392 Going Back to the Lake, The Start of the Second Day of their Journey (1/2)

Day 67 - 7:49 AM - Sampaguita Street, San Juan, Taytay, Rizal

The sun had long risen from the east, and the convoy Mark left the resting point quite late.

A journey outside the settlement was also a race against time. Because of that, the original schedule was to start preparing before dawn and leave at sunrise. Unfortunately, the waterbugs continued on seeking food until almost an hour after sunrise.

Due to the threat of waterbugs, their schedule got delayed.

However, also due to the waterbugs hunting for food, they managed to have a night mostly free of threat. As Mark had thought, the waterbugs only attacked prey on sight while also avoiding possible predators. Some managed to accidentally see Chaflar and Gifre under the roof covered area in front of the business establishments, but none attacked them.

Perhaps, due to their large size and both were something that supposed to prey with insects, they found the two giants as a threat.

While everyone hid inside out of sight of the waterbugs, the waterbugs started to target the infected that roamed the area. They started to loiter the area after Mark and his crew arrived. Possibly because of either the noise or the presence of living beings.

Unfortunately for the infected, except for a few large-bodied and [Armor Type] Mutated Infected, the others became prey to the waterbugs. Since the waterbugs were also living beings, the remaining infected also tried to go after them. It ensued a battle between the two species leaving Mark's group in peace for the night.

Everyone just wished that they returned to the lake earlier though.

After they secured that there were no waterbugs left flying and roaming around, the soldiers hurriedly prepared and they all left as soon as possible.

The waterbugs might have become nocturnal after their mutation. Nevertheless, they could not take chances. The number of waterbugs they saw was quite large and many of them were the size of an adult human. Most of the infected that roamed into the area did not even stand a chance, not to mention normal humans.

They had to leave the place as soon as possible. 1st Lieutenant Baller also took note of their discoveries and once they reached the Infanta Settlement, they would report the information and relay it back to Bay City Settlement.

Right now, they already crossed the bridge while warily eyeing the lake and the river. They were still in the vicinity of the protected area around the lake and they could not let their guards down.

It was a lucky circumstance that these Mutated Bugs had no ability to seek prey outside of their eyesight. A confrontation between them and the waterbugs in the middle of the night could have been dangerous. Mark and his group might be able to handle it, but it would be hard to protect everyone against a large number of these fast-flying insects.

Fortunately, their fears were unwarranted, as they followed the main road and turned at the next curve, they started to drive away from the lake safely.

Of course, it did not mean that the continuation of the journey would be smooth-sailing. It was because as they drove away from the lake, they entered the heavily populated areas once more. If one was to look at the map, this place looked like a set of numerous rectangular grids with uneven proportions. In each block, there were about twenty or more houses.

And there were a few hundred blocks around the main road.

In fact, the moment they entered the subdivision, they were already blocked by quite a number of infected. Furthermore, instead of decreasing, their numbers were increasing as more infected were drawn by the sounds of the vehicles and the gunshots.

If they stayed in a place for too long, the road would surely turn into a sea of infected that would block their advance.

Thus, along with the military, Mark utilized everyone to clear up the infected.

While Mark instructed Chaflar as the dragon run around the place while spewing fire on the infected, he could not help but take out his phone and snap a few photos. It was because there were quite a number of infected that he had not seen before and was also not included in the data given to him by the military.

Perhaps, these infected could be said as endemic to this place.

There were quite a number of infected with strange moss covering their bodies. Probably because of the dirty creeks around the area caused them to mutate and become hosts to the moss. It was quite annoying how these infected smelled horrible. The smell even permeated after Chaflar burned their bodies to ashes.

Aside from those, there was also a lot of thin-bodied infected that moved around on all fours. They rather move fast and had good instincts and reflexes. They were quite a pain to deal with as they try to avoid danger by jumping over abandoned vehicles and low structures before going into hiding.

Their behavior made Mark think that the infected started to develop their own hunting methods by instinct. If this really was the case, things would become harder and harder for survivors in the future.

***

Day 67 - 9:15 AM - Ejercito Avenue, San Juan, Taytay, Rizal

”Here should be fine I think.”

Mark said as he looked around.

They already left the area with a large number of houses. There were still some areas with similar states further away. However, the number of houses and possible infected residents would be lower. Right now, they entered an area where the structures on the streetside were quite sparse.

It was because, at the east of the road, it was a water reservoir, while on the west side, it was an industrial area that was still under development. Of course, its development would not be finished, not in the near future. Or probably, it would never be.

Mark then took out a radio. There was no need for a radio for the members of his group right now, but they needed one to communicate with the soldiers. He could not just disclose Jaeya's ability to them. It was the same for Edward's crew who also had radios as they were just new people in his group.

Before talking to the radio, Mark spoke in his mind first.