was possible that what they saw was not all of what they were capable of.

Looking at their reactions, Mark could only smile inside.

It was what Mark ensured when he chose these people to save. All of them had strong sentiments towards Morgan.

And according to his plan...

"We can't leave Morgan alone with you. We are sure that we won't win in a fight so we are following your arrangements."

Arnold boldly declared without even two minutes of their discussion.

It was the scene that Mark was aiming for since the start.

As the situation was addressed and the group had given their decision, the only thing left was to wait for Spera's portal that would take them back after a day.

"Gege, that is why I came here."

Mei interjected at that time and told the situation while showing the map she carried.

Mark could only breathe deeply. Of course, things would not be easy.