255 Continuing the Search, The Short Love Drama and Finding the First BloodChild (1/2)
Day 40 – 10:42 PM – Northwest Side, Outer District, East Port Settlement, Barangay Dinahican, Infanta, Quezon
Mark walked around the crowd to find a good position to watch the show. Looking at it, the show would finish soon since he could feel that the girl was already determined to end her current life and hope for a better one.
Even though it was already deep in the night, the commotion created by the two still managed to gather quite an amount of people. Since there was a severe lack of entertainment after the apocalypse started, a real life drama such as this would surely attract people.
Since Mark could not find a good spot, he jumped onto a nearby tree and sat on a thick branch. The place he found was overlooking the crowd and he was able to see the couple with ill-fated relationship.
The boy was a rather lean one but he was not thin. He looked like about seventeen or eighteen and even though it was not too obvious, his body had muscles that accumulated due to daily hard labor. His looks were not bad and were slightly above average. Along with his poorly shaped haircut that complimented his face and slightly tan skin, he could have been a looker if he wore some decent clothing. Unfortunately, what he was currently wearing was some tattered clothes that was obviously not changed for days.
As for the girl who looked like about a year younger than the boy, her face was rather good looking and was on the cute side with her small oval face. Unlike the boy who was wearing tatters, she was currently wearing a rather decent pair of blouse and skirt. She was light skinned and seemed to have a good upbringing at home. Unfortunately, this would also be the one of the worst things to have in the apocalypse. The things she acquired in her good life in before was what hindered the relationship of the two now that the world had fallen into ruin.
”Pearl! Are you really leaving me just like this?!”
The boy grabbed the right wrist of the girl that was about to leave with barely anything in tow. Even though they had a small house to stay which made their lives better than those that were sleeping in the streets, they still barely had any personal items they owned. For the girl, it was likely that everything they had now could already fit that small backpack on her back.
”Edzel, I already said this right?” Pearl shrugged his hands. ”I can't stand this life anymore! This past month, we've been enduring. There's barely any food to eat. It is dangerous to get water in the river. Even when we needed to fish, it is hard to get a catch and if unlucky, the one we catch might even be the one to try and eat us. I always feel sticky and dirty since we can't even get enough water to drink not to mention wiping our bodies. I'm already fed up with this!”
”Then where are you going after you leave?!”
”Someone from the Cristobal family offered me a good deal! Even being just a servant there is way better than staying here! I don't want to keep staying here in poverty and end up like those women waiting at the main street in the future!”
The grasp of Edzel on Pearl's wrist loosened and soon let go. His teary eyes stared at Pearl's face. He started to loose heart after he saw her determined gaze.
”How about the past years we spent together?”
”I'm sorry. We can't be together from now on.”
With that last line, Edzel looked down in self-pity. His shoulders drooped down. Pearl made a last look at Edzel. There was still a bit of hesitation in her eyes but the determination to leave their current state of living overwhelmed it. She then turned around and left with that group of Mutators waiting quite a distance away. The male leading the group even coiled his arms on her waist and she did not resist it.
Seeing that, Edzel was even more disheartened.
'I wish… You a good life…”
Edzel stared at Pearl's back until she vanished from his sight.
With the end of the drama, the gallery started to disperse. Some of them looked at Edzel with sympathy while some looked indifferent. However, no one came to cheer him up or talk to him.
Even after the gallery dispersed, he remained standing in the place where Pearl left him with his eyes looking on the ground. His heart and mind was in turmoil as he blamed himself for this entire event. Although there was also the fault on Pearl, he would not and could not deny that he was not able to give the life she wanted.
”It's because you are weak.”
He heard a passing whisper in his ear. Even though he clearly heard the voice, he did not know whether someone whispered it to him or he was hearing things due to his emotions. Nevertheless, the voice was right. He was weak. They could only live in the Outer District because he was weak. There was not enough water and food because he was weak. Even washing and bathing was impossible because he was weak.
”I am weak.”
He muttered in a very low voice. Turning around, he walked back to his small house swaying like an emaciated person. It looked like all the energy in his body was drained in one go.
***
”It looks like I found someone interesting.”
Mark muttered with a smile as he vanished in a puff of black mist and left the area to continue his search. However, he planned to go back here to recruit that person later. It was easier to make a loyal subordinate from a person backed into a corner with nothing left after all.
Still, the boy needed to wallow in despair, sadness and helplessness for a bit. He needed to reflect on what he had and what he did not have. However, his desires were severely lacking. As such…
Mark used whisper. It was super effective.
Edzel's current circumstances were quite similar to Freed's and that was why Mark felt a bit of sympathy for the boy. However, that was not the reason why Mark was interested in recruiting the boy who was abandoned by his beloved person. The reason was entirely a different story though.
Leaving the west side of the Outer District, Mark removed his [Optical Camouflage] in a hidden corner of the street. The eastern side of the Outer District was more populated than the west side that was closer to the dangerous forest area outside the walls. Because of that, it was questionable if Mark would be able to keep his [Optical Camouflage] without accidentally bumping into someone. His [Shadow Mist Movement] could also be seen either.
Furthermore, with the number of people around, no one would likely stop someone like him and he would also not attract that much gazes since he was alone. Still, he stayed away from the obvious hookers as much as possible.
Looking at the state of the common people in the Outer District, there seemed to be quite a number of homeless children. All of them looked emaciated and some obviously formed groups to survive this mess together. Still, they were all children. There was very little that they could do.
However, Mark felt that they were good candidates to groom. After all, he could see and feel how mature these children were. Compared to most children that could only think of internet and video games in the past, the children that made it through the past month and struggle to survive were better. Furthermore, planting loyalty on children was way easier than adults.
In the middle of the east side of the Outer District, Mark's eyes lit up. He finally felt the first [BloodChild] nearby and it was actually here in the poverty stricken district.
It did not take long Mark found the house where he could feel the [BloodChild]. He was quite surprised though even if he had not knocked on the door yet. Inside the small house made of tattered wood boards and rusty metal roofing, he could feel a family of three. Two had weaker fluctuations which were obviously children while the last one who had a rather complex mental fluctuation was surely an elderly. However, the elderly was unexpectedly a Mutator.
A Mutator was currently living in the outer district with two children. Furthermore, Mark could feel that the [BloodChild] inside the house was rather in a good condition. Even better that the ones he got from the laboratory in the Military Settlement.
TANG!