75 Found Her (1/2)

Day 3 – 6:35 AM – Niog Road, Mambog IV, Bacoor City, Cavite

While Mark was observing the perimeters of the target location, Odelina and the others also went out of the vehicle.

They were looking at the huge tree in the distance with amazement. Odelina though thought the same as Mark.

”That looked dangerous is it not?”

She stood beside him and asked Mark. It was not just the tree that she was talking about but also the number of infected in the area. As the City Hall, there were many people in this place before the apocalypse. Among all those people, everyone knew that the Majority of these people already turned into Z-types. They could even see some of the infected wandering aimlessly at the entrance of the compound.

”Just get back in the car first. I have a plan.”

When everyone was back inside the car, Mark remained outside and opened the back of the car. He pulled out a large box and brought it inside.

The box contained the camera mounted drone Mark brought. He immediately set up the drone with the help of the others and connected the video feed into the large monitor mounted on the back of the car along with the entertainment system.

It took them about half an hour to set it up and Mark went out to launch the drone. He then went back in the car to see the feed while controlling the drone.

***

Day 3 – 7:10 AM – Bacoor City Hall, Molino Boulevard, Bayanan, Bacoor City, Cavite

A white quadcopter with a camera mounted beneath it was circling the perimeter of the tree while checking if there was any danger in approaching it.

After the quadcopter finally figured that the tree did not seem to be dangerous, the drone went closer and went to check the city hall in a clearer view. As the quadcopter was creating noises, it could not be helped if that it attracted the Z-types around. To evade the pursuit of the infected, the drone flew up and descended in another area to continue the reconnaissance.

The traces of devastating events that happened within the past two days were left in the open. Rows of vehicles were left in the parking lots while the glass walls of the mail building were broken into pieces. The government vehicles were left in the middle of the roads. It was obvious that they tried to escape but the traces of blood on the vehicles showed how they failed to do so.

Around the compound, a large number of infected gathered. Many of which were wearing uniforms of government workers while there were also quite a number of infected in police uniforms. But what stood out among the infected were those odd looking ones. Their movements were very slow, even slower than the Z-Type b which was the Eaters. What made them very noticeable was their skin that looked like the bark of a tree. The eyes of these infected were also green colored compared to the normal counterparts which had pure white pupils.

***

Back inside the car, Mark and the gang were watching the monitor. Even the docile Biter they brought along and was tied in the very last seat at the back was looking at the monitor. When they saw the infected that had tree bark skin, they all thought that the reason for this mutation was that huge tree in the middle of the compound.

Mark controlled the drone and the scene at the back of the main building was revealed on their eyes. It was then that they saw it. It was an eight or nine foot humanoid that had a body made of a tree and was even shaped like a tree. It even had leaves on its head and hands and roots for its foot. Rather than a zombie, it more looked like a treant from fantasy stories. If not for the figure of a person plastered on the center of its body, Mark would have really thought so.

The figure looked the same as the tree bark skinned infected at the previous location. The person's back was connected and was hanging on the wooden body and arms through root like veins. When the figure moved, the wooden body also moved mimicking the movements of the figure. As the wooden body was stiff, it walked like a penguin swaying side by side as it moved.

The huge mutant then stopped and the person looked up to the drone monitoring it. Then it decided to ignore the drone and looked up to the huge tree as if it was waiting for something.

The people inside the car gasped at the appearance of the mutant. It was fortunate that Mark decided to scout the area using the drone first rather than blindly driving into the compound.

Looking at the figure, a sudden thought entered his mind and it even made him mutter.

”A Level 2.”

”What did you say, Gege?”

Even though he muttered the words softly, Mei who was always sticking close to him heard his voice.

”Nothing.”

Mark decided to not say what had just entered his mind as it was not confirmed and he did not know where the thought came from either. It was as if someone whispered the idea to him.

As the Mutant was behaving strangely, Mark decided to control the drone and look at what the mutant was looking at. There, he saw a single nut shaped fruit on a branch of the huge tree. The fruit seemed to be the same size as a baseball and was emitting a faint golden glow.

Seeing the fruit on the monitor, Abbygale and Odelina gulped for some reason.

”What's wrong with you two?”

Mark noticed the abrupt change in the mental fluctuation of the two and asked.

”Papa, I want to eat that.”

Abbygale directly said without any thoughts. Odelina on the other hand explained what she felt briefly. She was red in the face though as she knew that she lost her composure in front of everyone.

”Master, I don't know why but something tells me that that fruit is edible and highly beneficial to us.”

Hearing what she said, Mark looked at the screen. He controlled the drone once more and looked at the huge mutant that continued to stare at the fruit.

He then decided.

”All right, we'll try to get that later.”

With what he said, Abbygale and Odelina felt delighted.

While Mark was controlling the drone, he noticed some commotion on the highest floor of the City Hall.

Mark made the drone fly closer to the windows and saw people inside. The people were also watching the drone with hopeful expressions. The drone flew across the row of windows and stopped at a certain spot.